A Muhammed Cartoon a Day
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Photo Credit: Yori Yanover
When Salman Rushdie mocked Islamic sanctities in 1989 in his magical realist novel The Satanic Verses, Ayatollah Khomeini did something shockingly original: He pronounced a death edict on Rushdie and all those connected to the production of his book. By doing this, Khomeini sought to impose Islamic mores and laws on the West; we don’t insult the prophet, he effectively said, and neither can you.
That started a trend of condemning those in the West deemed anti-Islamic that persists to this day. Again and again, when Westerners are perceived as denigrating Muhammad, the Koran, or Islam, Islamists demonstrate, riot and kill.
Khomeini’s edict also had the unexpected side effect of empowering individuals – Western and Islamist alike – to drive their countries’ policies.
On the Western side, Fleming Rose, a newspaper editor, created the greatest crisis for Denmark since World War II by publishing twelve Muhammad cartoons. Florida pastor Terry Jones caused panic for American commanders in Afghanistan by threatening to burn a Koran. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula and friends prompted a crisis in U.S. relations with Egypt with an amateurish video, Innocence of Muslims. By publishing vulgar pictures of Muhammad, French weekly Charlie Hebdo is causing the French government temporarily to shut down diplomatic missions in twenty countries. Plans by the German satirical magazine Titanic to publish attacks on Muhammad have likewise caused German missions to be closed.
On the Islamist side, an individual or group took one of these perceived offenses and turned it into a reason to riot. Khomeini did this with The Satanic Verses and Ahmad Abu Laban did likewise with the Danish cartoons. Hamid Karzai goaded Afghans to riot over burned Korans by American soldiers and Egyptian preacher Khaled Abdullah turned Innocence of Muslims into an international event.
In brief, any Westerner can buy a Koran for a dollar and burn it, while any Muslim with a platform can transform that act into a fighting offense. As passions rise on both sides of the democratized Western / Muslim divide, Western provocateurs and Islamist hotheads have found each other and confrontations occur with increasing frequency…
Would repetition inspire institutionalization, generate ever-more outraged responses, and offer a vehicle for Islamists to ride to greater power? Or would it lead to routinization, to a wearing out of Islamists, and a realization that violence is counter-productive to their cause?Which prompts this question: What would happen if publishers and managers of major media reached a consensus, “Enough of this intimidation, we will publish the most famous Danish Muhammad cartoon every day until the Islamists tire out and no longer riot”? What would happen if instances of Koran burning happened recurrently?
I predict the latter, that a Muhammad cartoon published each day, or Koranic desecrations on a quasi-regular basis, will make it harder for Islamists to mobilize Muslim mobs. Were that the case, Westerners could once again treat Islam as they do other religions – freely, to criticize without fear. That would demonstrate to Islamists that Westerners will not capitulate, that they reject Islamic law, that they are ready to stand up for their values.
So, this is my plea to all Western editors and producers: display the Muhammad cartoon daily until the Islamists get used to the fact that we turn sacred cows into hamburger.
This article originally published by FoxNews.com on September 21st, 2012.
tell a friendAbout the Author: Daniel Pipes is a world-renowned Middle East and Islam expert. He is President of the Middle East Forum. His articles appear in many newspapers. He received his A.B. (1971) and Ph.D. (1978) from Harvard University and has taught at Harvard, Pepperdine, the U.S. Naval War College, and the University of Chicago. He is a board member of the U.S. Institute of Peace and other institutions. His website is DanielPipes.org.
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When the Rambam declared to the Yemenite Jews in 1172 that Muhammad is a false prophet and insane, are you now, Daniel, suggesting a cure for those who follow him? NOT to speak against Muhammad is part of the Muslim Islamic Sharia Law which is indoctrinated into every child. MERI has posted a video of a three year old Muslim girl expressing her hate and warped education of Israel and the Jews. Early education according to truthful values, IMO, is the key for breaking this brain washing of insanity. Other than that, the coming of the Mosiach, may it be soon, would set everything and everybody straight of these truthful values of education.
Hatimah Tovah.
every time a jihadist murders someone a page of koran should be burned, the only problem with that is you will run out of krans before the korananamals stop murdering people. G-D said to the world thou shall not murder satan differened with that. you can guess which one the koranamals fellow.
Here's one for you Daniel.
http://www.political-humor.org/its-not-hard-concept-to-understand.shtml
What a great idea! After a while, they would become inured to it….not even have the energy to respond any more.
I'm not crazy about the vignette of "turning sacred cows into hamburger": Indian Muzzies sought to offend "infidels" by marching through a Hindu neighborhood holding the head of a cow, venerated by Hindus.
Muhammad was insane. He was a malignant narcissist; a psychopath and a pathological liar. He could not grasp reality and was beset by Jinns and other demonic phantasms of the insane mind.
The idea that a billion or so evil and/or mentally challenged sub-humans could revere Muhammad the mass murderer, serial rapist, pedophile, misogynist, slave trader, liar, thief, and destroyer of nations, and his brain fart, Allah, simply defies reason.
BTW, great video on your facebook about the couple married 62 years.
In old days in India people buried living wife along her dead husband. They said that their culture. And british governor said: We have also cultural tradition: If somebody kills anybody, we put a rope around hi/her neck and hang them. Interestingly, the tradition of killing stop till today.
Best Muhammad cartoon ever – Obama having Muhammad in Gay Sex at http://shortattentionspanpress.com/?p=174.