Cartoons not just a matter of opinion.

Byline: Jeff Wright The Register-Guard

For many Westerners, the notion that a handful of editorial cartoons could produce rioting and death over much of the world is unfathomable.

But Abdullah Al Hemyare of Eugene thinks he understands many Muslims' reactions to the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad first published in a right-wing Danish newspaper and since reproduced in other newspapers across Europe.

"It's odd because what's really been published is not an opinion about the prophet; it's the straightforward degrading of the prophet," said Al Hemyare, a used car dealer and former food-cart owner. "It's an insult not just to Muslims but to all people of faith."

But where Al Hemyare sees gross religious insensitivity, others see an affront to freedom of speech protections, or even a great clash of world cultures.

Many contend that the European newspapers had the right to publish the caricatures - but should not have done so.

"With great power comes great responsibility," said Nick Anderson, editorial cartoonist for the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., and board president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. "I think these were gratuitous provocation."

The dozen cartoons were solicited by the Danish newspaper amid reports that an author could not find anyone to contribute drawings of Muhammad for a children's book. In Islam, any depiction of the prophet is prohibited because it can lead to idolatry.

The newspaper responded by asking cartoonists to submit their own interpretations of Muhammad; among those rendered was one depicting a figure with devil horns, and another showing the prophet in a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse.

Anderson said the cartoons are permissible in a Western world that offers no protection against offensive speech.

"But in the larger context, there is a war on terror and a war of ideas, and this is a technical blunder in that war of ideas," he said.

Anderson said he doesn't excuse the violence that has resulted in Iran, Lebanon and elsewhere.

But he said the reaction isn't surprising in light of the newspapers' intent: "It was like a stick in the eye, and that's how it's being received.'

But editorial cartoonists are not of one mind on the topic. Free-lance cartoonist Jesse Springer of Eugene said a cartoon suggesting that Muhammad, Jesus or another revered figure is espousing terrorism "goes over the line."

As technology makes for a smaller world, Islam and the West are bumping into each other more often, Springer said.

"We're starting to learn from each other,' he said. `It's a teachable moment, perhaps."

But Jack Ohman, editorial cartoonist for The Oregonian in Portland, takes another view. Some of the cartoons in question "were tasteless, but that doesn't justify killing people and burning down embassies," he said.

The very nature of editorial cartooning, he said, is about pushing the envelope. "We're constantly trying to figure out the outer edge of the First Amendment," he said.

Any editorial cartoon must have a point beyond mere provocation, Ohman said.

It can be difficult for non-Muslims to appreciate how deeply believers revere their prophet, Al Hemyare said.

Muslims, he said, "love him so much. He is dearer to them than anything else, more than family or children or wealth. They believe he is the greatest man to walk the Earth."

David Frank, a professor of rhetoric at the University of Oregon, studies the cultural power of words and images, and how they differ among societies.

"We in the West have good reason to celebrate free speech, because we see symbols and words as detached from the world," he said. "But in other cultures, the image and the thing are fused. That's why, in the Islamic tradition, Muhammad is a sacred entity that should be beyond symbols and representations.'

Anita Weiss, a UO professor of international studies teaching a class this term on development in the Muslim world, says what's unfolding is a "really good example of bad cross-cultural communication."

Many Muslims "already feel very stigmatized by the West because of the U.S. war on terrorism, and now they have one of their single most important religious concepts being made fun of in the name of freedom of the press,' she said.

"But freedom is one thing and respect is another. ... To me, it's really making fun of a whole religion."