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I'm with Charlatan I believe on this.
First up, I'm not keen on some of the teachings that I hear from Islam. I'm unimpressed also by the behaviour of many of it's followers.
Having said that, I feel that we need to put this in context. The countries in which much of this unrest is occuring seem to have
- high levels of poverty
and/or - non-democratic government (and associated media ownership issues)
and/or - lower levels literacy and exposure to science/philosophy etc.
than we have in the west
These people have not seen the same debates as us. Their experience, knowledge and culture is different - they are unlikely to have effective access/understanding of English news sites for example. At the same time, they are physically closer to the Palestine-Israel conflict. They see the more questionable aspects of "western" policy and military interventions first-hand.
Even then, we are still seeing riots carried out by a minority. There are groups of people in all countries who are capable of bad behaviour. Look at the situation during Katrina, during LA riots, the mini riots here in Au (Cronulla beach).
It seems to me that a key factor behind the current situation is that communication networks have made local messages global in reach - but there has not been an equivalent interplay, averaging effect or balancing of beliefs at this time.
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