The Danish Cartoons And Freedom Of The Press Versus Islam

[1.5 million]

Kharpert - You betray a lack of understanding of a very fundemental precipt of Islam - that neither God nor the prophet's image is ever depicted. These cartoons were specifically designed to incite this type of reaction. To Muslims this is blasphemy of the highest order - of course they are upset - and rightly so. Western leaders should be doing more to ease this situation through apologies and denouncements. While I would not advocate any censorship - I would - as a government or a group etc - distance myself and express disaproval and condemnation.

Folks here talk about all sorts of consipiracies (using the most flimsy and unconnected "evidence") - but what I see here suggests that there are forces on both sides who wish to push things to the brink - the extremists prosper and retain great infulence when the other side is easily deamonized and shown to be fanatically anti itself. her is but another example. I have long predicted that the Arab-Isreali conflict would only be resolved AFTER a nuke goes up in Tel Aviv. At this point perhaps the moderates - who have been so meek to allow their fanatics to run the show and manipulate everyone - will finally step up and say enough is enough - we need peace - too many have died...

[Gavur]

Murder of priest 'religious revenge'

February 08 2006 at 08:31AM

Ankara - Turkish security forces arrested a high school pupil on Tuesday for the killing of an Italian Roman Catholic priest, and Turkish television said the teenager had confessed to a crime which has shocked this Muslim nation.

The pupil had told the police he had been influenced by cartoons lampooning the Prophet Muhammad, NTV commercial television said. The report could not be immediately confirmed.

The state Anatolian news agency said the pupil, 16, had been carrying a 9mm pistol when he had been captured in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, where Andrea Santoro, 61, was gunned down on Sunday while praying.

© 2006 Independent Online. All rights strictly reserved.

[Gavur]

Cartoons of the Prophet

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Robert ELLIS



In M. Night Shyamalan's film "The Village" the inhabitants of a small, isolated village fear the creatures of the woods that surround them, and one day some children venture into the outskirts of the woods to show they are not afraid. The publication by Jyllands-Posten of 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed should be viewed in this context and not as an attempt to offend the Muslim world.

As I explained earlier ("The mask slipped," TDN, Oct. 31 2005), the background is serious enough. In October 2004 a lecturer from the Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies in Copenhagen was assaulted by three young men speaking Arabic because he, as a “kuffar” (non-believer), had read aloud from the Koran during a lecture, and a month later the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered because he had made a film, "Submission," which criticizes the treatment of women under Islam. Furthermore, a Danish publisher complained that he was unable to find an illustrator for a children's book on the life of the Prophet, and it was to combat this tendency to self-censorship that the cartoons were published.

Unfortunately, what was originally intended as an assertion of the right to the freedom of speech is another example of Samuel Huntington's theory of the clash of civilizations, as the agenda has already been hijacked by radical groups intent on fanning the flames of intolerance.

In Denmark the protest against the cartoons is led by the Islamisk Trossamfund (Islamic Community), which claims to represent the resident population of 200,000 Muslims. However, this claim has been shown to be exaggerated, as it turns out they only have around 15,000 supporters. But the damage has been done, as this organization, led by a Palestinian imam called Abu Laban, has sent delegations to various Middle Eastern countries, including Turkey, to gain support.

This organization has subsequently been exposed as speaking with two tongues, as Abu Laban recently stated that they were opposed to the boycott of Danish goods and "sincerely regretted" that the matter has escalated. At the same time he stated to Al Jazeera that they "rejoiced" in the boycott. His limp explanation was that he didn't know the microphone was on.

It has also transpired that the delegations embarked on a program of disinformation and claimed that Jyllands-Posten was owned by the government and that the governing Liberal Party was an extremist right-wing party. What is worse, they brought with them three scurrilous drawings of the Prophet, which they also claimed had been published in the Danish press.

Consequently, the Danish prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, expressed his amazement over the fact that people who had sought refuge in Denmark for one reason or another and lived under the protection of the Danish Constitution should travel round spreading disinformation.

In fact, if Denmark can be accused of anything in this matter, it can be of allowing organizations like Hizb-Ut-Tahrir and Milli Görüş to flourish under the umbrella of democracy and freedom of speech.

But as the Danish prime minister made clear at a meeting with 76 ambassadors last Friday, freedom of expression also carries with it an obligation to show respect for other religions and cultures.

As Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French foreign minister, said, "It's not normal to caricature a whole religion as an extremist or terrorist movement." But the extreme reaction to the cartoons "would suggest the caricaturists were right," he added.

Therefore, the reaction by the Organization of the Islamic Conference's (OIC) secretary-general, Professor Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, to the attacks on the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus is welcome, as he termed them "dangerous and detrimental to the efforts to … portray the true image of Islam and Muslims in the international area."

The whole issue of freedom of speech is crucial to the development of a free and democratic society, which is why it is anathema to most countries in the Middle East.

Both Jyllands-Posten and the Danish prime minister have regretted the offense the cartoons have caused, but as Fogh Rasmussen pointed out in his New Year's address: "It's this unorthodox approach to authorities, it's this urge to question the established order, it's this inclination to subject everything to critical debate that has led to progress in our society. For it's in this process that new horizons open, new discoveries are made, new ideas see the light of day, while old systems and outdated ideas and views fade and disappear."

Only some years ago the people of Ireland were regarded as being priest-ridden and backward, but with membership in the EEC in 1973 Ireland took a major step forward to becoming a prosperous and democratic European state. One can only hope that this present clash of civilizations can lead to a similar enlightenment.

[TurQ]

Harput
It is the highest insult or the most hurtful attack for a muslim. I know extremists or some governments(Iran) abusing this but this does not change the fact that it deeply hurts every muslim. If they would have insulted my family or even killed my family that wouldnt be this much hurtful. This,I believe felt by majority of the Muslims.

But reactions shouldnt be in this nature, burning embassies or flags, attacking their national pride/symbols is the most stupid thing to do. And unfortunetly it became a disease for Muslims to react in this sense. Our biggest fault is that Muslims didnot condemned the extremists or the suicide bombers properly, cause those actions are not less insulting than that caricatures. And our biggest fault is that Muslims dont have proper relations with west in order to represent and inform them about the religon. The caricatures are just a result of our fault. There always existed extremist views about "Others" in Europe. This could have been easily marginalized by Europeans themselves if we had good relations with them. NOw with this reaction avarage Danish or European feels attacked.

I hope Turkish membership to EU happens in near future, these events show how it is necessary to prevent clash of civilizations.

Looks like you got your wish. Islamic extremists are following your exact advice. News link.

This is ridiculous. How can anyone justify such outrage, burning flags, and arsoning embassies over a bunch of cartoons? This reflects extremely poorly on the Muslim world. Christians are lampooned all the time in their home countries and they haven't had this kind of outrage since the Middle Ages.

And in case anyone was curious, the cartoons can be found here.

[Gavur]

well get used to it ,clash will continue

[Gavur]

Editors at US Newspaper Resign over Cartoons

By Cihan News Agency, New York
Published: Thursday, February 09, 2006
zaman.com


Three editors of a daily newspaper in New York, the New York Press, protested management who chose not to publish the 12 insulting cartoons of Prophet Mohammed by resigning from office.

Chief editor Harry Siegel, protesting the paper’s directors who did not allow him to print the cartoons, said the paper betrayed its principles by not publishing the caricatures.


Along with Siegel, the publishing director, art editor, and municipal correspondent resigned from their offices.


The cartoons triggered outrage in the Islamic World after the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten published them.


[10:46:00]

[Gavur]

Islamic Threats Against Denmark & Sweden

http://instantknowledgenews.com/Islamiccartoons.htm

[Gavur]

Christians Burnt Alive For Prophet Muhammad Cartoons

PanARMENIAN.Net
20.02.2006 19:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Rioting over the controversial cartoons depicting
the Prophet Muhammad claimed another 16 lives last night in Nigeria as
churches were burned by protesting Muslims. The violence erupted as the
Danish cartoonist whose drawings originally sparked the furore, Kurt
Westergaard, used an interview with a British newspaper to defend the
right to a free press - and said the Islamic faith provided 'spiritual
ammunition' for terrorism. More than two weeks after the controversy
began, after-effects are still being felt around the world. The first
protests in Nigeria flared in the provinces of Borno and Katsina:
witnesses said Christians were poured with petrol and burnt, hotels
and shops were torched by protesters who ran wild after police fired
teargas to disperse them. The Nigerian riots were the first protests
in Africa's most populous country, which is divided equally between
Christians and Muslims. The worst of the trouble, involving 15 deaths,
was in the north eastern state of Borno - a predominantly Muslim
state with a sizeable Christian population, which has recently seen
an increase in militancy. Troops were deployed in the state capital
to restore order, reported the Guardian.

An Indian official promised $11.5 million for the head of the Danish
cartoonist. The murderer of the author of the cartoon will also
be awarded as much gold as he weighs. Earlier Taliban promised 100
kg of gold (about $2 million) for the murder of the caricaturist,
reported AFP.

[Gavur]

Report: Turkish Man Angry With Prophet Drawings Threw Molotov xxxxtail At Catholic Ch

REPORT: TURKISH MAN ANGRY WITH PROPHET DRAWINGS THREW MOLOTOV xxxxTAIL AT CATHOLIC CHURCH

AP Worldstream
Feb 21, 2006

A man upset by the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad admitted Tuesday
that he threw a Molotov xxxxtail at a Catholic church in Turkey the
previous night, the Anatolia news agency reported.

The xxxxtail caused a small fire on the roof of a church in the Aegean
coastal city of Izmir that was quickly put out by firefighters Monday,
Anatolia said.

The man was identified only by the initials Y.S., and was said to have
been previously treated for psychological problems. Anatolia said he
admitted to the crime and said he was influenced by "the caricature
crisis," the Turkish term for the growing resentment in the Islamic
world caused by the publication in Europe of cartoons depicting the
Prophet Muhammad.

Y.S. was taken into custody after appearing in court Tuesday,
Anatolia said.

In the past month, a Catholic priest has been killed while kneeling
in prayer in Turkey, and another priest in Izmir was attacked and
threatened.

Turkey is a 99 percent Muslim country, and protests against the
caricatures of Muhammad have drawn crowds of tens of thousands chanting
against the West.

[Gavur]

A female journalist was stoned at the Islamist demonstration

Turkish police on Monday interrogated two protesters who allegedly threw stones and shoes at a female journalist for not wearing an Islamic headscarf during a weekend demonstration against cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.
Sabah daily's Aliye Çetinkaya was covering the demonstration from atop a media bus in the conservative central Anatolia city of Konya on Saturday. She was not injured.

TV footage showed a group of angry demonstrators insulting Çetinkaya for not wearing an Islamic headscarf and attacking her with their shoes. The group also reportedly threw stones at Çetinkaya but missed their target.

Police said they had detained two suspected attackers and were searching for four others.

"They threw stones and shoes at me," Çetinkaya told CNN-Türk on Monday. "They called me 'infidel'."

On the other hand, a group of journalists from Antalya, Burdur and Afyon provinces staged a protest rally in front of the Isparta Municipality building on Monday against the purported attack on Zaman daily Isparta representative Arif Bayram Taş and correspondent Mustafa Altıntaş.

Reports had claimed that Taş and Altıntaş were physically assaulted at the office of Isparta Mayor Hasan Balaman.

The group, led by Antalya Journalists' Association Chairman Erdoğan Kahya, Burdur Journalist's Association Chairman Ercan Tarak and Afyon Journalists' Association Chairman Mehmet Emin Tüzmen, walked in silence up to the municipal building and condemned the attack. A journalist even broke his camera in protest against the mayor's conduct.

Kahya, speaking in front of the building, said: �This was the first time in the republican era that an elected official got involved in such a despicable act. We condemn the mayor who resorted to violence.�

Kahya, Tarak and Tüzmen then visited Isparta Governor Şemsettin Uzun. Speaking after the meeting, Kahya said they were told no administrative investigation had been initiated into Balaman's conduct but that the matter had gone to court. They then visited Altıntaş, who is still in the hospital. (TDN, February 14, 2006)