The Power of the Muslim and Arab Worlds
Charles Johnson
Thu Feb 2, 2006 at 9:48 pm PST • Views: 242
At ArabNews, “comedian” Ray Hanania gloats over “The Power of the Muslim and Arab Worlds” to bring the West to its knees.
This week, we witnessed the power of the Islamic and Arab worlds to bring a Western nation virtually to its knees. I was amazed at that power. This is over an issue that the nation’s government had nothing to do with. All I can wonder is why the Islamic and Arab world doesn’t harness that power more effectively and change policies that directly impact our causes and our beliefs?
A newspaper in Denmark, Jyllands-Posten, published a series of cartoons that depicted the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in a derogatory and libelous manner. Few Arabs or Muslims had ever heard of the newspaper before the controversy, yet they were rightly angered.
Ironically, the cartoons were published in September 2005, more than five months ago. But this week, the issue came to a head after it surfaced in the Arab world media.
Arabs and Muslims are justified in their anger against the action of the newspaper. The publication of the cartoons may constitute a hate crime, which is considered an offense in most Western countries. They certainly should not have been brushed off as being protected under the universal right of free speech as they were initially by the Danish government.
Frank says: