Protestors in Sri Lanka (Creative Commons)

The short film, titled Innocence of Muslims, displays the Muslim prophet as a child molester, womanizer, and killer. It has catalyzed a wave of political unrest among Muslims in nearly 20 countries within the Middle East and beyond, resulting in the deaths of over 30 individuals since the film's release, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens in Libya.

Professor of Political Science Richard Dekmejian at the University of Southern California said that the contagion of anti-American sentiments in the Middle East, like that displayed in reaction to the short film, has been spreading for decades.

“The alienation of the Islamic world from the West has taken root over a long period of time. In that period there was a change in values including adoption of some aspects of Western culture, which failed. Extremist Islamism filled that vacuum, leading alienated Muslims coming from extreme poverty to use religion as a justification for terror against the West,” he said.

Dekmejian said that this use of religion for political purposes often leads to tragic results as indicated by the violent response to Innocence of Muslims producer Nakoula Basseley Nakoula’s defamation of the Muslim prophet.

“When you start making attacks on saintly figures, then you are triggering a sort of warfare that can cause great damage to both sides,” he said.

Dekmejian described this back-and-forth between the Muslim world and the West as a kind of tragic game.

“It’s a brutalizing use of free speech and free filmmaking and free cartoon drawing that every so often Westerners engage in. Of course there are similar types on the Muslim side but overall most Muslims tend not to attack iconic individuals in Christianity as some Christians have done to the prophet Muhammad,” he said.

Last week, a French satirical weekly publication fueled tensions by circulating lewd caricatures of the Muslim prophet. The French government immediately shut down its embassy and its school in Tunisia in fear that it might be targeted.

Still, Dekmejian said that some political figures are making positive strides to reduce tensions between the Muslim world and the West. He said that President Barack Obama has displayed considerable understanding of the Islamic world and its relationship to the West to be able to pursue the policies that could gradually soften the anti-Western terrorism and tremendous alienation that is felt in the Middle East.

Dekmejian also said that some leaders in the Islamic world are trying to contain this contagion of hatred and violence against the West and United States.

“One hopes that the United States can encourage such leaders of these countries but it’s going to be very difficult because there has been strong resentment as a result of past autocrats who ruled with a heavy hand while maldistributing income because of greed, which reinforces Islamist extremism and violence,” he said. 

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