Irish president condemns Prophet cartoons, violence

Sun Feb 12, 3:59 PM ET

RIYADH (Reuters) - Irish President Mary McAleese on Sunday condemned the publication of cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad but said violence was unacceptable as a way of protesting.

So which side are you on??

"We abhor the publication of those provocative cartoons, they were designed to provoke, they were designed to be rude, they were designed to inflame, they did all of those things," she said.

Designed to provoke, designed to be rude, designed to inflame, and designed to express people's outrage at things these terrorists have been doing to provoke, be rude, and inflame. So the fuck what?

"Muslims have every right to feel angry," she told reporters in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah where she took part in an economic forum.

I'll pass on trying to figure out why these statements are relevant in an economic forum, but yes, Muslims do have every right to feel angry. So do the Danish cartoonists, their newspaper, and the scores of people whose sentiments these cartoons express. Again, I ask, so the fuck what?

"But equally, I would say our Muslim community share with the Irish community generally an abhorrence of the use of violence in the expression of anger and hurt."

This I agree less with. Exactly who are these people burning embassies and committing acts of war but Muslims? Irish Muslims may feel this way, but if you wish to include non-democratic Muslims in the Middle East, that's not the sentiment they express - at least not the ones who express themselves openly.

The cartoons, which first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September and were then reprinted across Europe, have triggered a storm of protest from Muslims around the world.

And that's fine, as long as everyone's rights are respected, including those of the cartoonists and the papers for which they work.

3000 Americans killed in 2001 by terrorists were not available for comment.

RWR

H/T to Moonbattery for the link.