Toon Wars
In our comments section, David writes…
For the record: freedom is good — very, very good. Religious fascism is bad — oh so very bad.
…and…
Don’t you think that burning embassies and threatening to behead cartoonists and demanding restrictions on free speech do more to “drum up anti-Islamic sentitment” than printing a dozen cartoons?Yes.
That’s good to hear, David, but because your posts make you sound as if you believe the exact opposite.
And Eli & David: It’s seems highly condescending—hey, maybe it’s tad racist, tinged with some of that dreaded Orientalism—to insist that Islamic protesters aren’t angry about what they keep claiming to be angry about, i.e. the Danish cartoons, freedom of expression (which covers the freedom to offend and freedom to blaspheme), and the refusal of Western governments to assure them that it will never, ever happen again. I don’t see how insisting that they’re not angry about what they keep telling us they’re angry about is somehow more respectful than taking the protesters at their word.
And their words go like this:
“Defending the prophet should continue worldwide,ā€¯ Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, told the crowd. “Let (U.S. Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice, (President) Bush and all the tyrants shut up: We are a nation that can’t forgive, be silent or ease up when they insult our prophet and our sacred values.ā€¯“Today, we are defending the dignity of our prophet with a word, a demonstration but let George Bush and the arrogant world know that if we have to … we will defend our prophet with our blood, not our voices,ā€¯ Nasrallah added… Nasrallah said there would be no compromise before Denmark apologizes and the European Parliament and individual assemblies in Europe pass laws that prohibit insulting the Prophet.
Note that Nasrallah has nothing to say about colonialism. Perhaps Eli and David need to dash over to Beirut and explain to Nasrallah that he’s really upset about colonialism, not freedom of expression or a few drawings of his supposed prophet. Let us know how that trip turns out, guys.
I'm afraid this may be the last chance I have to spar with you for the weekend: my husband and I are off to wine and dine each other for early V.D.
If I have claimed that protesters are not angry over cartoons, I misunderstood myself.
I think it would be a little closer to the mark to say that colonialism, propping up fascist regimes, destabilizing popular ones etc. helps us understand why it is so easy to provoke fanatics into a blind rage with nothing more than cartoons, or for that matter why the fanatacism exists so abundantly in the first place.
Is this the part where you accuse me of blaming the cartoonists again?