Don't Go Into The Light

Danish Muslim Clerics put Islam in hot water

Rent-a Riot dog bites the Islamic owners

As the riots in the Islamic capitals got out of control and brought international heat and attention on the regimes permitting the riots, the Danish Muslim clerics, led by Abu Laban and Ahmed Akarri, who had worked very hard to internationalize the problem, are now waving the white flag and are begging for some face-saving resolution of the matter. In December, not getting an apology from the Danish government, they took their struggle to the defenders of the faith in the Middle East to get help from the Ummah. Spirited discussions took place in Cairo, Damascus and Riyadh. Even the 57 nation OIC got into the act. Intense diplomatic pressure was put on Danish P.M. Rasmussen, who, to his credit, did not give an inch to their demands for punishment and apology.

The Danish contigent prepared a 43 page hysterical dossier http://www.ekstrabladet.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID=329877 written in Arabic containing the 12 offending cartoons to illustrate the hostile attitude of Danish society, and the government towards Islam and distributed it in the top Islamic circles in trhe Muddle East. Muslim countries, keen to be seen as defenders of the faith jumped in the diplomatic fray. Authorities in Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Gaza ordered thousands of Danish flags to get ready for an orgy of flag burning and a show of strength. Unfortunately, the riots seemed to have backfired on the perperators as the whole world watched with disbelief the violence, destruction and death brought on by the Muslims in reaction to being portrayed as violent, among other things.

It turns out that the Danish Imams exaggerated by including three cartoons which they incorrectly attributed to as published in the Danish newspaper, and telling other lies and exaggerations to buttress the case as a hurt child would to a patient parent. This lie is now making the headlines in Denmark and causing the Imams to back down, and beg for peace. The Danish government’s response to this has been to question the patriotism of the Danish hotheads and deny them any legitimacy by excluding them from any future discussions between Muslims and Danish government on mutual understanding.

So what we have now is a no-win situation for the Muslims. If the hotheads force the Danish government to back down and offer an apology as an appeasement, Muslims will be viewed as bullies who use violence to silence free speech. If the Danes don’t apologize, the West will be viewed as the victor over a fanatic religion and give encouragement to future transgressions against the religion which are surely coming. Either outcome spells disaster for Muslims. No wonder, Muslims feel trapped. Interestingly, this controversy has encouraged many moderate Muslims to come out and speak against the hotheads. A website, attributed to moderate Muslims http://www.sorrynorwaydenmark.com has recently appeared apologizing for the behavior of the extremists in Islam although it is mystifying why Norway was included in it because the politicians there were quick to apologize for the reproduction of the cartoons even before an apology was demanded.

For a detailed anatomy of the cartoon controversy, click on this article by WSJ contributor, Andrew Higgins: "How Muslim clerics stirred world against Denmark." Also see a Washington Times op-ed piece http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060207-091645-1684r.htm

Here is a synopsis of winners, losers and wimps in this fiasco. The winners are clearly the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen for standing up to the bullies in the face of boycott and death threats. Also noteworthy are the European editors, and Philadelphia Inquirer, the only major newspaper in the U.S. who took the cause later and re-published the cartoons. Condy Rice gets points for pointing out early on that the riots are a Syrian and Iranian concoction. And President Bush for support of the Danish stance, albeit little late.

Losers are clearly the noisy Danish Imams and their protectors in Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran, and the OIC for making a big deal about the twelve cartoons, most of which are innocuous. Click above and judge for yourself. http://www.di2.nu/files/Muhammed_Cartoons_Jyllands_Posten.html

The biggest loser of course is the Ummah, the Muslim community at large, also known as the Arab street. Watch the Muslim regimes retreat soon to repair the damage caused to themselves by their quick diplomatic actions. Egypt, after all, refused to advance discussions on a $70 million loan from Denmark at the height of the controversy! Watch it come back quietly to the table with tail between her legs.

The list of wimps is rather impressive.

1. US and British Mainstream media for refusing to publish the cartoons. The tragedy is that if all Americans saw the cartoons, they will see first hand that the noise made is totally uncalled for. Even an Egyptian and a Jordanian paper published these.

2. U.S. Staid Department and British foreign secretary Jack Straw’s condemnation of the publication of these cartoons. Remind me what these two countries stand for: Freedom of speech or appeasement of the mob. They are unaware of the threat to free speech or worse: pretend it is not there. In any case, the comments were totally unnecessary and show a lack of backbone. Rhymes, as you see fit. with Neville Chamberlain? Hello?

3. Publishers who fired their editors for publishing these cartoons including the ones whose editors resigned because of self-imposed censorship.

4. UN's high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbor by jumping into the fray and demanding answers from Denmark and threatening investigations into racism and disrespect for belief. Is freedom of speech not a part of human rights? Hello?

5. Moderate Muslims, if there is a significant group as such, for not demanding restraint early on and letting the hotheads hijack their faith over and over again. As I have said before, moderate Muslims, you can not be on the fence anymore. The fence is on fire.

This has been a watershed victory of the values of the West versus the hypocrisy of Muslims. This, I hope, is the beginning of the end of wimpiness of the West when faced with the bullies, even though we have to appease the Saudis for their oil. No more confused silence on the part of the West when first confronted by this in November 1989 when the Ayatollah Khomeini announced a death sentence upon Salman Rushdie, a citizen of another country for writing a book. It did not matter that the book was historically accurate.

Lessons learned: No more comprises and no more apologies and appeasement. If we believe in our values, let the whole country, including the Staid Department stand for it. One more thing. Every time, GWB says Islam means peace, I want to throw up while the Muslims smirk at that statement. Islam does not mean peace, it means submission. Submit, or off with your head. Get it, Dubya?