Kaks kirjutist "Karikatuuri sõja" tagamaadest

Tundub, et ma pole ainuke, kelle arvates on Jyllands-Posten'is avaldatud karikatuuride üle lahvatanud vaen ja vägivald kuidagi kummaline. Nii on National Review avaldanud Lorenzon Vidino põhjalikuma artikli, Creating Outrage, poliitilisest manööverdamisest, mida Taanis resideeruv Abu Labani nimeline imam on orkestreerinud vaenu õhutamise nimel:

In September, the imam immediately condemned Jyllands-Posten's cartoons and led protests at the local level. Danish politicians and media, busy with local elections, ignored him. But Abu Laban is not the kind of person who gives up easily.

After having contacted ambassadors from Muslim countries in Copenhagen, he put together a delegation with the goal of touring the Middle East to "internationalize this issue so that the Danish government would realize that the cartoons were not only insulting to Muslims in Denmark but also to Muslims worldwide," as he explained in an interview with "Islam Online". The delegation met with, among others, Arab League Secretary Amr Moussa, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohammad Sayyed Tantawi, and Sunni Islam's most influential scholar, Yusuf al Qaradawi. The delegation showed each of these leaders the 12 cartoons published by Jyllands-Posten, along with others that had never been published by any Danish publication. The new cartoons were every more offensive, as showing the Prophet Mohammed with a pig face or having sexual intercourse with a dog. While the delegation claimed that the differentiation was pointed out to their interlocutors, there is no other evidence, and rumors about the more blasphemous images began to circulate in the Middle East. Moreover, the booklet that was presented by the delegation contained several other lies about the "oppression" of Muslims in Denmark, claiming Muslims do not have the legal right to build mosques and are subjected to pervasive racism.

Artiklist on inspiratsiooni ammutanud ka EU Referendumi postitus A politically motivated crisis, kus peatutakse pikemalt poliitilise opportunismil, mida selline juhtum võimaldab - kuidas nii Süüria, Saudi-Araabia kui Palestiina valitsused olukorda enda huvides ära kasutasid:

The point that emerges from all this is that the "Cartoon Wars" have less to do with Islamic sensibilities than they do political manoeuvring by a wide-ranging amalgam of Islamist groups, each for their own particular advantages – including London group where, as we are informed, Gamaa Islamiya is known to operate.

Anyone who thinks this is about freedom of speech, therefore, or about "multiculturalism" or community relations, is sadly deluded. We are being embroiled in a vicious, unprincipled, politically-motivated campaign aimed at securing advantage for the militant Islamic fringe.

Spontaansusest näib kogu intsident kaugel olevat ja tundub, et selliste juhtumite tagamaadest teadmine tuleb meile kõigile kasuks.