Traditionally Muslims, Christians, and Jews living in the Middle East have lived together in great harmony. Recently there have more more conflicts, many centered around the cultural and religious differences between Western values (from Europe and America) and Islam.
One expression of this conflict has been recent scandals surrounding depictions of Muhammad. Muslims do not generally create pictures or sculptures of the Prophet (Shiite and Sufi Muslims are an exception) and they are very sensitive about the subject.
Recently caricatures of Muhammad have appeared in newspapers and television shows in Europe and the United States. The Muslim response has been very strong. Radical Muslim groups have sent death threats to those involved with the cartoons and their publication has incited riots all over the Muslim world.
Partially Muslims are insulted because of the general ban on pictures of Muhammad. But mostly they are insulted because of the deliberately negative and offensive way the Prophet is being drawn in the cartoons. This type of attack on the image of Muhammad, strikes at Muslims' most heartfelt values.
This interview with Muslim scholar Reza Aslan discusses the controversy.