A clash of cultures

Re “A caricature of respect,” Opinion, Feb. 7

Sara Bjerg Moller’s article ignores the historical perspective in which European-Muslim relations should be examined. Most Muslims in Europe today are from countries previously colonized by Europeans. The Muslim psyche was shaped as a reaction to 200 years of European colonialism that sought to dominate Muslim people and appropriate their resources.

The Europeans built empires and laid the seeds of future conflicts by posing as great democrats and do-gooders. The people of the Middle East and other Muslim nations are suspicious of the European claims of democracy. The French government took away the freedom to wear the hijab for Muslim girls in schools, yet Europeans invoke “freedom of the press” for publishing cartoons. Isn’t the European definition of “freedom” ethnocentric?

KHWAJA A. HASAN

Terre Haute, Ind.

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The growing, violent intolerance by thousands of Muslims in several nations must be addressed by the United Nations. The key word is “violent.” I have not read about thousands of Jews and Christians torching embassies over demeaning depictions in the Arab media. The growing and often violent refusal of Muslim immigrants to assimilate or tolerate Western culture and values in European nations needs to be addressed. If the U.N. stands at all for democratic principles, it needs to show its face now.

VI PATMAS

Mission Viejo