Peace Out of Reach: Middle Eastern Travels and the Search for Reconciliation

9. Incendiary Images: Blasphemous Cartoons, Cosmopolitan Responsibility, and Critical Engagement

123 INCENDIARY฀IMAGES Incendiary฀Images 9 Blasphemous฀Cartoons,฀Cosmopolitan฀฀ Responsibility,฀and฀Critical฀Engagement Culture฀is฀only฀true฀when฀implicitly฀critical,฀and฀the฀ mind฀which฀forgets฀this฀revenges฀itself฀in฀the฀critics฀it฀ breeds. Theodor฀W.฀Adorno Symbolic฀politics฀cannot฀be฀divorced฀from฀practical฀politics.฀ This฀is฀true฀not฀merely฀when฀dealing฀with฀clashes฀between฀ East฀and฀West,฀Muslim฀and฀Christian,฀but฀also฀with฀conflicts฀ between฀any฀traditional฀religious฀community฀and฀the฀liberal,฀ secular฀world฀of฀modernity.฀Such฀themes฀run฀through฀much฀ of฀my฀work,฀and฀like฀many฀others,฀I฀was฀appalled฀and฀fascinated ฀when,฀in฀February฀2006,฀a฀right-wing฀Danish฀newspaper฀ published฀twelve฀cartoons฀satirizing฀the฀prophet฀Muhammad฀ and฀insulting฀the฀entire฀Islamic฀community.฀As฀they฀were฀ reprinted฀again฀and฀again,฀demonstrations—some฀violent฀and฀ some฀peaceful—spread฀rapidly฀throughout฀Europe฀and฀many฀ nations฀in฀Africa,฀Asia,฀and฀the฀Middle฀East.฀Islamic฀fanatics฀ lost฀no฀time฀in฀manipulating฀the฀situation฀to฀legitimate฀their฀ own฀intolerance.฀No฀less฀than฀the฀anti-immigrant฀Right,฀they฀ wished฀to฀destroy฀the฀possibility฀of฀cross-cultural฀understanding ฀and฀foster฀a฀“clash฀of฀civilizations”฀through฀the฀violence฀ they฀instigated.฀The฀fanatical฀proponents฀of฀symbolic฀politics฀ on฀both฀sides฀of฀the฀barricades฀presented฀a฀mirror฀image฀of฀ each฀other,฀even฀as฀they฀were฀opposed฀by฀the฀cosmopolitan฀ elements฀within฀their฀own฀communities. 124 PEACE฀OUT฀OF฀REACH The฀prospect฀of฀an฀increasingly฀interdependent฀world฀calls฀ for฀linking฀free฀speech฀with฀a฀sense฀of฀responsibility฀concerning ฀its฀exercise.฀But฀this฀does฀not฀mean฀endorsing฀a฀form฀of฀ dogmatism฀masquerading฀as฀cultural฀sensitivity฀that฀is฀willing฀ to฀countenance฀criticism฀only฀when฀it฀is฀directed฀against฀others.฀ The฀recent฀protests฀of฀French฀Muslims฀against฀a฀new฀production ฀of฀Voltaire’s฀play฀Fanaticism฀or฀Mahomet฀the฀Prophet฀ (1748)฀were฀just฀as฀appalling฀as฀the฀Jewish฀community’s฀initial฀ responses฀to฀the฀premiere฀of฀a฀play฀about฀young฀activist฀Rachel฀ Corrie,฀who฀was฀killed฀by฀an฀Israeli฀bulldozer฀while฀trying฀to฀ prevent฀the฀destruction฀of฀a฀Palestinian฀home.฀Fanatics฀have฀ always฀equated฀the฀word฀with฀the฀deed.฀Today,฀more฀than฀ever,฀ it฀is฀incumbent฀upon฀progressives฀to฀both฀defend฀and฀expand฀ free฀speech฀and฀civil฀liberties฀and,฀at฀the฀same฀time,฀insist฀on฀ legal฀sanctions฀against฀violent฀acts฀of฀bigotry.฀The฀choice฀cannot฀ be฀between฀those฀who฀offer฀platitudes฀about฀free฀speech฀and฀ those฀who฀use฀cultural฀sensitivity฀as฀a฀shield฀against฀criticism฀ of฀the฀violence฀they฀employ.฀Actions฀such฀as฀those฀that฀led฀ to฀the฀banning฀of฀a฀gay฀pride฀parade฀in฀Jerusalem—actions฀ that฀had฀the฀support฀of฀leaders฀from฀all฀the฀major฀religious฀ communities—can฀only฀create฀a฀climate฀of฀constraint.฀It฀thus฀ becomes฀the฀task฀of฀the฀Left฀to฀restore฀the฀original฀critical฀ aim฀behind฀all฀civil฀liberties฀by฀resurrecting฀their฀relevance฀ for฀the฀“outsider,”฀emphasizing฀their฀connection฀to฀demands฀ for฀public฀accountability,฀and฀highlighting฀their฀resistance฀to฀ the฀arbitrary฀exercise฀of฀power. The฀political฀cartoon฀has฀a฀long฀history.฀Some฀of฀it฀is฀bright฀ and฀noble:฀Goya฀satirized฀the฀Catholic฀Inquisition฀with฀his฀ wonderful฀capprichios;฀Daumier฀held฀up฀the฀mirror฀by฀which฀ French฀society฀could฀see฀itself฀in฀the฀latter฀part฀of฀the฀nineteenth ฀century;฀George฀Grosz฀scandalized฀“good฀society”฀with฀ his฀sketches฀of฀the฀decadent฀rich฀and฀the฀despondent฀victims฀ 125 INCENDIARY฀IMAGES of฀World฀War฀I;฀Art฀Spiegelman฀dared฀to฀use฀images฀of฀rats฀ and฀vermin฀employed฀by฀the฀Nazi฀propagandists฀to฀depict฀the฀ lives฀of฀Jews฀amid฀the฀Holocaust,฀while฀his฀teacher,฀the฀late฀Will฀ Eisner,฀narrated฀and฀criticized฀“The฀Protocols฀of฀the฀Elders฀ of฀Zion”฀in฀The฀Plot.1 ฀Each฀of฀these฀artists฀used฀the฀cartoon฀to฀ foster฀reflection,฀expose฀the฀excesses฀of฀the฀powerful,฀and฀build฀ a฀feeling฀of฀humanity฀denied.฀The฀best฀of฀them฀evidenced฀a฀ sense฀of฀critical฀engagement,฀love฀of฀freedom,฀and฀cosmopolitan ฀responsibility.฀Their฀work฀needed฀the฀protection฀accorded฀ by฀civil฀liberties฀because฀it฀dared฀to฀contest฀the฀reigning฀belief฀ system฀and฀the฀arrogance฀of฀power. But฀the฀tradition฀of฀the฀political฀cartoon฀also฀has฀another฀ historical฀tendency.฀It฀can฀be฀found฀in฀the฀portrait฀of฀a฀lecherous฀ Voltaire฀sodomizing฀his฀niece;฀the฀depiction฀of฀“little฀Sambo”฀ and฀the฀slaves฀who฀love฀their฀slavery;฀the฀pornographic฀treatment ฀of฀Jews฀in฀the฀pages฀of฀the฀Nazi฀rag฀Der฀Sturmer,฀edited฀ by฀the฀notorious฀Julius฀Streicher;฀or฀the฀caricatures฀of฀Gandhi฀ and฀the฀victims฀of฀colonialism฀who฀deserve฀the฀exploitation฀ they฀get.฀Cartoons฀such฀as฀these฀undermine฀reflection,฀toady฀ to฀the฀powerful,฀and฀rub...