Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

No apology over Mohammad images, says Denmark

Muslim protesters burn a Danish flag in a Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon, Lebanon.
Image:


(Reuters) -- Denmark said on Friday it could not apologize for cartoons in a Danish newspaper depicting the Prophet Mohammad as outrage spread across the Muslim world from the Middle East to countries in Asia.

More European newspapers published the cartoons on Friday, arguing freedom of speech was sacred, but angry Muslims staged violent protests against jokes they consider blasphemous.

Depicting the picture of the prophet is prohibited under Sharia law.

"Neither the Danish government nor the Danish nation as such can be held responsible for drawings published in a Danish newspaper," Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after meeting with Muslim envoys in Copenhagen.

"A Danish government can never apologize on behalf of a free and independent newspaper," he said. "This is basically a dispute between some Muslims and a newspaper."

Up to 300 hardline Islamic activists in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, went on a rampage in the lobby of a building housing the Danish embassy in Jakarta.

Shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest), they smashed lamps with bamboo sticks, threw chairs, lobbed rotten eggs and tomatoes and tore up a Danish flag. No one was hurt.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, hundreds of Palestinians attended a Hamas-organized rally, tearing up a French flag and holding up banners reading: "The assault on the Prophet is an assault on Islam".

The drawings, first published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten, have sparked international fury and a debate on the clash between freedom of speech and respect for religion.

Mona Omar Attia, Egypt's ambassador to Denmark, said after a meeting with Rasmussen that she was satisfied with the position of the Danish government but noted the prime minister had said he could not interfere with the press.

"This means the whole story will continue and that we are back to square one again. The government of Denmark has to do something to appease the Muslim world," Attia said.

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yuri Thamrin said the dispute was not just between Jakarta and Copenhagen.

"It involves the whole Islamic world vis-a-vis Denmark and vis-a-vis the trend of Islamophobia," he said.

Pakistan's parliament on Friday passed a resolution condemning the cartoons as "blasphemous and derogatory".

Some Muslims consider any images of Mohammad to be blasphemous. Among the Danish drawings, one depicted him in a turban resembling a bomb.

"This vicious, outrageous and provocative campaign cannot be justified in the name of freedom of expression or of the press," the Senate resolution said.

Danish companies have reported sales falling in the Middle East after protests in the Arab world and calls for boycotts.

Palestinian gunmen seized and later released a German on Thursday, and a hand grenade was thrown into the compound of the French Cultural Centre in the Gaza Strip.

France 'shocked'

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy condemned the protests in a television interview.

"I am totally shocked and find it unacceptable that -- because there have been caricatures in the West -- extremists can burn flags or take fundamentalist or extremist positions which would prove the cartoonists right," he said.

Rasmussen said he hoped the situation would improve soon.

"If the protests escalate further, it may have unpredictable repercussions in all the countries affected and then the problem could grow into a more global one, and I think it's in our mutual interest to find a solution to that," he said.

The editor of a Norwegian magazine which reprinted the Danish cartoons said he had received 25 death threats and thousands of hate messages.

A Jordanian editor was sacked for reprinting them, despite saying his purpose had been only to show the extent of the Danish insult to Islam. "Oh I ask God to forgive me," Jihad Momani wrote in a public letter of apology.

Iraqi Christians said they feared a new wave of attacks by Muslims, driven by anger over the images.

Values 'in conflict'
European newspapers said publishing the cartoons was an expression of media freedom.

"Liberation defends the freedom of expression," French daily Liberation said in a headline introducing two of the cartoons.

Belgian newspaper De Standaard reproduced the pictures along with letters from readers in favor of publication.

"Two values are in conflict here. One is respect for religion and the other is freedom of speech," Editor-in-Chief Peter Vandermeersch told Reuters.

British newspapers have so far refused to publish the cartoons, earning them praise from Foreign Minister Jack Straw.

"I believe the republication of these cartoons has been unnecessary, it has been insensitive, it has been disrespectful and it has been wrong," he said.

"I place on record my regard for the British media, which has shown considerable responsibility and sensitivity."

CNN has chosen to not show the cartoons out of respect for Islam.


Source

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

I can understand where they are coming from. Just like Kanye was depicted w/ the crown on thorns on Rolling Stone....I don't think you see Christians burning American Flags over it. I think the extremists take things way too far and they can not impose their laws in other countries. IMO

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

I saw the cartoons - and as offensive as this is to say - I thought they were funny.

I've seen every religious figure (Moses, Jesus, Buddha) mocked by every other country & religion. In a perfect world, we'd all respect other people's beliefs/religions. It's not like we would go bomb a country if they mocked our leaders and made fools of them after searching for weapons of mass destruction...oh wait a minute....

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

Posted by nrthshgrl

I saw the cartoons - and as offensive as this is to say - I thought they were funny.

I've seen every religious figure (Moses, Jesus, Buddha) mocked by every other country & religion. In a perfect world, we'd all respect other people's beliefs/religions. It's not like we would go bomb a country if they mocked our leaders and made fools of them after searching for weapons of mass destruction...oh wait a minute....

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

Posted by Kate

Posted by Shellyesq


Depicting the picture of the prophet is prohibited under Sharia law.

So this is prohibited, but violence is okay.

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

Posted by Sassyz75

Posted by Kate

Posted by Shellyesq


Depicting the picture of the prophet is prohibited under Sharia law.

So this is prohibited, but violence is okay.

This is the huge problem I have with fantical muslims- they are so quick to go right to violence... and yet, it's the religion of peace.

Hmmmm

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

Message edited 12/16/2011 6:41:01 PM.

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

A sad fact: more wars have been fought in the name of GOD than for any other reason.

People use religion to fit their own needs and it is very sad. The underlying message of most religions is love, peace, and tolerance -- 3 things the world could use more of.

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?

Re: Danish Newspaper Cartoon Depicting Mohammed- what do you think?