The latest hottest news in Europe took four months to fully come to speed. I'm not quite sure if it has made it across the Atlantic (where most readers of this blog live) so I'll join the chorus and add my two cents.
In September, a Danish daily published a bunch of cartoons showing Mohammed, the prophet according to Islam. The project was launched when a publisher couldn't find an illustrator for a book on Islam because of fear of retribution if anything shown was deemed inappropriated. The main point of the cartoons, that self-censorship is not acceptable in Western Europe, was explained in the accompanying article. The increasingly vitriolic outrage that has erupted (or rather oozed - considering the time it took to reach cruising altitude) shows that the newspaper got it all right.
It also shows that some citizens of Europe have a lot to learn about how Western society works. Some say the cartoons are unacceptable because picturing Mohammed is not allowed by the Koran. There are some fine countries where the Koran is law, but Denmark is not one of them. Others are calling for the Danish government to condemn the newspaper for publishing the cartoons. Again, an idea that would fly like a hot-air ballon in Saudi Arabia or Iran. Thankfully doesn't work like this around here.
What the reactions to the cartoons - death threats, flag burning, boycotts of Danish products, a siege to the EU's office in Palestine, threats of violence - show is that radical fundamental Islamists with their predisposition to violence and their inability to communicate, argue and discuss according to accepted standards need to be taken very seriously if not tackled forcefully to maintain peace in Europe and prevent the rise of blind hatred against average Muslims.
The cartoons are shown on the website of the Brussels Journal, together with articles, comments and discussion. And yes, I'm very angry.
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