Angry Muslims

MyWay News reported today that the uproar among Muslims over some Danish cartoons is escalating. I've been following this story a little, but it hadn't registered high enough on the radar for me to post about it. Now it has, and I'm ticked.

Some background, just in case:

Back in September a Danish newspaper ran about a dozen drawings, most of which depicted the prophet Mohammed. Some were nice pictures (Mohammed in a pretty field) and others weren't so kind (Mohammed with a bomb in his turban). Muslims in Denmark were upset. It's a violation of their faith to depict the prophet in any fashion, since it could promote idolatry. The upset spread to the wider Muslim world, and many Middle East countries called for boycotts of Danish products. Other European newspapers, in solidarity with Denmark, reprinted the drawings, and now the angry-at-Denmark Muslims are even angrier.

Armed militants angered by a cartoon drawing of the Prophet Muhammad published in European media surrounded EU offices in Gaza on Thursday and threatened to kidnap foreigners as outrage over the caricatures spread across the Islamic world.

Foreign journalists, diplomats and aid workers began leaving Gaza as gunmen there threatened to kidnap citizens of France, Norway, Denmark and Germany unless those governments apologize for the cartoon.

Outgoing Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia on Thursday condemned the caricatures, saying they "provoke all Muslims everywhere in the world."

"We hope that the concerned governments are attentive to the sensitivity of this issue," Qureia said.

This broader story really torques my jaws in multiple ways.

First, what makes these screaming Muslims think they run the whole world and can dictate policy absolutely everywhere, in every newspaper on the face of the globe to keep themselves free from offense? Sorry, life doesn't work that way.

The extremist Muslims are only too happy to offend Christians, Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, and any other religion (remember the destruction of temples in Afghanistan?), but they can't handle cartoons. Jeez! Suck it up an be a man about it.

Second, it's about time the Leftist, secular, Israel-hating, Palestinian-apologist countries and their newspapers finally learn just what it is that their appeasement has wrought. There is no safety in appeasement. None.

For years, the Left in Europe (and there isn't much Right still around) has sided with the Palestinians (and anybody else who opposes Israel), calling them the victims and Israel the oppressor, excusing any violence on the part of Palestinians--even the targeting of innocent civilians--while condemning any violence on the part of Israel--even the targeting of terror masterminds. Now the chickens have come home to roost. Europe can't suddenly declare that Palestinian violence isn't acceptable, just because the target of that violence has changed.

Finally, I'm not optimistic that the Europeans will learn any valuable lessons from this exercise. I believe this will ultimately prove that evolution is indeed true. Europe once had a spine and was able to stand up against enemies. But that was a long time ago, and its spine has since disintegrated into a useless stump incapable of transmitting the message to any of its parts to take bold action. The courage of newspapers like France Soir, who reprinted the cartoons, is more like the phantom pain that haunts amputees. It won't last for long.

Maybe Europe will prove me wrong. I hope so. I hope France, Norway, Denmark and Germany finally learn to stand up to bullies. And I hope they finally learn that peaceful co-existence with terrorists and lunatics is not possible.

But I'm not holding my breath.