Today several Danish newspapers carry pictures of a controversial Mohammed cartoon, depicting the prophet as a suicide bomber, in sympathy with cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.
Many editors were shocked when a plot to murder Westergaard, for drawing caricatures satirising Mohammed, was unveiled yesterday. Editors at Politiken and Berlingske Tidende - along with Jyllands-Posten who first printed the cartoons in 2005 - pledged to reprint the most famous cartoon today.
'We have to send a clear and unambiguous signal to all who might get the same crazy idea as those who wanted to attack Kurt Westergaard. We have to make clear that in Denmark we don't accept that freedom of speech is locked up by religious zealots or held hostage to religious fanaticism,' Lisbeth Knudsen, editor-in-chief of Berlingske, told Jyllands-Posten (my translation).
The threat of law suit
She said Berlingske would reprint the cartoon as an illustration to a news story. That is much the same use of the cartoon that Ezra Levant, the publisher of Western Standard, was brought in front of the Alberta Human Rights Commission in Canada to defend. Columnist Mark Steyn has also had similar human rights complaints brought against him recently, on the basis of his writing.
In mid-January, The American Spectator published a story on what the writer, Booke M. Goldstein, a practising attorney, thought amounted to nothing less than legal jihad, listing a number of cases where publications had been brought to court or threatened with libel suits for offending or libelling Muslim dignity or dogmas. Among those cases were all the law suits against the now deceased Orianna Fallaci, and the more than 30 publishers and authors Khalid bin Mahfouz, a Saudi-Arabian billionaire, has threatened to sue in British courts.
Since first publishing the Mohammed cartoons, Jyllands-Posten have fought off several law suits from various Muslim organisations
(I've written more on these libel threats here and here, in Norwegian)
About time somebody started to show some defiance against these killers and scare mongers who wish to control the will of others in the name of Islam. Kudos, Denmark. Let's re-print again and again to demonstrate that we're not afraid of these people and their stupid fatwas.
Posted by: Defiant Muslim | February 13, 2008 at 04:55 PM
I hope one day people understand the meaning of the word 'tolerance'. In the name of freedom of speech, these cartoons promotes the well-known racist agenda of Danish media. If they have respected people's values and learned that there is a huge complicated world outside the tiny biny small Denmark, they wouldn't continue to promote hostility. Hope one day journalists of small Denmark can understand the world from a broader perspective.You can't be free if you don't let others to feel free.
Love
Posted by: Mina | February 13, 2008 at 04:59 PM
Finally, some backbone in the press! Finally, some understanding of where the real core of this war on terrorism really is! It is in ideological criticism, mockery of outrages against human decency. This ridiculous idea that one religion and its founder cannot be criticized must stop! More cartoons! More editorials making clear exactly what is wrong with islam! This is real fighting. The guns will be out until the ideological war is won.
Posted by: Ellen Hunt | February 13, 2008 at 06:08 PM
The reason the picture of the Prophet (pbuh) is not tolerated, was due to the risk in early
Islam, that the people would start worshipping his picture, versus God. Would this
cartoon picture pose that risk? I don't think so. However, the depiction IS derogatory, hence a fairly strong reaction from some people. An overreaction in my opinion. One only needs to look at the life of the Prophet (pbuh), which is supposed to be an example to us, to see what the appropriate thing to do would be. During his life, the Prophet was mocked, ridiculed, insulted and had stones and rocks thrown at him injuring him - and what did he do? He forgave the people doing this to him. So if in his life - people inflicted REAL damage to him, insulted him - and he forgave them. What effect should a picture depicting him with a bomb as a turban have? It certainly should NOT what it’s been. It’s sad to see the reaction of people.
They act in the name of Islam, yet don't even know the basics. Therein lays the problem. A lot of these people haven’t even READ the Quran, let alone understand its meaning. They're just going by what their parents / grandparents used to do.
That said, to republish something that's drawing such controversy, is irresponsible. It surmounts to instigating violence. It's not going to teach anyone tolerance - to think so is naive.
Posted by: Gazn Fagori | February 13, 2008 at 06:08 PM
I have read and spoke with Muslim friends about that ..i found that they do not want their Paradigm to be insulted by othes .in my point view it is not appropriate to attack other people religious symbols.And i think you are not that religious or free-religion person that does not mean that the people around you are the same.it is just if you do not feel pain and want the other to feel pain to enjoy ..there will be reflex-for sure- and I will be standing on the paining side.sometimes misunderstanding of causing pain forms to the others can be forgiven for once, but i wish that pain will not be initiated for once more..democracy will not be to the limits of democraZy. please do avoid targeting the others for no reason.
Posted by: Chen zhen | February 13, 2008 at 06:32 PM
It's pretty sad that people get so caught up in superstitious BS that they are more than willing to riot and kill over a cartoon of some stupid guy who lived and died over 1,000 years ago. I'm sick to death of hearing about "people of religion" (whether Muslim, Sikh, or Christian) trying to control what the rest of us read, write, draw, think, see, do or say, and I'm especially sick of them demanding special dispensation for their superstitious idiocy. These people must be stopped in their tracks with a good firm slap on the muzzle, and not acquiesed to or given exemptions to laws and rules.
For more Mohammed cartoons, see:
http://spiritwolf.blogspot.com
Posted by: Spirit Wolf | February 15, 2008 at 11:34 PM
US Muslims have a very positive prospect.WE believe that peace is needed around the world.We also say that whoever bombs goes to hell.SO WHY DO YOU THINK THAT WE HAVE SUCH A BAD PROSPECT???????????!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: ALI | February 02, 2009 at 01:32 AM