Egyptian Chronicles

Can you make fun of Gandhi?
Can you draw a cartoon making fun of him in the most disgusting way in a European Newspaper and say that it is from freedom of Expression !?
What do you think the Indians will do? Won't they be angry?
In fact it happened once that the MTV India as far as I remember broadcasted an ad making fun of Gandhi and MTV had to apologize for the insult of the great historical human figure.
What about making fun of one of Gandhi's idols and role models? One of those who shaped Gandhi's mind and thinking? I guess you understand whom I am speaking about, or even got a hint
Yes Prophet Mohammed "PBUH" with among the idols of Gandhi and it is a historical fact that many ignore. Mahatma Gandhi once said: "I wanted to know the best of one who holds today's undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind.... I became more than convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet,
the scrupulous regard for his pledges, his intense devotion to this friends
and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God
and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before
them and surmounted every obstacle. When I closed the 2nd volume (of the
Prophet's biography), I was sorry there was not more for me to read of the
great life."
Yes I am a Muslim and I am speaking about the Cartoon Danish Crisis that now is freezing and making some sort of cold war between the Islamic East and the West, it is never too late ,in fact I choose now to speak because at the time of Crisis many from both sides lost the sense of logic ,here I am presenting the Islamic view the real Islamic view ,I won't call it the Moderate view because already Islam is the religion of Moderation despite all the claims in the modern age that is the religion of terrorism and violence and all this talk

I will speak about the cartoons, not like most Muslims I saw the cartoons and I even got a scan on my computer from the Posten Danish Newspaper, and they are disgusting, this is the best description fit for them, I felt insulted and sad, yet it is not the first and sure it won't be the last that someone insult the Islam, I have been around the internet for many years and I saw the great hate and disrespect to Muslims and their religion in most disgusting and most ignorant way ,but this time the insult is great ,it is greater than anytime ,it is not making fun from Muslim but the prophet of Muslims themselves, the most beloved and respected character in the Muslim world , I know it is hard for the west to see this respect and love as we see it , Religion became a minor thing in the West and yet it is major thing in the East ,I don't speak about the Islamic East , as in the East there are also other Religions Buddhism ,Hinduism and Christianity. The Spiritual part of the East regardless of the belief is what makes the East different the West.

Lots of or almost all western media said that the some of the Muslim anger goes to the Islamic prohibition of drawing the prophets for fear of idolatry ,it is true thing but and if you look to the Islamic history you will find that imaginary images of the prophet "PBUH" was found in both the Persian and Turkish literature ,you will also find that this images were made for love not for hate by Muslims themselves ,even now the Shiia got those portraits of El-Hussein ,the grand son of prophet Mohammed "PBUthem" , if you are following the Iraqi scene ,you must have see on of his pictures in the Shiia areas, the anger is about the way these cartoons were about and represented ,a competition to make fun of the prophet of Islam , can't they make it less provoking !?, I wanted to clear this misconception I found in many western newspapers.
Another point I want to speak about, I am from the free speech defenders, already my late grand father was a journalist in Egypt and I know how much he suffered from the lack of it in his life since the monarchy till his last days, it is something many are fighting for in the Islamic Arabic world not because of Religion as many claims but from the regimes
But I know that even the freedom of expression got an end, got a line that I can't cross .It is the freedom of other people and the respect of their believes regardless if I believe in it or not.
Some western newspapers are wondering why Muslims are angry from the Cartoons while the Caricatures in their countries are sometimes bitter, especially those against the Americans and Israelis, and my answer that we never through the long history of enmity between the Hebrew state and the Arabic Journalism especially the Egyptian one as I am familiar with that we referred or even made fun from Judaism , never ever .Already I can't make fun of it, you know why because we can't as a Muslim ,because as Muslim I have to believe in Moses and Jesus as I believe in Mohammed ,and I have to respect them all in the same way , already as a Muslim I feel angry when some on the Internet attack the Virgin Mary.
Some of the regimes used the cartoon crisis to their side, just like in Syria, it is obvious to anyone who is familiar with the Syria conditions will know that immediately that the angry riots that burned down the Danish and Norwegian embassies and commissions are the regime hand made, come on not in Syria Al-Assad the police can't handle a riot, not in Syria Al-Assad people can make a riot without the permission of El-Baath party!! For God Sake for more than 30 years the Sunni majority suffered a lot and it is enough to say that Al-Assad the father had killed 20,000 Sunnis in the famous Hamma massacre. I am with peaceful riots and with the boycott of Danish products, it is civilized way, but what happened in Syria is against the Islam, hurted the Islam, anyway what do you expect from a regime that fought the Islam for 30 years!? Only lately Basher El-Assad is using it to win the support of the religious Sunni majority.
The behavior of the Danish Newspaper followed by strange refusal of the Danish prime Minister to apologize made the Islamic street more and more angrier, yes this insult deserves this level of apology not a Newspaper apology "if the one that newspaper published was considered an appropriate apology compared to the size of the insult, already I read the apology both in Arabic and English and all what I got is sorry for the mistake , it is not intended {how come and you announced a competition }but it is our freedom of expression, this poor apology can be done from 4 months.
The Cartoon Danish Crisis opened the door in many problems the limits of Freedom of Expression and the conversation between East and West.
And more important the respect of each other, Mr. Fleming Rose the editor in chief of Danish Newspaper said that he had to apologize to those Dictatorships in the East where they cut the hand of the thief and women got no rights all at , well Mr. Rose I am sorry that you have to apologize for those people ,you shouldn't have sir ,because the essence of the whole problem is the respect of other's belief and it seems that you don't respect our belief and that's why the apology is considered weak.
For those who read this post , I don't want to belief in my belief ,or see the world as I see it , All I want for you is to respect my belief because I do respect yours