The Media Market

Cox & Forkum has a nice collection of blog comments and news clips surrounding the controversy over Jyllands-Posten's publication of the Mohammed caricatures.

In all of this, there is one question that seems to override everything else - the accusations of ethnocentrism. But listening to Abu Laban, a Danish imam, and his followers, you really have to ask yourself who is really the biggest ethnocentrist? A Danish newspaper who wants to use the freedom of the press to critisize certain parts of the Muslim world, or an imam who argues that the Danish people have to change their laws to accomodate Muslims into their country (i.e. limit the freedom of speech in relation to Muslim customs).

Jyllands-Posten has been accused of being both ethnocentrist and racist after it first published the 12 drawings of Mohammed. Nalin Pekgul, the Muslim-born chairman of the Swedish Federation for Social Democratic Women, points to the opposite in her op-ed in Wall Street Journal:

"I no longer feel safe in [the Stockholm suburb] Tensta. The influence of Islamic fundamentalists has grown so much over the years that it is now impossible for me and my family to live there anymore. I´m tired of being expected to speak badly of Christians and Jews just because I´m Muslim. I´m tired of the hate preachers. I´m tired of seeing women condemned for the way they dress. I don´t want my daughter to be exposed to this type of aggression in the future. So I will soon have to leave Tensta ...

When the Islamists complain how the Europeans don´t show any respect for the Muslim way of life, you get the impression that all they want is that we all make small, little adjustments out of consideration to their customs. But when have Islamists ever shown any consideration or respect for other people´s way of life?"

This is more than a mere academic dispute over who has the right to express what. This is a fundamental cornerstone in any democracy. And Abu Laban and his followers are clearly threatening this freedom in the name of "understanding". (Understanding for what? one might ask...) It seems horribly clear that the evident threat in this affair is that Muslim fanatics will blow up Danish newspapers if they do not apologize for offending the prophet Mohammed. They do not understand (or appreciate) the freedom of the press or the right for people to express dissenting views. How ethnocentrist indeed.