Bob Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman (Hebrew name Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham) to a Jewish family in Duluth, Minnesota, turned 70 years old yesterday. His “protest songs” became classic anthems for many in the civil rights movement and beyond.

Islamophobia is growing in the United States. Hate graffiti is now discoloring my own building here in New York City — calling for the Holy Quran to be burned. The publicity-hungry Terry Jones in Gainesville could be discounted if he did not have his finger on the pulse of America.

Maintaining a sort of ironic neutrality about Jones, Fox focused on the fervor of the international protests over the planned burning — my God, 100 Muslims picketed the U.S. embassy in Jakarta, “with some demonstrators threatening jihad.” In the skilled hands of the Fox news team, geopolitics is indistinguishable from pro wrestling.