THE STRUGGLE WITHIN ISLAM AND THE MANAFACTURE OF OFFENCE
Answer: It was shown on an
Islamic TV channel.[1]
Question: How did the
Muslim world become aware of the ‘Danish cartoons’?
Answer: A group of Danish
Muslim clerics travelled the world publicising the cartoons, which hitherto had
gone unnoticed and would have disappeared without trace but for their
intervention. Additionally having decided that the cartoons were not
sufficiently inflammatory enough they created an additional cartoon, one
calculated to cause the maximum ‘offence.’
So let’s be clear about
these sudden ‘spontaneous’ demonstrations of outrage on the ‘Arab street.’ They
are deliberate, calculated and orchestrated; the use and manipulation of stupid
people by somewhat less stupid, certainly viciously cynical, people. If it was
not for this particular film it would be something else.
Secondly the flag burners
and embassy storming mobs represent a tiny fraction of Islamic opinion and for
the first time we are seeing significant opposition within the Islamic world to
the Wahabi and Salafist violence, intolerance and oppression. It takes real
courage to stand up to these murderous fanatics, how many in the However it cannot be stressed strongly enough that the fundamentalist fruitcakes never represented anything remotely approaching majority opinion in the Islamic world and now an alternative discourse openly takes issue with the fundamentalists, bringing into the open the struggle for the future of Islamic world.
Few things make me want to
throw things more at the TV or radio than mealy mouthed words apologising for
the hard won freedom of speech we enjoy. These people would
cheerfully strangle the baby lest its
crying should infuriate the mob. So at the risk of repeating my self let me say
that these obscurantist demagogues need causes to manipulate and
whip up credulous mobs, if it was not for this film it would be something else.
They cannot be appeased other than by the complete and abject surrender of all
our values. Some might be prepared surrender in this way. For my self I
believe the best policy is to state boldly, “it’s called freedom of speech
mate, if you don’t like it, tough!”
[1] Al-Nas, a Salafi channel dedicated to promoting
militant Islam.