Escalating ignorance

In September, there were a few items in the Danish news discussing whether the depictions of Muhammed were actually so offensive that they obliged to a formal apology, but they did not really mean a lot to the Danes, so the discussion faded out. Personally I would never have given it a second thought, but now it seems that the crusade of the offended imams in the middle east to bring attention to the matter was extremely succesful. However, I did not understand how the original cartoon drawings in the newspaper could rouse such an angry mob, until I read that the flyers distributed about the cartoons showed not only the naïve Danish cartoons, but also three additional cartoons depicting Muhammed in a highly provoking and unflattering way.

I do hope that it will be possible for the muslims to see through the deception brought before them by the people who distributed those flyers. The Danish cartoons were as harmless as the many Mohammed depictions that went before them, but somewhere someone wanted to start an outrage, a clash of cultures and religions, and to our misfortune, they succeeded.

And as for the Danes and others: I am ashamed every time I see someone using the subject as an opportunity to air his/hers racist opinions. It does not serve anybody any good.

Personally, I agree with Jihad Momani: "The cartoons are silly, they do not deserve such an intense reaction."