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American in Paris |
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AND ISLAM |
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OPINION
Muslim-bashing by press
in Europe means trouble
of TheColumnists.com
It’s not because the media have the legal right to publish offensive material that they should do so. Yet that is exactly what half a dozen European newspapers have done by reproducing cartoons insulting to people of Muslim faith.
The cartoons, which I will certainly not reproduce here, depict the Prophet Muhammad, including one in which he is wearing a bomb-shaped turban. In the Muslim religion, you’re not supposed to reproduce images of the Prophet, especially not as a terrorist.
Published initially by a Danish newspaper, the cartoons have stirred up an uproar in many Arab countries. Denmark has become the target of a growing boycott; Syria, Saudi Arabia and Libya have withdrawn their ambassadors to Denmark and government officials in Tehran and Baghdad have been reading the riot act to Danish diplomats. Yesterday, in a supposed show of support for their Danish colleagues, the cartoons were reprinted by papers in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.
The headline over the reproduction of the cartoons in the French paper France Soir reads: “Yes, We Have the Right to Caricature God.” Germany’s Die Welt, noting that Syrian television depicts rabbis as cannibals, says the Muslim protests are hypocritical. Robert Menard, head of the Reporters Sans Frontières media protection group, is quoted as proclaiming that, “All countries in Europe should be behind the Danes and Danish authorities to defend the principle that a newspaper can write what it wishes to even if it offends people…. I understand that it may shock Muslims, but being shocked is part of the price of being informed.”
The newspapers argue that there’s no good reason why they should respect Muslim theology. Of course not. But this is not about respecting theology, it’s about respecting people’s identity and beliefs. If the Danish cartoon showed Moses with money stuffed in his pockets stepping over the dead body of Jesus, it would be met with widespread denunciation and outrage over its clearly anti-Semitic message. I doubt Mr. Menard would be sounding off about the right to offend. If it showed Christian crusaders slashing tongues and sexual organs off Middle Eastern peasants while raping their daughters, it would be equally repugnant. I don’t expect that France Soir would reprint such images in the name of solidarity with its Danish sister publication.
It is not because various authoritarian régimes or religious bigots in the Muslim world find the cartoons offensive that their publication constitutes a freedom of the press cause celebre. They are offensive. Moreover, it is no coincidence that they target Islam. The ostensibly freedom-defending newspapers are stoking the fires of racial and religious hatred. In France, they come in the wake of such transparently anti-Muslim initiatives as the ban on headscarves and the unwillingness to enforce anti-discrimination laws for jobs or housing.
Instead of once again telling Muslims what’s
wrong with their religion, and indeed what’s wrong with
their whole identity, it might be more productive if France
Soir were to come up with a few ideas for dismantling the
deep-seated racism that is wracking French society and that underlies
the recent riots in the French suburbs. With people of African
and North African origin virtually absent from positions of authority
in the French media, France Soir might look first into
its own backyard.
©2006 by Kenneth
Dreyfack. The illustration is from IMSI's Master Clips Collection,
1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA.
This column first posted Feb. 6, 2006.
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