OIC Speaks with Forked Tongue
February 27, 2006, 6:52 pm |
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By Andrew L. Jaffee
The Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) has issued a statement both condemning violent Muslim reactions to the Mohammed cartoons, but urging the suppression of free speech. First, the good news:
[The] …(OIC) has denounced calls for the death of the Danish cartoonist who satirised the Prophet Mohammad. …
The OIC’s Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told journalists in Islamabad: “This is not a joke to go and say kill this and that. This is a very serious matter and nobody has the authority to issue a ruling to kill people.”
He said that violent protests, such as burning of vehicles and buildings did not project the true spirit of Islam in the eyes of the West.
“Violence weakens us. Violence works against us. Anything except violence is helpful.”
Mr Ihsanoglu also denounced the calls for boycott of Danish and European products across the Muslim world.
Now, the implicit intolerance (demand for submission to Islamist sentiments) and complete misunderstanding of the spirit of free expression:
He said the OIC was seeking an assurance from the EU that such incidents would not be repeated in the future and called upon the West to ensure that the dignity of Islam was respected.
Mr Ihsanoglu expressed regret at the failure of some newspapers and governments to apologise to Muslims and rejected the justification that it was an issue of freedom of expression.
“What we are looking for is that you take our sensitivities in your definition [of freedom of expression]. If you fail to do that… it will be a problem of credibility and a problem of universality of European values.”
How many times can this be repeated: How can people make educated decisions of any subject without seeing information on that subject for themselves?
Educating the Third World on democratic principles will be no easy task.
Special Report: Danish Cartoons
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Categories, Tags: Arab/Muslim World, Islam, War Against Islamo-fascism, Political Correctness
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