Islamic Cartoon Psychotic Break: New Battle in an Old War

The Islamic cartoon frenzy focuses on Europe rather than the U.S. In the past week, European newspapers began to print the 12 cartoons from a Danish paper, each reprinting stoking the rage of the Muslim street. U.S. papers, however, showing the kind of spine that contributes to their collapsing circulation, are acting as one giant quivering jellyfish in not printing the cartoons. According to trade publication Editor & Publisher,

Although most American papers have covered the issue, with many running Page One stories, most contend the cartoons are too offensive to run, and can be properly reported through descriptions.

One exception, E&P says, is the New York Sun.

Not even those raucous "alternative" weeklies like the Village Voice have printed the cartoons. Stories and pictures of Janet Jackson's top falling off at the Super Bowl? President Bush as vampire? Hey, no problem there. But graphic film footage of 9-11? Mohammed cartoons? The U.S. press suddenly acts like the culturally sensitive version of Brave Sir Robin.

I can't say I'm surprised. U.S. institutions have a bleak history of buckling under from pressure from Islamic groups. Even "24" cracked last year. I know about this record, because I joined a protest against one of the most notorious episodes.

In 1988, Salman Rushdie published The Satanic Verses and soon faced a death sentence from Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. In early 1989, Barnes & Noble and other big booksellers removed Satanic Verses, pleasing Islamic censors and outraging supporters of the First Amendment.

Protests against B&N included a rally organized, if I recall correctly, by the National Writers Union, a group I belonged to during my years as a freelancer. At the time, I worked in an office at 545 5th Avenue in New York, just three blocks south of the site of the protest, at the big B&N store at 48th Street and 5th Avenue. So I was happy to join the hundreds of people who showed up to shout "Shame!" at the store and raise our voices for free speech. Our contribution helped change corporate minds, as this report notes:

several bookstores, including Waldenbooks, B. Dalton Bookseller, and Barnes and Noble, pulled copies of his controversial book, The Satanic Verses, from their shelves. However, other bookstores used the incident to call attention to the ongoing struggle against censorship by promoting the book, and the [American Booksellers Association] took out ads protesting Iran's attempt at intimidation. The chain stores reversed their policies within a few days, in part because of a consumer demand for the book. Two bookstores in the United States were firebombed apparently because of the book, but there were no injuries.

While the book remains available and Rushie is still alive, the fall-out of the episode shows the deadly serious nature of Islamic protesters. In 1991, three translators of The Satanic Verses were attacked; one, Hitoshi Igarishi, was stabbed to death.

I would never discount the threat of Islamic violence. However, collective action in Europe now clearly shows the fault lines -- who supports freedom, who demands silence and subservience. Those lines exist just as much in the U.S., perhaps not so brightly as in Denmark, Holland, and elsewhere, but they are emerging. The cartoon wars are drawing those lines, like it or not. This quote sums up the situation well:

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania (1759)