Muhammad Cartoons

Oh, the irony. As you've probably heard, Muslim groups throughout the Middle East (and elsewhere) are causing a ruckus in response to some satirical caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad published first in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and subsequently in several other European papers.

To quote from an article from the Canadian Press:

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Tens of thousands of angry Muslims marched through Palestinian cities, burned the Danish flag and called for vengeance Friday against European countries where caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad were published.

The demonstrations were the latest sign of growing anger against the cartoons that has spread across the Muslim world.

Early Friday, Palestinian militants threw a bomb at a French cultural centre in Gaza City and many Palestinians began boycotting European goods, especially those from Denmark, where the cartoons where first printed.

"Whoever defames our Prophet should be executed," said Ismail Hassan, 37, a tailor who marched through the pouring rain along with hundreds of other angry Muslims in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"Bin Laden our beloved, Denmark must be blown up," protesters in Ramallah chanted.

Fundamentalist Muslims protested outside the Danish Embassy in Malaysia, chanting "Long live Islam. Destroy our enemies" and accusing Denmark's Jyllands Posten newspaper, which first published the cartoons, of seeking to incite hatred.

"It's an uncivilized act. It's heinous," said Hanifah Maidin, youth wing spokesman of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic party. "We want the Denmark government to tender an apology to the Muslim world."

[...]

It's shockingly hypocritical (and yes, ironic) that they can denounce cartoons as uncivilized and, in the same breath, call for death and destruction in response, and it's worrisome that governments are probably going to try to appease them rather than chastise them for it.