Huge crowds turned out in Turkey to scream and vent their rage and throw rocks at the French (a pretty safe pastime): Tens of thousands in Turkish protests at Mohammed cartoons.

ISTANBUL (AFP) - Tens of thousands of Turks have rallied in protests against the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, burning a Danish flag and throwing stones at a French consulate.

In what appeared to be the largest such demonstration since the caricatures were first published in Denmark in September, 50,000 people massed in the main square of the eastern city of Diyarbakir, shouting anti-Danish slogans.

In Istanbul, Turkey’s biggest city, about 150 people pelted the French consulate with stones and eggs, shouting “Allah is great” and “Revenge”.

But al-Reuters and a dhimmi at Notre Dame would like us all to know that Buddhism and Hinduism are just as violent as Islam: Mohammad cartoon protests aren’t unique to Islam.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The violence linked to cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad is not unique to Islam, experts say, and the protests reflect political and cultural passions more than the faith’s core values.

Looking for distinct features that would make Islam liable for the cartoon-related violence around the world does little to explain it, said the Rev. Patrick Gaffney, an anthropologist and expert on Islam at the University of Notre Dame.

“There are parallel behaviors in every tradition,” he said. “Buddhism has a violent strain despite its pacifism … You think about Hinduism and nonviolence but (Mohandas) Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu.”

Other examples of religious violence involving various faiths abound in recent and past history. But attention has focused on Muslims this year as at least 11 people have been killed in protests in the Middle East, Asia and Africa after the publication of cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammad in newspapers in Denmark and elsewhere.

“You can’t say Islam has a gene for violence,” Gaffney said. “It has to do with the dynamics, political and economic, that are at play right now,” especially in Europe where there has been a long history of anti-Islamic prejudice that represents “an underlying kind of powder keg.”

The University of Notre Dame is currently allied with the ACLU, suing the US government to allow Islamist kingpin Tariq Ramadan to enter the country and teach at the University.