Thugs on both sides?

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Mainstream Muslim leaders have been quick to condemn the Charlie Hebdo attacks. But Linda Sarsour of the Arab American Association of New York also told Al Jazeera that there is a double standard.

“I had someone today tell me, ‘You can’t disaffiliate with these people. They say they believe in Allah. Don’t you believe in Allah too?’ Well, the Westboro Baptist Church, they’re Christian. The KKK was lynching people in this country, they were also Christians. Asking Muslims to condemn all acts of terrorism, it wears me out,” said Sarsour.

On the free speech issue, I got a note from a Muslim friend who, while also condemning the massacre, objected to the general beatification of a weekly newspaper that regularly published what most people would call hate speech – except when Muslims and Islam are being bashed.

That argument got the support of at least one outspoken non-Muslim too: Bill Donohue of the Catholic League.

“I’m sick and tired of these brats who come out there and say, ‘You know Muslims, you just have to take it.’ Why don’t you disagree with Islam, and do it in a civil manner. Instead of acting in a libertine manner, yourself,” said Donohue.

He’s been taking some flack for those comments. It’s saying, ‘I condemn the killers, but …’ The only rational response to something like this is, ‘I condemn the killers. PERIOD.’

His beef should be with the gunmen. They’re the ones who made the cartoonists into martyrs. They’re the ones who overnight turned a mostly-ignored fringe weekly into the most talked-about publication in the world.