IOP Hosts Panel on Danish Cartoons

The Institute of Politics hosted a panel last night on the international uproar over the publication of Danish cartoons involving the Prophet Muhammad and Islamic culture—a discussion notably more subdued than recent global reactions to the issue.

Panelists and audience members considered the international, political, and religious effects of the cartoons and the violent response to their publication.

“They didn’t get into the nitty-gritty,” said Sophia H. Sahaf, who studies international relations at Tufts’ Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. “It was a nice conversation but they didn’t address the real controversy.”

Panelist Father J. Bryan Hehir introduced the evening’s popular buzzwords of “prudence” and “ethics.”

Hehir, the Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of Practice of Religion and Public Life at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), was cautious in condemning the cartoons.

“Prudence is the governing virtue of moral life,” Hehir said. “It is an exercise of prudence, not of self-censorship.”

Another student from the Fletcher School, Alex J. Taurel, said he felt the panelists exercised the same self-censorship that they were arguing against.

“We needed a bomb thrower,” Taurel said of wanting a panelist or audience member to stir up debate.

Free speech was the central topic of the night.

Frederick Schauer, the Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at the KSG, urged audience members to remember the differences in attitude toward free speech seen in the United States, Europe, and the rest of the world.

And the question-and-answer session following the panel briefly touched on the recent reprinting of the cartoons in the Harvard Salient.

Associate Professor of Islamic Studies M. Shahab Ahmed discussed Western perceptions and misperceptions of the Middle East in a discussion regarding cultural misunderstandings.

“Restaurants are okay, mosques are a bit dodgy, and headscarves are a very bad thing,” Ahmed joked.

But Ahmed also struck a more serious note, saying the grievances felt by Muslims may explain the recent outbreak of violence.

“There is an overpowering feeling that nothing can be done about [Muslim stereotypes],” Ahmed said.

Other panelists agreed, echoing the evening’s relatively passive arguments.

“The best thing to do is avoid gereralizations,” said panelist Jocelyne Cesari, Visiting Associate Processor of Islamic Studies at the Harvard Divinity School.

Event organizers said they were pleased with the high turnout and active audience participation during the forum, which was moderated by former KSG Dean Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

“Given the depth and breadth, I thought it went well,” said KSG student Parsa S. Sajid, one of the forum’s three organizers.