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Beirut (AsiaNews) A year ago, on 30 September 2005, in Denmark, 12 satirical cartoons about Muhammad were published, sparking a controversy that inflamed the Muslim world. Recently, we have witnessed a remake, a sort of “Cartoons no.2”, with the reaction of the Muslim world to the speech of the pope in Regensburg. These facts, like the threats against an opera of Mozart in Berlin, or against a French teacher, reveal two very worrying phenomena: the easy use of violence in Islam, together with its inability to dialogue; the West, especially Europe, as a big coward that is losing its identity....

Religious fanatics, regardless of what name they give their jealous god, invariably have one thing in common: no sense of humor. Particularly about themselves. It's hard to imagine Torquemada taking a joke well. Today's Islamists seem to have not even a sense of irony. They fail to see the richness of the following sequence. The Pope makes a reference to a 14th-century Byzantine emperor's remark about Islam imposing itself by the sword, and to protest this linking of Islam and violence: In the West Bank and Gaza, Muslims attack seven churches. In London, the ever-dependable radical Anjem Choudary tells a...

At the height of the war in Lebanon two months ago, an assortment of Arabs, British Muslims, radical socialists and bleeding heart liberals marched through the streets of London with placards proclaiming "we are all Hezbollah." Since Pope Benedict XVI delivered his scholarly but contentious lecture in Regensburg last Wednesday, an equally unlikely assortment of individuals bound by a common distaste for Islamist terrorism have been whispering the counter-proclamation: "We are all Papists now." Before rushing to take rival positions in the trench warfare of civilisations, it is prudent to remember that the contemporary Islamist assault on the "decadent" West,...

Understanding Benedict By DANIEL JOHNSON September 18, 2006 Many people, Catholics no less than non-Catholics, are bewildered and dismayed by the sudden firestorm of Muslim hostility that has overtaken Pope Benedict XVI since his lecture in Regensburg last Tuesday. The most charitable interpretation, said one BBC correspondent, is that he is culpably naïve — that he simply forgot that he was speaking not as a scholar to his peers, but as pope. Even his defenders have suggested that it was a faux pas to quote a 14th-century Byzantine emperor on the subject of Muhammad. Surely, they say, it was an...

The pope blinked. He picked a fight with Islam. Then he gave Islam a victory. All of this was unnecessary. Pope Benedict XVI, an erudite theologian, decided he needed to play an academic game with Islam. In furtherance of open dialogue between world religions, he decided it would be helpful to quote a 14th-century Byzantine emperor’s disparagement of Mohammad. The Islamic world, apparently lacking the pope’s sophistication, responded violently. The Islamic world still operates on a 14th-century paradigm. In the Palestinian areas, Muslims started burning churches. Priests disappeared in Baghdad. There were Catholic priests still operating freely in Baghdad?A nun,...

SYDNEY'S Catholic Archbishop has hit out at Muslims protesting over comments by the Pope, saying their reaction shows the link in Islam between religion and violence. Cardinal George Pell has also labelled the response of some Australian Muslim leaders to the issue as "unhelpful". A wave of protest has erupted among Muslims across the globe after comments by Pope Benedict XVI, in which he quoted an obscure medieval text that criticised some teachings of the Prophet Mohammed as "evil and inhuman". The Pope has since said he is "deeply sorry" for the outrage sparked by his remarks and stressed they...

According to the website Islam Memo, one Christian was killed in Baghdad after the Pope's speech two days ago. The speech created a wave of anger throughout the Islamic world, including Iraq. A poster has been placed in many Baghdad mosques for the previously unknown group, "Kataab Ashbal Al Islam Al Salafi,". This group threatens to kill all Christians in Iraq if the Pope does not apologize in three days in front of the whole world to Mohammed.

A notorious Muslim extremist told a demonstration in London yesterday that the Pope should face execution. Anjem Choudary said those who insulted Islam would be "subject to capital punishment". His remarks came during a protest outside Westminster Cathedral on a day that worldwide anger among Muslim hardliners towards Pope Benedict XVI appeared to deepen. The pontiff yesterday apologised for causing offence during a lecture last week. Quoting a medieval emperor, his words were taken to mean that he called the prophet Mohammed "evil and inhuman". He insisted he was "deeply sorry" but his humbling words did not go far enough...

'Remarks Not My Views' Updated: 18:52, Sunday September 17, 2006 The Pope has appeared in public to say the remarks he made about Islam which sparked fury across the Muslim world did not in any way reflect his personal views. Benedict XVI had been under pressure to make a personal apology following a controversial speech he made in Germany on Tuesday. In the Somalian capital Mogadishu an Italian nun was attacked and killed by gunmen. Sources said there was a very high possibility the incident was linked to the speech. The Pope told a crowd at his summer retreat at...

Islam, which if an apology must be offered, is the only kind he should utter: The Holy Father thus sincerely regrets that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful, and should have been interpreted in a manner that in no way corresponds to his intentions. On Sunday, he reiterated: Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction sparked by his speech about Islam and holy war and said the text did not reflect his personal opinion. "These (words) were in fact a quotation from a medieval...

A spokesman for the Australian Muslim community says Pope Benedict XVI should give a full explanation for his comments about Islam. The pontiff has sparked widespread outrage after last week quoting a 14th century Byzantine emperor who said innovations introduced by the Prophet Mohammed were "evil and inhuman". He has since apologised. The head of the Federal Government's Islamic advisory committee, Dr Ameer Ali, says there is disappointment that Pope Benedict has linked Islam to violence. "We expect the Pope to follow the footsteps of his predecessor, who had been a great builder among communities for so many years, and...

The Holy Father gave his Angelus address today at Castlegandolfo. At the beginning he departed from his text many times to console those present who were being treated to heavy rain. The press reacted instantly, stating that the Pope apologized. However, if you listen to what he said, he did not. Let’s look at the Italian and figure out what the Pope really said (which was broadcast live by Al-Jazeera, among others). Yes, he spoke of the reaction of muslims to his address in Regensburg. He said that he was "vivamente rammaricato" ... "deeply regretful" about the reactions resultings over...

Could there possibly be any media bias in this AP report via Yahoo: A Palestinian security officer holds his weapon as he guard the entrance of the St. Perfidious Greek Orthodox Church after it was attacked by militants in Gaza City, Saturday Sept. 16, 2006. Palestinians wielding guns, firebombs and lighter fluid attacked four churches in the West Bank town of Nablus on Saturday, while gunmen opened fire at a fifth in Gaza, following remarks by Pope Benedict XVI that many Muslims view as disparaging. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra) That struck me as a strange name for a saint, so I...

In an incredibly clumsy attempt to initiate a dialogue among diverse cultures and religions, Pope Benedict XVI has inadvertently incurred the wrath of Muslims around the world. A growing number of people are expressing outrage over a speech delivered by the Pppe in Germany on Tuesday, in which he seemed to endorse the erroneous belief that early Muslims spread their religion through violence. Sadly, the pope's call for a calm and rational dialogue - something the world very obviously urgently needs - has been lost in the midst of all the fury. The outrage in response to the pope's remarks...

Depressing Times Oriana Fallaci, RIP, the Pope, and a Sad Age Rarely has the death of a public intellectual affected me as much as the passing of Oriana Fallaci. I never met her, and only received a brief note once from her accompanying a copy of The Rage and the Pride. The story of her career is well known, but her death, at this pivotal time, was full of paradoxes and yet instruction as well. Radical Islam is, among other things, a patriarchal movement, embedded particularly in the cult of the Middle-Eastern male, who occupies a privileged position in a...

Iranian hardline newspapers said there were signs of an Israeli-US plot behind comments by Pope Benedict XVI that linked Islam to violence and sparked a wave of anger among Muslims all over the world. The daily Jomhuri Islami said Israel and the United States could have dictated the remarks to distract attention from the resistance of Hizbullah to Israel's offensive on Lebanon. "The reality is that if we do not consider Pope Benedict XVI to be ignorant of Islam, then his remarks against Islam are a dictat that the Zionists and the Americans have written (for him) and have submitted...

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction sparked by his speech about Islam and holy war and said the text did not reflect his personal opinion.

Italian media report security around Benedict XVI tightened following harsh responses to his remarks on Islam; pope expected to deliver weekly sermon from his summer home on Sunday, but it remains unclear whether he will address international uproar Nir Magal and agencies Published: 09.17.06, 00:00 Italian media reported that security around Pope Benedict XVI has been beefed up following the harsh responses to his remarks on Islam. On Sunday the pope is expected to deliver his weekly sermon from his summer home, and it is still not clear whether he will address the international uproar his comments have stirred. In...

The FOXNews website reports:A Christian leader — the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church — said the pope's comments went "against the teachings of Christ." Coptic Pope Shenouda III told Egypt's pro-government Al-Ahram newspaper that "any remarks which offend Islam and Muslims are against the teachings of Christ."

Saudi Arabia yesterday urged Pope Benedict XVI to issue a statement clarifying his stand on Islam and its teachings after his provocative statement on Tuesday denigrating Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).In a message to his Vatican counterpart, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal denounced the pope’s allegation that the Prophet spread Islam with sword and his move to justify Crusade wars launched against Muslims.In his speech, Benedict cited an obscure Medieval text that characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman,” particularly “his command to spread by the sword the faith.” Prince...