It seems that freedom of expression and freedom to protest — both fundamental pillars of democracy — come with a heavy price. Isn’t it ludicrous that an act by a single shady Islam-hating individual, a convicted fraudster once sentenced to 21 months in prison, was able to whip-up murderous crowds in far-flung lands and negatively impact geopolitical relations? If governments have no control over material designed to incite in the absence of laws that breach freedom’s principles, then any filth-spewing, publicity-seeking lunatic has the power to his elbow to effect murder.
I’ve been a defender of freedom for the individual and the concept of free speech all my life; they are like fire — beneficial to society when used wisely, but we must also be alert to their capacity to ignite destruction. In early 2010, Florida pastor Terry Jones, who authored a nasty screed titled Islam is of the Devil, was an inconsequential virtual unknown when he resolved to make a bonfire of the Quran.
Rejecting pleas from President Barack Obama and others, including his own daughter not to proceed, he did the despicable deed in April 2011, resulting in mass protests within Afghanistan that led to the killing of 11, including United Nations officials. In 2012, he burned an effigy of the US President in his garden. Not in the least repentant, Jones involved himself in the promotion of the amateurish film, The Innocence of Muslims.
There is surely something wrong with a legal system that is impotent to prevent poisonous people from directly or indirectly causing so much harm in terms of hurting religious sentiments that is detrimental to human life and alliances between nations. Both Jones and his partner in crime, the alleged maker of the offensive film, 55-year-old Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who has been interviewed by the police, are in no danger of arrest because they haven’t broken any law.
However, those Americans who are loudly trumpeting their First Amendment rights under the US Constitution as sacrosanct, may not be aware of the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act passed by the US Congress in 2004, which defines an anti-Semite as someone who expresses “strong anti-Israel sentiment”, “virulent criticism of Israel’s leaders, past and present”, citing facts that could “in any way diminish the ‘six million’ figure of Jewish Holocaust victims” – and, most pertinently, “any criticism of the Jewish religion or its religious leaders with its emphasis on the Talmud and Kabbala.” Unconstitutional or not, that Act was passed without much of a backlash. In that case, why shouldn’t it be broadened to protect the feelings of adherents of all faiths including Muslims?
Those who furiously stormed American and other western missions in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, during which the US ambassador to Libya and other American diplomatic staff were killed, represent the other side of the fanatic Nakoula/Jones coin. Such violent reaction in the name of Islam plays right into the hands of the religion’s attackers. In Islam, the killing of one innocent person is equivalent to the killing of all mankind. When neither the US government nor its envoys were complicit in the making, funding or promotion of the offensive film and the Obama administration has vehemently condemned it, demonstrators cannot be excused for venting their ire in a fashion that denigrates the very faith they say they wish to defend. Attacks on British and German embassies undermine their self-righteousness even further and gives grist to the mill of analysts who contend that the anti-Western anger consuming the Muslim world has more to do with the West’s foreign policy, wars of choice and imperialist history than religious outrage.
Whatever the reasons fomenting such blind rage, they permit Islamophobes and the far right to say: “See, if Islam is a peaceful religion then why do so many self-proclaimed devout followers of the faith engage in murderous rampages?” Unfortunately, what fuels a mob is emotion, not intellect. If those individuals caught-up in a tsunami of anger over the offending clip had time to pause and reflect, they would have realised that their participation has had the opposite effect of that intended by popularising a film that for a long time went unnoticed on YouTube. They might also conclude that Islam’s tenets are strong and do not require defending, especially from unknown pip squeaks bent on gaining notoriety.
The governments of Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen don’t emerge from this debacle unscathed either as they failed their international responsibility to protect foreign diplomatic missions and staff. Ambivalent statements from Egyptian and Tunisian leaderships, that sought to placate Washington and their respective Islamist bases simultaneously, will do little for their much-needed tourism, international loan and overseas investment prospects. With the US having sent counter-terrorism marine units to Libya and Yemen and naval destroyers to the vicinity, while attempting to deploy Special Forces in Sudan, there may be worse repercussions to come. Obama has already labelled Egypt neither friend nor foe and in the run-up to presidential elections in the US, he is under pressure to show his mettle.
Clash of civilisations? I hope not. The idea that a crook called Nakoula, too cowardly to show his face, could be the catalyst for wars is too monstrously stupid to be allowed. Instead of thumping his chest, Obama should lock him and his ilk up in the name of national security in one of his country’s gulags that already houses ‘detainees’ without charge or trial to deter copycats and put a lid on this nonsense once and for all.
Linda S. Heard is a specialist writer on Middle East affairs. She can be contacted at lheard@gulfnews.com
