John Mcdonald (The Beacon)
By John McDonald, Guest Commentary
Americans are reeling with the recent news of the deaths of an American ambassador and 3 others at the consulate in Benghazi, the protests at the American embassy in Cairo, and the attack on an American school in Tunis. Scores of protesters have been killed in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and elsewhere in attempts to restore order. Who's to blame?
It is hard for many of us in the West, where we value free speech, to understand such an extreme response to a video. It is equally hard for Muslims worldwide to understand why someone would produce and air a video attacking the character of their beloved prophet.
Those who have followed the Arab Spring have seen stories of deposed dictators resulting in regional instability and national uncertainties. We have witnessed freer elections in fledgling democracies in the Arab world. Many there, including the members of the media and press, can speak their minds with less fear. The man on the street in Tripoli can now say he opposes someone running for office; the woman newscaster on state television in Egypt can now wear a hijab. And, again, as a result of the uprisings of the Arab Spring, countries like Egypt and Libya have governments that are currently de-stabilized. People now have more freedom to attack symbols of the United States in their countries in response to a video that insults Islam's most revered prophet. People are now freer to hate our laws protecting freedom of speech. I doubt these lethal expressions of freedom would have occurred under the previous regimes of Mubarak in Egypt, or Qaddafi in Libya.
Would there have been protests in these countries? Yes.
Would there have been this scale of violence and deaths in response to this video-probably not.
Look at Iran-the regime still rules in the same oppressive model as Assad and Mubarak and Qaddafi and Saleh and Bin Ali and... There are protests in Iran. In fact, protesters there are carrying signs given to them by the government. That is state control. That is what citizens in countries like Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya are trying shaking off.
Maybe a better question is what is to blame? Free Speech? Yes. Hate-speech? Definitely. Misunderstood cultural values? Without a doubt.
John McDonald is a professor of English. He can be reached at mcdonald@up.edu
