I’m with Brownie and Gene of Harry’s Place, who seem to agree that “no constructive purpose can be served by the publication of the [Muhammad caricatures] in other journals across Europe,” and that “anyone encouraging publication, in this country [Britain] or any other, relishes confrontation more than they care about reconciliation.”
Marcus writes: “This Danish cartoon business is rapidly turning into mainland Europe’s version of the Satanic Verses affair.” But there’s one big difference: The Satanic Verses is a grandly conceived work of art. These newspaper cartoons are just incendiary piffle.
However, I entirely agree with Gene that “those who demonstrate in London and elsewhere with signs saying ‘Massacre those who insult Islam’ … and similar vile slogans are vastly more contemptible than the newspaper editors who published the offending cartoons in the first place.” I’ve also seen placards calling for beheadings — and this in the streets of Europe. In Britain they’re chanting, “UK, you must pray, 7/7 on the way.” In Damascus, the Norwegian and Danish embassies have been set on fire. What a great way to protest cartoons that portray Islam as violent.
P.S. — Slate‘s Daniel Kimmage has a roundup of reactions from Arab journalists, many of them well-considered, but with this notable exception:
Abdallah Bin Bakhit asked, “While the Danish government claims that the publication of the caricatures falls under freedom of opinion as guaranteed by the Danish Constitution, would it respond with the same claim if a researcher had published a report on the Holocaust challenging the official opinion imposed by Jewish organizations?”
Mr. Bakhit should answer his own question and issue his own report on the Holocaust. Mustn’t allow those “Jewish organizations” to have the last word.
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