Update on Images of Mohammed Retribution: Yet Another Embassy is Put to the Torch.

All this violent retribution for the drawing of comics is getting hard to keep track of, but let’s try: after the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus, Syria were burned yesterday by a crowd of thousands, today the Danish embassy in Beirut was torched by a crowd of hundreds.

On the one hand, it’s important to note that there a huge number of Muslims who are ashamed by these developments. Both the Prime Minister of Lebanon and Lebanon’s most senior Sunni cleric quickly moved to condemn this action. The former declared that “Destabilizing security and vandalism give a wrong image of Islam. Prophet Mohammad cannot be defended this way,” and the latter declared that “We don’t want the expression of our condemnation (of the cartoons) to be used by some to portray a distorted image of Islam. Today is a big test for us. Let our expression of condemnation be according to the values of Islam.”

On the other hand, it’s undeniable that these acts of violence are being committed by large groups, not by isolated nut cases. For that reason it is vitally important to demonstrate that these acts of violence will not succeed in intimidating others into surrendering their right to nonviolent free expression. The more buildings that are torched, the more these comics must be shown. When fundamentalist bullies move from threat to violent action, it is imperative that the bullies not be permitted to prevail.