There appears to be forethought in the “spontaneous” eruption of protests against the Mohammed cartoons. This article in the New York Times documents the issue being raised at a December meeting of various middle-eastern leaders. Outrage has been a long-time in the oven.
In fact, even longer than one might have thought. The original cartoons were published in Egypt in October.
Makes the Australian media response (honourable exception to The Courier Mail) look even more weak-kneed and weak-minded than it at first appeared.
We also now know that the story of the original cartoons was embellished by various spokesmen. It was falsely alleged that there were an additional two or three pictures, one showing Mohammed as a pig – this latter was apparently an out-of-context photo from Associated Press taken in a “pig-squealing” contest in France.
And there was the fabrication that the Danes were intending to censor the Koran.
In the comments after my latest OLO article, one commenter asked how we could converse with muslims. Appears we have lots to talk about, and some of them have no trouble talking to us. All these facts were exposed by Arab bloggers. Suggest we start the conversation by empathising with them about being hoodwinked by people in power – something we all have in common.