Ali Abunimah v Fouad Ajami on the Danish Cartoon Crisis

From The Newshour with Jim Lehrer:

MARGARET WARNER: All right. Let me get Professor Ajami to respond. And if you would, there were a lot of things put on the table there, but let's look at two issues he raised having to do with the Europeans here: One is he was essentially saying it's hypocritical. I mean, Europeans talk about free expression yet they ban expressions of Muslim faith in the public square essentially in many European countries; and secondly that there was something deliberately provocative about these cartoons and that perhaps is at the very least unwise.

I mean, do you think Europeans deserve any responsibility for this, especially the ones who republished them?

FOUAD AJAMI: Well none whatsoever because part of the challenge, if you will, of living and the advantage of living in a liberal society is the willingness to be offended.

And I think what these Muslim populations in Europe, what these Muslim populations are telling us today is that they're in the West geographically but not of West.They don't accept the challenge; they don't accept the difficulty of living in a pluralist liberal society; that they have brought with them the fire from Morocco, from Tunisia, from Algeria, from Egypt and Syria.

And I think these European societies have a problem because they tended to think that there is a battle between America and the Islamic world, and that they are innocent bystanders. They're not innocent bystanders and now they know this. They know this in Denmark. They know this in Holland. They know this in Sweden. And that's what we're really seeing.

We're really seeing millions of Muslims who have come to Europe; they've been granted the chance for a new life. And I think they need to make their peace with this modern society in which they find themselves. And they haven't done it yet.

MARGARET WARNER: So, Professor Ajami, staying with you for a minute, are you saying that you think the burden is really on the Muslims living in Europe and not at all on the European societies into which these Muslims have moved?

FOUAD AJAMI: Well, I think -- I think that's probably about it. I mean, I think you have to look at the dilemma of these Muslim populations in Europe.

You have 15 million, maybe you even have millions more undeclared who have come to Europe, and they need to respect the rules of European liberalism, and that they haven't really shown.

Like I took you to the beginning of this story, the time line -- this began in Denmark. And I think the Muslims in Denmark have to respect the rules of Denmark. And they have to acknowledge -- when in Rome, you live as the Romans do. And you are willing to be offended; you are willing to look the other way; and you are willing to accept that even though these cartoons are hideous and they're tasteless, that you don't go on a rampage. And you don't challenge the basic rules of European liberalism.

MARGARET WARNER: Mr. Abunimah, I'm sorry but very briefly if you could respond on whether Muslims living in European really need to accept those cultural norms of free expression?

ALI ABUNIMAH: Well, I reject Mr. Ajami's broad generalizations. Fifteen million Muslims haven't gone on rampages in Europe. The protests, though high profile, have not involved more than a tiny, tiny percentage of the Muslim population in Europe. I grew up in Europe.

I remember 20 years ago long before Sept. 11 in the streets of Brussels being picked on by the police just because I'm an Arab -- not because I don't accept European liberalism or democracy.

I'm an American. I love democracy. I love freedom. But I also think there needs to be mutual respect. And there needs to be a more sophisticated dialogue between Arabs, Muslims and people in the West, not just the kind of really simplistic name calling that Mr. Ajami is engaged in--

MARGARET WARNER: OK.

ALI ABUNIMAH: --and unfortunately has been his stock and trade.

MARGARET WARNER: OK. Mr. Ajami, brief response from you and then we're really out of time.

FOUAD AJAMI: Well, I think I don't want to engage him on this personal level. It's just idle.

I think fundamentally what this is really about, it's about the ability to accept the challenge of liberal society and to accept the challenge of dissent.

And I should add that many religious jurists in the Arab world, many prominent columnists, have condemned these hooligan attacks in Syria and Lebanon and have condemned the use of this episode for cynical political reasons. That's really what this story is all about.

More on Saudi Aims in Cartoon Crisis

In the form of a parody of a memo to the Saudi King, The Religious Policeman explains Saudi Arabia's possible strategy in the Danish Cartoon crisis:

I was perhaps too pessimistic at the end of my previous memo. Things have in fact turned out better than we might have expected.

As I reported, a number of other European newspapers did publish the cartoons. In two of those cases, the owners of those papers sacked the offending editors, thus demonstrating that jobs are at risk when we Muslims are offended! This, I am sure, is a lesson that will not have been lost on other editors. It is noticeable now that with a few striking exceptions, such as those very aggressive Germans, newspapers and broadcasters are very reluctant to show them further, and they appear not to have been shown at all in the USA.

What is also very gratifying is that officials in the West are not only accepting our right to be offended at whatever we choose, but they are also saying that the Western media should work to our standards, not theirs. It is striking how soon they forget about their self-professed "freedoms" when they witness a little righteous Muslim anger. Thus UK Foreign Secretary Straw's comment....

Mr Straw said the decision by some European newspapers to print the cartoons was "disrespectful" and he added that freedom of speech did not mean an "open season" on religious taboos.

....or to paraphrase him, "having a freedom does not mean that you have the right to use it". We could not have put it better ourselves; perhaps we should ask Mr Straw to write editorials for the "Arab News"! The US State Department, on the other hand, persists in proclaiming kuffar values....

Our response is to say that while we certainly don’t agree with, support, or in some cases, we condemn the views that are aired in public that are published in media organizations around the world, we, at the same time, defend the right of those individuals to express their views.

....however the US is overall becoming a bit of a problem to which I shall refer later.

Generally, active Muslims around the world have reacted well to our lead. As well as the unemployed "usual suspects" in Palestine and Indonesia, some British Muslims gave a particularly impressive display yesterday.

The official reaction of British officialdom - precisely nothing! - illustrates how successful we have been over the years in getting them to accept the "Principle of Asymmetry". In other words, we use their sense of "fair play", "multiculturalism", "democratic values", and of course their guilt feelings, against them, so that they restrict their own freedom of action, but are very lax when dealing with the Muslim, for fear of offense or violent reaction. This of course confuses and demoralizes the ordinary person-in-the-street, and weakens their resistance to the onward march of the Ummah.

May I just say, Your Majesty, how these events have demonstrated the wisdom of your decision to remind people about those old cartoons. The story has now developed a momentum of its own, it will run and run, and who remembers those pilgrims in Makkah? What pilgrims? Exactly! Not only that, but the Egyptians' poor maritime standards mean that a much larger death toll will now remain in the public eye.

Al Qaeda Mastermind Escapes...

Ooops!

The Washington Post reports that the Al Qaeda mastermind responsible for the US Cole bombing has tunnelled out of his jail in Sana, Yemen.

$87 billion for the War on Terror, and President Bush couldn't keep an eye on a key Al Qaeda leader--who is now free to strike again.

Where is Rudy Giuliani when we need him?

Danish Cartoon Crisis Grows

According to this AP story, it's beginning to get ugly:

The European Union issued stern reminders to 18 Muslim countries that they are obliged under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to protect foreign embassies, and Austria — which now holds the EU Council presidency, reported calling in a top representative of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to express concerns for the safety of diplomatic missions.

The prime ministers of Spain and Turkey issued a Christian-Muslim appeal for calm, saying "we shall all be the losers if we fail to immediately defuse this situation."

But Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said media freedoms cannot be limitless and that hostility against Muslims was replacing anti-Semitism in the West.

Bull Moose: American Left Fails Danish Cartoon Test

Liberals are failing to defend the basic principles of liberalism in the Danish Cartoon case, says Bull Moose:

It would be nice if some of the ardent liberals on the Judiciary Committee spoke to the threat of radical Jihadism against our progressive values and underscored that it is the major threat to our civilization. After all, one dirty bomb or suicide attack will render the entire ACLU agenda obsolete. And the freedoms that we hold dear are under an international assault by radical Islam.

Conservatives should not be the prime defenders of international liberal values. Progressives can bring an important moral witness to the fight against Jihadism - just as hawkish liberals such as Humphrey and Meany did during the Cold War. But, despite the vile brutality and the raging mobs of radical Islam, too many lefties view that the main threat to their values is the person who sits in the Oval Office or clear sighted progressives such as Joe Lieberman.

Sorry Mr. and Ms. Moveon and your lefty allies. You are blissfully ignoring the greatest threat to our nation's freedom and security which is the deeply reactionary force of radical Islam. Nixonism is long dead but Jihadism is alive. Since Moveon has perfected the morph ad, how about one transforming Ahmadinejad into Hitler? That would defy the CW about you folks!

Buy Danish.

Andrew Sullivan on Danish Cartoon Crisis

Andrew Sullivan's on a roll today, with a good link to this British Muslim blogger speaking out against the protest movement, a history of Denmark during the Holocaust, and this email from a Dane disappointed at official American and British responses to the plight of an ally under attack:

As a Dane, I am very much apalled by the state of mind in much of the Muslim world. But I am frankly disgusted by such a comment as "frankly, it was a nice "fuck you" to Europe. I LOVED it". Denmark has been a steadfast NATO ally for half a century. My father sailed in the Danish navy, my uncles served in the Danish army, most of my friends were conscripted to serve in armed forces arrayed alongside America against Soviet despotism. I myself served as an artilleryman and was on watch on the eve when the Soviet Union finally fell.

Denmark was one of only four nations who answered the call, when the United States of America asked for the world to overthrow Saddam Hussein's violent regime. This very day our troops serve alongside yours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Quite frankly I expected that a Danish prime minister, who has invested considerable political goodwill in standing by an old ally, should have received more support from the American government and the American people. Learn some geography, history and diplomacy before you insult a nation committed to the fight for liberty and justice alongside the United States of America. Europe is not a single entity and some of us should have earned more respect than this. Despite our small size we try to hold our head high in the face of this anti-democratic onslaught. Will you not stand by us, as we have stood by you?"

Michelle Malkin on the Cartoon Jihad

Michelle Malkin has some more thoughts about the meaning of worldwide protests against the Danish Cartoons. Meanwhile, the BBC is reporting four are now dead in cartoon protests:

Demonstrators shouted "death to Denmark" and "death to France", and called for diplomats and soldiers from both countries to be kicked out of Afghanistan.

Both France and Denmark sent troops to Afghanistan as part of international efforts in the US-led "war on terror".

"They want to test our feelings," protester Mawli Abdul Qahar Abu Israra told the BBC.

"They want to know whether Muslims are extremists or not. Death to them and to their newspapers," he said.

Whew!

I was a little nervous picking a Super Bowl winner earlier. It made watching the Big Game with my family and friend (a former HS quarterback, and Seahawks fan) even more exciting. Even allowing for bad calls, and officials who must hail from Pittsburgh, the Steelers really won--by more than 6 points, too.

"Beginner's luck..." my friend said afterwards.

Daily Kos Blames Saudi Arabia for Danish Cartoon Crisis

While I've been speculating about Iran, the Daily Kos has posted charges that Saudi Arabia may be behind the Danish Cartoon crisis. I don't usually believe much I read on the Daily Kos, but this time I'd say the theory bears some looking into. It's not impossible--and if true, the Saudis and their agents would have committed acts of war in fomenting assaults on the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus and Beirut. In the old days, Gunboat Diplomacy doctrine would have called for Danes and Norwegians (and perhaps even the EU and/or NATO) to drop MOABs on Riyadh in a punitive response...

The Mohammed Image Archive

For some historical background to todya's Danish Cartoon Crisis, Roger L. Simon tipped us off to this online gallery of images of Mohammed--many done by Islamic artists.

Mark Steyn on Danish Cartoon Crisis

From the Chicago Sun-Times (ht Michelle Malkin):

Jyllands-Posten wasn't being offensive for the sake of it. They had a serious point -- or, at any rate, a more serious one than Britney Spears or Terence McNally. The cartoons accompanied a piece about the dangers of "self-censorship" -- i.e., a climate in which there's no explicit law forbidding you from addressing the more, er, lively aspects of Islam but nonetheless everyone feels it's better not to.

That's the question the Danish newspaper was testing: the weakness of free societies in the face of intimidation by militant Islam.

One day, years from now, as archaeologists sift through the ruins of an ancient civilization for clues to its downfall, they'll marvel at how easy it all was. You don't need to fly jets into skyscrapers and kill thousands of people. As a matter of fact, that's a bad strategy, because even the wimpiest state will feel obliged to respond. But if you frame the issue in terms of multicultural "sensitivity," the wimp state will bend over backward to give you everything you want -- including, eventually, the keys to those skyscrapers. Thus, Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, hailed the "sensitivity" of Fleet Street in not reprinting the offending cartoons.

Mob Burns Danish Embassy in Lebanon

Yesterday Damascus, today Beirut. BBC coverage here.

Amerikan Turk: Danish Cartoons Prove Pen Mightier Than Sword

This Turkish-American blogger says the Danish Cartoon crisis is tilting in favor of the Danish Cartoons.

My Super Bowl Pick

I don't know much about football, but I did watch the playoffs after the Army-Navy game. My pick is Pittsburgh to win, by at least 6 points. I really am not up to figuring out a better point spread. (Just checked online oddsmakers to learn Pittsburgh is favored by 4 points). My rationale is that Steelers just seem bigger and heavier. Of course, we'll all find out what happens tomorrow at 3 pm Pacific Time...

Link Between Iran Nuclear Crisis & Danish Cartoon Crisis?

Others may have already thought of this, but it seems to me that there may be a link between growing pressure on Iran over the nuclear question and growing violence and pressure against Europe on the Danish Cartoon issue.

Anyone who has seen the cartoons knows they are "tame" and not on their face offensive. Yet the organized and international nature of the protest would indicate state support as well as religious sensitivity. Given that the original offense took place four months ago, the outbreak of violence at this point raised the question:

What if this is a shot across the bow to the EU and the non-Muslim world that an attack on Iran could lead to the Muslim "street" exploding around the world?

Just a working hypothesis at this point--but all the more reason for the US and UK to take a stronger stand in support of the Danes, if true. For if this was a test, then the US and UK look like they have failed the test. They have been intimidated. And the Europeans, so far have not.

Which means military action, if it does take place, will require a great deal better diplomatic and public relations support than the Iraq war.

America and the West look like they are losing to the Islamists (whether they are really losing according to DoD "metrics" is not relevant). Embolded in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine; Iran and her extremist allies are no doubt feeling very cocky. Which would explain why embassies are burning in Damascus (anyone out there remember the recent signing of Syrian-Iranian defense agreements?)

Bush and company should not make the same mistake twice. They cannot afford to take America to war again while divided. That means US Democrats must be on board before any action takes place. One good move might be for Rumsfeld to resign in favor of a Democratic secretary of defense, someone like former Senator Sam Nunn, or Zell Miller, before starting any more wars.

Or, barring that, at least a totally competent and trustworthy Republican. My candidate--Rudy Giuliani.

UPDATE: This story from India's Sunday Express provides evidence for an Iran Nuclear-Danish Cartoon link:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today ordered the cancellation of economic contracts with countries where media have carried the cartoons, the isna news agency reported. The report said Ahmadinejad had ordered the creation of an official body to respond to the cartoons, saying the regime “must revise and cancel economic contracts with the countries that started this repulsive act and those that followed them.”

The decree also condemned the “the insult by certain western media of the prophet which shows the hatred towards Islam and Muslims of the Zionists who govern these countries and the absence of serious action by the leaders of these countries”. The body looking into reprisals will be headed by Iran’s commerce minister and include a deputy foreign minister, a deputy oil minister and a deputy industry minister, isna said.

Klinghoffer: A Letter from Denmark

Judith Apter Klinghoffer' Danish email correspondent isn't very happy with US waffling on the cartoon crisis:

A DANE TO US: WE STOOD BY YOU . . .

I received a very bitter email this morning from a Danish friend.

It hurt:

Thank you very much for your support, but alas there is aboslutely no reason whatsoever to thank the official US. Join the coalition of the "willing" (become a prostitute, it seems like now) as one of the very few civilized nations, get your young men killed in Basra and receive a knife in the back from the Bush-administration as a most civilized thank you. Shame on that crooked administration of slow readers in The White House.

And shame not only on Labor but on the British press, calling Jyllands-Posten "Der Stürmer" planning a new Holocaust, while Jack Straw is condemning us. Not exactly a new Churchill.

Shame on our two disloyal ex-allies. And shame on weak and fearful Annan and the UN The world's gone topsy-turvy: Germany and France show common sense, backbone and true loyalty. Our warmest thanks fly in the direction of Wolfgang Schäuble.

In London the demonstrators now emphasize, that there is no reason to apologize, we don't have to, it is not required, and it won't make any difference. The 12 cartoonists just must be executed - by us or else they can fix it, it will be beheading, they explain, sooner or later. Perhaps in ten years time. And then the whole matter is forgotten and DK can live in peace again.

Do not forget: Buy Danish!

Michelle Malkin Video on Danish Cartoon Crisis

You can download it here. (ht Instapundit)

Piss Christ v Danish Cartoons: Which Is More "Offensive"?

Ed Driscoll found out that the NY Times not only printed pictures of "Piss Christ"--the editors hired photographer Andres Serrano to work for the newspaper...(ht Instapundit)

Wikipedia on Danish Cartoon Crisis

There's a big Wikipedia website devoed to the Danish Cartoon controversy, here.

London Protester Baby Bonnet: "I Love Al Qaeda"

Jihad Watch posted this report on London's Danish Cartoon protest (ht Free Republic):

From the UK's Sun tabloid, covering the London cartoon rage demonstrations:

More than 400 protesters — including small children — carried placards scrawled with messages of hate. A baby girl even had “I Love al-Qaeda” on her bonnet.

The parents of pretty Farisa Jihad, 20 months, proudly proclaimed she is the youngest member of the terror group.

She was brought to the protest by her father Abu, 38. Next to her was a huge poster exclaiming: “Whoever insults a prophet, kill him.”

Another placard nearby said: “Britain you will pay — 7/7 is on its way.”

What will Britain pay for? The UK papers didn't reprint the cartoons.