I think things are getting blown out of proportion!
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| At Mecca Meeting, Cartoon Outrage Crystallized |
| 2006-02-10 |
| Via JihadWatch As leaders of the world's 57 Muslim nations gathered for a summit meeting in Mecca in December, issues like religious extremism dominated the official agenda. But much of the talk in the hallways was of a wholly different issue: Danish cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad. The closing communiqué took note of the issue when it expressed "concern at rising hatred against Islam and Muslims and condemned the recent incident of desecration of the image of the Holy Prophet Muhammad in the media of certain countries" as well as over "using the freedom of expression as a pretext to defame religions." The meeting in Mecca, a Saudi city from which non-Muslims are barred, drew minimal international press coverage even though such leaders as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran were in attendance. But on the road from quiet outrage in a small Muslim community in northern Europe to a set of international brush fires, the summit meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference — and the role its member governments played in the outrage — was something of a turning point. After that meeting, anger at the Danish caricatures, especially at an official government level, became more public. In some countries, like Syria and Iran, that meant heavy press coverage in official news media and virtual government approval of demonstrations that ended with Danish embassies in flames. In recent days, some governments in Muslim countries have tried to calm the rage, worried by the increasing level of violence and deaths in some cases. But the pressure began building as early as October, when Danish Islamists were lobbying Arab ambassadors and Arab ambassadors lobbied Arab governments. "It was no big deal until the Islamic conference when the O.I.C. took a stance against it," said Muhammad el-Sayed Said, deputy director of the Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. Sari Hanafi, an associate professor at the American University in Beirut, said that for Arab governments resentful of the Western push for democracy, the protests presented an opportunity to undercut the appeal of the West to Arab citizens. The freedom pushed by the West, they seemed to say, brought with it disrespect for Islam. He said the demonstrations "started as a visceral reaction — of course they were offended — and then you had regimes taking advantage saying, 'Look, this is the democracy they're talking about.' " Rest at link. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #12 I don't want to be drawn into this. |
| Posted by: Mohammed 2006-02-10 20:22 |
| #11 So are we going to get a RB pool going as to when Mo is gonna blow up? Metaphors become life, ya know? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2006-02-10 19:45 |
| #10 Naw I expect mo and scratch are right pleased with their work, likely looking forward to the company the jihad will bring to the 7th circle of hell. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-10 18:21 |
| #9 The problem is, they can't face themselves in the mirror. They really are insecure, so they feel the need to lash out at strangers. Pride has a higher priority over Love to them. This art wasn't actually meant for insult, 25 cartoonist were asked to create their own interpretation of the Phophet. These cartoons are reflections of problems in the Islam world, Muhammad must be so dissapointed in his followers. |
| Posted by: Snotch Slaviper9464 2006-02-10 18:00 |
| #8 Good point planet. |
| Posted by: plainslow 2006-02-10 16:52 |
| #7 I think things are getting blown out of proportion! |
| Posted by: Snotch Slaviper9464 2006-02-10 16:41 |
| #6 Hmmmmm. Lot's of little problems originated there. They stomped on each other, then the MM's convened for this little dust up. I've heard that Jacques Chirac has threatened several times to vaporize this little trouble spot. Can we assit the Frogs in any way at all ??? |
| Posted by: SOP35/Rat 2006-02-10 15:59 |
| #5 In a turn of the tables, Maybe they ought to examine the root causes for the hatred and outrage* (*saudi prince to rudy giuliani, after Sept 11) |
| Posted by: PlanetDan 2006-02-10 15:45 |
| #4 No we'll use the crystals to make Angry Tang get get rich, rich, rich. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-02-10 15:35 |
| #3 At Mecca Meeting, Cartoon Outrage Crystallized Does this mean we can then haul off the crystals to a hazardous waste disposal site? |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2006-02-10 14:46 |
| #2 This will be a very interesting demonstration of how every player brings a separate set of interests to the game. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-02-10 14:34 |
| #1 "The closing communiqué took note of the issue when it expressed "concern at rising hatred against Islam and Muslims... ." That's a joke, right? |
| Posted by: Perfesser 2006-02-10 14:28 |