Cartoon war

There is probably no word in Arabic for "satire," perhaps the Muslims don't
know what it means. It's too subtle for them, subtlety is not their strong
suit. They are rioting, as they do from time to time, as a means of
expressing their pent-up anti-Western feelings. In the Arab/Muslim
world, rumors and beliefs play a leading role compared to actual news and
facts. How many of those Muslims rioting have actually seen the offending
Danish cartoons? How many of them know that the cartoons were actually
published last September in a Danish newspaper without any response, and
were re-published now only in order to illustrate an article written to
expose the problem of self-censorship, due to precisely the kind of rioting
and violence that is now happening. So the response to publication of the
cartoons now is an excuse to continue the "clash of cultures," to punish
the enemies of Islam.
Perhaps we should feel sorry for the Danes and Norwegians, and organize a
pro-Danish buying campaign. But, as a Jew and an Israeli I don't feel like
doing that. After all, the Scandinavians are among the most politically
correct people on earth, and Denmark and Norway are among the most
anti-Israel societies on earth. The prevalent view there is typical of
liberal-leftists, that Israel is an occupying power, that the "poor"
Palestinians are suffering from Israeli exploitation, and that only use
suicide bombs to blow up our civilians because they don't have tanks.
Well let them experience some of the murderous antagonism that Islam's best
and brightest can perpetrate and see how they react then. They have yet
to experience suicide bombers or large scale destruction. Denmark and
Norway are not prepared for it, they are soft targets, they have no armed
forces to speak of because they don't believe in war. Good for them,
but all the easier for the Muslims, that's why they were chosen.
In Norway, one of the Trade Unions recently organized an anti-Israel
boycott. Although it was pointed out that this is not very effective and
not supported by any Government agency, nevertheless one knows that such
things don't occur in a vacuum. Why are the Unions not boycotting India
over Kashmir (a far larger problem) or Spain over the Basques, etc. Because
being anti-Israel is a sine qua non of leftist-liberal attitudes in PC
Europe.
So now let them experience a turn on the spit and let them see what
it's like. Just to confirm this attitude a spokesman for the Danish Foreign
Ministry, trying to get his country off the hook, stated that the reason for
these riots is that the Muslims are angry because of Israeli occupation
of Palestine! If that isn't an example of lying, fallacious PC then I'd
like to see a better one. There have been numerous "not me" statements,
including that of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw who said that the
cartoons would not be re-published in the UK because there is a law against
offending any religion. A similar statement was issued by the strong-willed
State Department. I can imagine the discussion in the White House, with
George Bush and Condoleeza Rice trying to decide whether or not its better
to support a weak little European country like Denmark, or risk even further
inflaming Muslim sentiment against the US. They opted to let Denmark
dangle.
Since the cartoons have now been reprinted in France, Italy, Germany and
elsewhere, there is a drawing of lines. Meanwhile Iran, in retaliation, is
organizing a competition of cartoons about the Holocaust. But, that makes
little sense since Pres. Ahmedinejad denies that the Holocaust took place.
Also many pro-Muslim commentators on chat shows have been making the
point that Islam is respectful of other religions, and so would never
publish cartoons satirizing Christianity (!), although they left out the
routine publication of disgusting anti-Jewish stereotypes, not merely anti-
Semitic, but some actually copied from Nazi newspapers (that they no doubt
look to for inspiration).
Well we know that Muslims are generally violent, hypocritical and lacking
self-criticism. In time either they will have to overcome these deficits or
we will all continue to suffer the consequences.