Counterterrorism Blog

At the Counterterrorism Blog, we try to foster respect for dialogue. Individual contributing experts are responsible for their own postings, and not subject to any editorial oversight. True to the blog ethos, we believe the best response to a disagreeable posting is more words. It is in that spirit, as a CTB contributor, that I express my strong disagreement with Farhana Ali’s recent posting, “Outside View: Danish cartoons doom us all.”

Ms. Ali suggests that the Danish editors should consider an apology to Muslims offended by their decision to publish the cartoons, and notes that “undoing the damage across the Muslim communities will require more.” I am sorry, but I view this suggestion as outrageous. Usama Bin Laden, like Ali, was apparently annoyed by the cartoons, so much so that he has now threatened terrorist attacks in Europe because of them. When free speech is threatened by violence, it seems the more enlightened response is to support the speaker. This was the correct response to the fatwa issued against Salman Rushdie almost 20 years ago, over a stunning work of literature he never imagined would set off such a firestorm. It is the correct response today.

Ali notes:

Feelings of alienation and isolation, particularly among European Muslims, could make it difficult for Muslim communities to co-exist within mainstream Western societies. As a Western-educated Muslim woman, what I find surprising are the inconsistencies of the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten. In April 2003 one of its editors refused to print cartoons of Jesus Christ because it would "provoke an outcry." The editors did not seem to have any trouble, however, printing three new drawings of Islam's Prophet, one of which shows him with the face of a pig, an animal Muslims believe is unclean, neither to be touched nor eaten.

I can assure Farhana that my attitude in this instance has nothing to do with favoring one religion or another. I proudly crossed picket lines to watch “The Last Temptation of Christ” and “The Life of Brian,” and enjoyed both films. Same with the supposedly anti-Semitic “Passion of the Christ.”

Feeling alienated and isolated in the West? Perhaps the best response is not to take non-lethal intellectual property and artistic expression so seriously. Is there anything, as Westerners, we do take seriously? How about the threat of violence by religious fanatics, particularly those who have proven their capacity to act out on their threats?

So, Farhana, count me out of your calculation that the Danish cartoons “doom us all.” I refuse to be doomed by political cartoons. Things will never be so dire, as long as we have people willing to stand up to thin-skinned guardians of religious sensibilities.