Reporters Without Borders said calling for
censorship is a sign of misunderstanding the importance of a free media in a democracy.
Under the headline, "Yes, we have the right to caricature God," French newspaper
France Soir ran a front-page cartoon of Muslim, Buddhist, Jewish and Christian gods
floating on a cloud. "Don't complain, Mohammed, we've all been caricatured
here," the Christian deity says.
The Danish embassy in Damascus was evacuated after a bomb threat that turned out to be a
hoax and Syria recalled its ambassador from Denmark in protest against the cartoons, one
of which shows the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban shaped like a bomb.
Armed Muslims in Gaza threaten to kidnap foreigners in retaliation over cartoons of the
Prophet Mohammed. Mahmoud Zahar, a Hamas leader, visted a Gaza Christian Church and
promised protection to Christians after gunmen threatened to target churches as part of
their protests.
Thousands of Muslims have taken to the streets in protest at the caricatures, the
newspaper that published them has received death threats and two of its
cartoonists have been forced into hiding.
Jyllands-Posten, Denmark's leading daily, defied Islam's ban on images of the Prophet by
printing cartoons by 12 different artists. In one he is depicted as a sabre-wielding
terrorist accompanied by women in burqas, in another his turban appears to be a
bomb and in a third he is portrayed as a schoolboy by a blackboard.
The ambassadors of 11 Muslim countries called on Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the prime
minister, to take "necessary steps" against the "defamation of Islam".
But Mr Rasmussen, the head of a centre-Right minority coalition dependent for its survival
on support from an anti-foreigner party, called the cartoons a "necessary
provocation" and refused to act.
The Danish debate over how to integrate Muslims has raged for years, with
nursery school menus and women-only opening hours for swimming pools particular
battlegrounds. But the cartoons satirising the Prophet have injected a dangerous new
element into the controversy.
"This is a pubescent demonstration of freedom of expression that consciously and
totally without reason has trampled over the feelings of many people," said Uffe
Ellemann Jensen, a former foreign minister and member of Mr Rasmussen's party.
Carsten Juste, the editor of Jyllands-Posten, spurned demands that he apologise, saying he
"would not dream" of saying sorry.
"To demand that we take religious feelings into consideration is irreconcilable with
western democracy and freedom of expression," he said. "This doesn't mean that
we want to insult any Muslims."
Juste commissioned the cartoons after learning of the difficulties a children's writer,
Kare Bluitgen, had in finding an illustrator for his book on the Koran and the Prophet's
life. Bluitgen said all the artists he approached feared the wrath of Muslims if they drew
images of Mohammed. Many cited the murder of the Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh by
an Islamist as a reason for refusal.
One artist, Franz Füchsel, said he intended no offence. "But I live in 2005, not 905
and I use my quill in the way that Danish law allows me."
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Dutch MP famous for her criticism of Islam and author of the
screenplay for Mr Van Gogh's film Submission, supported the paper. "It's necessary to
taunt Muslims on their relationship with Mohammed," she said. "Otherwise we will
never have the dialogue we need to establish with Muslims on the most central question:
'Do you really feel that every Muslim in 2005 should follow the way of life the Prophet
had 1,400 years ago, as the Koran dictates?' "
telegraph.co.uk |
Islamic law, based on clerics' interpretation of the
Koran and the sayings of the prophet Mohammed, forbids his depictions, even positive ones.
The ban has been virtually universal in all branches of Islam from its earliest days. The
rule extends to artwork showing others regarded as prophets by Islam, including Jesus
Christ.
During the month of February alone...a total of 49 have been killed....many more
injured
16 Christians murdered in Nigeria, 11 killed in Libya over the cartoons. Rioters and
Muslims torched churches, shops and vehicles
"Enough lessons from
these reactionary bigots!" France Soir editor Serge Faubert wrote in a commentary
explaining why his newspaper had printed the cartoons. "Just because the Koran bans
images of Mohammed doesn't mean non-Muslims have to submit to this."
Germany's Die Welt printed a similar piece to accompany the cartoons.
It said: "There is no right to be shielded from satire in the West. Christianity has
been the object of ruthless criticism. "Being able to make fun of the holiest things
is a non-negotiable core tradition in our culture."
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said France supported press
freedom, which "should be exercised in a spirit of tolerance and respect for beliefs
and religions".
Editors of French and German papers that republished them said press freedom was more
important than the protests and boycotts the cartoons have sparked across the Muslim
world.
In Copenhagen, security police met Islamic leaders in a bid to calm reactions there.
Muslims consider images of prophets distasteful and caricatures blasphemous.
Two large Danish companies reported their sales falling in the Middle East after the
incident led to protests in the Arab world and calls for boycotts.
Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons last September,
has apologised for any hurt they may have caused.
The Danish government meanwhile, has remained relatively neautral on the issue, saying it
cannot tell free media what to do.
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