Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

2009] DEFEAT, RAGE, AND JEW HATRED 125
them. None of that mattered to Zaraqawi. In his narrative, all Jews were or
should have been dhimmis. Facts are of no importance. He wanted to give
the umma, the worldwide community of Muslim believers, a license to kill
all Jews. On January 9, 2009, he conveyed that message on Al Jazeera TV
to Muslims throughout the world. 90
JIHAD, RAGE, AND THE MUSLIM “STREET”
On September 30, 2005, the Jyllands-Posten, a Danish daily newspaper,
published twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted Muhammad.
The editors explained that they were attempting to contribute to the
debate concerning the limits of freedom of expression in dealing with criticism
of Islam. A discussion of that important subject is beyond the scope of
our inquiry, but many Muslims regarded the cartoons as an insult to their
religion and were enraged by their publication. Their sense of outrage intensified
as the cartoons came to be reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty
countries. 91 Many Westerners suspected that some Muslims were using the
incident to control what non-Muslims could write about Islam. The protests
simmered for a time, together with boycotts and threats of boycotts of Denmark
and other Western governments that insisted on the right of free
expression. The situation came to a head in London on February 3, 2006,
when Muslims marched through the city’s streets chanting and carrying
posters threatening Denmark, the Jews, and the West in general. Photographs
taken at the demonstration, and others like it, are available on the
internet. 92
The following is a brief description of a representative sample of such
photos:
• A woman wearing a hijab, a head cover, stands next to a London
90. It is interesting to note that Qaradawi has been cited by Georgetown University
professor John Esposito as among the eminent scholars who are engaging in
the “reformist interpretation of Islam and its relationship to democracy, pluralism
and human rights.” John Esposito, “Practice and Theory” (a response to the symposium
on “Islam and the Challenge of Democracy”), Boston Review: A Political and
Literary Forum, April/May 2003, http://www.bostonreview.net/BR28.2/esposito
.html.
91. See “List of newspapers that reprinted Jyllands-Posten’s Muhammad
cartoons,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_newspapers_that_
reprinted_Jyllands-Posten%27s_Muhammad_cartoons (accessed January 18,
2009).
92. Religion of Peace Demonstration London Google Image Search, http:
//images.google.com/images?ndsp=18&um=1&hl=en&q=religion+of+peace+Dem
onstration+London&start=36&sa=N (accessed January 18, 2009).