A massive controversy erupted in recent days following the printing of various cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten newspaper. Published on September 30th, 2005, the cartoons depict, among other things, a drawing with a bomb strapped on the turban of the Prophet Muhammad, and another drawing with a God telling suicide bombers to stop killing themselves due to a lack of virgins in heaven. It is considered blasphemy in Islam to draw the Prophet. The drawing struck a chord with many in the Muslim world. Millions in the region already strongly believe that many in the West have an inherent hatred of their religion, and consequently feel even more victimized by the drawings. The pictures also prove to be the final justification many needed for what, after 9/11, they believe Europe thinks of them – they are all terrorists. Following the controversy, the Saudi Arabian and Libyan governments both recalled their ambassadors from Denmark, widespread boycotts of Danish products took place across the Islamic world, and protests, sometimes violent, have erupted everywhere from England to Qatar to Indonesia. In addition, the Danish embassies in Damascus and Beirut were lit ablaze by protesters, a dramatic escalation of events. Furious condemnations have come from the Indonesian, Malaysian, and Pakistani governments. A sharply critical response came from The Vatican, stating that “The right to freedom of thought and expression … cannot entail the right to offend the religious sentiment of believers.” Tthe US State Department and Former President Bill Clinton also slammed the drawings. As of now, the only reasoning for supporting the drawings has been the assertion of freedom of speech. However, to use freedom of speech as a defense for a blatant assault on a religion is absurd. Even if someone wished to make a point, they should not have insinuated that Islam equals terrorism. As a show of solidarity with Jyllands-Posten, many other European papers reprinted the drawings, only further inflaming the controversy. At the core of the issue is whether freedom of speech gives one the right to say whatever they please. There are limits on this right. For example, one cannot be allowed to scream “Fire!” in a crowded theater. It is shameful to allow a paper to publish pictures when the damage they would cause a nation and the tensions they would inflame were so apparent. The controversy has already soared beyond the domain of acceptability. The long term damage this poses to every nation involved is staggering. The Nordic countries are endangering their status as an indifferent and neutral party to the international community, Arab nations are being swept in a storm of public fury, and the deep divide between the Muslim world and the West only grows deeper. Many Western observers also have been asking as to why the response has been so furious from the Arab world and so muted from many governments. The answer is that many governments cannot in any way be seen as condoning blasphemy. When a nation in the Arab world is defined as being of a certain religion, it is not similar to the same classification in the West. Islam lies at the core of many Arab states, and beliefs are so deeply rooted in the people that blasphemy invokes a response beyond what many in the West would normally expect. The Danish government needs to do all it can to end the controversy, for its own economic sake and its image in the world. Prime Minister Rasmussen must condemn the drawings and publicly state that his government does not support them – indeed it is somewhat appalling his government has not done this yet. Following that, the Danish government must meet with Middle Eastern governments and try harder to diffuse the conflict. The response so far from the European and Danish government in particular has been one of complete indifference, and that cannot happen to a situation of such gravity. The drawings are a testament to the deeply rooted distrust that has existed between the Islamic world and the West since September 11th. The handling of the crisis by European governments has not helped the situation at all, and every reason they have given justifying their actions has been one of sheer arrogance and shows little to no understanding of the seriousness of the issue. The controversy over Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses took years to die out, and this almost certainly will take just as long.
