2006年VOA标准英语-Muslims Claim West has Double Standard on

By Mohamed Elshinnawi
Washington, DC
13 February 2006
 
watch Free Speech report

The violence over cartoons lampooning¹ the Prophet Muhammad has highlighted the argument about the limits to public expression. Many Muslims believe that the West has a double standard when it comes to what is acceptable speech.

--------------------------------------------------

Danish Prime Minister Anders Rasmussen's refusal to criticize the newspaper that originally published the cartoons did not sit well with the leaders of many Muslim nations, including King Abdullah of Jordan: 

 

King Abdullah of Jordan  
  

"With all respect to press freedoms, obviously, anything that vilifies² the Prophet Muhammad -- peace be upon him -- or attacks Muslim sensibilities, I believe, needs to be condemned³."

Dr. Parvez Ahmed, Chairman of the Board of Council on American-Islamic Relations, says Muslims do not see this is as a free speech issue but as an attack on religion. 

"Muslims have always encouraged freedom of speech, even from the early days of the Islamic state, from the time of the Prophet Muhammad. Freedom of speech was always encouraged; in the Quran itself God gave Satan the right to speak. So we understand that every entity⁴ has the right to say whatever they want to say, but along with this right comes responsibility.  

Shireen Hunter  
  
The outpouring of anger in the Islamic World may also be a reaction to how Muslims perceive the West has treated them, says Shireen Hunter, a professor at the Center for Christian⁵ Islamic Understanding at Georgetown University

"The feeling that the Muslim world, at least for the past 200 years, has been subject of colonization⁶ and other pressures, is very alive and it is very raw. And we have had another issues: Bosnia war, Chechnya war, and other conflicts that have also made the Muslims feel that somehow their grievances⁷ are not taken into account."

Some Muslims who live in the West are also offended by what they see as a double standard in the laws against inciting⁸ hatred⁹ and violence that have sprung up in Europe. They ask why it is forbidden to challenge the veracity¹⁰ of the mass murder of the Holocaust¹¹, or to espouse¹² the Nazi's racist¹³ ideology¹⁴, but not forbidden to criticize Islam. 

Dr. Parvez Ahmed  
  
Dr. Ahmed adds, "Things that are being said about Islam and Muslims today, not only in Europe but also in America, where mainstream¹⁵ religious leaders have said very derogatory things about the Prophet Muhammad, about Islam, about Allah (God) in a way that if it had been said for any other faith, or any other group there would have been a major backlash on it. Unfortunately these important figures, religious and political figures, made these hateful comments about Islam and in some sense they got away with it."

There is no such thing as a national hate-speech law in the United States. The courts have ruled on what goes beyond acceptable speech, such as falsely crying "fire" in a theater or other public place. The news media can be sued for knowingly publishing or broadcasting false information.

President Bush, while urging the governments of the Islamic world to curb¹⁶ the violence protesting the cartoons, also urged the news media to be responsible.

President Bush  
  
"We believe in a free press. We also recognize that with freedom come responsibilities. With freedom comes the responsibility to be thoughtful about others."

Some in the West, including Denmark's prime minister, have suggested that Muslims can use Western institutions to their advantage. They say Muslims have every right to take the newspapers that published the cartoons to court,  for defaming their religion. In France, a Muslim association announced Friday it would do just that.

1 lampooning   

v.冷嘲热讽，奚落( lampoon的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Larry Ellison is a prime choice for such lampooning because-married, thrice-divorced multimillionaire is larger than life. 拉里·埃里森写那么一篇讽刺性的文章的初衷是因为他生活无羁，且是一个三次结婚三次离婚的亿万富翁。 来自互联网

2 vilifies   

n.中伤，诽谤( vilify的名词复数 )v.中伤，诽谤( vilify的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Pilar vilifies him as a coward and finally manages to overrule him. 皮拉尔骂他是懦夫，并且最终没法压服了他。 来自互联网
• The Dalai Lama vilifies the present human rights situation in Tibet. 达赖诋毁今天西藏的人权状况。 来自互联网

3 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

4 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 colonization   

殖民地的开拓，殖民，殖民地化； 移殖

参考例句：

• Colonization took place during the Habsburg dynasty. 开拓殖民地在哈布斯堡王朝就进行过。
• These countries took part in the colonization of Africa. 这些国家参与非洲殖民地的开发。

7 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 inciting   

刺激的，煽动的

参考例句：

• What are you up to inciting mutiny and insubordination? 你们干吗在这里煽动骚动的叛乱呀。
• He was charged with inciting people to rebel. 他被控煽动民众起来叛乱。

9 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

10 veracity   

n.诚实

参考例句：

• I can testify to this man's veracity and good character.我可以作证，此人诚实可靠品德良好。
• There is no reason to doubt the veracity of the evidence.没有理由怀疑证据的真实性。

11 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

12 espouse   

v.支持，赞成，嫁娶

参考例句：

• Today,astronomers espouse the theory that comets spawn the swarms.如今，天文学家们支持彗星产生了流星团的说法。
• Some teachers enthusiastically espouse the benefits to be gained from educational software.有些教师热烈赞同可以从教学软件中得到好处的观点。

13 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

14 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

15 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

16 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。