Sublime hypocrisy
Not since the Satanic Verses madness have Muslims been as up in arms about so-called blasphemy. The Washington Post:
The cartoons were published in September in a conservative, mass-circulation Danish daily, Jyllands-Posten, and were reprinted three weeks ago in Magazinet, a small evangelical Christian newspaper in Norway. But the reaction has been widespread, and fallout over the images reached new levels Monday, with the European Union backing Denmark in the dispute and warning that a boycott of Danish products — already being felt by some companies — would violate World Trade Organization rules.
Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador from Denmark and Libya has closed its embassy in Copenhagen, the Danish capital. Kuwait called the cartoons “despicable racism.” Iran’s foreign minister termed them “ridiculous and revolting.”
Additonally, the muslim world’s two main political bodies — the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, with respectively 22 and 57 member states — will be seeking a UN resolution banning “attacks on religious beliefs.”
As noted in a recent post, the Sudanese regime continues to sponsor such attacks. Yet to my knowledge, neither of these organizations has made any kind of brouhaha over the matter, let alone sought UN declarations. Indeed, in March the Arab League is to hold its summit in Khartoum, perhaps there to continue its foaming at the mouth over the cartoons.
Sudan on its part has denied a Danish government minister permission to visit and asked its national companies to boycott all Danish goods, al-Jazeera reports.
Sudanese defense minister Abdel Rahim Mohammad Hussein declines to welcome his Danish counterpart to Sudan
And thus the Arab nations have turned hypocrisy into an art form more sublime than any pencilwork.
I will return to this topic.
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Trackback by Atlantic Review — March 22, 2006 @ 2:31 pm