The uproar has made me very curious too. I wanted to know why the
Muslim community is so upset about some cartoons. The link:
http://www.di2.nu/files/Muhammed_Car...ds_Posten.html
is to the cartoons in question. While I do not agree with the content
of the cartoons, and I feel they are very derogatory towards Muslim, I
understand that the artists were expressing their opinions and
impressions of the faith. I will even go so far as to say I can
understand where those misconceptions may stem from. The media seems
focused on showing the majority of images of Islam (at least here in
the American Midwest) as a violent, terrorist faith. I know this is an
incorrect portrayal, because I've met many faithful Muslims that are
peaceful people. I think it was in poor taste for the papers to run the
cartoons, but I'm very conservative when it comes to mocking other
religions.
At the same time, I don't think that the "Palestinian gunmen [who]
jumped on the outer wall of a European Union office in Gaza City on
Thursday and demanded an apology. Masked gunmen also briefly took over
an EU office in Gaza on Monday." were necessarily helping to
set-straight any misconceptions about their religion that the cartoons
may have caused.