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The Politics of Outrage Is Still an Irresistible Temptation
(The National-Abu Dhabi) Issandr El Amrani - Protests and incitement about books, films or statements deemed insulting to Islam have for decades been a staple tool of Islamists. The 2005 Danish cartoon crisis, when thousands took to the streets months after they had been published, was fomented in good part by the governments of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. In Syria and Gaza, governments apparently allowed several European embassies to be raided. The Danish embassy in Pakistan was also bombed. One can certainly question why protest organizers chose the U.S. embassies, as if the U.S. government was responsible for a film made by one of its citizens. And why do organizers sometimes lie, as when Nader Bakkar - who speaks for Egypt's Salafi Nour party, a partner with President Mohamed Morsi's party - told Al Jazeera Mubasher that the film had been broadcast on U.S. channels?