THE STRUGGLE WITHIN ISLAM AND THE MANAFACTURE OF OFFENCE


Question: How did the anti Islamic film get to be seen in the Middle East?

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 US or Western Europe have demonstrated such courage, have declined the protection of self censorship; how many comedic iconoclasts, the jousters at religious bigotry have displayed similar courage whilst standing against the mullahs? Not many is the answer and yet in Libya, in Egypt and across the Muslim world the fanatics suddenly find that their narrative is now being challenged, other voices, other perspectives are presenting themselves openly.
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.
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