A source on politics, war, the Middle East, Arabic poetry, and art.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Make no mistake about it: Arab governments (especially Saudi Arabia through the massive media that it owns) and Arab clerics are inciting Arab public opinion against Denmark and Norway. Arab governments need to channel the political anger of their citizens, and what better targets for them than Norway and Denmark. They would not dare to lead a campaign against Israel, so let them bash Denmark and Norway. But the Danish prime minister's statements are quite demagogic at best. He keeps repeating the mantra about "freedom of speech." That is not sincere: when it comes to other forms of religious and racial bigotry in the West, those Western governments often ban them (and criminalize them in some countries) without references to "freedom of speech." So don't insult the intelligence of Arabs/Muslims after offending their religious sensibilities.