"MUSLIM INDIGNATION OR INTOLERANCE?" ASKS HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
By Jeremy Reynalds (02/06/06)
A human rights group that has been monitoring the violent Islamic response to cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad is worried that as Muslim outrage escalates about this issue, Christians will increasingly be targeted because of their association with the Western world.
The caricatures first appeared in a Danish newspaper last fall.
In a news release, the Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) said that in their protest over these "offensive" cartoons, Muslims are attacking embassies, burning flags, boycotting products, and attacking Christians and others associated with the West.
The violent protests have continued to spread to Beirut, Indonesia, Palestine, and Afghanistan. In Beirut, over the weekend, a Christian neighborhood was attacked and rampaged by Muslims and in Pakistan, a church was ransacked and Christians beaten.
Especially in Muslim-majority countries, ICC reported, Christians are now under increased threat because they are targets for retribution from radical Muslims. Some Muslim clerics are even calling for a "day of wrath," and, ICC said, "there seems to be no end in sight for the intolerance doled out by Muslims to Christian minorities."
ICC commented, "Muslim indignation is understandable as they feel persecuted by having their religion mocked and ridiculed. Christians too have been ridiculed. Depictions of our Lord in artwork and in the press have often been used in a way that is less than reverent. Indignation though, is never a reason for violence."
According to ICC, "There are two sad ironies in the response of Muslims to this indignation. One is the fact that their reaction is an illustration of exactly what the cartoons are depicting. It is as if the protestors are saying ‘How dare you portray us as violent? We will kill you for that.'"
The second irony, ICC reported, is that while Muslims are crying "persecution" in regards to a depiction of Mohammad in a cartoon, this is nothing in comparison to the crimes committed against Christians, Jews, and Hindus in Muslim-majority countries because of their faith.
ICC commented, "The persecution of people of minority faiths is routine in Muslim societies,. In some cases, it is even justified by law, and can often be deadly. ICC has documented case after case of Christian suffering, maiming, torture – and murders of Christians who were killed because they are infidels or apostates (one who has turned away from Islam)."
With that in mind, ICC asked, "How does the Muslim world justify their indignation over these cartoons, when it routinely oppresses people of other faiths who do not conform to their dictates? While these violent protests have received significant media coverage, the daily persecution of Christians by fundamentalist Muslims remains an obscure issue that many people know nothing about. ICC will continue to bring to light the suffering of Christians, even when it involves Muslim intolerance."
CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKERS IN HEBRON EXPERIENCE WRATH
Meanwhile, members of a peacemaking team in Hebron have experienced a variety of reactions in the wake of the cartoon debacle.
A news release from "Christian Peacemaker Teams" (www.cpt.org) said that their first experience occurred on Jan. 30, when two Swedish members of a team were advised by their leadership to leave Hebron – which they did briefly. They came back when they received assurances from Palestinian leadership that their presence was welcome.
On Feb. 1, the first day of the Islamic New Year, a protest was staged by Hamas outside the headquarters of TIPH (Temporary International Presence Hebron).
A consortium of six nations including Sweden and Denmark, CPT said TIPH "has been monitoring Israeli occupation-caused tensions in the Old City since 1994." CPT reported that although the protest, according to one member of TIPH, was "quiet and orderly," a throng of young Palestinians who later gathered outside the headquarters gate was not. The building was stoned and many windows broken.
On Thurs. CPT members ran into store owner friends "who expressed their concerns and astonishment over the republication of the cartoons." Also on Thurs. CPT received a call from EAPPI, the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel. The small contingent of people EAPPI normally maintains in Hebron, CTP was told, will be staying away temporarily.
On Friday, the Muslim Sabbath, CPT reported that team member Jerry Levin, in the streets for most of the day orienting a visitor to the situation in Hebron, was stopped by men making their way to noon prayers. These individuals told Levin it was very important for the cartoons not to be republished in the American press. After the prayers were over, CPT reported, "the pace of those encounters increased."
Then in the middle of the afternoon while walking along one of the ancient terraces below the Tel Rumeida settlement, CPT reported that Levin and his colleague were stopped by four teen age Palestinian boys, two of them with clubs concealed in the folds of their coats. The boys first complained about the cartoons and then demanded Levin's cell phone. Levin, CPT reported, refused to hand it over.
The boys "not very convincingly," CPT reported, began brandishing their clubs. Then when Levin still refused, one snatched his camera from around his neck and the four ran off.
"I never was really worried about being hurt," Levin said in the release. "I really think the kids were after my phone and my camera, and thought sounding angry about the cartoons while waving their clubs at us might move things along."
In the meantime, CPT reported that Palestinian advisors have told organization members to keep a lower than usual profile for a few days.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the world. To learn more about CPT, go to www.cpt.org.
To find out more about International Christian Concern, go to http://www.persecution.org/
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