As we approach the five-year anniversary of the publication of the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad the Danish authorities are apparently concerned, but it’s not clear about what. While I can imagine someone in a minor cabinet position thinking that every Muslim around the world has the date circled in the datebooks, like an Eid celebration, I would’ve thought that saner heads would prevail. Instead, the Danish government is going on an all-out charm offensive with foreign governments, a campaign that’s both good and bad.
It’s bad because it continues to reinforce the idea of Muslims as foreign to the Danish experience. There’s no indication that the Danish government sought to work with their Muslim groups. Instead, they’re dealing with foreign powers, who more likely than not instigated the protests months after the cartoons appeared as a means to deflect their populations from poor domestic policy. Nothing the Danes can do will change the actions of these governments. If anything, they’ll inflate the egos of many of the despots and ideologues, almost guaranteeing future stupid protests.
The Danes should have looked to see how other countries are successfully mediating conflict. In the US, several of us wrote in defense of free speech and there’s a statement from Muslim Americans supporting that position. The Dutch Muslim community offered to screen a movie produced by the virulent anti-Muslim bigot Geert Wilders who is busy at the moment, having been “charged with five counts of inciting hatred and discrimination dating back to 2007.” (Wilders refused the screening).
If the Danes decided to follow the example of trying to create a richer, more diverse, and more robust society, they may have realized a few things. First, no one would’ve cared about this anniversary, so they shouldn’t make an international situation out of it. Second, even if they felt they needed to be alert, but not alarmed, empowering the people most likely to lash out is not constructive. Third, if you create an environment where Danish Muslims feel engaged and part of the society, it’s a lot harder for false indignation to gain traction overseas. This is an unfortunate decision by the Danish government on many levels, and speaks to the much deeper problems they face in dealing with diversity.
