The Motoons Will Always Be There

If the Motoons didn’t exist, Muslims would have to invent them.

That’s the only conclusion one can draw when reading about the latest frenzy of Islamic offendedness. Muslims just can’t wait to be offended. The very existence of infidels offends them. If it weren’t the Motoons, it would be something else — a billboard showing a piggybank, an uncovered woman, a man walking his dog…

But fortunately the Motoons are there to be exploited on every possible occasion.

Apparently the Danish embassy in Amman has not yet been reduced to rubble, and the Jordanians demonstrated in front of it yesterday to protest the existence of the Motoons. According to the Arab News:

Jordan Media Plan Joint Response to Cartoons

At least 21 Jordanian daily newspapers, weeklies and other media said yesterday that they had decided to carry a unified text tomorrow that responds to the recent reprinting of blasphemous cartoons. “The unified text is designed to carry a media message of a professional and objective nature as part of an expanded media campaign,” the papers said in a statement.

“It also has the aim of driving the idea home that the reprinting of the sacrilegious pictures by 17 Danish newspapers at the same time represents a flagrant, systematic and well-studied offense to Islam and the Prophet (peace be upon him) and has nothing to do with the freedom of expression,” they added.

The statement urged all other media and the journalists’ syndicate to join this campaign to turn Wednesday into an “historic day” in Jordan which it said performed a “pioneering role in defending Islam and Prophet Mohammed,” a reference to King Abdallah who belongs to Hashemite clan. The statement also appealed to all Arab and Islamic media to follow suit.

The move by the Jordanian press represented an escalation in the reaction to the reprinting of the caricatures 10 days ago by a dozen Danish newspapers which said they wanted to show their firm commitment to the freedom of expression following reports of an attempt on the life of cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. The pictures first appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten two years ago.

Scores of Jordanians staged an angry demonstration outside the Danish Embassy yesterday, demanding that their government cut ties with Denmark. “We don’t want to see a Danish Embassy on Jordanian soil,” shouted the protesters in the Jordanian capital, men and veiled women affiliated with the Islamic Action Front, Jordan’s largest opposition group. They also told the Jordanian government to “dismiss the Danish ambassador” and insulted him and his government while they burned the Danish flag.

The embassy was open for business, but no embassy personnel could be seen at the windows of the four-story white limestone building, which sported the Danish flag on the roof. Jordan is unlikely to heed the call since it maintains cordial ties with the European Union nation. But in 2006, when the controversy over the cartoons first erupted, Jordan demanded an official explanation from Denmark and allowed merchants to remove popular Danish dairy products from the shelves.

Our Norwegian correspondent HTP sent an email today with a tip about the latest from the creepy children’s television programming on Hamas TV. In one particular video clip, the little girl who hosts the show discusses with the giant bunny Assud the necessity for good Muslims to kill the Danes.

According to HTP:

This is front page news in Norway’s biggest newspaper (VG) today. Norway was, embarrassingly, the first and only country (they mistakenly thought other countries would follow suit) to acknowledge the Palestinian government run by Hamas.

The leader of the Progress Party, Siv Jensen, thinks this is a good time to admit the mistake.

You can watch the video clip, or see the MEMRI article for the transcript. Here are some choice excerpts:
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Saraa:		“How did these Danes have the audacity to affront the Messenger of Allah? Do you have an answer to that, Assud?”
Assud:		“No, I don’t. Maybe because the Arabs and Muslims keep silent, [the Danes] humiliated them and did these things to them.” “Allah Willing, the Soldiers of ‘The Pioneers of Tomorrow’ Will Redeem the Prophet Muhammad with All That They Possess — Even with Their Blood”…”We Will Kill Them”
Saraa:		“That’s one reason, but there is an even more important reason, Assud.”
Assud:		“I have no idea.”
Saraa:		“It’s because the West has seen that we’ve moved away from the religion of Allah, and from the Sunna of our Prophet Muhammad. They have also seen that we have forsaken the religion of Allah, and therefore, they could affront the Prophet, because… We have done nothing to redeem the Prophet Muhammad. But I say to them: You haven’t seen anything yet. Allah willing, the soldiers of the ‘Pioneers of Tomorrow’ will redeem the Prophet Muhammad with all that they possess, and even with their blood, Assud. They will not allow them to do this again.”
Assud:		“If they do it again, Saraa, we will kill them, right?”
Saraa:		“Allah willing.”
Assud:		“I will bite them and eat them up.”
Saraa:		“Yes.”

Henrik Ræder Clausen, being Danish, has a definite opinion on the topic. Here are some excerpts from his editorial at Europe News:

Traditionally, Muslims have great confidence in their leaders, and these leaders are now drawing heavily on this confidence to evoke anger over the Muhammad cartoons. When an Islamic leader claims Islam is under attack, Islam is under attack, and violence is justified.

The Motoons are central to this. It depicts Muhammad in a significantly different way from how the imams and muftis are used to depicting him. Further, the idea that Muhammad was a murderous plundering rapist undermines their authority, because religious figures are supposed to be good examples for their followers. Beheadings do not look like nice examples to follow.

So much for the violent Jihad movement. If you are interested, you can get recruited at Jihad Unspun. It explicitly propagates the myth that Islam is under attack.

And in a way, they are right. Islam is being attacked by rationality and freedom of information. Everyone is now able to look up the Life of Muhammad (the Sirat), either by reading the original books or modern critical analysis such as The Truth about Muhammad, The Legacy of Jihad, Prophet of Doom or Defeating Jihad. The picture isn’t pretty, and we are struggling between the freedom of the West and the religious dogma of the Middle East.

But conversely, the assertion that Islam is under attack from the West is patently false. Islam is being exposed in the world of rationality and freedom of information, and the Islamic scriptures, read literally and uncritically, are self-incriminating. There is a lot of material in there pertaining to the life and example of Muhammad, material that simply doesn’t look holy, by any reasonable definition of the word.

By implication, it is near impossible to say anything about Islam or Muhammad worse than what is in the Islamic scriptures themselves, and the so-called “Islam critics” are largely pointing out the nature of the Islamic scripture and the legacy of Islamic history. This is, of course, the root cause for the Islamic attack on freedom of expression.

As for the opinion of Europe News, let it be expressed by the Motoon above. Muslims need to relate to and solve the problem it expresses. If the Muslims burn our flags, our embassies or even kill our artists, we shall respond by publishing more Motoons! Violence is not holy, and should be completely banished from religion, even in face of (gasp) mockery! Without freedom of expression, there can be no democracy, no human rights, and no freedom for artists and other existing people.

Muslims must accept scrutiny of their religion, criticism and suggestions for bringing it up to date with a modern world. Islamic leaders are encouraged to interpret the Motoons not as an evil insult, rather as an encouragement for reform. Muslims need that.

The truth shall set us free.

Part of the truth is that the sins of “un-Islamic behavior” and “offending the Prophet” are not reserved exclusively for infidels. It seems that Muslims can be offended by cartoons drawn by Muslims about Muslims:

Gaza: Anti-Hamas Cartoon, 6 Months in Prison For Author

Six months of imprisonment and a fine: this is the penalty imposed by a tribunal in Gaza (subject to the control of Hamas) to the editor-in-chief of Palestinian daily ‘al-Ayam’, Akram Haniyeh, and its political cartoonist Baha Boukhari for having published last November a cartoon considered offensive to former prime minister Ismail Haniyeh.

Hamas has also prohibited the distribution in Gaza of ‘al-Ayam’, a daily which in general expresses the position of the PNA. With the offensive picture Boukhari illustrated Ismail Haniyeh in front of MPs looking alike him. The headline qualified them as ‘The Illegitimate’.

“In the motives of the decision it was also affirmed that this picture represents an offense against Islam and the Muslims,” Boukhari told ANSA today.

The author added that the tribunal in Gaza had no right to try him which is why he will not apologize to the leaders of Hamas. Palestinian journalists and writers are organising for tomorrow a manifestation of solidarity with ‘al-Ayam’. (ANSAmed) [emphasis added].

So the cartoon “represents an offense against Islam and the Muslims”, eh?

Move over, Denmark! Time to make room for the leaders of the Palestinian Authority!

The above gives you a little foretaste of what the Ummah will be like after the last infidel is vanquished. First the Sunnis and the Shiites will decide (by violence) who represents the “true Islam”, and who offends the Prophet. Then the survivors will repeat the process, splintering into ever-smaller groups, each struggling to put the curved knives to the other’s throats.

In the end, there will be only a single Muslim left standing.

But he’ll be a really good Muslim, and beloved of the Prophet.


Hat tips: For the Jordanian demo, TB; for the Palestinian cartoon controversy, insubria.