Originally published under the title, “‘Now Cry Paris’.”
In 2012, U.S. satirical newspaper The Onion published a drawing depicting major non-Islamic religious figures engaged in an orgy. |
In 2012, American satire news site The Onion published a drawing in which cherished religious figures Moses, Jesus, Ganesh and Buddha were depicted engaging in a lascivious sex act of considerable depravity.
The Onion’s headline read: “No One Murdered Because of This Image.” The story went on to say:
After the publication of the image above ... no one was murdered, beaten or had their lives threatened, sources reported. The image ... reportedly went online at 6:45 p.m. after which not a single bomb threat was made against the organization responsible, nor did the person who created the cartoon go home fearing for his life in any way. … Though some members of the Jewish, Christian, Hindu and Buddhist faiths were reportedly offended by the image, sources confirmed that upon seeing it, they simply shook their heads, rolled their eyes and continued on with their day.
Violent reactions among Hindus have worsened after a video showing Erdoğan eating one and a half portions of İskender [beef döner with fried butter, tomato sauce and yoghurt] was uploaded onto YouTube ...Thousands demonstrated in front of the Turkish Embassy in New Delhi and the Turkish Consulate in Mumbai. Turkish diplomatic personnel have been relocated to safe-houses ...
It was not certain who uploaded the video to YouTube or why. The video shows Erdoğan ordering one and a half portions of İskender at a restaurant ... After the video was shared on YouTube, angry Hindus launched a protest campaign on Twitter sparking violence across India ... Some protestors chanted: ‘Cow-murderer Erdoğan!’
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee called for restraint and said: ‘We respect everyone’s religious freedom, but no one should force the limits of our patience by eating beef.’ But in India angry protestors raided local Turkish Airlines offices and burned posters of Erdoğan and the Turkish flag, vowing to carry on with their protests until Turkey apologizes and YouTube removes the video.
Sadly, this author’s 2012 recipe to best fight Islamophobia remains unchanged and will probably remain unchanged in the foreseeable future:
“If Muslims stopped killing other Muslims because they belong to a different sect; stopped forcing their chosen practices on other Muslims; tolerated less pious Muslims; did not feel enraged if other Muslims did not abstain from alcohol or pork, or did not attend the mosque; did not kill men, women and children because they adhered to other faiths; did not blame rape on the length of a woman’s skirt; did not murder their own wives because they spoke to strangers, or their daughters because they flirted with boys or because they were raped by rascals; did not wish to start World War III because some maverick cartoonist drew blasphemous caricatures; did not issue death fatwas because an author wrote a blasphemous book; or did not aim to spread their religion to the entire world, by the sword if necessary, then fighting Islamophobia would be much easier.
Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a columnist for the Turkish daily Hürriyet and a fellow at the Middle East Forum.
