Uproar over ‘Muslim Rage’ cover

LOS ANGELES: The publishers of Newsweek defended their latest cover image yesterday, amid claims that it stereotypes the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims as permanently angry members of fundamentalist mobs.

Under the headline “Muslim Rage”, the cover features bearded Middle Eastern men wearing turbans, howling, shaking their fists, and holding a striped flag, during what appears to be an anti-US protest.

The image relates to an article by Ayaan Hirsi Ali about the controversy over a YouTube video insulting the Prophet Muhammad. But critics, at home and abroad, said it was one-sided and irresponsible.

“The cover is shocking. I thought it was a joke,” said Yousef Munayyer, US-based director of the Jerusalem Fund. “For a legitimate, mainstream publication to portray the situation as Muslim Rage... is only feeding this clash of civilisations mentality.”

On its website, Newsweek asked readers to debate the cover on Twitter (#muslimrage). Thousands of Muslims responded by uploading pictures of family picnics, children holding balloons and other non-aggressive scenarios. Others tweeted sarcastic examples of things that make them angry, such as “when there isn’t enough yoghurt to go with my biryani”.

Newsweek claimed its cover “accurately depicts the events of the past week as violent protests have erupted in the Middle East”.

It is not the first time its editor, Tina Brown, has courted controversy. She recently ran covers showing a digitally manipulated Princess Diana “at 50”, Barack Obama with a rainbow-coloured halo as “America’s First Gay President”, and a woman eating asparagus in a sexually provocative manner. – The Independent