Cartoon violence

It started with twelve editorial cartoons in a Danish newspaper called Jyllands-Posten. Twelve cartoons which violated holy Islamic law that stated that no images of the Prophet Muhammad could be made, good or bad, for fear that it would lead to idolatry.

All of the cartoons were offensive, the worst being an image of the prophet wearing a turban that resembled a bomb.

The result was violence, which erupted in countries with high Muslim populations. Yesterday, the Embassy of Denmark was set ablaze in Syria, and today the same occurred in Beirut. People have taken to the streets in protest, burning Danish flags and hurling stones. Arab diplomats told the Danish government, as well as those of other European states which printed the images, that all it would have taken to quell the uprisings were apologies; however, Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen "insisted he cannot apologize on behalf of his country's independent press".

Unsurprisingly, the editor of Jyllands-Posten is also unapologetic. Why did he request the cartoons? Because he believed that the press was practicing "self-censorship" in regards to Muslim issues.

There are good reasons for the so-called "self-censorship" for the time being -- the most obvious is that this topic is extremely sensitive. The second reason, and most blatant in this case, is pure ignorance of the culture. It is clear that all of these cartoonists, and the editor themselves, know nothing of Islam, publishing a superficial perception, which is inexcusable. They are journalists, and they have a duty and responsibility to investigate and research before they go to print, and yes, practise "self-censorship" when what they are presenting is needlessly offensive.

Even the Vatican has spoken out, saying that religious intolerance is unacceptable and that there must be mutual respect for all cultures.

Several other European newspapers picked up and printed these images, even though they knew these cartoons were controversial and insulting. This is indicative of a larger issue at hand: racial tension and discrimination, especially towards the Muslim community. In France, there was a vote to ban headscarves in classrooms and workplaces, which eventually passed -- a law very pointedly aimed at Muslim women, who wear the scarves for religious reasons. Most recently (and famously), there were race riots which began in Paris and spread across the rest of the country.

So far, France has made no effort to accommodate or open a dialogue with these groups. Instead, the authorities have deported those who were involved. Instead of effectively dealing with the root cause, they're sweeping everything under the rug, and looking at this in a very shallow manner.

There is terrible xenophobia and a culture of intolerance which is quickly rising to the surface. It looks as though Europe's dirty laundry is being now being aired in public.