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Consider the Muslim view in this clash over cartoons-West's absolutes have limits in Islamic world
Houston Chronicle ^ | Feb. 7, 2006, 9:58PM | By EHSAN AHRARI

Posted on 02/08/2006 2:29:51 PM PST by weegee

The Danish newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad last September, but the backlash from that has sparked renewed anger in the Islamic world — the latest being the burning of the Norwegian and Danish embassies in Syria. The roots of it all actually go back to Sept. 11, 2001, which created a highly charged environment where apparently, no subject is sacred in the West, especially topics related to Muslims and Islam.

The embassy burnings are reminiscent of another controversy that brewed in 1988 and still simmers today. Salman Rushdie — then an obscure novelist of Muslim-Indian origin, wrote The Satanic Verses, in which he attempted to defile Islam. After the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's fatwa (edict) calling for Rushdie's death, Rushdie became, in Western eyes, a champion of freedom of expression. In Muslim countries, he instantly became an embodiment of Satan.

Now world attention is focused on European newspapers — notably in Denmark, Norway and France — that published insulting cartoons of the Prophet of Islam. In the West, freedom of expression is considered sacred. For some, that freedom is absolute, even allowing someone to insult a person's faith. In Muslim countries, there are equally absolute standards regarding Islam, and there, nothing and no one is above Islam, and love and respect for the Prophet are requirements for adherents to the Muslim faith.

On this issue, the long-standing chasm between the West and the world of Islam is getting wider. It may even be heading toward a "civilizational war" like the one Samuel Huntington (wrongly) described as occurring in the early 1990s in his book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States clearly widened that chasm. Osama bin Laden emerged as a new hero in the Muslim world and villain in the West. But he caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people, so why should he be admired for that? The answer lies not in the Sept. 11 attacks, but in the context of a larger struggle taking place inside the world of Islam.

Among Muslim regimes, the dominance of the United States and the West has been taken for granted. And in those countries, there is little hope about the prospects of political change and economic progress. Moreover, the rot of authoritarianism, nepotism and corruption has been so entrenched that people cannot realistically aspire to be free, prosperous or see prospects of technological advance.

To most Muslims, the West appears content about the state of backwardness, obscurantism and darkness that currently prevails in Muslim countries in the Middle East and elsewhere. And along comes bin Laden, who voices anger over the state of affairs in the world of Islam.

People do not necessarily buy into his murderous philosophy of transnational terrorism, but they agree with his criticism of what is wrong with the world of Islam and why it remains backward.

Freedom of speech is indeed a noble idea. To state that it should have no limits (or that it should be absolute) may be a useful academic exercise, but we also need to keep in mind that exercising that freedom could also lead to the same kind of terrible consequences as when someone yells "fire" in a packed theater.

To Muslims, the West appears stubbornly against compromising on the freedom of expression, and they see hypocrisy in this because this freedom is not as absolute as it is pretended to be in some quarters. Nothing in human affairs can be "absolute."

And at the same time, Muslims are equally uncompromising and "absolute" in their responses to anyone being disrespectful of their religion and their Prophet.

So how to end the confrontation?

In a world that is more of a global village than ever before, there must be compromises. Muslims make a point of not insulting Christians about their faith.

As a quid pro quo, a similar courtesy is warranted toward their religion. As the recent violence underscores, the global village is like a packed theater. Good judgment is a requirement before yelling "fire," even in the name freedom of expression.

--Ahrari is the CEO of Strategic Paradigms, an Alexandria, Va.-based defense consultancy, who writes frequently about issues in the Middle East and South Asia.


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 12cartoons; cartoonrage; warofthe12cartoons
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To: All

This is getting curiouser and curiouser ... apparently these same cartoons were published in an Egyptian paper last October ( during Ramadan, no less.) Did I miss the Boycott Egypt campaign?

http://egyptiansandmonkey.blogspot.com/2006/02/boycott-egypt.html


61 posted on 02/08/2006 3:02:57 PM PST by sono (Ted Kennedy's naming his dog Splash is like Jack Abramoff naming his dog Bribe.)
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To: weegee
They can all go take a dump in their turbans.
62 posted on 02/08/2006 3:03:09 PM PST by conservativecorner
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To: weegee
Riots and beheadings resulted from those journalistic endeavors too.

It's not like these idiots need a reason to riot. We can not be bound by whatever their latest "offense" is. Al Qaeda bombed the trains in Spain because of the Reconquesta in the 15th Century, for cryin' out loud. It's not like the Spanish were going to back and put a Band-Aid on that boo-boo.

63 posted on 02/08/2006 3:06:17 PM PST by gridlock (eliminate perverse incentives)
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To: All
ON THE NET...

FOX NEWS.com (AP): " RICE: SYRIA, IRAN INFLAMED VIOLENCE" (February 8, 2006)

ASSIST NEWS SERVICE: "CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS, FREE SPEECH RIGHTS UNDER PRESSURE FROM RADICAL ISLAM Intimidation factor is real following riots and death threats" by Mark Ellis (February 7, 2006)

Off-Topic.INTERNET-HAGANAH.COM: "YEAH, THAT'S A PAROLE VIOLATION...(February 7, 2006)

News.BBC.co.uk: "CARTOON PROTESTER WAS DRUG DEALER" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A Muslim demonstrator who imitated a suicide bomber in London to protest over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad is a convicted drug dealer. Omar Khayam, 22, of Bedford, was jailed in 2002 and released on licence last year after serving half of his sentence for dealing heroin and cocaine.") (Last updated February 7, 2006)
WorldNetDaily.com: "'MUHAMMAD CARTOON' PROVED FAKE Imam added 3 especially provocative images to fuel outrage" (February 8, 2006)

MilitantIslamMonitor (TELEGRAPH.co.uk): "MUSLIMS CLERICS WHO 'DIALOUGED' WITH DANES WENT TO MIDDLE EAST TO INCITE VIOLENCE WITH FAKED MOHAMMED CARTOONS" (February 7, 2006)

MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 1087: "HAMAS LEADER KHALED MASH'AL AT A DAMASCUS MOSQUE: THE NATION OF ISLAM WILL SIT AT THE THONE OF THE WORLD AND THE WEST WILL BE FULL OF REMORSE - WHEN IT'S TOO LATE" (February 7, 2006)

TrackingAlQueda.blogspot.com: "FEBRUARY 13, 2006 THE NEW EMBASSY BURNING DAY" (February 7, 2006)

TrackingAlQueda.com: "2/10/2006 - Embassy Burning Day" (February 4, 2006)

"www.mohajroon.com/vb"

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "HOW THE BROTHERS ATTACKED THE WEBSITE OF JYLLANDS-POSTEN." (February 7, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "ISLAMIST HACKER SITE 3ASFH.NET/.COM - DOWN" (February 8, 2006)

JAMESTOWN.org - Terrorism Focus: "INTERNET MUJAHIDEEN REFINE ELECTRONIC WARFARE TACTICS" by Stephen Ulph (February 7, 2006)

DANIELPIPES.org (NEW YORK SUN): "CARTOONS AND ISLAMIC IMPERIALISM" by Daniel Pipes (February 7, 2006)

DANIELPIPES.org (NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE): "THE CLASH TO END ALL CLASHES?  Making sense of the cartoon jihad" by Daniel Pipes (February 7, 2006)

LittleGreenFootballs - Weblog (TELEGRAPH.co.uk): "RADICAL CLERIC: CARTOONIST SHOULD BE EXECUTED" (February 6, 2006)

Google - News Search: "OMAR BAKRI [Mohammed]"

JIHAD WATCH.org (SA via News24.com): "'We swear to God, if we catch one of their citizens in Iraq, we will cut him to pieces, to take revenge for prophet'" (February 6, 2006)

JPOST.com - JERUSALEM POST: "IRANIAN PAPER RUNS HOLOCAUST CONTEST" (Updated February 6, 2006)

JIHAD WATCH.org (ABC.net.au): "TWO KILLED IN AFGHAN ANTI-CARTOON PROTEST" (February 6, 2006)

JIHAD WATCH.org (AP): "TURKEY: CATHOLIC PRIEST SHOT, KILLED BY ASSAILANT SHOUTING 'ALLAHU AKBAR'" (February 6, 2006)

OnlineJihad.blogspot.com: "ITALIAN PRIEST KILLED IN TURKEY - No Apology from Turkish Prime Minister" (February 5, 2006)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: Beirut - "SYRIA SEEN AS INSTIGATOR" (February 7, 2006)

GlobalPolitician.com: "BEIRUT MOB TORCHES CONSULATE" by Jeremy Reynalds (February 6, 2006)

LittleGreenFootballs.com - Weblog - (TheAge.com.au): "CARTOON JIHAD IN NEW ZEALAND" (February 5, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "VOTE EARLY, VOTE OFTEN" (February 5, 2006)

IslamOnline.net - Views and Analyses: "CARTOONS OF THE PROPHET: A PITFALL TRAP" by Dal Nun Strong, Freelance Writer - UK (February 5, 2006)

THE COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG: "MORE LIES FROM DANISH IMAMS" (February 4, 2006)

MICHELLE MALKIN.com: "IT IS NOT A 'ROW'" (February 4, 2006)

ASSIST NEWS SERVICE: "ISLAMIC ANGER AGAINST PUBLICATION OF CARTOONS GROWS Dishonor Muhammad and Risk Execution" by Jeremy Reynalds (February 4, 2006)

AS-SAWAH.com: "The Ruling on the One Who Insults the Prophet of Allah" -posted by "terrorthreat" on February 2, 2006

JIHAD WATCH.org (BBC): "NORWEGIAN EMBASSY IN DAMASCUS TORCHED ALSO" (February 4, 2006)

JIHAD WATCH.org (AP): "DANISH EMBASSY IN DAMASCUS ABLAZE" (February 4, 2006)

BBC NEWS.co.uk: "TWO JORDAN EDITORS ARE ARRESTED" (February 4, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "E-CFR.ORG: CURRENT SITE OF THE 'EUROPEAN' COUNCIL FOR FATWA AND RESEARCH" (February 4, 2006)

JIHAD WATCH.org: "'you have started it, you are nurturing it and don't blame the muslims for their actions'" (February 4, 2006)

AFTENPOSTEN.no/english: "NORWAY USED AS TERROR BASE Islamic extremists are using Norway as a base for terrorist operations overseas, but the head of Norway's security police claims they're being watched." (February 3, 2006)

BRUSSELS JOURNAL.com: "'THE WAR IS ON'" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Yesterday (Thursday) Mullah Krekar, the alleged leader of the Islamist group Ansar al-Islam who has been living in Norway as a refugee since 1991, said that the publication of the Muhammad cartoons was a declaration of war. "The war has begun," he told Norwegian journalists. Mr Krekar said Muslims in Norway are preparing to fight. "It does not matter if the governments of Norway and Denmark apologize, the war is on.") (February 3, 2006)
AFTENPOSTEN.no/english: Aftenposten.no - Search Term: "KREKAR"

Google - Search Term: "KREKAR"

TrackingAlQaeda.blogspot.com: "EUROPEAN SITES HACKED BY MUSLIMS OUTRAGED OVER CARTOONS" (February 3, 2006)

MICHELLE MALKIN.com: "IN THEIR OWN WORDS" (February 3, 2006)

MICHELLE MALKIN.com: "THE 'INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ANGER'" (February 3, 2006)

JIHAD WATCH.org (THESUN.co.uk): "'I love Al-Qaida' -- On London Baby's Bonnet" (February 4, 2006)

THE COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG: "'We Want Blood on the Streets of England'"(February 3, 2006)

alghurabaa.co.uk: "Kill those who insult the Prophet Muhammad (saw)"

INFOVLAD.net: "BOYCOTTING DANISH PRODUCTS GOES ON" (February 3, 2006)

FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE.com: "MUSLIMS AGAINST THE CARTOON JIHAD" by Kamal Nawash (February 3, 2006)

ISLAMONLINE.net: Cairo - "WARNINGS CARTOONS RISK VIOLENCE" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by a Danish daily and other European newspapers are risking to trigger acts of violence around the world, officials and commentators warn." (February 2, 2006)
THE COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG: "FABRICATED CARTOONS WORSENED DANISH CONTROVERSY" (February 2, 2006)

DAVIDS MEDIENKRITIK - blog: "WITH DENMARK: United Against Islamic Intolerance Time to Stand Up to Islama-Bullying: BUY DANISH!"

DAVIDS MEDIENKRITIK - blog: "DANISH CARTOONS: GERMAN JOURNALIST ASSOCIATION SAYS 'NO'...MAKE THAT 'YES'" (February 1, 2006)

THE COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG: "MUJAHIDEEN ARMY CALLS UPON FIGHTERS TO ATTACK DENMARK AND NORWAY" (January 31, 2006)

JIHAD WATCH.org (AFP): "FATWA AGAINST DANISH TROOPS" (January 31, 2006)

THE COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG: "DANISH LEFTIST GROUP OPENLY FUNDING TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS" -Posted by Olivier Guitta (January 29, 2006)

TrackingAlQueda.blogspot.com: "MUSLIMS BEGIN PING FLOOD AGAINST JYLLANDS-POSTEN" (January 29, 2006)

INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "THE DANISH THREAT This latest threat from the 'Glory Brigades in Northern Europe' targets Denmark" (January 28, 2006)

"www.internet-haganah.com/hmedia/28jan06-denmark/index.htm" (January 28, 2006

TrackingAlQueda.blogspot.com: "Denmark is next - BOLO Denmark!!!" (January 27, 2006)

LittleGreenFootballs.com - Weblog: "The Cartoon Jihad" (January 27, 2006)

"www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/"

INFOVLAD.net: "NEXT TARGET - DENMARK?" (October 15, 2005)

64 posted on 02/08/2006 3:06:27 PM PST by Cindy
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To: weegee

Ah this aint the Islamic world bub.


65 posted on 02/08/2006 3:07:22 PM PST by calljack (Sometimes your worst nightmare is just a start.)
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To: weegee
Sura 9:5 of the “Koran,” “Slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush.”

This IStm Billy Jeff their official view! Your mere presence on their planet is excused for them to murder you, your children, your parents,!!!


Aap aap ahh dap dap!!!!!
It's a religion of peace
It's a religion of peace



It aint Slim W, but this'll gitr done!
Kill A Commie For Mommie

Seven Dead Monkeys Page O Tunes

66 posted on 02/08/2006 3:10:41 PM PST by rawcatslyentist ("Monkeys are not Donkeys, quit messing with my mind"-- Professor Farnsworth)
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To: weegee
When people ask for reformation of Islam, I say return to the original Judeo-Christian Bible as either Jews (if they still won't accept Jesus) or Christians.

C.S. Lewis called islam "the greatest of the Christian heresies", greatest here meaning "most successful".

67 posted on 02/08/2006 3:14:49 PM PST by Argus
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To: All
More from the Comical today on this issue:

There seems to be a script for some part of the anger (war of the 12 cartoons)

68 posted on 02/08/2006 3:18:23 PM PST by weegee (We are all Danes now.)
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To: sono

I'm still boycotting Egypt for the next few decades. Until I am certain that those who cheered on 9/11 have passed on.


69 posted on 02/08/2006 3:20:08 PM PST by weegee (We are all Danes now.)
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To: weegee
And at the same time, Muslims are equally uncompromising and "absolute" in their responses to anyone being disrespectful of their religion and their Prophet.

"Pigman, Pigman, ha ha charade you are.....!"

70 posted on 02/08/2006 3:22:31 PM PST by cardinal4
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To: dynachrome; weegee; CWOJackson
"Muslims make a point of not insulting Christians about their faith. "

Broke my BS meter.

No mention of the Jews I note.

Apparently, murdering young Christian girls in Indonesia over the holidays was the opening salvo in this compromise solution of which the writer mentions.

Nor does he realize that the Muslims have made a wasteland out of the Christian sections of the Sudan. Maybe they just refrained from swearing in the Lord's name or something as they were doing the killing. /sarc

And someone might want to point out to him that the animated cartoons-aimed at children that run on both Iranian state-run and Palestinian television-depicting the glory of becoming martyrs by way of blowing one's self up in a crowd of people of a different religion might make it hard to negotiate with future generations.

71 posted on 02/08/2006 3:25:29 PM PST by 101st-Eagle (Imagination is more important than knowledge-Albert Einstein..)
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To: weegee
Muslims make a point of not insulting Christians about their faith.

That is absolutely NOT true.

The author of this article has his head in the sand (or somewhere..).

72 posted on 02/08/2006 3:25:49 PM PST by EternalHope (Boycott everything French forever. Including their vassal nations.)
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To: 101st-Eagle

The islam-o-nazis will keep some Christians alive...... as slaves.


73 posted on 02/08/2006 3:28:46 PM PST by dynachrome ("Where am I? Where am I going? Why am I in a handbasket?")
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To: rawcatslyentist

Getting cranked off over a couple cartoons is also idolatry. Most are not buying it.


74 posted on 02/08/2006 3:30:48 PM PST by RightWhale (pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
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To: weegee

Among the many foolish misjudgments reflected in this column, one of the worst is the author's simple inability to grasp that we are not talking about (let's hope!!) Islamic societies when we are discussing free expression in Europe and the USA. It is not up to Muslims anywhere to tell US whether we can be "absolutist" or not about any of our constitutional principles and traditions. These jackals think they should rule the world and tell Denmark what it's laws should be, etc. This is all a stalking horse for the real problem, the deranged inability of these medieval lunatics to stay in their own hellhole societies and stop telling the rest of us to live under Sharia.


75 posted on 02/08/2006 3:31:59 PM PST by Enchante (Democrats: "We are ALL broken and worn out, our party & ideas, what else is new?")
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To: weegee
And at the same time, Muslims are equally uncompromising and "absolute" in their responses to anyone being disrespectful of their religion and their Prophet. So how to end the confrontation?

Send 'em back to the Ummah, and build a tall fence.

76 posted on 02/08/2006 3:32:58 PM PST by Jim Noble (And you know what I'm talkin' 'bout!)
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To: Enchante
This clown is a groveling, sniveling apologist for terrorism, period. He should not be receiving any US government money, and he should not be accorded the slightest respect by anyone who is not also an apologist for Bin Laden. Does any sane, rational person think that Bin Laden's movement is about making the world of Islamo-fascists any less "backward" when their most fervent hopes and goals are all about going back to medieval Sharia and a worldwide "Caliphate"?????? This author is a nutcase....

And ya know, I'm watching this stuff play out surfing TV in the last day or two, and I'm watching these same tired theatrics most of of have seen overplayed since the hostage crisis (thank you Jimmy Carter)

What the hell is it with that one thing they do by beating on their foreheads? Does anyone know what is behind that smooth move?

77 posted on 02/08/2006 3:34:42 PM PST by 101st-Eagle (Imagination is more important than knowledge-Albert Einstein..)
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To: msnimje
Newsflash: Islamofacists will find the motivation to riot, rape, kill and pillage on a cereal box. Anybody who thinks otherwise is stupid and dangerous.

Furthermore, some of the scum that pulled off 9/11 were at a titty bar getting s-faced and bragging the night before.

So much for the "cleanliness" of the martyrs. Yet they are idolized back home and even here(scumbags like Ward Churchill and Oliver Stone). Oh, what purity! /sarc!

78 posted on 02/08/2006 3:40:46 PM PST by 101st-Eagle (Imagination is more important than knowledge-Albert Einstein..)
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To: weegee
Among Muslim regimes, the dominance of the United States and the West has been taken for granted. And in those countries, there is little hope about the prospects of political change and economic progress. Moreover, the rot of authoritarianism, nepotism and corruption has been so entrenched that people cannot realistically aspire to be free, prosperous or see prospects of technological advance.

The author would have us believe that if left to their own devices, the Islamic world would be prosperous and advance technologically. This may be the biggest lie in the entire piece. It is precisely because the Islamic world cannot compete with the rest of the world that they wish to destroy it.

For a time in the past century, many Islamic countries tried to become a part of the world system hoping to advance, but they failed miserably. Their culture and the religion upon which it is based keep them backward and unable to compete with other cultures in any field of creation - art, wealth, science, industry, medicine, and all others. What is left is the satanic world of destruction and death, fields at which they have long excelled.

Should Islam in the end rule, the world will be pulled down to their abysmal level and today's Islamic nations will be even worse off than they are now. Perhaps this will make them happy because at least no infidel nation will be better off than them. These descendent's of Ishmael are quite literally bastards.

79 posted on 02/08/2006 3:42:12 PM PST by Jeff F
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To: weegee
This is the only "Muslim view" I am interested in...


80 posted on 02/08/2006 3:50:54 PM PST by montag813
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