Muslim Cartoon Row

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by BigBadBrian
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but you'll NEVER change a Muslim's mind about this.

Ever been to the Middle East? It's an entirely different world over there. Religion isn't something you wear on your sleeve or what you do for an hour a day one day a week...it's who you are.

Telling the Muslim World to "get over it" is taking a highly simplistic approach to the problem.

Before you suggest it, no, I don't suggest we back down or apologize either.

This issue is also being manipulated by the dictatorships and imams (many of which are our friends) as a means to distract the population from legitimate problems (something I wrote in my first post --yet I'm Mr. Anti-Christian in this thread apparently )

I wish everybody could have hear the discussion on NPR, especially by a young female British-Muslim that has written an article on this, it was quite interesting...

[Nickdfresh]

Here's some Muslim views you're not seeing in the media (because they're not burning shit down).

What would Prophet Mohammed have done?
Tarek Fatah

Keep to forgiveness (O Mohammed),
and enjoin kindness,
and turn away from the ignorant.
- The Quran, Chapter 7, Verse 199

During his lifetime, Prophet Mohammed endured insults and ridicule on a daily basis. His opponents mocked his message and used physical violence to stop him from challenging the status quo.

At no stage during this ordeal did the Prophet lose his temper or react to these provocations. Tradition has it that he would, instead, offer a prayer of forgiveness to those who showed contempt for him.

Today, however, many followers of Prophet Mohammed are acting the exact opposite. Reacting to the provocative Danish cartoons about the Prophet, they are burning newspapers, threatening journalists, issuing bomb threats, yet claiming they are standing up for the Prophet himself.

I have seen the cartoons published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. There is no question they are meant to hurt the feelings of Muslims. As I saw them, I had to restrain my anger. Once more, Muslims were being depicted as a violent people. (One particularly derisive cartoon showed the Prophet wearing a turban with a bomb inside it.)

No one in the Muslim community is willing to buy into the notion that these cartoons were not meant to promote racism against Muslims. The editors may say otherwise, but the community knows better when it is depicted as the "other," to be scorned and sidelined.

Caricaturing racial minorities has been a tradition in Europe and North America since long before it became acceptable to deride Muslims. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it wasn't uncommon to see Jews and blacks depicted negatively. Today, thanks to the great work of many civil rights and anti-racism activists, no newspaper would invoke press freedom to depict Jews and blacks or their leaders the way the Danish paper depicted the Prophet.

Having said that, the way some Muslims have reacted to the provocation leaves a lot to be desired. Provoked, they walked blindfolded into a trap set for them, and came out worse than what they started with.

In Canada, we had a similar case, if not of the same magnitude. In the mid-90s, a Toronto man distributed highly inflammatory literature against Islam and the Prophet. Unlike our European colleagues and some fanatics of the Middle East, Canadian Muslims took up the case with the police and the gentleman was charged under Ontario hate laws and convicted. End of story.

In the Danish case, the Arab world's reaction, led by the Egyptian government, suggests there is more to it than meets the eye. Thousands in the Arab world have protested against the publication of the cartoons. The Danish paper has received bomb threats. Two armed groups threatened yesterday to target Frenchmen and Norwegians in the Palestinian territories, as well as Danes, after the caricatures were published in their countries.

Many believe that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's government is acting not for the love for Islam, but for love of the power it has usurped for decades.

Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy, a regular columnist for the London newspaper Sharq AlAwsat, wrote in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Dastour: "Perhaps the Muslim governments who spearheaded the campaign -- led by Egypt -- felt this was an easy way to burnish their Islamic credentials at a time when domestic Islamists are stronger than they have been in many years."

For the Arab League to demand that the Danish government shut down the newspaper Jyllands-Posten shows how deeply entrenched dictatorial practices are in many Muslim countries. They are so accustomed to closing down their own newspapers, they could not understand why the Danish government could not issue a decree closing the Jyllands-Posten.

This posturing by Arab governments and Islamist movements is not in the tradition of Islam. These zealots should ask the question: What would Prophet Mohammed have done when faced with this insult?

He would, I suggest, have said a prayer for the cartoonist and "turned away from the ignorant," as Allah commanded him to do in the Koran.

Tarek Fatah is a columnist for the Globe and Mail.



Mona Eltahawy: Boycott? Why? Cartoons are the least of our problems


01:25 PM CST on Sunday, February 5, 2006

Can we Muslims finally admit that our fellow Muslims have blown out of all proportion their outrage over 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper last September?

In the latest twist, both the Organization for the Islamic Conference and the Gulf Cooperation Council condemned a Norwegian newspaper for reprinting the drawings – a decision the publication defended as protecting freedom of expression. The initial printing of the cartoons in Denmark led to death threats against the artists, demonstrations in Kashmir and condemnation from 11 countries.

What did any of this achieve but prove the original point of the newspaper's culture editor, that artists in Europe were censoring themselves because they feared Muslim reaction? He commissioned the cartoons after hearing that Danish artists were too scared to illustrate a children's book about the prophet.

While one cartoon was particularly offensive because it showed the prophet wearing a turban with a bomb attached to it, a great deal of the anger had to do with the mere depiction of the prophet. Muslims seem to forget that just because they are prohibited from representing the prophet in any way, this does not apply to everybody else.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen was right not to intervene, insisting the government has no say over media – the argument used by Arab leaders when they are asked about anti-Semitism in their media, by the way. What should have remained a local issue turned into a diplomatic uproar that Muslims otherwise rarely provoke when fighting for their rights around the world. Perhaps the Muslim governments that spearheaded the campaign – led by Egypt – felt this was an easy way to burnish their Islamic credentials at a time when domestic Islamists are stronger than they have been in many years.

Must we really boycott Danish products? Of all the issues that plague the Muslim world today, are our priorities cartoons published in a newspaper in a country inhabited by less than 6 million people?

In the midst of the hysteria over the cartoons, here are a few facts we should remember. However offensive any of the 12 cartoons were, they did not incite violence against Muslims. Besides, the cartoon incident belongs at the very center of the kind of debate that Muslims must have in the European countries where they live – particularly after the Madrid train bombings of 2003 and the London subway bombings of 2005. While right-wing anti-immigration groups whip up Islamophobia in Denmark, Muslim communities wallow in denial over the increasing role of their own extremists.

For example, in August, Fadi Abdullatif, the spokesman for the Danish branch of the militant Hizb-ut-Tahrir, was charged with calling for the killing of members of the Danish government. Not only does Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which is banned in many Muslim countries, have a branch in Denmark, but Mr. Abdullatif has a history of calling for violence that he then justifies by referring to freedom of speech – the very notion the Danish newspaper made use of to publish the cartoons.

In October 2002, Mr. Abdullatif was convicted of using the Quran to justify incitement to violence against Jews. And we still wonder why people associate Islam with violence?

Muslims must honestly examine why there is such a huge gap between the way we imagine Islam and our prophet, and the way both are seen by others. Our offended sensibilities must not be limited to the Danish newspaper or the cartoonist, but to those like Fadi Abdullatif, whose actions should be regarded as just as offensive to Islam and to our reverence for the prophet. Otherwise, we are all responsible for those Danish cartoons.

Mona Eltahawy is an Egyptian commentator based in New York. This article is based on a column initially published in English in Lebanon's The Daily Star and in Arabic in Egypt's al-Dostour. Her Web site is www.monaeltahawy.com.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/points/stories/DN-mona_05edi.ART.State.Edition1.3ed14a8.html

[ULTRAMAN VH]

I never said all Muslims are suicide bombers, I should have been more specific. My bad. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how violent and dangerous certain factions of the Muslim community are. And I don't recall accusing you of being anti christian. At this point in my life, I am on the fence with organized religion. I may have came off as closed minded but I am not. Nick, I find it very disturbing that the Muslim community doe's not stand up and take action against these extremist's. Yes they condemn the behavior, but do not lift a finger to stop it. If I am wrong, please enlighten me on the matter. I would love to read your opinion.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by ULTRAMAN VH
I never said all Muslims are suicide bombers, I should have been more specific. My bad. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how violent and dangerous certain factions of the Muslim community are. And I don't recall accusing you of being anti christian. At this point in my life, I am on the fence with organized religion. I may have came off as closed minded but I am not. Nick, I find it very disturbing that the Muslim community doe's not stand up and take action against these extremist's. Yes they condemn the behavior, but do not lift a finger to stop it. If I am wrong, please enlighten me on the matter. I would love to read your opinion.

My point is that, Muslim extremists are used by their gov'ts to distract them from real issues... But those extremists are relative few. The point is that they are by no means supermen-fanatics...


My "anti-Christian" comment was a general one directed to others. But it's like you have to be one extreme of the other on this board with some people. Sorry for the confusion.

[singerman]

The guy who was sooo offended by the 'cartoons' and dressed up as a suicide bomber as a protest in London is now in jail,turns out he was out on bail for drug dealing, as some people know, taking drugs is a major sin for a muslim, so maybe thats were the problem lies, muslims are trying to live in a tolerant and changing,modern western world under their own islamic beliefs and as we all know Islam is a religeon that cannot cope with tolerance or change , this breeds confusion hence he found it right to protest in the name of Islam against cartoons but on the other hand found it perfectly acceptable to deal drugs.Then he gets his face on every front page on all the newspapers in the U.K , and as far as he was concerned and us for that matter he was representing all U.K muslims,...wonder what good he's done for ethnic relations after that little stunt....stupid little shit

[singerman]

Not all muslims are international terrorists....but all international terrorists are muslim

[ULTRAMAN VH]

Osama Bin Ladens father had several wive's and fathered about 28 children. I don't think womanizing is high on the list of good Islamic behavior. Hypocrite chips anyone????

[Cathedral]

Originally posted by Nickdfresh
I wasn't talking to you CAT...

I was merely answering the typical "all Muslims are fanatical suicide bombers" crap (the same stuff I've been hearing since I've been in high school during the Iran-Iraq War BTW) by the post just above mine...



I'll try to 'censure' my Iraq comments from now on so I don't offend you...

Naaaaaaa, no need to censure yourself, Nick. I happen to appreciate your honesty on such matters, though i sometimes miss your point at first.

There are lemons in every race, the muslims aren't special in that regard and people should know that.

The Oklahoma Bombings for instance....done by the hands of an American.

The scapegoat thing tends to bring comfort to people who don't want to acknowledge the truth that no race of people have a corner on the terror market.

[The_KiD]

There are currently approximately 1.4 billion Muslims... Fookin Frightening!

KiD

[FORD]

Originally posted by singerman
Not all muslims are international terrorists....but all international terrorists are muslim

Absolutely false, considering the ONLY international terrorist networks that exist are the CIA and Mossad.

[Cathedral]

And yes i said "Terror Market", because it is exactly that.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by singerman
Not all muslims are international terrorists....but all international terrorists are muslim

Only recently...

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by FORD
Absolutely false, considering the ONLY international terrorist networks that exist are the CIA and Mossad.

[singerman]

Originally posted by FORD
Absolutely false, considering the ONLY international terrorist networks that exist are the CIA and Mossad.

based on what evidence is the CIA an international terroist network and Bin Ladin's little gang isn't?

[FORD]

Originally posted by singerman
based on what evidence is the CIA an international terroist network and Bin Ladin's little gang isn't?

And who does Bin Laden work for?