By the day, the latest anti-Islam protests sweeping across many countries in the Arab world bring instantly to mind the huge violence sparked by the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) which killed over 100 people in 2006. There are differences – then, Danish embassies in Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon and Iran bore the brunt of Muslim fury. Today, American embassies in Libya, Egypt and Yemen are on the front lines. Also, the death tolls are wide apart; as of writing, five people have died, including the US ambassador to Libya. The similarities, though, are great: People of the Islamic faith provoked because their religion was trodden upon by concerted, evil attempts by some individuals in the West to denigrate a sacred and holy faith, with no regard whatsoever for its sanctity or the red lines which should never be crossed. The film sparking the current furor is shrouded in mystery. It is no MGM extravaganza, and there are conflicting accounts as to who directed it. What's more sinister is whoever the filmmakers are may have links to Florida pastor Terry Jones, whose threats to publicly burn the Qur'an in 2010 also caused riots. This is an obscure, amateur Internet film which appears to have been promoted by a small band of anti-Muslim activists. That some of the actors involved have since condemned the film, that they had no idea it was to be used as anti-Islam propaganda and that the video as it appeared bore no resemblance to the original filming proves the malicious intent of whoever was behind its making. Though it's only a film, US embassies are being attacked all the same, and Westerners cannot understand why, some perhaps feigning ignorance. Deadly violence is not condoned but it can happen when perceptions vastly differ. Westerners say that since their societies make fun of everyone, it's okay to make a movie, no matter how despicable, about anyone, including Muslims and the Prophet (pbuh). The problem is that Islam and other religions do not occupy an equal position in a world dominated by the West. The “equal-opportunity" humor argument holds no water when you are talking about oppressed and disempowered people against those who hold in their hands the world's wealth and power. A major point that causes confrontation in such instances is the strong affiliation Muslims demonstrate to their religion. The West does not allow any factor, including religion, to overrule its secular values, like freedom of expression. In the West, belonging to a faith is an individual right but freedom of expression is a collective right. Consequently, most Westerners do not understand the outrage over cartoons or films that violate beliefs which they can either take or leave. Their overwhelming identity source is the nation-state. It is not that the West does not respect differences between religions; it is that in a secular society, religion can play a very circumscribed role. From Salman Rushdie to the Jyllands-Posten cartoons to this current two-bit piece of junk, tensions between East and West and more specifically, Islam and the West, remain, ignited by what the West will see as something not worth it but which Muslims view as an issue of life and death.
