Breukelen advocaat
02-06-2006, 04:41 AM
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-muslims6feb06,0,4694855.story?coll=la-home-headlines
From the Los Angeles Times
Rioters Torch Danish Consulate in Lebanon
By Megan K. Stack
Times Staff Writer
7:43 PM PST, February 5, 2006
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Thousands of Muslims rioted in downtown Beirut on Sunday, setting fire to the Danish consulate, attacking a prominent Maronite Catholic church and smashing car and shop windows in protest of the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in Western newspapers.
The pandemonium took a sectarian turn as demonstrators cut an angry path through a predominantly Christian neighborhood.
It was the first time in days of protests around the world that Muslims, who consider the caricatures blasphemous, took their anger out on another community. For Lebanese, the rioting was an unsettling echo of a 15-year civil war fought along religious lines.
The riots came just a day after similar unrest flared in the Syrian capital, causing some here to question whether Syria may be latching onto the controversy, and generalized anti-Western sentiment, for political purposes.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora suggested that the Damascus riots were "a lesson to some in Lebanon to do the same." There was no immediate response from Damascus.
In Beirut, where religious tensions have fueled generations of political violence, rioting dragged on for hours in the Christian neighborhood of Achrifiyeh, leaving at least 30 people injured and one dead, according to news agencies.
Interior Minister Hassan el Sebaa offered his resignation later Sunday in an emergency Cabinet meeting, as accusations mounted that security forces were too slow in responding to the mobs.
Wielding hammers, rocks and wooden clubs, Muslim demonstrators packed the streets, chanting against Jews and America. Many of the demonstrators marched calmly, but others set cars and dumpsters afire, smashed a police car into the side of a church and uprooted trees.
As they moved through the streets, some demonstrators spray-painted slogans on storefronts and ripped down commemorative posters of Gibran Tueni, an anti-Syria, Christian newspaper publisher who was assassinated in December.
"This is not violence, this is the right of every Muslim to fight for the prophet," said Ali Allameh, a cleric. "Those who insult the prophet are not people, are not human beings. They're pigs and chimpanzees. Even pigs are better than these people."
The demonstrations in Beirut were the latest eruption of outrage. European governments defend the publication of the cartoons -- one of which depicts the prophet Muhammad with a turban shaped like a bomb -- by citing freedom of the press.
But many Muslims, who have struggled with a sense of persecution since the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, took the satire as hard evidence of animosity between Islam and the Judeo-Christian cultures of the West. Sunni Islam forbids any artistic rendering of the prophets, including Jesus and Moses.
Denmark, which reportedly had evacuated its consular offices in Lebanon in anticipation of a Muslim backlash, urged its citizens to leave Lebanon.
Syrian protesters set fire to the Norwegian and Danish embassies in Damascus on Saturday.
Syria blamed Denmark for the violence. The Danish government should have apologized for the caricatures, which first appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, said an editorial in Syria's state-run daily newspaper.
But many observers questioned how such intense unrest could erupt in a country as tightly controlled as Syria -- unless there was tacit approval from the regime.
Many Lebanese suspected Syria's hand in the streets of Beirut on Sunday. After sending soldiers into Lebanon during the civil war, Damascus remained the de facto ruler of its neighbor for years before withdrawing its soldiers last spring. Even now many Lebanese complain of Syrian meddling and blame Damascus for a string of political assassinations.
"These are people who want to destabilize the country," said tourism minister Joseph Sarkis, who drove through the Christian neighborhoods under armed guards to appeal for calm as the riots quieted down. "They are receiving orders from the source we all know to provoke a clash between the communities."
Lebanon's Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Kabbani blamed infiltrators for the violence, which he called an attempt to "harm the stability of Lebanon." Lebanese have been warning for months that Syria might try to provoke unrest by tampering with Lebanon's delicate religious balance. Many Lebanese fear Syria would like to drive Lebanon back into conflict to prove that the smaller neighbor can't keep peace without Syrian caretaking.
"Syria wanted to make another war in Lebanon, and they want the war to be between Christians and Muslims again," said Michel Saouma, a 34-year-old sales manager. "So they did this thing to show the world that the people of Lebanon cannot live by themselves."
Of the more than 170 protesters arrested, 76 were Syrian, 38 were Lebanese, 35 were Palestinian and 25 were Bedouins, according to news agencies.
When the demonstrators were pushed out of their neighborhoods, Christians gathered in the streets. Some wept as they swept up chunks of broken glass. Many described the rioting as an assault on their faith, and an unwelcome reminder of the battles of religious militias during Lebanon's 15-year civil war.
"Why bring it here? We have nothing to do with it," said Salim Seoud, a 43-year-old truck driver. "We feel awful about what happened in Denmark, but why bring it to the streets of Lebanon? We're trying to get away from these kinds of problems."
Some accused the Lebanese government of leaving them at the mercy of the Muslim mob. The demonstration had been publicized for days, with leaflets and calls from mosques.
The scene was a stark contrast to nearly a year ago, when the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri drove thousands of Lebanese into the street, chanting for religious tolerance and unity against the Syrians.
"They came for the Danish consulate, but it became Christian against Muslim. We thought there was national unity, but there is no national unity," said 29-year-old hair stylist Elie Diab, who stood outside the damaged church while chants rang into the night. "If they want to confront us, we're ready to fight face to face. If we are forced to fight, we will."
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Top Right: Thomas Paine
Bottom Left: Moslim Rioters
From the Los Angeles Times
Rioters Torch Danish Consulate in Lebanon
By Megan K. Stack
Times Staff Writer
7:43 PM PST, February 5, 2006
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Thousands of Muslims rioted in downtown Beirut on Sunday, setting fire to the Danish consulate, attacking a prominent Maronite Catholic church and smashing car and shop windows in protest of the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in Western newspapers.
The pandemonium took a sectarian turn as demonstrators cut an angry path through a predominantly Christian neighborhood.
It was the first time in days of protests around the world that Muslims, who consider the caricatures blasphemous, took their anger out on another community. For Lebanese, the rioting was an unsettling echo of a 15-year civil war fought along religious lines.
The riots came just a day after similar unrest flared in the Syrian capital, causing some here to question whether Syria may be latching onto the controversy, and generalized anti-Western sentiment, for political purposes.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora suggested that the Damascus riots were "a lesson to some in Lebanon to do the same." There was no immediate response from Damascus.
In Beirut, where religious tensions have fueled generations of political violence, rioting dragged on for hours in the Christian neighborhood of Achrifiyeh, leaving at least 30 people injured and one dead, according to news agencies.
Interior Minister Hassan el Sebaa offered his resignation later Sunday in an emergency Cabinet meeting, as accusations mounted that security forces were too slow in responding to the mobs.
Wielding hammers, rocks and wooden clubs, Muslim demonstrators packed the streets, chanting against Jews and America. Many of the demonstrators marched calmly, but others set cars and dumpsters afire, smashed a police car into the side of a church and uprooted trees.
As they moved through the streets, some demonstrators spray-painted slogans on storefronts and ripped down commemorative posters of Gibran Tueni, an anti-Syria, Christian newspaper publisher who was assassinated in December.
"This is not violence, this is the right of every Muslim to fight for the prophet," said Ali Allameh, a cleric. "Those who insult the prophet are not people, are not human beings. They're pigs and chimpanzees. Even pigs are better than these people."
The demonstrations in Beirut were the latest eruption of outrage. European governments defend the publication of the cartoons -- one of which depicts the prophet Muhammad with a turban shaped like a bomb -- by citing freedom of the press.
But many Muslims, who have struggled with a sense of persecution since the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, took the satire as hard evidence of animosity between Islam and the Judeo-Christian cultures of the West. Sunni Islam forbids any artistic rendering of the prophets, including Jesus and Moses.
Denmark, which reportedly had evacuated its consular offices in Lebanon in anticipation of a Muslim backlash, urged its citizens to leave Lebanon.
Syrian protesters set fire to the Norwegian and Danish embassies in Damascus on Saturday.
Syria blamed Denmark for the violence. The Danish government should have apologized for the caricatures, which first appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, said an editorial in Syria's state-run daily newspaper.
But many observers questioned how such intense unrest could erupt in a country as tightly controlled as Syria -- unless there was tacit approval from the regime.
Many Lebanese suspected Syria's hand in the streets of Beirut on Sunday. After sending soldiers into Lebanon during the civil war, Damascus remained the de facto ruler of its neighbor for years before withdrawing its soldiers last spring. Even now many Lebanese complain of Syrian meddling and blame Damascus for a string of political assassinations.
"These are people who want to destabilize the country," said tourism minister Joseph Sarkis, who drove through the Christian neighborhoods under armed guards to appeal for calm as the riots quieted down. "They are receiving orders from the source we all know to provoke a clash between the communities."
Lebanon's Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Kabbani blamed infiltrators for the violence, which he called an attempt to "harm the stability of Lebanon." Lebanese have been warning for months that Syria might try to provoke unrest by tampering with Lebanon's delicate religious balance. Many Lebanese fear Syria would like to drive Lebanon back into conflict to prove that the smaller neighbor can't keep peace without Syrian caretaking.
"Syria wanted to make another war in Lebanon, and they want the war to be between Christians and Muslims again," said Michel Saouma, a 34-year-old sales manager. "So they did this thing to show the world that the people of Lebanon cannot live by themselves."
Of the more than 170 protesters arrested, 76 were Syrian, 38 were Lebanese, 35 were Palestinian and 25 were Bedouins, according to news agencies.
When the demonstrators were pushed out of their neighborhoods, Christians gathered in the streets. Some wept as they swept up chunks of broken glass. Many described the rioting as an assault on their faith, and an unwelcome reminder of the battles of religious militias during Lebanon's 15-year civil war.
"Why bring it here? We have nothing to do with it," said Salim Seoud, a 43-year-old truck driver. "We feel awful about what happened in Denmark, but why bring it to the streets of Lebanon? We're trying to get away from these kinds of problems."
Some accused the Lebanese government of leaving them at the mercy of the Muslim mob. The demonstration had been publicized for days, with leaflets and calls from mosques.
The scene was a stark contrast to nearly a year ago, when the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri drove thousands of Lebanese into the street, chanting for religious tolerance and unity against the Syrians.
"They came for the Danish consulate, but it became Christian against Muslim. We thought there was national unity, but there is no national unity," said 29-year-old hair stylist Elie Diab, who stood outside the damaged church while chants rang into the night. "If they want to confront us, we're ready to fight face to face. If we are forced to fight, we will."
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Top Right: Thomas Paine
Bottom Left: Moslim Rioters