It was not surprising to see news of violent protests against cartoons defaming the Muslim prophet Muhammad, nor was it surprising to read of the indignant response to these protests on the part of European governments. Careful diplomacy does not seem to be the modus operandi of the world we live in.
But if we are to think beyond the steadfast principles Europeans and Muslims bring up in this fight, blame may lie with both sides involved. I find myself compelled to condemn the Europeans first. For a continent with a disgusting history of religious hatred, the defense of the hate speech contained in the Danish cartoons in the name of free speech rings hollow. Any responsible journalist – any responsible citizen of a free country – understands the tacit implications of freedom of speech. Such a right does not mean a newspaper should print hateful materials. It is not an act of censorship to refuse to print a cartoon defaming a religious figure; to do so is an act of responsible journalism.
The political reaction in Europe also is troublesome in that it denies the continent’s struggles with a growing and disaffected Muslim population. The recent outbreak of riots in the suburbs of Paris demonstrates that Europe must find ways to reduce the rhetoric of hate, rather than defend it. Journalists are in a particularly significant nexus of cultural change, as they are often the first to decide how information is transmitted throughout a society. In republishing the cartoons, newspapers throughout Europe did not live up to their responsibility as wielders of cultural power in supposedly free, tolerant societies.
It is hard to understand why Europeans do not appear to see the wrongness of the cartoons. Foreign ministers from multiple European governments have responded to the controversy merely by taking the side of free speech. Governments should never interfere with newspapers, but governments do need to take enough responsibility to make a stand in participating as actors in the continental – and global – culture debate. European politicians have failed in their choice not to condemn the hate contained within the cartoons.
On the other side, Middle Eastern Muslims are wrong to let their protests over a cartoon become violent. When something offensive is published about Christians or Jews in America, advocacy organizations may protest vigorously, but never violently. Perhaps it is difficult for people in countries without a free press to approach such offensive cartoons with appropriate restraint. The magnitude and methods of the Arab Muslim response to these cartoons reveals Arabs’ unfamiliarity with the free dissemination of ideas and culture.
The fact that neither side seems to have any sense of how to approach culture with an open, measured mind indicates that if there is such a thing as "clash of civilizations" or even lesser differences among two societies, these disparities will likely remain for a long time to come. It may be too idealistic to hope that leaders of both sides can begin to consider their actions with greater discipline. Our only hope may be to hope that a new generation will see the error of purely knee-jerk reactions and the destruction they cause.
