The story behind how cartoons of Muhammad have inflamed the Muslim world is well-known. What is less well-known is how Al-Jazeera added fuel to the fire. As a February 8 article in a London Arabic daily, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, reported, “When the controversy began to gain momentum, the Qatar based Al-Jazeera increased its [distorted] coverage.”

The article said, “the issue disappeared from the radar until Sheik Youssef Al-Qaradhawi, the mufti of Al-Jazeera, seized upon it and called for Muslims worldwide to protest.” Sheik Al-Qaradhawi, who is a spiritual leader to millions of Muslims worldwide, told his followers how to respond to the cartoon controversy in his February 3 sermon: “The nation must rage in anger. It is told that Imam Al-Shafi said, ‘Whoever was angered and did not rage is a jackass.’ … We are not jackasses for riding, but lions that roar … We are a nation that should rage for the sake of Allah … and show our rage to the world.”

The Muslim nation did indeed “rage,” and it was covered by Al-Jazeera. A demonstration opposite a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Damascus, Syria, which aired on January 28, showed a crowd chanting, “Oh, Arab, wherever you are – destroy the army of the Americans … Beware, oh America … We’ve hammered the first nail in the coffin of colonialism.” On February 4, Al-Jazeera filmed rioters actually lighting the Norwegian embassy in Damascus on fire (to view, visit www.memritv.org).

The network also televised influential Arabs making threats against the West. For example, on January 30, a group of Kuwaiti members of parliament appeared to discuss the cartoons. One said, “When [Prophet Muhammad] is attacked by the dogs of the extreme right, who suckle from the breasts of Zionism, this causes him no harm … These European perverts and their governments … these barking dogs and filthy pigs do not surprise us. I use these terms because they suit them. These terms befit their vileness, despicability, filth, and impurity. You know this, because you have traveled to Europe.” Another Kuwaiti member of parliament said, “We should not be surprised if some journalist or newspaper distorts the image of Islam. But what does surprise us is that the [Danish] prime minister says this is freedom [of expression]. If freedom there reaches such a degree, they should consider the bombings that take place to be freedom as well.”

On February 4, Al-Jazeera covered a speech meant to incite fellow Muslims about the cartoons by the chairman of the Jordanian Lawyers Association, Saleh Al-‘Armuti: “My beloved Prophet of Allah, I will sacrifice my soul for you. I will sacrifice my blood and my family for you. … Where are you, oh Muslims? Where are you, oh Arabs?”

Hamas leader Khaled Mash’al’s address at the Al-Murabit Mosque in Damascus aired live on February 3 with a message to the West: “We apologize to our Prophet Muhammad, but we say to him: Oh Prophet of Allah, do not be saddened, your nation will be victorious. We say to this West, which does not … learn its lessons: By Allah, you will be defeated … They do not understand the Arab or Muslim mentality, which rejects the foreigner … I say to the [European countries]: Hurry up and apologize … because if you do not, you will regret it … Tomorrow our nation will sit on the throne of the world … Today you are fighting the army of Allah. You are fighting against peoples, for whom death for the sake of Allah … is preferable to life. You are fighting a nation that doesn’t not tire, even after a 1,000 years of fighting … You will be the ones to be defeated.”

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s response to the cartoons was covered by the Arab press, including Al-Jazeera on February 2 and 3. He said, “If any Muslim had carried out the fatwa of Imam Khomeini against the apostate Salman Rushdie, those despicable people would not have dared to insult the Prophet Muhammad – not in Denmark, Norway, and France … This is about the Prophet of … 1.4 billion Muslims. I am certain that … hundreds of millions of Muslims are … willing to sacrifice their lives in order to defend the honor of their Prophet.”

It is well-known that captured terrorists in Iraq have admitted watching Al-Jazeera inspired them to perform jihad. It could be argued that the network’s coverage of the cartoon controversy has also incited viewers throughout the Muslim world. As worldwide protests continue, it is now important to scrutinize Al-Jazeera for what it is airing.

Mr. Stalinsky is the executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute.