National Review Online today features a symposium answering this question: “There is rioting in Sudanese streets calling for the death of a woman over a teddy bear named Mohammed. What can we in the West possibly do with this—nationally, individually? How do we help? What must we learn from it?”

The experts and commentators that NRO consulted provide a number of interesting answers. One important detail emerged from Daniel Pipes’ answer. He linked to this New York Timespiece from Saturday, which strongly indicated that the riots were actually orchestrated by the Muslim Sudanese government.

Despite the display of outrage, witnesses said that many of the protesters were government employees ordered to demonstrate, and that aside from a large gathering outside the presidential palace, most of Khartoum was quiet.

This incident—Muslims rioting and demanding the execution of a schoolteacher over a teddy bear—is the latest in a litany of such public explosions of outrage over supposed insults to Islam—including the Danish cartoon crisis; Korans being supposedly flushed down toilets in Guantanamo; the pope’s comments in Regensburg. It’s important to recognize, however, that these are not the spontaneous reactions of an aggrieved people. Rather, specific individuals are vigilantly watching for occasions to trigger these demonstrations. Muslim leaders are stirring up and harnessing violent emotion as a means of pushing their universalist Islamic agenda.

These leaders understand well that a cherished, pillar doctrine of Western political correctness is that Muslim violence (or that of any minority) is the fault of the West. Incidents like this expose that lie.