Sir, I applaud the BBC’s news treatment of the Danish cartoons (report, Feb 4). On its website, however, the cultural cringe is evident and double standards obtain. In its history of Islam we read: “One night in 610 he (Muhammad) was meditating in a cave on the mountain when he was visited by the angel Jibreel who ordered him to “recite” . . . words which he came to understand were the words of God.” This is written as fact, no “it is said” or “Muhammad reported”. Whenever Muhammad’s name is mentioned the BBC adds “Peace be upon him”, as if the corporation itself were Muslim.

How different, and how much more accurate, when we turn to Christianity. Here, Jesus’ birth “is believed by Christians to be the fulfilment of prophesies in the Jewish Old Testament”; Jesus “claimed that he spoke with the authority of God”; accounts of his resurrection appearances were “put about by his believers”.

WILL WYATT
Chief Executive, BBC
Broadcast, 1996-99
Middle Barton, Oxon

Sir, As a practising criminal barrister I have been involved with the prosecution of many incidents of public disorder. In my experience the Metropolitan Police are not usually slow to intervene where the law has been broken; indeed the very suggestion that the Territorial Support Group are shy of making arrests is laughable.

Nonetheless, we have seen the spectacle of the police standing by while demonstrators outside the Danish Embassy — many clearly identifiable — were allowed to carry placards bearing slogans that obviously breached existing criminal law. The conclusion that one cannot help reaching from this and other incidents is that there is a reluctance among the police actually to tackle Muslim extremism.

Inevitably, the failure by the police to act will encourage the extremists in the belief that they can get away with breaching the criminal law. Before the World Trade Centre bombings the impression given by the police was that such extremism would be tolerated as long as the fruit was exported. We now know, since the London Tube bombings, that if it is allowed to flourish it will strike us just as much as those abroad.

The police can no longer claim ignorance of where jihadism is leading; they should enforce the law, rather than giving the extremists the clear impression that another set of rules applies to them.

THOMAS WILKINS
London EC4

Sir, People talk about the cartoon crisis as an aspect of tensions between the West and the Islamic world, but it seems part of a bigger issue about globalisation.

So far, all cultures — including ours — have been overwhelmingly preoccupied with maintaining their own standards and values, and not breaking their own taboos. As a result, things are done in all cultures which others find troubling, shocking or offensive.

As information and communication become ever more global and more intrusive, these behaviours become ever more apparent to those who are troubled, shocked or offended by them.

When this happens to us in the West, since tolerance is one of our most prized values, we often feel we should suffer in silence when these things come to our attention — even if some of them offend us very much indeed. When it happens to others, there are some who care much less about tolerance, and don’t hesitate to propose the most violent retribution for anyone who upsets them.

This leaves many of us in the West in a lose/lose situation — prevented by our own consciences from positive intervention in a whole range of practices which we consider loathsome and horrifying, but open to the threat (and perhaps even the reality) of hideous violence in reprisal for practices which we find entirely acceptable.

Unless we’re willing to reach the absurd conclusion that everything everyone else does is acceptable, whereas anything we do which offends anyone is unacceptable, it looks as if we may have to start standing up a bit more bravely for what we believe in.

LUCIAN CAMP
London NW1

Explore Letters

• Feedback