I wish those placards were more widely disseminated, and will link this to my blog.
Unfortunately, it’s the “Death to yadayadayada” that seem more prevalent, and then, of course, there’s the burnings and the violence.
The protestors you’re featuring would do a much better job of countering whatever misconceptions the Danish cartoons have created. But, at this point in time, that’s the least of the problem.
I have to reiterate that I don’t think the entire Danish government or the Danish people are responsible for the newspaper cartoons.
Neverthless, it is nice to see people acting civil about things. Sometimes you fear that the anger will only swell further.
One nice thing about these slogans is that they make an effort to educate non-Muslims on what it is Muslims believe and feel about Mohammad and they express the desire to be respected; the Golden Rule is one that is appealing to people of all religions and even most irreligious people.
I fear that messages of hate and violent acts tend to speak louder than peaceful messages (at least they garner more attention from our sensationalist media). I hope this side of the debate will get more attention from the press.
Hey, I have a question for you Nas, if you don’t mind. On the link I posted before regarding the history of depicting Mohammad, I mentioned that I found it interesting that Iranian Shiites don’t have a problem with depicting Mohammad before he became a prophet. Given the fact that your a Jordanian, and thus I would assume a Sunni Muslim, what is the Sunni Muslim stance on this particular issue? Can Mohammad be depicted at any stage in his life according to Sunni Muslims?
It’s heartening to see people demonstrating against the vile cartoons in a civil manner. But it’s disheartening that the mainstream media may not broadcast these images and instead, may continue to show footage of wild, out-of-control fellas threatening violence and setting fire to embassies. Seeing the embassies burn is a guilty pleasure of mine because the cartoons were extremely offensive, and perhaps the actions of the fundamentalists can send a clear message to Europe. I am a little puzzled though by some Arab Muslims turning on Arab Christians… for absolutely no reason. It’s even more confusing to see some young lads demonstrating in front of the Danish embassy by burning a Swedish flag.
Edward, there is no specific law that says no but the prophet pbuh warned against it and hence in following with the sunnah (ways of the prophet pbuh) muslims in general, regardless of sect, should avoid it with good reason.
again the issue here is not the fact that he was depicted, it was how he was depicted. your everyday muslim is not used to seeing his or her prophet in image form, let alone with a bomb strapped to his head.
Saad — the message that they’re sending to Europe, and the rest of the Western World, is that Islamic fundamentalists cannot be reasoned with, and that they prefer violence to negotiation. Another “message” being sent to Europe with embassy burnings is that fundamentalists have no respect for other cultures, despite what the Koran might actually say. Remember — in Denmark, the government has no control over what the newspapers publish, as is the case with Europe, America, Australia, etc. Nobody goes to jail for a cartoon or an editorial, although there might be public condemnation (led by citizens, and various groups).
Edward — regarding Mohammed — actually, any representation of the Prophet can’t be accurate — were there any contemporaries that actually painted him? Does anyone know what he really looked like? Could you say that the pictures of Mohammed are actually NOT pictures of Mohammed — but fanciful representation? And, would that make any difference?
First, thank you for a response to my question, Nas. I wasn’t implying that the way Mohammad was portrayed wasn’t offensive or that the insulting nature of the Mohammad caricatures wasn’t a factor, I only asked the question out of curiosity. I was simple curious as to whether there is a difference in the Sunni and Shi’a position on this issue. Thanks for the answer.
Now what I want to know (a question to any and all Muslims):
It has to be asked of the Muslim community in this situation “What do you want?”
Amid all the protests, both peaceful and angry, what is it exactly that the Muslim world wants. I don’t see any coherent demands, just lots of upset people. The demands seem to range from wanting another, more appropriate apology (from somebody, the government of Denmark, the EU, somebody? everybody?), wanting legal suppression of free speech in the name of not offending religion and ‘hurting feelings’ (old school blasphemy laws similar to what the Church imposed on Europe during the Dark Ages), and some want executions (beheadings in particular). I don’t see any unified demands so I don’t know how the Muslim world expects to be appeased in this situation. In fact, I don’t even know who they expect to do the appeasing.
I am a little tired of simply hearing that “it wasn’t right what the Danes did, ‘they could have handled things better’ and thats why I’m boycotting.” Boycotting until what happens? I keep hearing that there is no ‘right to hurt feelings’ or ‘right to disrespect religion’ or, my favorite, ‘right to racism.’ (Oddly, the some of the same people who don’t think that Arabs can be anti-Semitic because Arabs are Semites, don’t seem to be able to distinguish between biological race and religion, why is that?) This would seem to imply that some expect legal restrictions on speech. OK. If your that type I’ll call your bluff. If that is what your demanding, spell out to me exactly what kind of restrictions you want – and no, don’t be vague, like “I don’t want Mohammad insulted” be specific as though you were putting this into actual law. Law that will have to be applied in a religiously diverse society like Denmark. Law that will have to accomodate not only Danish Muslims but Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Bahaiis, Jainists, Sikhs, Hindus, Parsiis, Scientologists, neo-pagan Wicca practicioners and (my favorite) Satanists (the Church of Satan actually has a branch in Denmark if I’m not mistaken). Yes the whole motley crew of religions that exist in a western country like Denmark! If you don’t accomodate some of these religions, I want to know why. What criteria will you use for deciding what religions will be accomodated and which will not have the protection of blasphemy laws?
If that isn’t what you want, well then I ask my original question again “What do you want?”
The generalizations continue and we are treated to another great example of the tolerance and respect the Islamic world has for other people. They really put the West to shame.
In response to the Danish cartoons: “Iranian paper to run Holocaust cartoons” according to the British paper Guardian Unlimited.
This seems appropriate, after all weren’t the Jews behind the publication of those cartoons. So much for the claim that all those anti-Jewish cartoons are really just anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli cartoons, right? Soon we’ll be treated to numerous cartoons that are unavowedly anti-Jewish.
I’m all for free speech. I say they should go ahead. Why deny the truth. Let us hear it. Since so much of Islamic world is taking this Danish cartoon thing as an attack by the West against Islam, the Islamic community shouldn’t be offended when we in the West take this as evidence of what the entire Islamic world feels about the Holocaust. I say, go right ahead, Islamic world is about to let the rest of us know what is really on its mind. Lets see the cartoons!
At this rate, the peaceful protesters in places like Jordan are going to be nothing more than a blip on the radar screen when it comes to worldwide media attention.
Edward, the demands are not united, the anger is however, that is the sad part i suppose. Generally I think what Muslims are looking for is a sense of justice. That ridiculing Islam be considered as serious as ridiculing judaisim in the west. Personally, I dont think any religion should be ridiculed. Running holocaust cartoons is not the Muslim way. Firebombs and embassy attacks, calls for beheadings is not the Muslim way.
I suppose we have to apply the cartoons in the context of much greater things. It was the straw that broke the camels back, no pun intended. What you see on TV now not necessarily a direct reation to 12 cartoons. It is a great deal of the Muslim world finally…loosing it.
I suppose there’s only so many times you can beat a camel without expecting a reaction.
no pun intended.
I appreciate your comments on my blog, especially in keeping us all up to date. But I pray and hope that you, and other westerners, are able to differntiate between the different shades of gray. I think 1.3 billion people deserve that much.
I am only being ;> sarcastic ;> when I say I that we can judge the entire Muslim world by a few retarded cartoons in an Iranian newspaper. You should know by now I tend to be that way – a sarcastic ass that is ;>
Of course I don’t logically feel that way. I know most people in the West will still be level-headed in spite of a few cartoons; expectations about decent behavior from the Iranians are low anyway. I just think it will give ammunition to the far right in the western world. It feeds into their worst expectations about Muslims. We need to see more constructive images of Muslims, not this crap.
About the lack of unification of aims, though. This is a real problem, there can be no dialogue or negotiation in trying to appease the upset if nobody knows how, who what will satisfy them. There needs to be some leading, authoritative voice(s) on this issue. I can’t guarantee it would result in a satisfactory solution, but what is the alternative? More embassy trashings, violence, what?
A few positive notes:
One of the cartoonists is putting his drawing up for auction and will donate the money to Kashmiri earthquake victims:
I doubt this will satisfy anybody, but it is the right thing to do, I suppose.
One of the protesters at the notorious London demonstration expresses his regrets. It sounds, from descriptions I’ve been reading of this guys comments, that this demonstration was just a bit of a stunt to be outrageous in the face of what they considered an outrage (yeah, I know, it was dumb idea):
(What are they going to rely upon? They say ‘alternative medicines.’ Traditional herbal medicines, maybe? They have to be kidding. Are they going to treat cancer with ginseng or maybe mint tea? Many patented drugs are manufactured only by European firms. Lets see, we are angry over cartoons so will deny our own people medicine. That’s smart!)
and, not to be outdone . . .
Chechans kick out a Danish aid group from the region. This group, the Danish Refugee Council, has been one of the most active humanitarian groups in Chechnya in helping Chechen refugees displaced by war:
It is official, the reason the Catholic priest in Turkey was killed was because of the cartoons. This, in spite of the fact that the Vatican condemned the cartoons strongly:
HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CARTOON BATTLE?
Test your knowledge with this exciting quiz.
Question 1. According to what protestors are demanding, how long is the boycott expected to last?
a) Until the Danish government makes a really, really convincing apology.
b) Until the European Union makes a really, really convincing apology.
c) Until Denmark surrenders free speech and declares saying anything negative
about Islam is a criminal offense.
d) Until Europe implements Sharia law.
e) Until the cartoonists are beheaded.
f) Forever, apparently.
g) Answers (e) and (f)
h) One or more of the above.
Question 2. How many Danish flags have been burned in the Muslim world since protests began?
a) Zero. Muslims are far too civilized to engage in such uncouth behavior.
b) Between 1-5. There is always a few wackos out there.
c) Between 6-11. And sometimes there are a few more wackos out there.
d) 12. An appropriate number. The same as the number of offensive cartoons.
e) 60. A more appropriate number. Five times as many as the number of cartoons.
f) Too many to count.
Question 3. How many Swedish flags have been burned in the Muslim world since the protests began?
a) Zero, what does Sweden have to do with all this?
b) At least one.
Question 4. How many Swiss flags have been burned in the Muslim world since the protests began?
a) Zero, what does Switzerland have to do with all this?
b) At least one.
Question 5. How many Jordanian flags have been burned in the Muslim world since the
republication of the cartoons in Jordanian papers?
a) Zero.
b) Zero. I think.
c) Approximately 250-300 flags.
Question 6. How many American and Israeli flags have been burned in the Muslim world since protests began?
a) 1 American flag, 3 Israeli flag
b) 2 American flags, 1 Israeli flag
c) 18 American flags, 7 Israeli flags
d) Who cares? They burn the American and Israeli flags all the time in the part of the world.
Question 7. What stance did the Vatican take on the issue of the cartoons?
a) Basically, that they were reprehensible and that freedom of speech isn’t an excuse to vilify
somebody’s religion.
b) That this served those damn Muslims right for what happened during the Crusades!
c) That they were really funny.
d) That they were great works of art and should be in a museum.
Question 8. In what country did dozens of MPs gather to celebrate the torching of the Danish and
Norwegian flags?
a) Saudi Arabia
b) Pakistan
c) Nigeria
d) Mauritania
e) Indonesia
Question 9. Which of the following events sparked the most outrage the Islamic world?
a) The 9/11 attacks in New York in the name of Allah.
b) The Bali bombings in the name of Allah.
c) The 7/11 attacks in Madrid in the name of Allah.
d) The 7/7 attacks in London in the name of Allah.
e) The Jordanian wedding bombing in the name of Allah.
f) The constant terrorist attacks on Muslims by other Muslims in Iraq too often
in the name of Allah.
g) The Holocaust denial statements of Ahmadinejad.
h) The planned display of Holocaust cartoons by a leading Iranian newspaper.
i) The murder of Christians by Muslim extremists on the Indonesian island of
Sulawesi in the name of Allah.
j) Numerous disrespectul jokes told throughout the Arab world about Allah and the
Prophets (as cited by “Iraq the Model” blogger Omar).
k) The Darfur conflict in the Sudan.
l) Saddam Hussein’s years of tyranny (including murdering Shi’ite clerics and their
families) in the name of Satan.
m) The Taliban’s destruction of ancient Buddhist statues in the name of Allah.
n) The murder of Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands in the name of Allah.
o) The synagogue bombing in Tunisia in the name of Allah.
p) The synagogue bombing in Turkey in the name of Allah.
q) The murder of Hariri in the name of Syrian hegemony.
r) The murder of contractor Paul Johnson in Saudi Arabia in the name of Allah.
s) The murder of Margarat Hassan in the name of Allah, greed, nationalism, who knows?
t) “Honor killings” in the name of family pride.
u) All events, a-t combined.
v) Some stupid cartoons published in a newspaper no one ever heard of in a
country most people in the Muslim world couldn’t find on a map and nobody
anywhere cares too much about. [Sorry Danish people!]
Question 10. Who is Nas’s favorite blogger (besides himself)?
a) Khalidah
b) Eman (of Aqua Cool)
c) Nobody but himself.
d) Michelle Malkin.
Answers:
1. (h) is the correct answer. At least I think it is . . .
2. (f) is the correct answer.
3. (b) is the correct answer. What’s the difference between a Swede and a Dane?
They’re both Scandinavian anyway.
4. (b) is the correct answer. What’s the difference between a Swiss and a Dane?
They’re both European anyway.
5. (a) or (b) will suffice.
6. (d) is the correct answer.
7. (a) is the correct answer.
8. (c) is the correct answer. See here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4689314.stm
9. (v) of course, is the correct answer. After all, what could be more offensive than that?
10. (d) Malkin, who else? You know! The one Nas calls “the voice of reason in an unreasonable
world.”
Looks like the origin of one of the faked 3 cartoons that the Danish Muslim delegation presented to Arabs has been traced. It isn’t even Mohammad, it is a Frenchman in a pig squealing contest! So nobody should be offended. This Danish imam is looking more and more questionable by the day:
I know that Nas doesn’t think it is important. Still, like I said before, it does raise other questions . . .
I am starting to wonder if Syria or Iran (or both) are not behind stirring things up. Also, where in the world did these people get all these Danish flags on such short notice? It isn’t like you can get a Danish flag just anywhere.
Edward, do you think syria and iran had trucks of danish flags distributing them in the street? come on, this isnt the stoneage, you can get flags just about anywhere in the arab world and at worst you can paint a piece of cloth red and draw a white cross on it. its going to get burnt, not be waved at the olympics.
as for the faked cartoons, give me one reason why its important? i will bet you 99% of all the people protesting on the street have not seen a single one of these cartoons and I will bet the majority of them will refuse to look at them if given the oppertunity. if a danish imam presented a bunch of cartoons to encourage a government, of which three were possibly faked…what does it matter in the context of whats happening? 12 real cartoons were published by a real newspaper and spread from one real country to another real country and people are protesting that.
if you come back here with proof that the 12 cartoons everyone’s protesting were faked, or that the newspaper doesn’t even exist…well then we can talk conspiracy theory.
as for what this imam did or did not do, it serves no real purpose to what’s happening. are we really supposed to assume that these 3 cartoons alone convinced people or governments to boycott?
now why the paper chose to print cartoons insulting the prophet pbuh and passed on jesus, well that’s a bit more interesting 😉
Edward, do you think syria and iran had trucks of danish flags distributing them in the street? come on, this isnt the stoneage, you can get flags just about anywhere in the arab world and at worst you can paint a piece of cloth red and draw a white cross on it. its going to get burnt, not be waved at the olympics.”
The flags I saw didn’t look like painted cloth. They looked like the real thing. Where do you buy Danish flags in the Arab world? Would you be able to buy a Tongan flag or a Jamaican flag from a local store?
And, no, I don’t think Syria and Iran distributed the flags. I do believe Syria and Iran are possibly in on encouraging some of the mayhem we are seeing though.
“as for the faked cartoons, give me one reason why its important? i will bet you 99% of all the people protesting on the street have not seen a single one of these cartoons”
I’ll give you two.
Reason #1: Because it represents a clear attempt at incitement by Denmarks most popular imam. The Danish people (and Europeans generally) have to ask themselves if this kind of treasonous behavior is something they can tolerate. If this is what can be expected from popular mainstream imams, what does this tell you about the threat Islam poses to western societies? What does it tell you about the morals of Islam if this is acceptable behavior?
Reason #2: Because it is clear that these cartoons were part of the early catalyst for these protests. The fact that the BBC ran with the story that these 3 cartoons were in the paper originally shows they must have gotten their information from Arab sources.
Also, Muslims are reportedly protesting 12 cartoons like you said. This simply proves that most Muslims haven’t seen any of the cartoons faked or otherwise. Not all the 12 cartoons published in the paper even depict Mohammad. Many of those that are are not even negative portrayals. You said yourself that people are angry over the way Mohammad was being caricatured.
“now why the paper chose to print cartoons insulting the prophet pbuh and passed on jesus, well thatâ??s a bit more interesting”
South Park and others have already done the Jesus thing to death. 🙂
The flags I saw didnâ??t look like painted cloth. They looked like the real thing. Where do you buy Danish flags in the Arab world? Would you be able to buy a Tongan flag or a Jamaican flag from a local store?
there are many stores yes where you can get flags of any country. the arab world does not consist of several bedoin tents and a bunch of camels.
And, no, I donâ??t think Syria and Iran distributed the flags. I do believe Syria and Iran are possibly in on encouraging some of the mayhem we are seeing though.
of course they are, no one can argue that. from government to extremist groups, there are always groups who have a vital interest in the exploitation of the angry masses.
Iâ??ll give you two.
Reason #1: Because it represents a clear attempt at incitement by Denmarks most popular imam. The Danish people (and Europeans generally) have to ask themselves if this kind of treasonous behavior is something they can tolerate. If this is what can be expected from popular mainstream imams, what does this tell you about the threat Islam poses to western societies? What does it tell you about the morals of Islam if this is acceptable behavior?
so basically you’re taking the alleged actions of one imam and reflecting them on the morality of an entire religion? in the U.S. you have priests molesting little kids, should i be asking the question “what does it tell you about the morals of christianity if this is acceptable behavior?”. i doubt it.
Reason #2: Because it is clear that these cartoons were part of the early catalyst for these protests. The fact that the BBC ran with the story that these 3 cartoons were in the paper originally shows they must have gotten their information from Arab sources.
how does it show that they got their information from Arab sources when Arab media didn’t run with it. the bbc made a mistake, let them own up to it. newsweek said US troops were flushing the quran down the toilet, did they get their information from arab sources too?
Also, Muslims are reportedly protesting 12 cartoons like you said. This simply proves that most Muslims havenâ??t seen any of the cartoons faked or otherwise.
yeah i know, i just told you that
Not all the 12 cartoons published in the paper even depict Mohammad. Many of those that are are not even negative portrayals. You said yourself that people are angry over the way Mohammad was being caricatured.
i think the majority of them are offensive and at the end of the day i dont the protesting revolves around the number. it revolves around the negative portrayls yes. so remind me again why what you just said is a reason why some 3 fake cartoons are important to this situation?
“there are many stores yes where you can get flags of any country. the arab world does not consist of several bedoin tents and a bunch of camels.”
Really, Nas, your not a bunch of Bedouin nomads? Sure your not! Next you’ll try and convince me that Arabs don’t really fly around on magic carpets. 😉 What I am saying, Nas, is that the Danish flag doesn’t exactly seem like a common item you could purchase in the heat of the moment even in a country like the United States. A few Danish flags? Possibly from a store specializing in those type of products. It just surprises me that you can get an relatively obscure flag in large quantity so quickly.
Then again, I can”t say I’ve honestly purchased many foreign flags, I’ve never had much of a need for such an item, so maybe I’m a little naive on this subject. 🙂 Maybe the international flag industry is a bigger business in the Arab world, after all they seem to burn a lot of Israeli and U.S. flags over there. 😉
“so basically youâ??re taking the alleged actions of one imam and reflecting them on the morality of an entire religion? in the U.S. you have priests molesting little kids, should i be asking the question â??what does it tell you about the morals of christianity if this is acceptable behavior?â?Â. i doubt it.”
What I’m say, to summarize it all in one question is: Where are the moderate Muslims at?
First of all, a perverted child-molesting priest who is exposed will certainly not continue to enjoy popular support from his church’s congregation. (In fact, such a priest won’t even enjoy an support from his fellow inmates in prison as the murder of the Catholic priest Geghen.)
Why is it that Abu Laban in Denmark was, and continues to be, the most popular imam in Denmark? Why, in spite of the fact that he has well documented ties to terrorist groups and has been exposed as dishonest on this issue, does it not seem to be affecting his standing in the Muslim community in Demark negatively? Why has no one in the Danish Muslim community spoken out against him? Sorry, Nas, but it does raise issues beyond just the actions of a single imam. Maybe not about the entire Muslim world, but certainly about a large segment of the Danish Muslim community.
Second of all, in spite of however disgusting and evil a child-molesting priest is, there are not a lot of Catholic priests with ties to terrorist organizations, nor priests who represent a possible threat to the national security of their country, nor priests who go around trying to provoke hatred of the countries they are citizens of. Nor, for that matter, have I seen to many priests who used the kind of hateful, inflammatory speech about their countrymen like Abu Laban: “and if you said they were all infidels, you would not be wrong.”
So I ask again: In Denmark (or in all of Europe), where are the moderate Muslims?
“how does it show that they got their information from Arab sources when Arab media didnâ??t run with it. the bbc made a mistake, let them own up to it.”
The BBC should own up to it. No disagreement there. But who alerted the Arab press to this story? Did some Arab journalist just happen to pick up the offending Danish paper? No, they were alerted by the same people that Abu Laban in Demark convinced (mostly through deceptive measures) that this was a big deal. Read further below for more.
Your first post stated: “â??as for the faked cartoons, give me one reason why its important?”
Your response stated: “o remind me again why what you just said is a reason why some 3 fake cartoons are important to this situation?”
I think I have indicated previously in postings touching on this issue that it is not necessarily very relevant to the situation at hand; I do think, however, it is important in its own right. You asked me why I thought it was important and I gave you a response.
Now a little more about that clown, Abu Laban. This dirtbag is looking more like a provocateur by the day. It turns out that the claims were made to the Arabs he was meeting with that there were in fact 120 cartoons and that the paper tha published them was run by the government of Denmark, he also claimed that Denmark was planning on censoring the Koran and was planning on producing an anti-Islamic film:
(The title “Danish Muslims Divided over Cartoon Affair” of this last article is absurd, the only thing any Muslim in this article says that isn’t with the Abu Laban party line is that the delegation that went to the Arab world doesn’t represent all Muslims. Gee! What a divisive comment.)
One of the above articles states that the 12 cartoons, by themselves, were not sufficient to convince the Danish delegation’s Arab contacts that there was a serious anti-Islamic problem in Denmark. The 3 other cartoons along with other lies of Abu Laban, were a catalyst for these Arab contacts to take action. What actions did they take?
– The Grand Mufti issued a fatwa to boycott Denmark
– The issue was brought up with the Arab League
– There as a statement made by al-Azhar on January 8th with promises to bring up the issue with
the United Nations and with various other “human rights” organizations.
– And, of course, the Arab press was contacted.
What might have languished in obscurity was now all over the Muslim world. Given the above analysis it sounds like those 3 cartoons were, along with Abu Laban’s other lies , was in fact, very important in getting the ball rolling.
You may argue that it doesn’t get to the heart of the matter and you may be right. If you argue that Abu Laban’s actions don’t matter now you would be right again. But, they may have mattered a great deal at the time he was fabricating his preposterous claims.
Excuse my last post, I meant Muslim world, not Arab world. Before I am accused of ignorance I am well aware the Persians and Arabs are different peoples.
Apparently the BBC, which won’t show the British people any of the Jyllands-Posten cartoons to “avoid causing offence,” had no problem airing the faked ‘pig-snout Mohammad’ cartoon in Gaza repeatedly.
Like I said, shameless:
“Since then some media outlets have republished the pictures in solidarity, while others – including the BBC – have refrained from publishing them to avoid causing offence to their audiences.”
I wish those placards were more widely disseminated, and will link this to my blog.
Unfortunately, it’s the “Death to yadayadayada” that seem more prevalent, and then, of course, there’s the burnings and the violence.
The protestors you’re featuring would do a much better job of countering whatever misconceptions the Danish cartoons have created. But, at this point in time, that’s the least of the problem.
It’s reassuring to see such meaningful and powerful slogans when all the media shows is the slogans of hatred, violence, and death threats.
Thanks Naseem
hay illi bifhamo!!!
The world and ourselves should see more of this,
and work by it.
I have to reiterate that I don’t think the entire Danish government or the Danish people are responsible for the newspaper cartoons.
Neverthless, it is nice to see people acting civil about things. Sometimes you fear that the anger will only swell further.
One nice thing about these slogans is that they make an effort to educate non-Muslims on what it is Muslims believe and feel about Mohammad and they express the desire to be respected; the Golden Rule is one that is appealing to people of all religions and even most irreligious people.
I fear that messages of hate and violent acts tend to speak louder than peaceful messages (at least they garner more attention from our sensationalist media). I hope this side of the debate will get more attention from the press.
Hey, I have a question for you Nas, if you don’t mind. On the link I posted before regarding the history of depicting Mohammad, I mentioned that I found it interesting that Iranian Shiites don’t have a problem with depicting Mohammad before he became a prophet. Given the fact that your a Jordanian, and thus I would assume a Sunni Muslim, what is the Sunni Muslim stance on this particular issue? Can Mohammad be depicted at any stage in his life according to Sunni Muslims?
All muslims shold act this way.
It’s heartening to see people demonstrating against the vile cartoons in a civil manner. But it’s disheartening that the mainstream media may not broadcast these images and instead, may continue to show footage of wild, out-of-control fellas threatening violence and setting fire to embassies. Seeing the embassies burn is a guilty pleasure of mine because the cartoons were extremely offensive, and perhaps the actions of the fundamentalists can send a clear message to Europe. I am a little puzzled though by some Arab Muslims turning on Arab Christians… for absolutely no reason. It’s even more confusing to see some young lads demonstrating in front of the Danish embassy by burning a Swedish flag.
Edward, there is no specific law that says no but the prophet pbuh warned against it and hence in following with the sunnah (ways of the prophet pbuh) muslims in general, regardless of sect, should avoid it with good reason.
again the issue here is not the fact that he was depicted, it was how he was depicted. your everyday muslim is not used to seeing his or her prophet in image form, let alone with a bomb strapped to his head.
Saad — the message that they’re sending to Europe, and the rest of the Western World, is that Islamic fundamentalists cannot be reasoned with, and that they prefer violence to negotiation. Another “message” being sent to Europe with embassy burnings is that fundamentalists have no respect for other cultures, despite what the Koran might actually say. Remember — in Denmark, the government has no control over what the newspapers publish, as is the case with Europe, America, Australia, etc. Nobody goes to jail for a cartoon or an editorial, although there might be public condemnation (led by citizens, and various groups).
Edward — regarding Mohammed — actually, any representation of the Prophet can’t be accurate — were there any contemporaries that actually painted him? Does anyone know what he really looked like? Could you say that the pictures of Mohammed are actually NOT pictures of Mohammed — but fanciful representation? And, would that make any difference?
First, thank you for a response to my question, Nas. I wasn’t implying that the way Mohammad was portrayed wasn’t offensive or that the insulting nature of the Mohammad caricatures wasn’t a factor, I only asked the question out of curiosity. I was simple curious as to whether there is a difference in the Sunni and Shi’a position on this issue. Thanks for the answer.
Now what I want to know (a question to any and all Muslims):
It has to be asked of the Muslim community in this situation “What do you want?”
Amid all the protests, both peaceful and angry, what is it exactly that the Muslim world wants. I don’t see any coherent demands, just lots of upset people. The demands seem to range from wanting another, more appropriate apology (from somebody, the government of Denmark, the EU, somebody? everybody?), wanting legal suppression of free speech in the name of not offending religion and ‘hurting feelings’ (old school blasphemy laws similar to what the Church imposed on Europe during the Dark Ages), and some want executions (beheadings in particular). I don’t see any unified demands so I don’t know how the Muslim world expects to be appeased in this situation. In fact, I don’t even know who they expect to do the appeasing.
I am a little tired of simply hearing that “it wasn’t right what the Danes did, ‘they could have handled things better’ and thats why I’m boycotting.” Boycotting until what happens? I keep hearing that there is no ‘right to hurt feelings’ or ‘right to disrespect religion’ or, my favorite, ‘right to racism.’ (Oddly, the some of the same people who don’t think that Arabs can be anti-Semitic because Arabs are Semites, don’t seem to be able to distinguish between biological race and religion, why is that?) This would seem to imply that some expect legal restrictions on speech. OK. If your that type I’ll call your bluff. If that is what your demanding, spell out to me exactly what kind of restrictions you want – and no, don’t be vague, like “I don’t want Mohammad insulted” be specific as though you were putting this into actual law. Law that will have to be applied in a religiously diverse society like Denmark. Law that will have to accomodate not only Danish Muslims but Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Bahaiis, Jainists, Sikhs, Hindus, Parsiis, Scientologists, neo-pagan Wicca practicioners and (my favorite) Satanists (the Church of Satan actually has a branch in Denmark if I’m not mistaken). Yes the whole motley crew of religions that exist in a western country like Denmark! If you don’t accomodate some of these religions, I want to know why. What criteria will you use for deciding what religions will be accomodated and which will not have the protection of blasphemy laws?
If that isn’t what you want, well then I ask my original question again “What do you want?”
The generalizations continue and we are treated to another great example of the tolerance and respect the Islamic world has for other people. They really put the West to shame.
In response to the Danish cartoons: “Iranian paper to run Holocaust cartoons” according to the British paper Guardian Unlimited.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoonprotests/story/0,,1703925,00.html
This seems appropriate, after all weren’t the Jews behind the publication of those cartoons. So much for the claim that all those anti-Jewish cartoons are really just anti-Zionist and anti-Israeli cartoons, right? Soon we’ll be treated to numerous cartoons that are unavowedly anti-Jewish.
I’m all for free speech. I say they should go ahead. Why deny the truth. Let us hear it. Since so much of Islamic world is taking this Danish cartoon thing as an attack by the West against Islam, the Islamic community shouldn’t be offended when we in the West take this as evidence of what the entire Islamic world feels about the Holocaust. I say, go right ahead, Islamic world is about to let the rest of us know what is really on its mind. Lets see the cartoons!
Oh, by the way, the Iranians trashed the Danish embassy (they didn’t manage to burn it, though not for lack of trying apparently):
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060207/ap_on_re_mi_ea/prophet_drawings;_ylt=Amq1NX6KMHfRpER7Pb2xKDOs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b3JuZGZhBHNlYwM3MjE-
At this rate, the peaceful protesters in places like Jordan are going to be nothing more than a blip on the radar screen when it comes to worldwide media attention.
All I can say is, keep up the good work!
Edward, the demands are not united, the anger is however, that is the sad part i suppose. Generally I think what Muslims are looking for is a sense of justice. That ridiculing Islam be considered as serious as ridiculing judaisim in the west. Personally, I dont think any religion should be ridiculed. Running holocaust cartoons is not the Muslim way. Firebombs and embassy attacks, calls for beheadings is not the Muslim way.
I suppose we have to apply the cartoons in the context of much greater things. It was the straw that broke the camels back, no pun intended. What you see on TV now not necessarily a direct reation to 12 cartoons. It is a great deal of the Muslim world finally…loosing it.
I suppose there’s only so many times you can beat a camel without expecting a reaction.
no pun intended.
I appreciate your comments on my blog, especially in keeping us all up to date. But I pray and hope that you, and other westerners, are able to differntiate between the different shades of gray. I think 1.3 billion people deserve that much.
Hi Nas,
I am only being ;> sarcastic ;> when I say I that we can judge the entire Muslim world by a few retarded cartoons in an Iranian newspaper. You should know by now I tend to be that way – a sarcastic ass that is ;>
Of course I don’t logically feel that way. I know most people in the West will still be level-headed in spite of a few cartoons; expectations about decent behavior from the Iranians are low anyway. I just think it will give ammunition to the far right in the western world. It feeds into their worst expectations about Muslims. We need to see more constructive images of Muslims, not this crap.
About the lack of unification of aims, though. This is a real problem, there can be no dialogue or negotiation in trying to appease the upset if nobody knows how, who what will satisfy them. There needs to be some leading, authoritative voice(s) on this issue. I can’t guarantee it would result in a satisfactory solution, but what is the alternative? More embassy trashings, violence, what?
A few positive notes:
One of the cartoonists is putting his drawing up for auction and will donate the money to Kashmiri earthquake victims:
http://hnn.us/blogs/entries/21419.html
I doubt this will satisfy anybody, but it is the right thing to do, I suppose.
One of the protesters at the notorious London demonstration expresses his regrets. It sounds, from descriptions I’ve been reading of this guys comments, that this demonstration was just a bit of a stunt to be outrageous in the face of what they considered an outrage (yeah, I know, it was dumb idea):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/cartoonprotests/story/0,,1703951,00.html
Really dumb anti-cartoon activity reports (and you thought embassy-burning was really dumb, it gets worse):
Pakistanis are going to stop importing European medicines in protest:
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2006/02/06/afx2501761.html
(What are they going to rely upon? They say ‘alternative medicines.’ Traditional herbal medicines, maybe? They have to be kidding. Are they going to treat cancer with ginseng or maybe mint tea? Many patented drugs are manufactured only by European firms. Lets see, we are angry over cartoons so will deny our own people medicine. That’s smart!)
and, not to be outdone . . .
Chechans kick out a Danish aid group from the region. This group, the Danish Refugee Council, has been one of the most active humanitarian groups in Chechnya in helping Chechen refugees displaced by war:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L06490153.htm
(Stupid! Shoot yourself in the foot, already. Lets see, we are angry over cartoons so we are going to deny our refugees aid. That’s smart!)
Sad but true.
It is official, the reason the Catholic priest in Turkey was killed was because of the cartoons. This, in spite of the fact that the Vatican condemned the cartoons strongly:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07462990.htm
The murder suspect has reportedly confessed. He is 16 years old. Too young for the death penalty in my opinion.
HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CARTOON BATTLE?
Test your knowledge with this exciting quiz.
Question 1. According to what protestors are demanding, how long is the boycott expected to last?
a) Until the Danish government makes a really, really convincing apology.
b) Until the European Union makes a really, really convincing apology.
c) Until Denmark surrenders free speech and declares saying anything negative
about Islam is a criminal offense.
d) Until Europe implements Sharia law.
e) Until the cartoonists are beheaded.
f) Forever, apparently.
g) Answers (e) and (f)
h) One or more of the above.
Question 2. How many Danish flags have been burned in the Muslim world since protests began?
a) Zero. Muslims are far too civilized to engage in such uncouth behavior.
b) Between 1-5. There is always a few wackos out there.
c) Between 6-11. And sometimes there are a few more wackos out there.
d) 12. An appropriate number. The same as the number of offensive cartoons.
e) 60. A more appropriate number. Five times as many as the number of cartoons.
f) Too many to count.
Question 3. How many Swedish flags have been burned in the Muslim world since the protests began?
a) Zero, what does Sweden have to do with all this?
b) At least one.
Question 4. How many Swiss flags have been burned in the Muslim world since the protests began?
a) Zero, what does Switzerland have to do with all this?
b) At least one.
Question 5. How many Jordanian flags have been burned in the Muslim world since the
republication of the cartoons in Jordanian papers?
a) Zero.
b) Zero. I think.
c) Approximately 250-300 flags.
Question 6. How many American and Israeli flags have been burned in the Muslim world since protests began?
a) 1 American flag, 3 Israeli flag
b) 2 American flags, 1 Israeli flag
c) 18 American flags, 7 Israeli flags
d) Who cares? They burn the American and Israeli flags all the time in the part of the world.
Question 7. What stance did the Vatican take on the issue of the cartoons?
a) Basically, that they were reprehensible and that freedom of speech isn’t an excuse to vilify
somebody’s religion.
b) That this served those damn Muslims right for what happened during the Crusades!
c) That they were really funny.
d) That they were great works of art and should be in a museum.
Question 8. In what country did dozens of MPs gather to celebrate the torching of the Danish and
Norwegian flags?
a) Saudi Arabia
b) Pakistan
c) Nigeria
d) Mauritania
e) Indonesia
Question 9. Which of the following events sparked the most outrage the Islamic world?
a) The 9/11 attacks in New York in the name of Allah.
b) The Bali bombings in the name of Allah.
c) The 7/11 attacks in Madrid in the name of Allah.
d) The 7/7 attacks in London in the name of Allah.
e) The Jordanian wedding bombing in the name of Allah.
f) The constant terrorist attacks on Muslims by other Muslims in Iraq too often
in the name of Allah.
g) The Holocaust denial statements of Ahmadinejad.
h) The planned display of Holocaust cartoons by a leading Iranian newspaper.
i) The murder of Christians by Muslim extremists on the Indonesian island of
Sulawesi in the name of Allah.
j) Numerous disrespectul jokes told throughout the Arab world about Allah and the
Prophets (as cited by “Iraq the Model” blogger Omar).
k) The Darfur conflict in the Sudan.
l) Saddam Hussein’s years of tyranny (including murdering Shi’ite clerics and their
families) in the name of Satan.
m) The Taliban’s destruction of ancient Buddhist statues in the name of Allah.
n) The murder of Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands in the name of Allah.
o) The synagogue bombing in Tunisia in the name of Allah.
p) The synagogue bombing in Turkey in the name of Allah.
q) The murder of Hariri in the name of Syrian hegemony.
r) The murder of contractor Paul Johnson in Saudi Arabia in the name of Allah.
s) The murder of Margarat Hassan in the name of Allah, greed, nationalism, who knows?
t) “Honor killings” in the name of family pride.
u) All events, a-t combined.
v) Some stupid cartoons published in a newspaper no one ever heard of in a
country most people in the Muslim world couldn’t find on a map and nobody
anywhere cares too much about. [Sorry Danish people!]
Question 10. Who is Nas’s favorite blogger (besides himself)?
a) Khalidah
b) Eman (of Aqua Cool)
c) Nobody but himself.
d) Michelle Malkin.
Answers:
1. (h) is the correct answer. At least I think it is . . .
2. (f) is the correct answer.
3. (b) is the correct answer. What’s the difference between a Swede and a Dane?
They’re both Scandinavian anyway.
4. (b) is the correct answer. What’s the difference between a Swiss and a Dane?
They’re both European anyway.
5. (a) or (b) will suffice.
6. (d) is the correct answer.
7. (a) is the correct answer.
8. (c) is the correct answer. See here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4689314.stm
9. (v) of course, is the correct answer. After all, what could be more offensive than that?
10. (d) Malkin, who else? You know! The one Nas calls “the voice of reason in an unreasonable
world.”
hey, like the quiz edward! that pretty much says it all huh?
Looks like the origin of one of the faked 3 cartoons that the Danish Muslim delegation presented to Arabs has been traced. It isn’t even Mohammad, it is a Frenchman in a pig squealing contest! So nobody should be offended. This Danish imam is looking more and more questionable by the day:
http://www.neandernews.com/?p=54
I know that Nas doesn’t think it is important. Still, like I said before, it does raise other questions . . .
I am starting to wonder if Syria or Iran (or both) are not behind stirring things up. Also, where in the world did these people get all these Danish flags on such short notice? It isn’t like you can get a Danish flag just anywhere.
Edward, do you think syria and iran had trucks of danish flags distributing them in the street? come on, this isnt the stoneage, you can get flags just about anywhere in the arab world and at worst you can paint a piece of cloth red and draw a white cross on it. its going to get burnt, not be waved at the olympics.
as for the faked cartoons, give me one reason why its important? i will bet you 99% of all the people protesting on the street have not seen a single one of these cartoons and I will bet the majority of them will refuse to look at them if given the oppertunity. if a danish imam presented a bunch of cartoons to encourage a government, of which three were possibly faked…what does it matter in the context of whats happening? 12 real cartoons were published by a real newspaper and spread from one real country to another real country and people are protesting that.
if you come back here with proof that the 12 cartoons everyone’s protesting were faked, or that the newspaper doesn’t even exist…well then we can talk conspiracy theory.
as for what this imam did or did not do, it serves no real purpose to what’s happening. are we really supposed to assume that these 3 cartoons alone convinced people or governments to boycott?
now why the paper chose to print cartoons insulting the prophet pbuh and passed on jesus, well that’s a bit more interesting 😉
Edward, do you think syria and iran had trucks of danish flags distributing them in the street? come on, this isnt the stoneage, you can get flags just about anywhere in the arab world and at worst you can paint a piece of cloth red and draw a white cross on it. its going to get burnt, not be waved at the olympics.”
The flags I saw didn’t look like painted cloth. They looked like the real thing. Where do you buy Danish flags in the Arab world? Would you be able to buy a Tongan flag or a Jamaican flag from a local store?
And, no, I don’t think Syria and Iran distributed the flags. I do believe Syria and Iran are possibly in on encouraging some of the mayhem we are seeing though.
“as for the faked cartoons, give me one reason why its important? i will bet you 99% of all the people protesting on the street have not seen a single one of these cartoons”
I’ll give you two.
Reason #1: Because it represents a clear attempt at incitement by Denmarks most popular imam. The Danish people (and Europeans generally) have to ask themselves if this kind of treasonous behavior is something they can tolerate. If this is what can be expected from popular mainstream imams, what does this tell you about the threat Islam poses to western societies? What does it tell you about the morals of Islam if this is acceptable behavior?
Reason #2: Because it is clear that these cartoons were part of the early catalyst for these protests. The fact that the BBC ran with the story that these 3 cartoons were in the paper originally shows they must have gotten their information from Arab sources.
Also, Muslims are reportedly protesting 12 cartoons like you said. This simply proves that most Muslims haven’t seen any of the cartoons faked or otherwise. Not all the 12 cartoons published in the paper even depict Mohammad. Many of those that are are not even negative portrayals. You said yourself that people are angry over the way Mohammad was being caricatured.
“now why the paper chose to print cartoons insulting the prophet pbuh and passed on jesus, well thatâ??s a bit more interesting”
South Park and others have already done the Jesus thing to death. 🙂
Edward
there are many stores yes where you can get flags of any country. the arab world does not consist of several bedoin tents and a bunch of camels.
of course they are, no one can argue that. from government to extremist groups, there are always groups who have a vital interest in the exploitation of the angry masses.
so basically you’re taking the alleged actions of one imam and reflecting them on the morality of an entire religion? in the U.S. you have priests molesting little kids, should i be asking the question “what does it tell you about the morals of christianity if this is acceptable behavior?”. i doubt it.
how does it show that they got their information from Arab sources when Arab media didn’t run with it. the bbc made a mistake, let them own up to it. newsweek said US troops were flushing the quran down the toilet, did they get their information from arab sources too?
Hi Nas,
In response to some of your statements:
“there are many stores yes where you can get flags of any country. the arab world does not consist of several bedoin tents and a bunch of camels.”
Really, Nas, your not a bunch of Bedouin nomads? Sure your not! Next you’ll try and convince me that Arabs don’t really fly around on magic carpets. 😉 What I am saying, Nas, is that the Danish flag doesn’t exactly seem like a common item you could purchase in the heat of the moment even in a country like the United States. A few Danish flags? Possibly from a store specializing in those type of products. It just surprises me that you can get an relatively obscure flag in large quantity so quickly.
Then again, I can”t say I’ve honestly purchased many foreign flags, I’ve never had much of a need for such an item, so maybe I’m a little naive on this subject. 🙂 Maybe the international flag industry is a bigger business in the Arab world, after all they seem to burn a lot of Israeli and U.S. flags over there. 😉
“so basically youâ??re taking the alleged actions of one imam and reflecting them on the morality of an entire religion? in the U.S. you have priests molesting little kids, should i be asking the question â??what does it tell you about the morals of christianity if this is acceptable behavior?â?Â. i doubt it.”
What I’m say, to summarize it all in one question is: Where are the moderate Muslims at?
First of all, a perverted child-molesting priest who is exposed will certainly not continue to enjoy popular support from his church’s congregation. (In fact, such a priest won’t even enjoy an support from his fellow inmates in prison as the murder of the Catholic priest Geghen.)
Why is it that Abu Laban in Denmark was, and continues to be, the most popular imam in Denmark? Why, in spite of the fact that he has well documented ties to terrorist groups and has been exposed as dishonest on this issue, does it not seem to be affecting his standing in the Muslim community in Demark negatively? Why has no one in the Danish Muslim community spoken out against him? Sorry, Nas, but it does raise issues beyond just the actions of a single imam. Maybe not about the entire Muslim world, but certainly about a large segment of the Danish Muslim community.
Second of all, in spite of however disgusting and evil a child-molesting priest is, there are not a lot of Catholic priests with ties to terrorist organizations, nor priests who represent a possible threat to the national security of their country, nor priests who go around trying to provoke hatred of the countries they are citizens of. Nor, for that matter, have I seen to many priests who used the kind of hateful, inflammatory speech about their countrymen like Abu Laban: “and if you said they were all infidels, you would not be wrong.”
So I ask again: In Denmark (or in all of Europe), where are the moderate Muslims?
“how does it show that they got their information from Arab sources when Arab media didnâ??t run with it. the bbc made a mistake, let them own up to it.”
The BBC should own up to it. No disagreement there. But who alerted the Arab press to this story? Did some Arab journalist just happen to pick up the offending Danish paper? No, they were alerted by the same people that Abu Laban in Demark convinced (mostly through deceptive measures) that this was a big deal. Read further below for more.
Your first post stated: “â??as for the faked cartoons, give me one reason why its important?”
Your response stated: “o remind me again why what you just said is a reason why some 3 fake cartoons are important to this situation?”
I think I have indicated previously in postings touching on this issue that it is not necessarily very relevant to the situation at hand; I do think, however, it is important in its own right. You asked me why I thought it was important and I gave you a response.
Now a little more about that clown, Abu Laban. This dirtbag is looking more like a provocateur by the day. It turns out that the claims were made to the Arabs he was meeting with that there were in fact 120 cartoons and that the paper tha published them was run by the government of Denmark, he also claimed that Denmark was planning on censoring the Koran and was planning on producing an anti-Islamic film:
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/668
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/646
(The title “Danish Muslims Divided over Cartoon Affair” of this last article is absurd, the only thing any Muslim in this article says that isn’t with the Abu Laban party line is that the delegation that went to the Arab world doesn’t represent all Muslims. Gee! What a divisive comment.)
The 43-page report in Arabic is here:
http://www.ekstrabladet.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID=329877
The results of Abu Labans actions become clear here:
http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/files/danish_letter.pdf
One of the above articles states that the 12 cartoons, by themselves, were not sufficient to convince the Danish delegation’s Arab contacts that there was a serious anti-Islamic problem in Denmark. The 3 other cartoons along with other lies of Abu Laban, were a catalyst for these Arab contacts to take action. What actions did they take?
– The Grand Mufti issued a fatwa to boycott Denmark
– The issue was brought up with the Arab League
– There as a statement made by al-Azhar on January 8th with promises to bring up the issue with
the United Nations and with various other “human rights” organizations.
– And, of course, the Arab press was contacted.
What might have languished in obscurity was now all over the Muslim world. Given the above analysis it sounds like those 3 cartoons were, along with Abu Laban’s other lies , was in fact, very important in getting the ball rolling.
You may argue that it doesn’t get to the heart of the matter and you may be right. If you argue that Abu Laban’s actions don’t matter now you would be right again. But, they may have mattered a great deal at the time he was fabricating his preposterous claims.
A sign the Arab world has bigger problems that cartoons:
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5184
Excuse my last post, I meant Muslim world, not Arab world. Before I am accused of ignorance I am well aware the Persians and Arabs are different peoples.
Apparently the BBC, which won’t show the British people any of the Jyllands-Posten cartoons to “avoid causing offence,” had no problem airing the faked ‘pig-snout Mohammad’ cartoon in Gaza repeatedly.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4686536.stm
That’s the BBC for you. Left-wing losers. Truly shameless.
BBC gives its stance on publication of the cartoons:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4693292.stm
Like I said, shameless:
“Since then some media outlets have republished the pictures in solidarity, while others – including the BBC – have refrained from publishing them to avoid causing offence to their audiences.”
More Islamic double standards:
“Freedom for Egyptians” reports that the Jyllands-Posten cartoons were published five months ago in Egypt. No massive outrage at that time.
http://freedomforegyptians.blogspot.com/2006/02/cartoons-were-published-five-months.html
I await the boycott of Egypt from the Muslim world for this unforgivable offense.
Another one bites the dust:
http://www.newswatch.in/index.php?itemid=3495
Who’s next?
Edward,
one cannot say Islamic double standards. The people might have double standards granted, but do not accuse the religion of hosting the same.
I apologize, what I meant to say is:
More Islamic World double standards. (Islamic World the same sense as the Western World.)
One more on our pal, the #1 imam in Denmark, Abu “The Liar” Laban:
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=48735
Great sie