Many Muslims decided that recent Danish footage lampooning Prophet Mohamed would not get them provoked this time. Gihan Shahine finds out why The Muslim world was still reeling from protests over Pope Benedict XVI's offensive comments about Islam, and recovering from the Danish cartoon crisis, when it was dealt yet another blow. Last week, Danish state TV broadcast video footage showing members of the youth chapter of the far-right Danish People's Party (DPP) mocking Prophet Mohamed at a summer party. They were filmed drinking, singing and engaging in a competition to draw images mocking Prophet Mohamed in a derisive way. The footage sparked Muslim outrage, but nothing like the protests which erupted after last year's Danish cartoons and left many dead in violent demonstrations around the world. Angered members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt immediately slammed the video, calling on Muslims to organise protests and revive the boycott of Danish products. The banned group also called on the EU to pass a law banning any derision of religious symbols and beliefs. Similarly, Iran took up the issue with the Danish government on Sunday, saying it was "deplorable that extremist elements in Danish society have once again attempted to sabotage Denmark's relations with Muslim countries." Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who during the cartoon crisis had said he cannot control independent media, was quick to denounce last week's video. Rasmussen described the footage as "tasteless" and "unacceptable", insisting that the youth chapter's behaviour "in no way represents the way the Danish people... view Muslims or Islam." Danish Muslim leaders similarly said they would not be provoked by the act of an anti- immigrant party with a "black history" of humiliating minorities, especially Muslims. "We have to play it right this time," suggested Fadel Soliman, director of the Bridges Foundation, an international body specialised in presenting Islam to non-Muslims, with an office in Denmark. Soliman isn't asking people to totally ignore the offence, however, rather that they "protest in a civilised manner and only boycott the companies which run ads in the DDP's newspaper." Both Soliman and prominent Al-Ahram columnist Fahmy Howeidy agreed that Muslims should not consume their energy reacting to every single offence. It is especially true on this occasion because the perpetrators are merely "a group of fascist youths", and currently Danish society "is significantly changing its attitudes towards Islam and Muslims," noted Soliman. "We don't want to ruin the bridges we have built with the Danes over the past few months," according to Soliman, who organised a conference following the cartoon crisis in which he addressed 134 Danish journalists, media figures and more than 10 politicians on the issue of freedom of speech. In the evaluation forms after the conference, 55 per cent said yes to the question, "Did your respect for Prophet Mohamed increase after the presentation?" "No Danish newspaper or TV channel has attacked Islam ever since," Soliman maintained, "and Danish TV was critical when screening the offensive footage." He continued that many political parties in Denmark are now taking the side of Muslims and condemning the footage. Nevertheless, there is a general sense amongst Muslims that the West launches orchestrated attacks against Islam periodically. This has given way to a deluge of questions about the reasons behind the anti-Islam wave sweeping Europe, and the way Muslims should react to it. Many analysts view the latest footage as another link in a chain of anti-Muslim instances beginning with the cartoons in the Danish daily Jyllands- Posten last year, followed by US President George W Bush's recent description of Muslims as "fascists", then the pope's failure to clearly apologise for using a quote saying that Mohamed "brought to the world only evil and inhuman things". Many would agree with prominent Islamic scholar Abdel-Sabour Shahine that the latest series of offences are only "symptomatic of a strong wave of racism and extremism sweeping the West." Howeidy gave many historic, political and social reasons behind the anti-Islam trend. "The US rhetoric of war on terror has revived memories of the Crusades which still linger in the Western mind," Howeidy told Al-Ahram Weekly. According to him, the increasing number of Muslims in Europe -- reaching between 20 and 25 million -- and the fact that some 20,000 European Christians convert to Islam annually, constitutes a major concern for the European elite, including Pope Benedict. "The masses, on the other hand, focus on their economic interests and the fact that Muslim immigrants take away their jobs," he added. "Meanwhile, there are Western extremist and conspiring groups who benefit from provoking Muslim sentiment and driving wedges between them and the West," noted Howeidy. Many Muslim masses are caught up in this, and in the absence of leadership the door is wide open for extremists to wreak havoc. "They turn protests violent, widen the gap and further tarnish the image of Muslims in the Western media," he added. In his view, Al-Azhar, which is considered the Sunni world's most prestigious institution, has increasingly lost its credibility and has come to be seen as a state-affiliated body and a mouthpiece for the government. Independent Islamic institutions, like the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS), "is doing good work to bridge the gap, but it is not enough," stated Howeidy. The IUMS, for instance, can mobilise Muslims around the world to boycott Danish products but cannot curb the surge in offensive remarks about Islam. "Our main weakness is in our governments which stand silent in the face of such humiliation," commented Howeidy. "Governments should deliver a message that such offences destroy chances of co-habitation and dialogue." Bahieddin Hassan, secretary-general of the Cairo Institute for Human Right Studies (CIHRS) which is organising a trip to Denmark in November as part of a press exchange programme to promote dialogue, insists that dialogue is the only way to bridge existing gaps. "People have to realise that the Western and Muslim worlds cannot be reduced to two opposing clusters, but rather have a range of mentalities and trends from the most extreme to the most liberal," opined Hassan. "Al-Azhar, independent Islamic scholars, the younger preachers, those representing political Islam, enlightened intellectuals as well as NGOs should all become involved in that dialogue." He suggested that "Islamic scholars should invest more effort in making it clear to the West that Islam has a different face than what they saw on 9/11."
