<img attachment="piss_christ.jpg" class="frame" align="left" caption="Piss Christ by Andres Serrano">At least one embassy has been brought to the ground because of some childish cartoons published in a newspaper in Denmark. Or, shall we say, ostensibly because of these cartoons. The causal nature of the publishing of the cartoons and the burning of a Danish embassy is as plain as the nose on your face, most would say. Is that really so? A quick recap is probably in order for those that have only heard bits and pieces of fact mixed in with hyperbole from all sides, describing typical behavior for "insert ethnic stereotype here". Look at those crazy Arabs---is it any wonder we want to wipe them from the face of the earth? Look at those ignorant Westerners---is it any wonder we want to wipe them from the face of the earth? Together: Can anyone blame us? <h>Background Information</h> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4693292.stm" source="BBC">What the Muhammad cartoons portray</a> provides a remarkably even-handed description of the actual publication of the cartoons which <iq>accompan[ied] an editorial criticising self-censorship in the Danish media.</iq> Basically, it was a media stunt intended as a <iq>an assertion of free speech and to reject pressure by Muslims groups to respect their sensitivities.</iq> For those not aware, it is apparently against a basic tenet of Islam to portray the prophet in any way; idols or depictions are forbidden, which explains all the awesome, mathematical patterns often found adorning mosques. Though the newspaper naturally claims innocent---if misguided---intentions, many <iq>cartoonists ... [took] the Jyllands-Posten commission as an invitation to be deliberately provocative towards Muslims.</iq> Many of the cartoons are described in the aforementioned article and range from mild to crass---though none sound particularly funny. <h>Compare and Contrast</h> <a href="http://www.mycomicspage.com">My Comics Page</a> is a U.S. web site that sells yearly subscriptions for cartoons of all sorts, be they classic comics or political cartoons. Every day, they'll send the latest crop of cartoons from around the nation straight to your inbox. These include both right- and left-wing cartoons and, truth be told, the right-wing cartoons have been no kinder to Muslim figures in general over the last year---especially with the run-up to the apparently much-desired attack on Iran. Naturally, none of these cartoons purport to depict the Prophet himself, but neither do they portray Muslims in a light that could be considered anything but overtly hostile. Naturally, they also attack European politicians and the left-wing cartoons slam politicians in general, Bush and his cronies in particular and God/Jesus/Religion regularly. So what's the big fuss about some cartoons in a Danish newspaper that were deliberately provocative? Are Muslims really so fucking nuts that a simple depiction of Mohammed anywhere in the world drives them to murder and mayhem? Sit back, take a deep breath and acknowledge the fact that this is not remotely likely. Muslims are just like the rest of the people in the world: they spend most of their day trying to keep their heads above water while the world does its best to push them under. <h>Everybody's Nuts</h> So what's going on? Why the riots? Why the burning of an embassy and the overturning of cars and so forth? If not the Muslims, who's doing it? The cars aren't flipping themselves over, are they, oh wise one? Let's answer a question with a question. Though most of the U.S. is Christian, how many rose up in arms about Jeezy Creezy's ignominious dunking into a jar of piss a decade ago? No, not none. Some. The crazy ones. How many kill abortion doctors and bomb clinics? Some. The crazy ones. The ones who'll take any excuse to shake loose the cloying manacles of civilization and let the inner animal go on a tear. The ones convinced of their overwhelming rightness and the ones who've got nothing else to do---least of keeping their heads above water. They're either safely out of the water or have been under so long, they've gotten used to it. For them, the focus of white-hot rage is a welcome distraction from the cacophony of conflicting voices that normally fills their heads. All well and good. Let's accept oh wise one's tenet that Muslims as a group are probably not crazier than any other group of humans. What's with the cold hard fact of the riots? The ashes of the burnt embassy? I didn't hear about any riots when Jesus took a dip in the briny. How about that, Mr. Smarty Pants? As is well-known, being in groups turns people stupid. It makes it much easier for crazy to take hold and the beast to get loose. Riots need a whole bunch of regular people to come together and stay pissed off enough for one of the more unstable ones to do something irrevocable, after which the others are all dragged in with shared guilt and the slavering inner beast gleefully leaps to the fore and takes over. Ask <a href="http://emotional-literacy-education.com/classic-books-online-b/tcrwd10.htm">Gustave Le Bon</a>. <h>Agent Provocateurs</h> On top of that, there are always the slouching, greasy figures at the edges of the shadows---imps only too happy to throw more wood on the fire just to watch it burn. Only too happy to sweep in and press personal advantage in the ensuing chaos. The Internet is a marvelous tool for those people. It's a remarkably efficient way of getting the requisite number of crazies together and getting the right materials into the right hands. The BBC noted that <iq>[t]he Jyllands-Posten cartoons do not include some images that may have had a role in bringing the issue to international attention.</iq> The cartoons inciting people to riot aren't even the ones that were published in Denmark. In hindsight, they don't need to be. It's not like the Danish newspaper has a wide circulation in Arabic countries. The middlemen can twist the story to their own purposes, fan the flames, feed the right people with stories of hate and revenge, then lean back and watch the show. The same thing happened last year when Newsweek published a story about the flushing of the Quran down a toilet. This story was logically far less of an affront for most Muslims than the photographs of Abu Ghraib (whose reporting included comments that the photos were <i>especially</i> humiliating for Muslim men, as if they have a lock on macho or self-respect or something). Sure, the Quran should not be disrespected. Neither should the Bible. Neither should Christ on a Crucifix. Relatively few people were willing to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia">go to the mattresses</a> over it. Whereas Abu Ghraib was so shocking, it took the imps by surprise and had travelled around the world before the message could be massaged, the Newsweek article could be kindled and coddled until it was brought to flame with remarkable efficacy in Afghanistan and there were riots. The U.S. general in charge there noted that it was hard to see how any of those people would even have heard of Newsweek. For those who are still convinced it's only Muslims who are so religiously enslaved that they'd fly off the handle like this, <a href="http://earthli.com/news/view_article.php?id=1112" source="earthli News">Those Crazy Muslims </a> has a perfect comment that bears quoting in full: <bq>If Osama posted a video of him[self] ripping out pages of the [B]ible and making joints out of them, the average American wouldn't be sighing and saying "Those Crazy Arabs. Haha. Good thing we had the enlightenment and all, otherwise our backwardassed devotion to religion would make us as crazy as them. And please.. who can smuggle weed into Saudi Arabia? Thats just oregano", Hell no, you'd be jumping up and down, freaking the fuck out like you invented Christianity.</bq> <h>Beirut Burns Again</h> <a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/fisk02072006.html" source="CounterPunch" author="Robert Fisk">Now Lebanon is Burning</a> covers the attacks on the embassy and the church and the riots from his hometown. He tells of the horror of watching <iq>Sunni extremists [and] Wahhabi-minded Palestinians ... [bring] back ugly memories of the 15-year Lebanese civil war.</iq> These are the crazy ones---the ones looking for any excuse to explode. For many, the hatred, anger and violence can be understood as a reaction to lives of desperation and immense pressure. This in no way <i>excuses</i> their behavior---it is simply that under such pressures, a certain percentage responding with violence is inevitable. You can walk down the street, insulting the mother of every person you meet. The first 5, 10, 20 will ignore you. But you're playing Russian Roulette. Number 21's gonna smack you so hard your <i>own</i> moms will feel it. Cooler heads could see the riots for what they were: acts of futility and senseless violence against other innocents. <bq>Little wonder, then, that Charles Rizk, the Justice Minister, asked angrily: "What is the guilt of the people of Ashrafieh for cartoons published in Denmark?'' Ashrafieh, needless to say, is an almost entirely Christian sector of Beirut.</bq> The Lebanese Prime Minister <iq>insisted that this was not the way for Muslims to express their anger</iq>. Another prelate told the rioters that <iq>they have done more damage to the name of the Prophet today than the cartoons in Denmark'</iq>. And he was right. But these comments fell on deaf ears because the rioters didn't really care about the sanctity of the Prophet anymore by the time he got to them; most of them could not have told you what they were up in arms about. They were in the arms of the beast; most had probably not even seen a single cartoon. Most of those tipping cars were there for the mayhem, using the excuse-du-jour to let loose. If pressed, they would have to admit that they were breaking all the tenets of non-violence in Islam to defend one small tenet about depictions of Mohammed. Cool, logical heads don't get to riot though, do they? No they do not. How boring. In the end, it's not the cartoons that's the problem---it's the immense pressure cooker of the Middle East, in which Muslims see themselves beset on all sides by Western empire doing its best to extract as many resources (read: oil) out of their lands as possible. The fact that this dull match could trigger such a bonfire implies much deeper problems that we are only too happy to ignore as it's much easier to alienate and accuse the dark enemy of an abiding psychosis that understands only violence. Once you believe that, it becomes so much easier to use your own violence preëmptively. This formula---project our evil onto an enemy, then perpetrate the same evil before they can, in self-defense ---is a shiny bauble of which we never seem to tire.