We are choosing our battles I guess

As expected, no one started a boycott France and Germany campaign. And when I mention it to people, they mumble uncomfortably and then change the subject. Guess it's easy to show off your islamic economic might against the makers of Lego and Butter. But Boycott Channel, Cartier, Rolex, Mercedes or BMW? We don't love the Prophet THAT much. At least the palestinians in the West Bank are keeping it real. Check it out: Early Friday, Palestinian militants threw a bomb at a French cultural center in Gaza City, and many Palestinians began boycotting European goods, especially those from Denmark.

"Whoever defames our prophet should be executed," said Ismail Hassan, 37, a tailor who marched through the pouring rain along with hundreds of others in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"Bin Laden our beloved, Denmark must be blown up," protesters in Ramallah chanted.

In mosques throughout Palestinian cities, clerics condemned the cartoons. An imam at the Omari Mosque in Gaza City told 9,000 worshippers that those behind the drawings should have their heads cut off.

"If they want a war of religions, we are ready," Hassan Sharaf, an imam in Nablus, said in his sermon.

Fantastic.

About 10,000 demonstrators, including gunmen from the Islamic militant group Hamas firing in the air, marched through Gaza City to the Palestinian legislature, where they climbed on the roof, waving green Hamas banners.

"We are ready to redeem you with our souls and our blood our beloved prophet," they chanted. "Down, Down Denmark."

Thousands of protesters in the center of Nablus burned at least 10 Danish flags. In Jenin, about 1,500 people demonstrated, burning Danish dairy products. Hundreds protested in Jericho, and protests were held in towns throughout Gaza.

Note the absense of French, german, swiss, italian, spanish, and dutch products at their bonefire. In Egypt we have a saying that describes this condition: " He who can't beat up the donkey, beats up the saddle!". It's easy to muscleflex against poor little denmark and their dairy products I guess.

Fearing an outbreak of violence, Israel barred all Palestinians under age 45 from praying at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site.

Nevertheless, about 100 men chanting Islamic slogans and carrying a green Hamas flag demonstrated outside Jerusalem's Old City on Friday afternoon. The crowd scattered when police on horseback arrived, and some of the protesters threw rocks. Police broke up a second demonstration at Damascus Gate with tear gas and stun grenades.

Not only them, the Indonesians as well: Hardline Indonesian Muslims have stormed into an office block housing the Danish embassy, protesting cartoons portraying the Prophet Mohammad published in Denmark, as others demanded death for the cartoonist. About 100 members of the Front of the Defenders of Islam (FPI) massed outside the building, chanting: "Let's go jihad! We're ready for jihad!". One of their banners said: "Let's slaughter the Danish ambassador!"

The group, mostly wearing their trademark white uniforms with skullcaps, broke through security to enter the building's lobby, where they smashed lamps and threw eggs, but were quickly ejected by police and their own leaders.

Several then pelted the embassy's external coat of arms with eggs.

Maksuni, the leader of the protestors, said ambassador Niels Andersen met with three representatives of the group and promised to issue an apology to the media in Indonesia, the world's largest Islamic country.

"The ambassador has agreed to apologise in the local electronic and print media in one or two days, after they have prepared a draft and they will translate it," he said.

"If they don't apologise as they promised we will kick them out of the country, and we will ask the government to withdraw its ambassador from Denmark," he added.

Ok, I have a question: Isn't having a banner that says "let's slaughter the Danish Ambassador" considerd to be a threat on the life of the danish ambassador? Aren't there, I don't know, laws in Indonesia against that sort of thing? Maybe not. Anyway... Keeping the best for last, I found that Qaradawi agrees with me in my call to boycott the rest of europe as well. Sweet:

The Doha-based Egyptian cleric Yousef al-Qardawi unleashed his anger against Europeans who stood by newspapers which published the cartoons in defence of the freedom of expression.

"If Europe stands behind those (offenders), we all will unite against them," said Qaradawi, who is considered a pan-Islamic preacher.

"We say to the Europeans: We can live without you but you cannot live without us ... We can buy our goods from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and the rest of Asia," he added, in reference to the boycott campaign.

He urged worshippers to boycott the goods of the countries of newspapers which published the cartoons claiming that "every penny or dinar paid would go to these newspapers and be transformed into words or drawings mocking your religion and the Prophet."

Good. I agree with you mr. Qardawi, 100"%. I am sure your love for the Prophet knows no bounds, to the degree that you will set an example for the rest of the muslim nation by abandoning your Mercedes, right? You practice what you preach, right? Good, boycott Mercedes. Boycott BMW. Go for it. Start it, and I am right behind you. I swear.

Sigh...