All Too Familiar

The controversy over radical Islamists' violent reaction to a newspaper cartoon hits close to home. As most of you know by now:

Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published in several European newspapers have caused outrage among some Muslims

While my home and workplace were never torched and I never suffered violently at the hands of Muslim protesters, I have been at the center of a similar controversy, now more than 15 years ago.

During the lead up to the Gulf War, I was a senior at the University of Wisconsin and served as the editor in chief of The Badger Herald, which at the time was a conservative newspaper and still remains an independently run publication at the school.

One of our staff artists produced a comic strip titled 'Suspended Animation.' One particular story line (that is, if memory serves, bear with me here it was several years and several beers ago) centered around Saddam Hussein discovering a magic lamp that had a genie inside. At some point during the fall semester of 1990, the Herald ran a particular strip that outraged area Muslims (including several non-students who were a part of the Muslim student union at the UW).

The strip contained several rather lame references to the work of filmmaker David Lynch. At one point one of the characters said that the Prophet Muhammad, if he indeed condoned the Iraqi aggression, seemed to be an "Eraserhead." Well that was enough to spark near riots.

I know my play by play here does not give justice to the strip and the controversy, but this was long before the Internet and pdfs were around, so again my apologies, this will have to suffice.

Anyway, one day dozens of Muslim students went all across the UW campus and picked up stacks of the free Herald and destroyed them. Almost the entire 20,000 print run was destroyed. Our offices were stormed by protestors. (in fact, there was a brief and tense occupation at one point). The intolerant Muslim student organization leaders demanded a front page apology, ordered that the paper fire the cartoonist, Mark Lysgaard, and me as well.

We received countless number of threats of physical violence. Threats on my life were made, and the artist received several threats as well.

We refused to be intimidated.

Instead of leaving bundles of papers in the front of campus building as we normally would have, for over a week the staff of the paper handed copies of The Badger Herald directly to students as they walked to class.

We increased security at our offices and made sure they were manned 24 hours a day.

We made sure no staffer walked home at night by themselves.

Capitol and Madison Police did an outstanding job of diffusing the situation whenever they were called to intervene.

I could say I bravely withstood the pressure, but I have to admit, I was damn scared. A lot of us were.

Unfortunately after several days, the board of directors of the paper basically caved and ran a 'we didn't mean to offend you' apology on the editorial page. Yet, as Editor, I insisted that we continue to run the comic strip. The strip was offbeat, I often didn't 'get' the humor. And Lysgaard was no right winger. But he had a right to express himself. It was the comics section for crying out loud.

No one was fired and no one was hurt. But I learned fifteen years ago just how intolerant those who demand tolerance can be.

Amy has a great post on this issue here.