The Cartoon Jihad is painful for me to watch, personally, because I am having my belief in the basic humanity of all peoples severely tested. It is a trial by fire. The only things that will keep me in line are remembering that these people are God's children, and prayer.
But, the good thing about the Cartoon Jihad is our enemies are crawling out of the woodwork and telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth:
CAIRO, Egypt - Thousands of worshippers emerging from Friday prayers demonstrated against drawings of the Prophet Muhammad in the Mideast, Asia and Africa, clashing with police in some cities despite religious leaders' attempts to keep marches peaceful.
In Kenya, police shot and wounded one person among about 200 demonstrators trying to march to the residence of Denmark's ambassador.
About 60 protesters in the Iranian capital, Tehran, threw firebombs at the French Embassy, shattering nearly every window on its street facade, even after a cleric at a prominent Iranian mosque urged people not to attack diplomatic missions. "Down! Down with France! Down! Down with Israel," the crowd chanted.
One firebomb exploded in the embassy and started a small blaze that was quickly extinguished. Asia saw its biggest demonstrations yet, and most there — like across much of the world — were peaceful.
Eleven people have been killed in the protests, all of them during three days of riots this week in Afghanistan. A 12th person died Friday in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, when he was hit by an ambulance rushing away the wounded protester.
Protests appeared to ease in the Mideast in recent days, with no major rallies Thursday, though the caricatures were brought up in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq as Shiite Muslims marked their holy day of Ashoura. But Friday prayers — a frequent launching ground for political demonstrations — brought a new wave of protests in Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Morocco.
In Jordan, organizers and clerics were able to keep order. Around 2,000 followers of the Muslim Brotherhood marched peacefully through the capital Amman, after cleric Abdul-Rahman Ibdah told them in his sermon not to "imitate the rioters in other countries (who) harmed Islam."
Egypt saw its most widespread protests yet, with thousands protesting in 21 of its 26 provinces, including in Cairo and the second-largest city, Alexandria. Many were organized by the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, which has called for marches to continue — but peacefully.
The group's deputy head, Khairat el-Shater, appealed to Muslims beforehand "not to let their furor drag them into attacking properties ... or to turn into a clash between civilizations." But violence erupted when police tried to stop demonstrations.
In the northern Delta city of Mahalla el-Kubra, where some 15,000 people marched, security forces fired tear gas and water cannon when demonstrators refused to disperse. Protesters pelted them with rocks and attacked shops and cars. At least 20 people were arrested.
About 1,000 people protested outside Cairo's Al-Azhar Mosque, some chanting, "Osama bin Laden, explode Copenhagen," and burning a Danish flag. Some threw shoes at police trying to bar their way, and security forces beat protesters with sticks.
Protests by Palestinians were smaller than in recent days, but vehement. Gunmen fired in the air as thousands marched in Gaza, while about 2,000 women, young boys and older men marched around the Dome of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem, chanting "Bin Laden, strike again" and burning a Danish flag.
In Pakistan, rallies erupted around the country after prayers with some protesters burning foreign-made cheese and breaking windows while others clashed with police. About 2,000 protesters briefly clashed with police in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. The crowd attacked shops before they were charged by police.
Thousands also demonstrated in Malaysia, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, while smaller rallies were held in Indonesia and the Philippines.
Like I always say, you gotta love your enemies, when they tell you the truth.
Honestly, can anyone see a way out of this without just endlessly ratcheting up the heat? The protests benefit the Western world because they give us a lesson in the reality of Islamofascism. But, they don't benefit us if they simply make radicalism look more and more enticing to the people of the Islamic world.
So, how much is too much? How will we know if our people have learned their lesson yet?
3 comments:
You won't believe what I saw on television.
I'll keep you in suspence. If you can't wait, the IFEN report is on my blog.
I think people will ignore the positive spin cartoons.
"If it bleed, it leads."
I think that this is exactly what we need the world to see. Especially when it comes to the west. Riots and what not across the middle east are very common, but in the west we don't see it as much which allows people to stay blind to the fact that it is on their doorstep. I know so many liberals that completely ignore the facts....let the riots show up on their doorstep.
Anyone else think that this is the only way people are going to see?
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