Pictures of Muhammed in a Danish newspaper last year has caused a huge stir throughout the Middle East and has cause Anti-Europeanism. In retaliation, Dutch workers in the Middle East have been attacked and beaten. Islamic tradition bans depictions of the Prophet in any form. There has been a huge backlash against denmark who is standing its ground under Freedom of Speach.

In retaliation seven publications in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain all carried some of the drawings. This is really turning into a tit for tat war!

Reporters Without Borders said the reaction in the Arab world "betrays a lack of understanding" of press freedom as "an essential accomplishment of democracy."

Palastinians burn a danish Flasg, not A US one for once!

France Soir originally said it had published the images in full to show "religious dogma" had no place in a secular society. Other papers stood by their publication. In Berlin, Die Welt argued there was a right to blaspheme in the West, and asked whether Islam was capable of coping with satire. "The protests from Muslims would be taken more seriously if they were less hypocritical," it wrote in an editorial. La Stampa in Italy, El Periodico in Spain and Dutch paper Volkskrant also carried some of the drawings.

Syria and Saudi Arabia have recalled their ambassadors to Denmark, while Libya said it was closing its embassy in Copenhagen and Iraq summoned the Danish envoy to condemn the cartoons.

You can read the BBC article here.

Now, what the media will not tell you is the Danish are allowing this in retalliation for the killing of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh (yes a relative of the great artist) after release of his documentary about violence against Muslim women. He was killed brutaly last year and has stirred a lot of Dutch nationalism.



Bouyeri murdered Van Gogh in ritual fashion in broad daylight on an Amsterdam street on November 2, 2004, pinning a note threatening Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali and others to his body with knife.

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It is getting much worse. I will say this though, it is refreshing to see someone other than Americans the target of Jihads and hatred from the Middle East.

“The War is On”
From the desk of Hjörtur Gudmundsson on Fri, 2006-02-03 01:54

Mullah Krekar
Yesterday (Thursday) Mullah Krekar, the alleged leader of the Islamist group Ansar al-Islam who has been living in Norway as a refugee since 1991, said that the publication of the Muhammad cartoons was a declaration of war. “The war has begun,” he told Norwegian journalists. Mr Krekar said Muslims in Norway are preparing to fight. “It does not matter if the governments of Norway and Denmark apologize, the war is on.”

Islamist organizations all over the world are issuing threats towards Europeans. The Islamist terrorist group Hizbollah announced that it is preparing suicide attacks in Denmark and Norway. A senior imam in Kuwait, Nazem al-Masbah, said that those who have published cartoons of Muhammad should be murdered. He also threatened all citizens of the countries where the twelve Danish cartoons [see them all at http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/698] have been published with death.

It is important, however, to stress again that there are Muslims of great courage. While it is risky to publish the Muhammad cartoons in Europe, it is even riskier to do so in the Middle East. Yet the Jordanian independent tabloid al-Shihan published three of the twelve Muhammad cartoons yesterday. The editor of al-Shihan, Jihad al-Momani, said he decided to publish the cartoons to show what the issue was all about. In an editorial under the headline “Muslims of the world, be reasonable” he pointed out that Jyllands-Posten had apologized for offending Muslims. He deplored that few in the Islamic world seem to be willing to listen to this. “What brings more prejudice against Islam, these caricatures or pictures of a hostage-taker slashing the throat of his victim in front of the cameras or a suicide bomber who blows himself up during a wedding ceremony in Amman?” the editor asked.

The spokesman of the Jordanian government, however, said that the editor had done a great mistake by publishing the cartoons and announced that the government is considering suing the newspaper. Before the day was over the paper’s owners had sacked Mr Momani.

Peter Mandelson, the EU Trade Commissioner, has criticized those papers which publish or republish Muhammad cartoons. According to Mr Mandelson they are "throwing petrol onto the flames of the original issue and the original offence that was taken.” The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned that the decision by newspapers to republish the cartoons could encourage terrorists. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he is worried about the cartoon issue. His spokesman said that Mr Annan believes freedom of expression should always be used with respect for religion.

This is not, however, the opinion of the French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy. He said that the reactions of extremist Muslims towards the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which published the original cartoons, and towards Denmark are shocking. Mr Sarkozy praised the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen for his determination and defense of freedom of expression. “Freedom of expression is not an issue for negotiation and I see no reason to give one religion a special treatment,” Mr Sarkozy said.

Meanwhile the Muhammad cartoons have been published in a number of newspapers in various European countries. The BBC broadcast them in the news so that its audience would understand what the fuss is all about. The French newspaper Le Monde published its own cartoon of Muhammad [see it here] on yesterday’s front page. On Wednesday the editor of the French daily France Soir, Jacques Lefranc, was fired because he had republished the Muhammad cartoons. Journalists at France Soir defended Mr Lefranc’s decision yesterday by publishing a front page and an editorial defending freedom of speech. In Tunesia and Morocco, however, the sale of France Soir has been prohibited.

Yesterday morning armed Palestinians again surrounded the offices of the European Union in Gaza City, demanding its closure and an apology for the cartoons within 24 hours. They threatened attacks on all Danes, Norwegians and Frenchmen in Palestine. “We suggest that all offices and embassies of the three countries will be closed, otherwise we will not hesitate to eliminate them,” their statement said. Norway at once closed its consulate on the West Bank for the public, but has not yet decided to withdraw its staff. On Thursday evening Palestinian gunmen also entered a number of hotels to threaten foreigners. Many Europeans are leaving Palestine before the Cartoon War really starts.

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This whole issue makes me so angry. Yeah, the cartoon was insensitive, but I find it rather ironic that the muslims protest and threaten acts of violence towards the Danes, which in reality lives up to the original cartoon caricature (prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb).

And muslims wonder why the west perceives their religion and culture as being violent?

This is a definite clash of cultures, and I don't imagine it will be resolved in my lifetime.

Aly,

What really amazes me is how Jews and Christians are slammed in Islamic media on an hourly basis. They call Jews "pigs" and every other name in the book. Watch 5 minutes of an Arabic TV and you will see Christians and "Zionists" slammed daily solely based on their religion. Do you think they draw cartoons?

The hypocrisy is amazing. Muslims have the free speech to do whatever they wish in their media, but Islam is off-limits for the western media. Muslims say, "stop forcing western culture on us", but have no problem attempting to restrict free speech on the west.

What would happen if every time a Christian was slammed in the media (which is daily) they placed a Jihad on that media source? Remember when a crucifix was placed in a glass of urine and that was art in New York?

All this does is show the intolerance of their religion and restriction on other speech. As long as you are slamming Jews in the media it is ok, but slams us and the war is on.

Mike

Well, the stupidity continues. Now jihadist had set the Danish and Norwegian embassies on fire in Syria.




The sad part of the story is the Syrian government saved the French embassy!

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Twleve of the Danish cartoonists have now gone into hiding.

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More images.

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Now the Danish consulate in Beruit has been torched.

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More pics

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