Over the past few days an unprecedented wave of anti-american protests and violence has spread across the Islamic world and beyond it with protests reaching of all places Australia. All of the commotion is due to a badly made hate film produced by Israeli-American Sam Bacile of California. The reaction to what would seem in the mind of an American such a small incident highlights one of the key challenges that the US currently faces in the Islamic world and on a smaller scale within its entire foreign policy. However, before I touch on that, there are a number of issues that need to be resolved first.
1. Why are Muslims so touchy about this movie anyway? The film, named "Innocence of Muslims," depicts the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, as an ignorant child molesting murderer who spread his religion through murder and bribery. Within Islam it is Haram (Illegal) to depict the Prophet in any way, even in a positive light. This canon of the religion goes back to Muhammad's insistence that he a was only a man and that he should not be worshiped. Idol worship of any kind is Haram in Islam and it is believed that if Muhammad were to be depicted it may lead to his being worshiped as a god. Clearly this film goes the extra mile in that it not only depicts the prophet of Islam but does it in a despicable way.
2. Ok, I can see why a Muslim might get a little ticked off but riots in the street seem a bit much, right? There are a number of reasons why these protests, and other protests in the Islamic world, have taken such a massive and violent form. Concerning a number of places, including Egypt and Libya and excluding Australia, one major reason in boredom. A typical day for a 20 something year old Cairene male includes waking up around noon, staying in the house (their parents house by the way) until around 5 when it becomes cool enough to go out, going and sitting on a corner with some friends to discuss football, maybe play a lazy game of football, relax at a cafe and smoke hookah until early in the morning playing Basra or Trex or Backgammon. For most people there is no work, no dating, no prospects of marriage (because there is no work which means there is no money) and because there are no prospects of marriage there are also no prospects of getting out of your parents house. Protests, as sad as this sounds, are something to do. When I was in Cairo I witnessed small scale protests, street fights and rock throwing included. The majority of the people protesting were young men who did not know or very much care about the politics of the situation. For them the protests were something to do and a chance to get on CNN. Another reason is the social construct of the society and the importance of institutions such as the Mosque. As a Muslim man in a Muslim society you are constantly challenged to show your piety and love of Islam even if you yourself are not a particularly religious person. Where it concerns this situation, this leads to many people attending and taking part in these types of protests because they feel it is their duty to uphold Islam, or at least appearing to. The Mosque is important because it is the main gathering place of the entire community in a religious setting. While the majority of Imams in the Muslim world are moderate, they still feel the need to say something when Islam is attacked and this goes for calling for protests as well. That is why even after the deaths of four Americans in Libya even moderate Muslim leaders in places like Jordan continued to call for protests.
3. Even with all of this in mind, how is it that Chris Stephens could die from a Youtube video? The short answer is he didn't. Protesters did not kill Chris Stephens, armed militants did. The situation in Libya is complex and combustible with remnants of the militias that took out Qaddafi controlling neighborhoods and a lack of political power to monitor borders and root out extremists. The militants that killed Chris Stephens three other American Foreign Service Officers either planned the protest as a diversion or simply took advantage of the opportunity it presented.
With all of this there is still one seemingly unresolved issue. Why is all of this anger being projected at the United States government and people? The film was produced in the US and promoted by an extremist American preacher but at the same time innumerable American leaders have denounced the film including Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Sure there are a number of protester who are just seizing the opportunity to storm a US embassy and stick it to the most powerful country in the world but many other protesters are truly angry that the US has allowed one of its citizens to release a film such as this. And this is the main issue highlighted by these events. Here in the US we would never question the fact that the government has no right to control what kinds of movies are produced no matter how hateful or despicable they are. Isn't it our First Amendment right to be as bigoted and loud about it as we want to be? Here in the US that is your right. This belief goes right into the American interpretation of freedom of expression. In the United States I have unlimited freedom of expression (well in reality there are some limits). I have the right to walk down the street and tell everyone that I hate black people as loud as I want. This interpretation of freedom of speech, however, is not universal. Even in Europe they interpret freedom of speech as having limits. In France, for example, I don't have the right to go around telling people that I hate black people because they have the right not to listen to my racist opinions. This is the basis for their bans on the Hijab and other religious attire. The point is, in the US we all have unlimited freedom of expression, whereas, in other parts of the world your freedom of expression ends when it infringes on another person's freedom of dignity/belief/peace of mind etc. This, in my opinion, is the root of the issue. How can the US articulate to the Arab world that the just because some Americans may be hateful toward Muslims that is not the position of the US as a nation. When I posed this question to a friend of mine his response came without hesitation. "You are a democratic country, the people choose the government. So if the people choose the government then the peoples' beliefs are the government's beliefs." I guess its time for moderate and compassionate people to start making Youtube videos to show the world that the US has many voices, and most of them are not full of hate.
1. Why are Muslims so touchy about this movie anyway? The film, named "Innocence of Muslims," depicts the prophet of Islam, Muhammad, as an ignorant child molesting murderer who spread his religion through murder and bribery. Within Islam it is Haram (Illegal) to depict the Prophet in any way, even in a positive light. This canon of the religion goes back to Muhammad's insistence that he a was only a man and that he should not be worshiped. Idol worship of any kind is Haram in Islam and it is believed that if Muhammad were to be depicted it may lead to his being worshiped as a god. Clearly this film goes the extra mile in that it not only depicts the prophet of Islam but does it in a despicable way.
2. Ok, I can see why a Muslim might get a little ticked off but riots in the street seem a bit much, right? There are a number of reasons why these protests, and other protests in the Islamic world, have taken such a massive and violent form. Concerning a number of places, including Egypt and Libya and excluding Australia, one major reason in boredom. A typical day for a 20 something year old Cairene male includes waking up around noon, staying in the house (their parents house by the way) until around 5 when it becomes cool enough to go out, going and sitting on a corner with some friends to discuss football, maybe play a lazy game of football, relax at a cafe and smoke hookah until early in the morning playing Basra or Trex or Backgammon. For most people there is no work, no dating, no prospects of marriage (because there is no work which means there is no money) and because there are no prospects of marriage there are also no prospects of getting out of your parents house. Protests, as sad as this sounds, are something to do. When I was in Cairo I witnessed small scale protests, street fights and rock throwing included. The majority of the people protesting were young men who did not know or very much care about the politics of the situation. For them the protests were something to do and a chance to get on CNN. Another reason is the social construct of the society and the importance of institutions such as the Mosque. As a Muslim man in a Muslim society you are constantly challenged to show your piety and love of Islam even if you yourself are not a particularly religious person. Where it concerns this situation, this leads to many people attending and taking part in these types of protests because they feel it is their duty to uphold Islam, or at least appearing to. The Mosque is important because it is the main gathering place of the entire community in a religious setting. While the majority of Imams in the Muslim world are moderate, they still feel the need to say something when Islam is attacked and this goes for calling for protests as well. That is why even after the deaths of four Americans in Libya even moderate Muslim leaders in places like Jordan continued to call for protests.
3. Even with all of this in mind, how is it that Chris Stephens could die from a Youtube video? The short answer is he didn't. Protesters did not kill Chris Stephens, armed militants did. The situation in Libya is complex and combustible with remnants of the militias that took out Qaddafi controlling neighborhoods and a lack of political power to monitor borders and root out extremists. The militants that killed Chris Stephens three other American Foreign Service Officers either planned the protest as a diversion or simply took advantage of the opportunity it presented.
With all of this there is still one seemingly unresolved issue. Why is all of this anger being projected at the United States government and people? The film was produced in the US and promoted by an extremist American preacher but at the same time innumerable American leaders have denounced the film including Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Sure there are a number of protester who are just seizing the opportunity to storm a US embassy and stick it to the most powerful country in the world but many other protesters are truly angry that the US has allowed one of its citizens to release a film such as this. And this is the main issue highlighted by these events. Here in the US we would never question the fact that the government has no right to control what kinds of movies are produced no matter how hateful or despicable they are. Isn't it our First Amendment right to be as bigoted and loud about it as we want to be? Here in the US that is your right. This belief goes right into the American interpretation of freedom of expression. In the United States I have unlimited freedom of expression (well in reality there are some limits). I have the right to walk down the street and tell everyone that I hate black people as loud as I want. This interpretation of freedom of speech, however, is not universal. Even in Europe they interpret freedom of speech as having limits. In France, for example, I don't have the right to go around telling people that I hate black people because they have the right not to listen to my racist opinions. This is the basis for their bans on the Hijab and other religious attire. The point is, in the US we all have unlimited freedom of expression, whereas, in other parts of the world your freedom of expression ends when it infringes on another person's freedom of dignity/belief/peace of mind etc. This, in my opinion, is the root of the issue. How can the US articulate to the Arab world that the just because some Americans may be hateful toward Muslims that is not the position of the US as a nation. When I posed this question to a friend of mine his response came without hesitation. "You are a democratic country, the people choose the government. So if the people choose the government then the peoples' beliefs are the government's beliefs." I guess its time for moderate and compassionate people to start making Youtube videos to show the world that the US has many voices, and most of them are not full of hate.
