Wednesday, February 08, 2006

The Timing of the Danish Cartoon Riots

The only thing more endless than arguing the issues of 'freedom of speech', vs. 'respect for Religion Islam' is trying to make sense out of the general sequence of events.

The issue of the Danish cartoons started 5 months ago causing some outrage, then dies down, but then erupts again--in fury, burnings, and death.

According to Rachel Ehrenfeld:
The riots started after Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Denmark; after Sheikh Osama Khayyat, imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, praised on national Saudi television the Saudi government for its action; and after Sheikh Ali Al-Hudaify, imam of the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, called "upon governments, organizations and scholars in the Islamic world to extend support for campaigns protesting the sacrilegious attacks on the Prophet."
But why now, 5 months later? One suggestion making the rounds is from the Civitas blog:

But who wanted or caused the heat to become so turned up and why at that this particular moment?

The clue to the answers to this second question lies in a second event almost certain to occur to today, if it has not already happened by the time this blog gets posted. This is the likely decision today in Vienna by the International Atomic Energy Agency to report Iran to the UN Security Council for continuing with its programme of nuclear research. If that decision should occur, when the UN Security Council gets round to considering what form of sanctions to impose on Iran, guess to whom chairmanship of the Council will have passed. You’ve got it... plucky little Denmark.

Suddenly, the pieces fall into shape. The rumpus suddenly escalated, complete with fabricated offensive cartoons, to so enflame Muslim opinion that Denmark could be intimidated directly through a threatened Muslim boycott of its goods, or indirectly by the EU fearful of a wider boycott, into voting in favour of Iran.

But if this started with Saudia Arabia withdrawing its ambassador, would that imply Iran is being aided by Saudi Arabia in creating the outrage? You can get a headache creating scenarios--let the pundits do that...

I thought that Iraq the Model had an interesting comment on the protests and riots:
I give up! I have to comment on the general situation…
I swear that 90%+ of the protestors in Muslim countries have not seen the cartoons and do not know the name of the paper and when I say that I'm sure of it because I have access to the web 24/7 and I spent a really long time searching for the cartoons and couldn’t find them until a friend emailed me a link and.

You know that those cartoons were published for the 1st time months ago and we here in the Middle East have tonnes of jokes about Allah, the prophets and the angels that are way more offensive, funny and obscene than those poorly-made cartoons, yet no one ever got shot for telling one of those jokes or at least we had never seen rallies and protests against those infidel joke-tellers.


On the one hand, this seems to confirm the claim that to an alarming degree the riots are staged--though Iraq the Model believes the motive is to distract the international community from the various regimes. On the other hand, it is reassuring to read about the degree of normalcy in how Moslems see themselves and Islam.

In that context, it is important to note the site that is apologizing to Denmark for the violence:
In the middle of all the mayhem surrounding the Danish cartoons controversy, a group of Arab and Muslim youth have set up this website to express their honest opinion, as a small attempt to show the world that the images shown of Arab and Muslim anger around the world are not representative of the opinions of all Arabs. We whole-heartedly apologize to the people of Denmark, Norway and all the European Union over the actions of a few, and we completely condemn all forms of vandalism and incitement to violence that the Arab and Muslim world have witnessed. We hope that this sad episode will not tarnish the great friendship that our peoples have fostered over decades.
You really should read the whole thing if you have not seen it yet.

Maybe that light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming train after all...

Update:

See Keshertalk who also delves into the issue of the timing of the riots and also draws a comparison to Sharon's trip to the Temple Mount that supposedly triggered the second Intifada

Other posts here on the topic of the Danish cartoons:

o The Denmark Cartoons and Moslem Moderation 2/15/06
o The Danish Cartoons and the Hijacking of Islam 2/9/06
o Comparing the Danish Cartoons to Der Sturmer? 2/7/06
o Translation of the Danish Moslem Delegation Letter 2/6/06
o The Anti-Denmark Riots: Has Pallywood Gone Global? 2/5/06
o Cartoon Irony 2/5/06
o Denmark and the Cartoon Defense 2/2/06


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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice thought on the subject of the infamous cartoons.

I’m Danish and more and more amazed of the turn the events are taking. One thing is that a newspaper prints the pictures (I am not to say weather this is acceptable or stupid), but another is burning down buildings, opting for beheading of Danes, issuing a “fatwa” against the artists. and latest killing a Christian minister in the name of the conflict.

Pretty serious stuff if you ask me. Really a shame for the moderate Islamists that believe in non-violent action and dialog.

Worst of all is that many of the most radical groups blame Denmark, and not the newspaper. So I am actually indirectly on a “death list” with all my fellow countrymen.

The whole situation is so complex and there are too many rumours running. Lately it is hard to know what to believe, but I for one is happy that I am not residing in one of the countries with the more aggressive mob.

Daled Amos said...

This has progressed far beyond philosophical questions of freedom of speech, though that topic is still being bantered about.

I think there is a sense of a need to take a stand, but I am not confident that the Western world is yet ready to do that--in spite of events starting from 9/11, and even before (Rushdie).

If the West just gives in and the issue dies down, there may be a sense of having avoided a disaster, but it will be a very misleading interpretation.

But the issue is too complex, as you say, to give an answer as to what should actually be done.

And Denmark should not be--and is not--alone in this.

Anonymous said...

I am dissapointed that so many people have not seen the terrible harm that the rioters have done to the Islamic faith. This violent reaction continues to illustrate to many in the west that the Islamic faith is incapable of peaceful coexistence in even the most tolerant of societies. For such an ancient and advanced society to degrade itself by participating or justifying this activiy is another example of how far they have fallen.

It is now the responsibility of the Islamic majority to find a way to put a stop to those that continue to bismirch their faith, society and culture with such tactics. For a culture that wants to be heard, these reactionaries seem to be determined that no credibility will ever be afforded those that actually do deserve it in the Middle East.