COMMENTARY Punishing Denmark, the wrong
enemy By Ramzy Baroud
Only an irresponsible and intellectually
inept individual would sketch such insulting
images as those depicting the Prophet Mohammed by
a cartoonist in the Danish Jyllands-Posten
newspaper. And no self-respecting newspaper would
allow itself to run such filth. However, the
backlash in the Muslim world highlights a much
more serious issue.
Jyllands-Posten -
along with another newspaper in Norway that reran
the offensive cartoons - is obviously neither
self-respecting nor serious. What good will it do
to depict a Prophet revered by hundreds of
millions all around the globe as a terrorist,
carrying a
bomb
under his turban? What sort of input to humor or
intellect is it to portray a man who has
contributed to the spiritual composition of a
large portion of humanity as a pig? Nothing at
all. What it will do, though, is intensify and
cement the feelings of bitterness and humiliation
experienced by millions of Muslims as they endure
the wrath of US-led Western wars, with all of
their tragedies and endless bloodshed.
Not
even the handy excuse of freedom of the press is
so reasonable a defense to the mockery. Such
freedom should not be the kind of versatile
pretext unleashed only to widen the divide between
the West and the Muslim world. Moreover, why not
admit that in most Western societies, there are
many unquestionable values, ancient and recent,
that are taboo, which few dare to approach, the
Holocaust being one of them?
But it's not
the Western media's inconsistencies that I wish to
focus on here. What I wish to examine is the
inconsistencies of the Arab and Muslim collective
response to aggression, tangible or otherwise.
The anti-Danish movement managed to build
up across Muslim countries at an impressive speed:
grassroots collective action and decisive
political moves led by various governments - with
Libya and Saudi Arabia at the helm - quickly
turned into determined diplomatic efforts. Arab
League missions in Denmark and across Europe
united in one of the most coordinated campaigns
organized by Arabs since the war of 1973, heaping
even more pressure on both Denmark and Norway.
Meanwhile, a serious economic boycott campaign is
rapidly translating into empty shelves in grocery
stores that once offered Danish products across
Saudi Arabia and other countries.
Danish
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, although he
didn't apologize personally, commended
Jyllands-Posten for offering a clear apology for
offending Muslims and Muslim nations by its
editorial decision to publish the cartoons. But
that would not suffice in the face of the
gathering storm, as Arab League representatives
are surely taking the matter to the United
Nations, with the hope of passing a UN resolution,
backed by sanctions that would protect religion
from insults, according to the British
Broadcasting Corp.
While one must commend
such a unified Arab and Muslim stance - hoping
that it would remain confined to legitimate forms
of protest - one cannot help but wonder: Where was
such collectiveness when it was needed most?
This is not to suggest that transgression
on a people's beliefs - any people and any belief
- should be taken lightly. However, if Arabs can
be so efficient in organizing such popular (and
effective) campaigns that use economic, political
and diplomatic leverage to extract concessions,
then why the utter failure to carry out such
campaigns protesting the US war on Iraq, its
unconditional support of Israel and its
condescending foreign policy and grand democracy
charades it wishes to impose on everyone?
Isn't it rather strange that cheap Israeli
products are penetrating Arab markets from Morocco
to Qatar in the most blatant of ways, despite the
fact that Israel occupies land belonging to three
Arab nations?
Isn't it peculiar that
Muslim countries are shrewdly paving their way
toward normalization with Israel - some overtly
like Pakistan, others sneakily like Malaysia -
despite the fact that Israel unabashedly moves
forward with its policy of targeted assassination,
killing hundreds of Palestinians?
And how
belligerent could the Danish media be if compared
to their counterparts in the United States and
Britain? Nonetheless, is there one Arab household
that lacks access to CNN, HBO and Fox?
It's rather ironic that many in the Arabic
media discovered by total chance that 530 Danish
soldiers are taking part in the illegitimate US
war on Iraq, by way of the Danish newspaper
controversy. Thus it cannot even be claimed that
popular response to the insulting comics was the
culmination of years of resentment harbored toward
Danish foreign policy, whether in Iraq or toward
any other Arab- or Muslim-related issue.
This is neither an attempt to defend
Denmark (or Norway) or its apparently selective
"freedom of the press", but to highlight the
misconstrued priorities inundating the Arab world
today. During a decade of US-led UN sanctions in
Iraq, neighboring Muslim and Arab countries were
commended by the United States, saying that their
cooperation was vital to the success of the
sanctions imposed on the stricken nation.
According to the most modest and outdated UN
reports, more than 500,000 Iraqi children died as
a result of the lack of medicine. Where was the
popular uproar then, the diplomatic fury and the
boycott campaign?
I am afraid that the
Muslim- and Arab-led anti-Danish campaign will
widen a chasm separating both worlds, bolstering
the Arabs' reputation of being intolerant while
providing an unimportant cartoonist with the
opportunity of a lifetime: a chance for martyrdom
on behalf of freedom of the press and perhaps a
book deal and, if lucky, a spot on Oprah Winfrey's
television talk show. But that's all one should
expect.
The Prophet Mohammed is revered
because of his daily-felt contribution to Muslim
life everywhere. He needs not a Danish cartoonist
to validate or nullify his relevance in the lives
of millions. Of that Muslims are to be sure.
However, it is discouraging that the collective
energy of the Muslim world is consumed punishing a
small European country over a drawing, while US
military bases infest the heart of the Arab world,
and American fast-food restaurants crowd every
street corner, from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Arabian Gulf, while few seem to notice or even
care.
Ramzy Baroud, who teaches
mass communication at Curtin University of
Technology, is the author of the forthcoming book
The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle
of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, London).
He is also the editor-in-chief of
PalestineChronicle.com.
