Three lessons from the cartoon jihad

[Behind the Aegis]

From Gaza to Jakarta, Muslim anger over the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed published in certain European newspapers has led to a horrifying series of riots, demonstrations and assaults on westerners. For many Muslims, these images, first published in a Danish newspaper, struck a raw nerve. There is a religious prohibition on depicting the founder of the Islamic faith. And the religious offense is compounded by the widely held conviction that these cartoons are yet another attempt by westerners to stigmatize and destroy Islam.

As we have spent most of our history as a vulnerable minority, Jews can, on one level, empathize with those Muslims who feel insulted by the cartoons. It goes without saying that crude or stereotypical caricatures of our most sacred religious beliefs could lead us to react. Indeed, the medium of the caricature has been one of anti-Semitism?s deadliest weapons: think of the French press during the Dreyfus Trial, or the German press under the Nazi regime.

That is why Jews both value and insist upon multi-cultural societies where the rule of law prevails, where distinctive identities can flourish and where tolerance and respect are values equally applicable to all citizens. We benefit from such an arrangement and so do other religious, racial and ethnic groups. That is why we ask that Muslim sensitivities about their basic tenets of their faith are respected by the media and by governments.

But how does that translate practically? Given the vitriolic character of the protests, the leaders of both Muslim countries and Muslim minority communities must recognize that coercion and censorship are not the answer. A situation where newspaper editors, because they dare to criticize a set of beliefs, are fearful of losing their jobs or even their lives, is profoundly unhealthy. More generally, violent protests serve to reinforce the stereotypes about fanaticism which a multicultural society needs to overcome.

more...

[Roho]

1. more

The second lesson is that we need, in the name of religious tolerance, to make clear the distinction between the Muslim faith and Islamist violence. As with any religion, there are multiple interpretations of Islam, of which the jihadi version is only one. If we fail to acknowledge that, not only do we denigrate the Muslims who live among us in peace. We also compromise our own well-established traditions of fairness and rigor. The Islamic world, too, must also respect the beliefs and practises of its numerous non-Muslim minorities; Christians, Buddhists and others.

Even so, the third lesson is that violence is not compatible with democratic conversation. This was the case in 1989, when Muslims around the world burned copies of Salman Rushdie?s novel "The Satanic Verses," it was the case in 2004, when the Dutch controversialist Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered by an Islamist activist, and it remains the case now. We should refuse to be intimidated by Islamist clerics like Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi when they issue calls for a "day of anger."


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I wonder if the IDF believes in lesson number 3.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Ask them...

IDF Official Site

[Roho]

3. Done

Thanks for the link. I'll report back any answer I receive.

If anyone else wants to email them the addy is [e-mail]

Do you happen to have any links to the violent extremist settler organizations?

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Try google...

...or a neo-nazi site...I am sure you will be able to find what you are looking for.

[AntiFascist]

5. Great article!

I would add how the West may also be able to exploit such shows of fanaticism in order to bring about yet another senseless slaughter, but I wouldn't want to appear too anti-American.

[Behind the Aegis]

6. True.

I think the article brings up many good points, for many people; no matter religion, nationality, or what have you.

Off topic: what is your avatar? I know it is a man...but who is it?

[AntiFascist]

7. Schwarzenegger....

who once said he admired Hitler.

[Coastie for Truth]

9. The Boobengrabber

I am working in the Recall Campaign - the petitions are in Lockyear's bureaucracy awaiting approval as to form before we can begin circulating them.

Make the Boobengrabber divert his re-election money to fighting a recall.

[AntiFascist]

12. WOW, excellent news!

I've changed my avatar because Behind the Aegis has inspired me to rise above hatred, but a recall campaign would be great especially since the boob has become so right wing!!

[PsychoDad]

8. And once again we learned....

That the M$M in the US paid more air time to the minority of demonstrators who rioted in acted in ways incompatible with Islam or democratic discourse than they did mentioning the majority that engaged in peaceful protest.

Those Muslims who protested peacefully did participate in the democratic discourse. Remember, when Rush Limbaugh or Pat Robertson exercises his freedom of speech, we often exercise ours by calling for their removal from the airwaves.

Peace.

[Behind the Aegis]

10. How was that the lesson?

The article addresses the extremes, not those who use rational thought.

"As with any religion, there are multiple interpretations of Islam, of which the jihadi version is only one. If we fail to acknowledge that, not only do we denigrate the Muslims who live among us in peace."

[Behind the Aegis]

11. "Three lessons can therefore be disentangled from the melee."

#1: "The first is that democratic societies which tolerate an abundance of controversial, provocative images need to reflect on the impact of such images and the words which accompany them."

#2: "The second lesson is that we need, in the name of religious tolerance, to make clear the distinction between the Muslim faith and Islamist violence."

#3: "Even so, the third lesson is that violence is not compatible with democratic conversation."

[mogster]

13. Good points all, BTA

Recommended :-)

I have already done that comparison at home. I'm actually reading about the Dreyfus trial now; a book called The Rise and Fall of the Third Republic, about France from app. 1850 to 1945.
History shows that cartoons aren't innocent, although in our modern world they seem to be.

[Behind the Aegis]

15. Thanks.

:hi:

[Spankydem]

14. Great article......

should be required reading.

[Colorado Blue]

16. Great article. Thanks.

[Leopolds Ghost]

17. European Govts need to decide where they stand on Anti-Semitic cartoons.

They can't have it both ways.

One "progressive, pro-Islamic" Danish journalist went so far as to suggest, in response to someone asking why the strict law against anti-semitic cartoons was not applied, that "you are technically correct that Arabs are Semites, but in reality, that law only applies to hatred directed against Jews."

Can't have it both ways in a free society bound by the rule of law.

Let's not forget that Europe has neither a First Amendment (which would prohibit Europe's strictly enforced laws against anti-Semitic cartoons)

Nor a Fourteenth Amendment (which would prohibit any distinction between one Semite and another when it comes to legally approved censorship of such cartoons.)

Anything else is pure hypocrisy on the part of Europeans, which is why I'm beginning to tune out the cartoon issue.

[aikoaiko]

18. Ok I just don't get all the hand wringing.

If I'm going to support people's right to burn US flags in protest of a few Americans, then I'm goingto support Danish cartoonists right to poke at a few terrorists who base their ideology in Islam.

The analogy to the anti-jewish cartoons is weak at best. I mean, did Dreyfus cut of the heads of Frenchmen, were German jews flying plans into Buildings in Berlin? Nothing even close.

No one has a right to not be offended.

[Wordie]

19. Thanks for a sensitive article, bta. Recommended.