The hysteria surrounding the allegedly blasphemous depictions of the Muslim prophet does indeed constitute a provocation, but not exactly of the type we are led to believe. It constitutes a provocation on the part of a Western mainstream media determined to bring about a confrontation with a minority of radical Muslims, in order to represent that minority’s views as those of a wider Muslim constituency, and thus present to their respective nations the apocalyptic vision of the enemy within.

This is an enterprise that is both profitable and politically expedient; Whatever one’s opinion on the offending cartoon, it is clear enough that the endeavours of a handful of subeditors and their counterparts in rival publications were decisive in bringing this story to any sort of prominence. The righteous anger of a handful of Danish-based clerics was hardly going to project the matter beyond Danish shores on its own.

And likewise, in Britain, the fervour of the outraged parties was matched, if not dwarfed, by the zeal with which the story - which, let us not forget, was of very little real significance, was disseminated by the mainstream press. Within a short time, pictures of rampaging Lebanese Muslims were being beamed across the world, providing a timely and politically expedient reminder of the orientalist conception of the Arab as an inherently unstable, over-emotional, irrational actor. For a whole two days, the British media made headline news out of a microscopic demonstration of a few hundred Muslims in central London. Never mind the fact that when a few hundred people march to Aldermaston to protest against nuclear arms, or to the Excel Centre for the biannual Arms Fair, it is rarely considered a newsworthy event - these numbers, when set against the number of Muslims who actually live in London, would suggest that the overall reaction of British Muslims has been one of overwhelming apathy.

And in this regard, it is clear that journalists on the left must reconsider their reaction to events such as these. While it is correct that anti-Muslim and anti-Arab feeling remain the only acceptable forms of racism in respectable British society, it is unnecessary and counter-productive to allow ourselves to be drawn, in this instance, into the substantive debate on the merits of the cartoon itself. The realm of satire is something that is very peculiar and cannot be judged by the same standards with which we judge other creative or journalistic output. Anyone who remembers the righteous indignation of the moral majority when faced with Chris Morris’s brilliant 2001 Brass Eye satire on the media coverage of paedophilia, will understand the intrinsic value of offensiveness and irony to this particular genre of creative output. Nor should the left, in its justified defence of Muslims and Arabs, seek to imitate or emulate the politically-motivated and contrived over-sensitivity of the Jewish extreme right, most recently displayed in the vile and baseless “racism” slur on London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

In an age of identity politics and trial by media, it is the duty of decent journalists to apply reason and rationale when faced with what is alleged to be a crisis. By way of a call to arms comprising the inane repetition of a few keywords (Muslim - outrage - terrorist - British Muslims, etc.), two equally backward and dangerous minorities have been mobilised: the tiny minority of obsessive would-be theocrats who reside in all cities in which there is a large Muslim population, and the large body of crypto-racist and dangerously passive media journalists in the mainstream media. The former can sometimes detonate bombs. The latter can start international wars which kill tens of thousands, and can make or break democratic governments at home. The rest of humanity - the overwhelming majority - wants nothing to do with this fight. In the past few days we have seen a carefully-managed propaganda exercise unfold before our eyes. In its defence of the Muslim community, the left must take care not to become complicit in this process by means of a partisan, inappropriate and above all unnecessary closing of ranks. What is called for now, more than ever, is a sense of perspective.

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