Is Apple insulting Islam ? That’s what some people are saying:
Last month the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported that “an Islamist website posted a message alerting Muslims to what it claims is a new insult to Islam” [MEMRI, Special Dispatch Series, No. 1315]. As reported by MEMRI, the Islamist site claims that the Apple Store, Fifth Avenue “is meant to provoke Muslims” because it is called the “Apple Mecca” and “is intended to be open 24 hours a day like the Ka’ba, and moreover, contains bars selling alcoholic beverages.”
This “new insult to Islam” is a cube-shaped building where customers enjoy test-driving the various lines of Apple computers and peripherals in an ultramodern but cozy environment. Within the store, they can even stop by the “Genius Bar,” not for a shot of scotch but to benefit from the knowledge of an expert Apple support rep.
Who would have guessed that the Islamist thought police could so foolishly and maliciously interpret this building as too closely resembling the cube-shaped Ka’ba in Mecca, thereby finding in it a “blatant insult to Islam”?
Given what we saw earlier this year during the Muhammed cartoon controversy, this is hardly a surprise, and the author recognizes it:
While Western civilization is inventing scientific and artistic marvels, the other wings of Islamism are preoccupied with inventing provocations in the hope of mobilizing otherwise ordinary Muslims. We have seen this before: the Muhammad cartoon controversy exhibited the same faulty reasoning but unfortunately it succeeded in turning thousands of Muslims to violent protests. This latest incident is one more in a growing list of examples of Muslims over-reacting, over- and mis-interpreting, jumping to conclusions and causing controversy over something innocent or innocuous.
Like I said, not surprising.
