Posted on 02/05/2006 11:46:47 AM PST by lancer
WASHINGTON: Tempered reaction among US Muslims to the row over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) can be partly attributed to their integration into American society, community leaders say.
Fear of reprisals and the fact that the offending cartoons have not been reprinted in any major US newspapers may also have contributed to the lack of street protests and violence, they add. “There is better integration here of communities into the general society than in Europe where integration has not been very effective,” Kareem Shora, of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said.
“This (controversy) echoes the historical problems that Europeans had with anti-Semitism,” he added. “Now Islamophobia seems to be an acceptable form of public discourse in Europe.”
Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News in the state of Michigan, which has the largest concentration of Arabs outside the Middle East, said he believes the country’s 6-7mn Muslims had not taken to the streets to express outrage in part because of fear of retaliation by authorities.
“People are scared,” he said. “We have a government saying it is spying on us and it’s scaring the living daylights out of people.
“But they still feel the same about this issue and are very angry.” Siblani blasted the cartoons as proof of Western insensitivity to Islam and double standards in dealing with the Muslim world. “The other day the president of Iran made a statement about the Holocaust and the whole world condemned him,” he said. “Here you have a statement offending 1.3bn people around the world. Why don’t we see condemnation?”
“There is one set of rules for the West and another set for everyone else,” he added. “Where do we draw the line on your freedom of speech and hurting my feelings and principles and irritating the hell out of me?”
Several community leaders warned that the crisis could easily escalate if the West fails to fully grasp the reasons behind the uproar over the cartoons, which have been printed in several European newspapers and which Muslims regard as blasphemous.
Islamic tradition bans depictions of the Prophet (pbuh). “Instead of encouraging constructive integration, this (cartoon controversy) does nothing but add to the divide and perception that there is an us-versus-them mentality,” Shora said.
He said ADC planned to meet next week with members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCRIF), a government body that promotes religious tolerance, to discuss the uproar.
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said he hoped the controversy would not escalate any further and that reason would win over violence.
“We hope and pray that cool heads will prevail in the next few days and weeks as this controversy comes to our shores,” he said. “That extremism and bigotry will not be allowed to shape the debate between America and the Muslim world.”
The United States backed Muslims on Friday against European newspapers that printed the blasphemous cartoons in a move that could help America’s battered image in the Islamic world.
Inserting itself into a dispute that has become a lightning rod for anti-European sentiment across the Muslim world, the United States sided with Muslims outraged that the publications put press freedom over respect for religion.
“These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims,” State Department spokesman Kurtis Cooper said in answer to a question.
“We all fully recognise and respect freedom of the press and expression, but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable.”
The United States stopped short of urging US media not to republish the cartoons.
American Muslims welcomed the position despite some misgivings that unpopular US policies such as the Iraq war and perceived pro-Israeli stances in the Palestinian conflict meant there was little America could do to repair its image.
"This very site," eh?
Well maybe JUST maybe the cartoons are evoking some hard "news" that necessitate an explanation for massive rioting and setting embassies on fire.
Funny how the liberal rags had no problem "egging on" leftists by publishing picture after picture, week after week of Abu Gahrib -- wasn't it?
Your Muslim apologist pro-censorship slant is odd, but predictable.
Your posts are getting more absurd by the day.
I just have to assume that wasn't meant for me (but then again...)
Exactly. Thank God for the Second Amendment. Without it, these snivelling murderous liars would be threatening us in our own cities right now.
Unity is very important and there's nothing like a threat from outside to strengthen the inside. Let's hope we all recognize the threat.
Up here in Michigan, largest collection of muslims in North America, we are a shall carry state. So, as the old saying goes, an armed society is a polite society.
These camel humpers came here because they got tired of eating sand; too much fiber. And don't like being hacked up.
"Oh, I am heartily tired of hearing about what Muslims are going to do. Some of you always seem to think they are suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land in our rear and on both of our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what are we going to do ourselves, instead of what they are going to do."
Oderint Dum Metuant
I fully expected you to be part of the "let's kill the Muslies" hoard.
The next time someone asks you what good your 2nd. Amendments rights are. Point out what is happening in Europe, and places that dont have them.
This is why the UN wants to take away those rights , so we are at the mercy of whoever wants to destroy us.
You havent seen anything out of the UN about Chavez buying 100,000 AK-47's have you??
Why don't WE see condemnation of the vile anti-Semetic 'cartoons' published by Muslim media outlets in the Middle East? (Internet's a bitch, isn't it?) It's okay to mock Israel and its people in Muslim cartoons, but when the table is turned, you Muslims squeal like...well, pigs.
By the way...great point about guns...Americans are NOT 'euro-weenies', and the Muslims KNOW it. Nothing worse than armed to the teeth Americans with a bad attitude.
The offspring of Ishmael are trully out of their mind!
Gen 16:11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her: "Behold, you are with child, And you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, Because the Lord has heard your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild man; His hand shall be against every man, And every man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
So how big is your 'Islam -- the Religion of Peace' tattoo?
At one time you at least used to make some sense.
Bingo! The more I read this crap about terrorists, I go to the range more frequently. But the wife says I'm spending too much money on new "toys" and ammo.
EVERY government has condemned the photos. Where has this guy been! It's just that no one is going to shut down the papers and punish the artists.
The reason this is important is that, you don't have to "go out of your way to piss off" the moslems. All you have to do is live your life anywhere near them without being one of them. These cartoons were apparently published last Fall and nobody gave a crap. Now, for some reason, the moslems have decided to dredge them up and make a worldwide issue of them. Doesn't that cause you to wonder what is going on? I seriously doubt we'd have burning consulates just because some cartoonist in Denmark had "bad manners." Who actually IS "egging the muslims on?"
" The difference being that this is being done in the name of their religion, and it's not just a handful of people."
Not only that, but it was ONE person.
Drawing an analogy to what the Muslims have just done, and this isolated incident only reinforce Sinky's jumping the shark looong ago.
Why not? The cartoons basically ask why Muslims have tolerated terrorists. It is a serious question, and the right people could hold a serious discussion around the dinner table.
Good manners are required in a workable, civil society.
No, good manners are DESIRED - but not required, for a workable, civil society. It just requires the emotional maturity to save taking offense for matters that require it.
There was nothing wrong with the cartoon showing an arab face with a bomb in the turban. Anyone who considers that justification for killing is not stable enough to be allowed to roam free in a workable, civil society.
You mean you weren't surprised either? I've noticed a pattern.
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