Finn Jarle Saele, the editor of the Norwegian Christian newspaper
Norge I DAG, announced that his paper is also considering publishing the cartoons. Saele
wants the Norwegian imams to publicly oppose the death threats that have been
sent to Magazinet’s editor Vebjørn Selbekk. According to Sæle these threats are not
just directed against Magazinet. They affect the entire Norwegian media, not just one
editor who dared to stand up for freedom of expression.
-------------------------------------
From the desk of Hjörtur Gudmundsson
The Danish imams, who protested the publication of 12 Muhammad cartoons in the Danish
newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
(see them all http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/698) ,have announced that they want to end the dispute.
For four months the imams and their radical Muslim organizations have unsuccesfully
demanded government censorship. However, despite immense pressure (also from international
organizations such as the UN and the EU) the Danish government refused to call the
newspaper to account.
Last week a couple of Norwegian papers decided to publish the cartoons in support of the
Danish paper while in Denmark moderate Muslims, encouraged by the government’s
refusal to be intimidated by the radicals, have distanced themselves from the imams. The
latter announced on Friday that they no longer demand apologies from Jyllands-Posten for
the publication. Instead they said they just want two things: a guarantee from the Danish
authorities that Muslims can freely practice their religion without being “provoked
and discriminated.” And a declaration from Jyllands-Posten that the cartoons were not
published with the intention of mocking the Muslim faith. “We want Jyllands-Posten to
show respect for the Muslims. This can happen with an apology, but it can also happen in
some other way. We will leave it to Jyllands-Posten to come up with some ideas,” said
Ahmed Akkari, spokesman of the Muslim organizations. “We want respect for Muhammad
restored and we want him to be described as the man he really was in history, and that he
gets the respect he deserves,” Akkari stressed that Muslim organizations are still
deeply opposed to the publication of the cartoons.
The Muslim organizations and Jyllands-Posten met last week to discuss the matter. “It
was a good and constructive meeting. We agreed that we need to find a solution,” said
Carsten Juste, editor of Jyllands-Posten. Juste stressed that the meeting was one step in
a reconciliation process which the Muslim organizations and the newspaper began in
December.
Some sceptics wonder whether the demands of the imams have changed fundamentally. They
still insist that Jyllands-Posten admit that publishing the cartoons was wrong and make
amends for it. The sceptics argue that the paper should not settle for a compromise on
freedom of expression by justifying itself. Others wonder why the radical Muslims appear
to be softening their demand and seem so eager to make a deal. Perhaps the decision of
Norwegian papers such as Magazinet to support Jyllands-Posten by publishing the cartoons
has made the radicals reconsider. Perhaps they fear a domino effect. Some Swedish papers
are considering publishing the cartoons as well. If the Swedish government subsequently
follows the position of the Danish and Norwegian governments, refusing to interfere and
limit freedom of expression, the position of the radical Danish Muslims, who are looking
for international support, will only weaken.
According to a poll taken this week among 1,047 people in Denmark 57% of the Danes support
Jyllands-Posten’s decision to publish the cartoons, while 31% disagrees. Young people
and men are more likely to support the decision. Almost two out of every three males and
61% of people aged between 18 and 25 years of age did so.
Meanwhile an international organization of Muslim intellectuals has threatened to mobilize
“millions of Muslims all over the World” to boycott Danish and Norwegian
products unless the Danish and Norwegian government condemn the publication of the
cartoons, which is called an “attack on the Muslims of the World and on the
Prophet.” In Saudi Arabia people are receiving e-mails and sms messages urging them
to boycott Danish products “until Denmark offers an official apology.” The
Organization of the Islamic Conference protested last week’s publication of the
cartoons in the Norwegian paper Magazinet. The Iranian embassy in Oslo said that freedom
of expression cannot justify publishing the cartoons. However, Finn Jarle Sæle, the
editor of the Norwegian Christian newspaper Norge I DAG, announced that his paper is also
considering publishing the cartoons. He called upon other Norwegian editors to do the
same. Sæle says that so far many of them have only written editorials supporting freedom
of expression but have not dared to publish the cartoons themselves.
Asked if wider publication will not lead to unnecessary confrontations between Christians
and Muslims Sæle said the intention was not to provoke just for the sake of provoking,
but rather to confront radical Islam in Norway. Perhaps it is necessary to provoke in
order to do that, he said. Sæle wants the Norwegian imams to publicly oppose the death
threats that have been sent to Magazinet’s editor Vebjørn Selbekk. According to
Sæle these threats are not just directed against Magazinet. They affect the entire
Norwegian media, not just one editor who dared to stand up for freedom of expression.
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/698 |
