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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syria, Iran complicit in organizing cartoon riots across Middle East |
| 2006-02-06 |
| Crowds set fire to Danish and Norwegian missions in Damascus and storm the Danish Embassy in Beirut. Gunmen seize European offices in the Gaza Strip. The Middle East has for months been a powder keg of pent-up anti-Western anger over the war in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the European publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad seems to have been the spark that lit the fuse. But the genuine anger displayed by crowds in Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories and Iraq also may have been exploited or intensified by some Muslim countries in the region to settle scores with Western powers, observers said. Syria and Iran face growing pressure from the Americans and the Europeans on the issues of foreign extremists infiltrating Iraq's borders and on Tehran's nuclear program. And Egypt, one of the first to publicly criticize the series of cartoons, has been critical of the Danish government for funding critics of human rights abuses. "This is an organized attempt to take advantage of Muslim anger for purposes that do not serve the interests of Muslims and Lebanon, but those of others beyond the border," Lebanese Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad, a Christian, said Sunday after riots in Beirut. Syria blamed Denmark for the protests, criticizing the Scandinavian nation for refusing to apologize after the caricatures were first published in September in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said he personally disapproves of the caricatures and any attacks on religion _ but insisted he cannot apologize on behalf of his country's independent press. The caricatures, which have been republished recently in several European and New Zealand newspapers as a statement on behalf of a free press, provoked a genuine and deep anger among many Muslims as Islamic tradition forbids any depiction of the religion's holiest figure. One caricature showed the revered prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a burning fuse. That image that reinforced the belief among many Muslims that the U.S.-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were not simply in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks or the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, but part of a Western war against Islam little different from the Crusades of the Middle Ages. Although many Muslims were appalled by the terror attacks on the United States, images of abuse by American soldiers at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and reports of deplorable conditions at the Guantanamo Bay prison also have reinforced suspicions that Arabs in general have become targets of the anti-terror war. The fact that the biggest riots occurred in the Syrian capital and in Beirut also raised questions: Syria has an extensive security network to make sure that little happens inside its borders without the approval of the national leadership. Mosque preachers in Syria have been rallying the faithful over the caricatures for days. Mahmoud Hussam, a Syrian lawyer who closely follows Islamic affairs, said he does not support violence but "it is a justified violence when our religion is under attack." Syria's Sunni religious leader, Grand Mufti Sheik Ahmed Badr-Eddine Hassoun, said the demonstration turned violent because of "some infiltrators who do not understand the language of dialogue with others and turned it into destroying and burning of properties." In Iraq, many protests that have not turned violent were organized by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who is believed to have ties to Iran. In Egypt, human rights activists privately contend that the Egyptian government, one of the first to raise complaints about the cartoons, is using the controversy to protest Copenhagen's generous aid contributions to critics of President Hosni Mubarak. In Lebanon, the riot in Beirut may have been a spillover of the trouble in Damascus. Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon last year under international pressure, but Damascus is believed to maintain considerable influence within the country after a 29-year military presence. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora alluded to the possibility of a Syrian role. "It is as if they (the Syrian riots) were a lesson to some in Lebanon to do the same," Saniora said. Lebanon's Sunni Muslim spiritual leader, Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, also spoke of infiltrators whose aim was to "harm the stability of Lebanon." He did not elaborate, but many Lebanese see the hand of Syria in virtually everything that happens. Lebanon's own sectarian tensions may have provided a catalyst. The country has not fully recovered from the 15-year civil war between Christians and Muslims that ended in 1990. Lebanese protesters hurled stones at the St. Maroun Church, one of the city's main Maronite Catholic churches. Even as enraged Muslims continue to protest, some Arab commentators are saying things have gone too far. The editor of Soutelomma, a weekly independent paper in Cairo, blasted those who have rejected European apologies and efforts to calm the controversy. "Why do we want more than this? Do we want Denmark to convert into a Muslim (nation). Do you want to conquer Denmark or do you want the terrorists to attack innocent people and kill them?" the newspaper asked. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #9 Lol - forgot that addition to the meme lexicon, Sea! |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-06 18:22 |
| #8 variation of the meme thingy "fake but accurate", methinks I believe that's known as 'truthiness'... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-02-06 18:03 |
| #7 The Middle East has for months been a powder keg of pent-up anti-Western anger... Months? Try centuries. At least along the bleeding edges. |
| Posted by: Xbalanke 2006-02-06 18:00 |
| #6 " . . .many Muslims were appalled by the terror attacks on the United States . . ." Many, some, a few, eleven, what's this big problem with numbers we have. |
| Posted by: Snaggle P 2006-02-06 17:12 |
| #5 Oops, sorry, this was a WaPo Revision, heh. My bad - I was off on the Beeb site and it infiltrated my comment, heh. |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-06 14:09 |
| #4 S'okay, ex-lib - it didn't actually happen, it's just a variation of the meme thingy "fake but accurate", methinks. BBC revises history to fit. Now how they handle the CogDis rebound is interesting - at least among those who experience it. Those that don't, well, heh - the wiring is definitely different in that non-sapiens model. ;-) |
| Posted by: .com 2006-02-06 14:08 |
| #3 " . . .many Muslims were appalled by the terror attacks on the United States . . ." When was that, again? I must've missed it. |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2006-02-06 14:01 |
| #2 BTW, I don't remember any fuss when Muhammad (Pigs Be Upon Him) appeared as a superhero on South Park. Give it time. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2006-02-06 07:54 |
| #1 The British Press seems to have comncentrated blame on the Arab League as a galvaniziing force behind the protests - a real group effort, so to speak. BTW, I don't remember any fuss when Muhammad (Pigs Be Upon Him) appeared as a superhero on South Park. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2006-02-06 03:40 |