Hardline Muslims overreact. Again.

This time it's over Salman Rushdie's knighthood, soon to be bestowed by the Queen.

Rushdie, you may remember, is on the Islamic fundamentalist sh** list for his 1989 book, The Satanic Verses. In it, he apparently (I've not read it, so I can't tell you for sure) portrayed Mohammed in a less-than-flattering light. As a result, kind, benevolent Ayatollah Khomenei (remember him?) issued a fatwa, a religous decree which was, in this case, essentially a Mafia-style contract, against Rushdie.

So, I'm reading the BBC article, and I'm trying to be open minded. How would I feel if the Brits knighted a Holocaust denier, or a Klansman, or some random Hamas spare who had vowed to erase Israel from existence?

For sure, I wouldn't be happy about it. And neither would the world Jewish community. There would no doubt be protests in the streets of NYC, Tel Aviv, and other cities of the world. There would pronouncements from the Knesset and prominent Jews world-wide. All of which parallel some of the reaction to the Rushdie news in the Islamic world.

So, that's not out-of-control. I certainly see their point.

However, in addition to some of the quiet, restrained, and appropriate protest being lodged, we have officials of Iran's govt who are suggesting suicide bombings against Brit targets are legit due to this act. They're stating that this decision is an "unwise one".

In Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (which is where Uncle Osama is probably hiding out, so this isn't exactly a hotbed of enlightened secular thought), the Assembly released a statement saying, in part, "(this is part of) a campaign waged in Europe and the West to hurt the feelings of Muslims".

Nearly spit my coffee across the desk when I read that one. Since when are fundamentalist Muslims so New-Agey?

OK, OK, this isn't all Muslims. It's not even many Muslims. But it is some Muslims, and they are elected officials of somewhat important countries.

If Muslims feel targeted, misunderstood, viewed with suspicion, etc; I'd submit it's chronic, consistent, violent, outrageous overreactions like this one which make it so.