Radwān al-Sayyid

divides the Arab and Muslim reactions to Pope Benedict’s offensive remarks on Islām into three

groups:

those who accused the pope of intentionally distorting the image of Islām and Muslims worldwide, those who linked

the

pope’s speech to the current international negative perception of Islām, and a third group which

sees the pope’s

speech as the predictable reaction to the terrorist attacks, allegedly linked to Islām

and Muslims.