Ohio Cartoonist Angers Muslims

Via Michelle Malkin:

Akron Beacon Journal editorial cartoonist Chip Bok drew a cartoon that impugns CNN for pixelating the Muhammad cartoons (yes, CNN actually pixelated the face of a cartoon) and some Islamic groups including the Council on American Islamic Relations got their panties all in a bunch:

Julia A. Shearson, director of Ohio's Council of American-Islamic Relations, said they want the Beacon Journal to apologize for running the "unethical'' cartoon and want the paper to publish their letters to the editor.

This cartoon is unethical?

 

The cartoon isn't about Muhammad; it's about CNN's silly policy of pixelating of cartoons. 

It seems just the reference to Muhammad was simply too much for some Muslim groups:

At Friday's news conference at the Islamic Society of Akron & Kent in Cuyahoga Falls, the speakers were passionate.

A.R. Abdoulkarim, Amir of the Akron Masjid, applauded newspapers that decided against running the cartoons, but condemned those who did. The Beacon Journal, he said, was in a class of its own.

"They take the prize for being the most ill-intended, irresponsible property group,'' he said.  "Allah curses and condemns them and every Muslim in this community should curse and condemn them.''

These Muslim groups reserve such hateful, violent language for a silly cartoon yet they remain silent when suicide bombers blow up innocent men, women, and children. And then they wonder why people of other faiths don't try harder to understand their concerns.

Medpundit has all the details as well as updates, including an editorial by the Akron Beacon Journal, which says, in part, this:

Islamic extremists, the likes of Osama bin Laden or those who have stormed Danish embassies in recent days, seek a clash of civilizations. That has been evident again in the violent reaction to cartoons depicting Muhammad published first in Denmark (last fall) and elsewhere of late. The question arises: They deploy suicide bombers yet find offense in a collection of drawings?

The New York Times added another layer of depth, reporting this past week the efforts of Arab governments to fuel the protests. The governments hoped to exploit the moment by warning that this is the democracy George Bush has in mind. They hoped to undercut the appeal of the West in their countries, bolstering their own position by stealing thunder from the message of extremists. (Emphasis mine)

Exactly.