Indianapolis Muslims Disturbed by Cartoons and the Violent Response

February 4, 2006

Source: The Indianapolis Star

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060204/NEWS01/602040409&SearchID=73234886246214

On February 4, 2006 The Indianapolis Star reported, "Sayyid Syeed said one thing that makes America great is that people here don't go out of their way to intentionally insult another person's faith. But Syeed, leader of the Plainfield-based Islamic Society of North America, said that is exactly what European newspapers did when they published cartoons recently that depict images of the Prophet Muhammad... Muslims are adamant that their prophet's image should never be represented in art of any form. Syeed said he does not condone the violence seen in some parts of the Muslim world that has come in response to the cartoons. But he said printing the images of Muhammad struck such a nerve that a harsh reaction was inevitable... Michael Saahir, the leader of a Northside mosque, said the violent reaction elsewhere has been both 'extreme' and 'overboard.' Had the cartoons been published in America, Muslims would have protested, staged boycotts and objected through letter writing and media campaigns, he said. But Saahir said there would have been no violence."