MESSAGE
| DATE | 2006-02-10 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
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| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Good News!!
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Jihad Against Danish Newspaper
>From the desk of Paul Belien on Sat, 2005-10-22 20:25
mohammed-illustration.jpg
Islam is no laughing matter. The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten is
being protected by security guards and several cartoonists have gone
into hiding after the newspaper published a series of twelve cartoons
(see them all here, halfway the article) about the prophet Muhammad.
According to the Islam it is blasphemous to make images of the prophet.
Muslim fundamentalists have threatened to bomb the paper’s offices and
kill the cartoonists.
The newspaper published the cartoons when a Danish author complained
that he could find no-one to illustrate his book about Muhammad.
Jyllands-Posten wondered whether there were more cases of
self-censorship regarding Islam in Denmark and asked twelve illustrators
to draw the prophet for them. Carsten Juste, the paper’s editor, said
the cartoons were a test of whether the threat of Islamic terrorism had
limited the freedom of expression in Denmark.
The publication led to outrage among the Muslim immigrants living in
Denmark. 5,000 of them took to the streets to protest. Muslim
organisations have demanded an apology, but Juste rejects this idea: “We
live in a democracy. That’s why we can use all the journalistic methods
we want to. Satire is accepted in this country, and you can make
caricatures,” he said. The Danish imam Raed Hlayhel reacted with the
statement: “This type of democracy is worthless for Muslims. Muslims
will never accept this kind of humiliation. The article has insulted
every Muslim in the world.”
Flemming Rose, the cultural editor at the newspaper, denied that the
purpose had been to provoke Muslims. It was simply a reaction to the
rising number of situations where artists and writers censored
themselves out of fear of radical Islamists, he said. “Religious
feelings cannot demand special treatment in a secular society,” he
added. “In a democracy one must from time to time accept criticism or
becoming a laughingstock.”
The affair, however, has also led to a diplomatic incident. On Thursday
the ambassadors of eleven Muslim countries, including Indonesia, a
number of Arab states, Pakistan, Iran, and Bosnia-Herzegovina,
complained about the cartoons in a letter to Prime Minister Anders Fogh
Rasmussen. They say the publication of the cartoons is a “provocation”
and demand apologies from the newspaper.
Jyllands-Posten was also included on an al-Qaeda website listing
possible terrorist targets. An organisation which calls itself “The
Glorious Brigades in Northern Europe” is circulating pictures on the
internet which show bombs exploding over pictures of the newspaper and
blood flowing over the national flag of Denmark. “The Mujahedeen have
numerous targets in Denmark – very soon you all will regret this,” the
website says.
Meanwhile in Brussels a young Muslim immigrant published a poster
depicting the Virgin Mary with naked breasts. Though the picture has
drawn some protest from Catholics (though not from Western embassies,
nor from the bishops), this artist need not fear being murdered in the
street. On the contrary, he is being subsidised by the Ministry for
Culture.
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