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_____ http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-aslan0210.artfeb10,0,7006746.story? coll=hc-headlines-education Subtext Provided In Violence Over Cartoons Islamic Expert Says Satire Fed Into Fears By ROBERT A. FRAHM Courant Staff Writer February 10 2006 WINDSOR -- The violent protests by Muslims over the publication of European newspaper cartoons that satirize the prophet Muhammad are fueled by a tragic notion that the war on terrorism is actually an attack on Islam. So says a leading Islamic scholar who spoke to high school students at the Loomis Chaffee School Thursday. "There are plenty of people eager to use any opportunity at their disposal to continue this propaganda that somehow Islam is under threat from the West," said Reza Aslan, author of the book "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam." Despite a religious prohibition against depictions of Muhammad, the Muslim world abounds with such depictions, said Aslan, a frequent commentator on Middle Eastern affairs. Aslan showed slides of ancient and modern artwork of the prophet, but he said the publication of offensive cartoons that portray the prophet as a terrorist or devil fed into prevalent ethnic stereotypes about Muslims and fueled outrage. Aslan, who was born in Iran, told students at the private school that there are two radically different views of Islam. Traditionalists hold to a strict, unquestioning interpretation of the Koran, while rationalists attempt to interpret the Koran through human reasoning, he said. "There are plenty of Muslims who believe any depiction [of the prophet] ... is a violation of the sovereignty of Muhammad, the sovereignty of God, and must be punished - and there are plenty of rationalists who say, `Who cares? ... It doesn't matter.'" After his speech, during a question-and-answer session, students zeroed in on the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. "What effect do you think oil has in all of this?" asked 17-year-old Joseph Lalli, a junior from Simsbury. "The reality of it," Aslan said, "is that our self-interest in that region ... has to do with their supply of oil. If it weren't for that, we'd probably just build a wall around the entire Middle East and pretend it doesn't exist." Why were some Arabs dancing in the streets after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001? one girl asked. If American culture is so popular in the Middle East, another student said, why did Iranians elect a president with such anti-Western views? "What great questions," Aslan said, telling students that much of the anger directed at the United States and other Western nations by Muslims is rooted in anger at their own authoritarian leaders, many of whom are supported and kept in power by the United States, he said. The Muslim world "is very, very angry ... at their own governments, at their own lack of rights," he said. He said Osama bin Laden's 9/11 attack on the United States was designed to galvanize support for extremism. But, he said, "the Muslim world itself was so aghast at what had happened that they completely turned their backs on Afghanistan" after the U.S.-led invasion. He said bin Laden's strategy to equate America's war on terror with a war on Islam "didn't work until we changed course a little bit, until we attacked Iraq. ... Exactly what bin Laden was hoping was going to happen in Afghanistan has happened in Iraq." Aslan said the notion that the war on terror is actually a war on Islam is spreading and that "more and more Muslims are actually coming to the cause of bin Laden." Referring again to the widespread anger over the Danish newspaper cartoons, he said: "There are people who are looking for any excuse to continue this propaganda - that your faith, your tradition, your values are under attack. What better example of this than this awful picture of Muhammad? ... What began as an internal conflict between Muslims has dragged the Western world into it." Aslan is scheduled to speak on the future of U.S.-Iran relations today at 5:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain House and Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford. The event is presented by the World Affairs Council of Connecticut. Tickets are $15. For information or tickets, call 860-594-4100. Copyright 2006, Hartford <http://www.courant.com> Courant _____ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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