I was shocked by certain sentiments expressed by Tarek Zohdy in yesterday’s letter to the editor (“Cartoon editorial was irresponsible, prejudiced,” Feb. 8, p.4), defending the violent reaction of Muslims to the caricatures of Muhammad published in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten.
Mr. Zohdy expressed disgust with The Daily Free Press’s editorial on the subject, which compared the cartoons with anti-Jewish and anti-Christian feeling among many Muslims. He said that “the depiction of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a newspaper to Muslims, especially in such a derogatory and inflammatory way, is equivalent to a firebombing of the Vatican to Catholics or a nuke hitting Washington D.C. to us Americans.” The Islamic world’s reaction to the cartoons seems to imply that at least in the minds of many Muslims, this is true. What I see is a fundamental misplacement of priorities. Publishing a few blasphemous cartoons does not cause significant loss of life, while firebombing the Vatican or nuking Washington D.C. most certainly would. Mr. Zohdy’s failure to see the difference is quite shocking and upsetting.
Mr. Zohdy also erroneously claims that “even in the ‘violent’ demonstrations, the damage was only to property and not to people.” Tragically, this is not true. More than 10 Afghanis have been killed during protests this week. Also, a Catholic priest, Fr. Andrea Santoro, was murdered in Turkey by a Muslim high school student, the motive reportedly being the cartoons. Even apart from the deaths which have taken place, Mr. Zohdy seems to downplay the extensive property damage caused by Muslim protestors (burning down several Danish and Norwegian embassies, for example) as insignificant.
Mr. Zohdy is absolutely correct when he says that “when emotions are involved, rational thought takes a back seat.” Unfortunately, the best example of this phenomenon is not, as Mr. Zohdy suggests, the American people. Rather, it is the Muslim protesters who have caused worldwide unrest and violence over a few blasphemous cartoons — an unprecedented happening.
Mark Estano CAS ’06