To the editors:
I disagree with the argument advanced in Emily Ingram’s piece from February 15 (“Clash of Civlizations,” op-ed). While I recognize the right of European bigots to defame Islam if they choose to, these cartoons cannot be examined outside the context of the anti-Muslim sentiment that has, of late, gained so much legitimacy in European public discourse. The spurious examination employed by Ms. Ingram naturally leads to quaint visions of a "clash of civilizations" or of a noble Europe bearing the burden of free speech against rapacious Muslims who just don’t get it. I also vigorously object to Ms. Ingram’s casual use of the phrase "national integration," a morally bankrupt and discredited concept that has been used by European extremists over the past century to advance agendas of unprecedented violence. She completely fails to recognize that, today, radicalism and extremism are global and human problems, not Muslim ones.
EREN TASAR
Cambridge, Mass.
February 15, 2006
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