For anyone who’s wanted to weigh in on the famous (and
infamous) cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, now’s your
chance.
The cartoons, which first appeared in European newspapers,
incited thousands of Muslims worldwide to protest ““ sometimes
violently. The caricatures portray the Prophet Muhammad in
controversial ways ““ one shows him wearing a bomb in lieu of
a turban ““ and many Muslims consider it a violation of
Islamic law to depict the religious figure at all.
Tonight, two student groups are creating forums at UCLA for the
issue. The Muslim Students Association will be holding a program at
the Court of Sciences to discuss the implications of the cartoons
for Muslims. More controversially, the student group L.O.G.I.C.
will be presenting the caricatures in a debate on free speech in
Dodd Hall.
And while it’s understandable that some may be upset by a
presentation of the cartoons, it’s far from a bad idea to
have a forum to discuss them.
For all the media attention violent protests in the Islamic
world have garnered, the fact that such controversy happened in the
first place points to a breakdown in communication between
cultures.
The Western world doesn’t understand why Muslims are so
angry over the cartoons, and Muslims don’t understand why the
Western world doesn’t understand.
A miscommunication of that scale is certainly discussion-worthy,
especially if it could lead some common ground. And what better
place to have that discussion than a university, a place built on
the idea of dialogue? After all, isn’t it opportunities like
these that bring people to college in the first place?
Without a doubt, it is within L.O.G.I.C.’s rights to show
the cartoons, and it could ultimately be a good thing ““
provided that they’re showing them with the intent of getting
to a wider discussion on the issues, not making the cartoons an end
in themselves.
Unfortunately, there is already a troubling precedent for this
kind of event, as it is coming a week and a half behind another
student-led forum at UC Irvine where the cartoons were put on
display.
There, what was billed as a discussion about the cartoons and
Islamic extremism dissolved into a senseless round of
Muslim-bashing.
Panelists called mainstream Muslim-American civil rights groups
“cheerleaders for terror,” and according to The
Associated Press, panelist Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson said all Muslims
hate America and that Islam is an “evil religion.”
Tensions flared so high that university police removed two men who
nearly came to blows.
Panelists at the Irvine event technically had the freedom to say
what they did. But they did not exercise it responsibly.
Instead, they chose to make sweeping generalizations that,
rather than leading to a productive discussion, poured salt on the
wounds.
That kind of speech has no place at a university.
Being provocative is fine, so long as it leads to critical
thinking, not blind prejudice or hatred. Hopefully, the organizers
of tonight’s events will keep that in mind.
UCLA is as good a place as any to have a debate about these
cartoons. It’s thousands of miles removed from the Middle
East and the parts of Europe where tensions have flared high.
It’s a university full of 20-somethings who are unafraid to
ask questions, are eager to change the world, and have a conviction
that they ““ above anyone else ““ actually can.
If it can’t happen here, then where can it happen?