Muslims protest in Sidney
Photo: AFP
Bad film club
Op-ed: Unlike Muslims, Christians and Jews understand US president does not edit Hollywood's movies
September is a dangerous month for America-Islam relations. In September 2001 the Twin Towers in New York were destroyed by a Muslim commando unit, and in September 2012 millions of Muslim protesters assassinated American free speech.
The violent riots of Mohammed's worshippers frightened the democratic superpower and caused it to send police officers to arrest the amateurish director of a dubious film. Officially he was arrested for violating the terms of his parole, but not one kid in California or Benghazi is buying this lame excuse. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was arrested because of his film, not because he illegally surfed the Internet.
Arab World
Manfred Gerstenfeld
Op-ed: Past, current Muslim riots exaggerated response to act of minor Western player
The Obama administration was supposed to protect Nakoula's freedom to create and simply repeat the usual slogans regarding people's right to talk nonsense, but instead the administration's spokespeople condemned the anti-Islam film with almost the same vehemence with which they condemned the riots against it. Even after the murder of the US ambassador in Libya and the attack on the embassy in Cairo, Obama's people continued to apologize.
The bad film club in the US has known films that were more insulting than 'Innocence of Muslims.' The pope was deeply offended at the time by the movie "Jesus Christ Superstar," but he did not send millions of Christians to burn US embassies across the Catholic world. And not one Jewish protester was seen near the US Embassy in Israel following the release of "The Passion of the Christ," a movie that depicts Jews as treacherous and violent people. In the Vatican and in Hechal Shlomo (former official seat of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in Jerusalem) it was clear that the president of the United States does not edit Hollywood's movies. The Christian and Jewish outcries were limited to the op-ed section of newspapers or to TV and radio news programs. Rabbis and priests alike understood that free speech is a religious principle in America.
The Muslim preachers also understand this, but they choose to play dumb in order to terrorize the enlightened world. The mosque leaders send the masses to riot in order to frighten the West and force it to stop criticizing the violent ways of those who worship the prophet Mohammed. They are allowed to declare every Friday that Jews are the descendents of apes or that the Christians are infidels. But others are not permitted to even joke at the expense of Islam's saints. They play the role of the world's madman so that no one will mess or try to argue with them. Every caricature causes them to seemingly lose control.
"I am proud of these protests," MK Ibrahim Sarsur of the United Arab List-Ta'al party said on the radio recently. Of course he's proud. America's conduct during the anti-Islam film affair is a great source of pride for Arabs.
