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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
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Location: Ontario, Canada
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 Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:06 pm Protest ramps up over Muhammad cartoons |
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| CBC Arts wrote: | Protest in the Muslim world over cartoon images of the Prophet Muhammad is escalating after newspapers in France, Germany, Spain and Italy reprinted the cartoons.
The newspapers claimed they reprinted the cartoons, originally shown in a Danish newspaper, as a defence of freedom of speech and the right to publish.
But outrage from Muslim leaders in France and Germany and the threat of economic boycotts in the Middle East have prompted European leaders to ask for restraint from the press.
"We are ... a society that likes tolerance and I think it has to be in our understanding that we have a sensitivity for other religious communities," said European Union External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, according to Reuters.
The managing editor of France Soir, a Paris daily, has been fired over his decision to run the cartoons on Wednesday. The owner of France Soir, Raymond Lakah, said he fired the editor to show "a strong sign of respect for the beliefs and intimate convictions of every individual."
Islamic tradition prohibits any depiction of the prophet, even a respectful one, on the grounds that it could promote idolatry.
The caricatures include drawings of Muhammad wearing a headdress shaped like a bomb, while another shows him saying that paradise was running short of virgins for suicide bombers.
Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first printed the cartoons last September, has apologized for any hurt it might have caused, but not for publishing the cartoons. A reprint of the cartoons in a Norwegian paper in January sparked a fresh wave of protest.
Arab newspapers denounced the drawings as blasphemous and called for sanctions against the newspapers that had published them. "Freedom of expression does not justify insulting people's feelings and beliefs," said Saudi Arabia's Al-Riyad.
Syria and Saudi Arabia have recalled their ambassadors to Denmark and there have been boycotts of Danish products throughout the Middle East.
On Thursday, the editor of a Jordanian paper that had run the cartoons � to show its readers how offensive they are � was fired and the paper was withdrawn from circulation.
Armed militants surrounded EU offices in Gaza demanding an apology for the cartoons and several militant groups threatened to kidnap foreigners. French, German and Danish consular officials warned their nationals to leave Gaza.
There were also threats to close news agency outlets, including Agence France-Presse.
The dispute continues to rage in the European press, with newspapers that used the images standing by their right to publish. Le Temps in Geneva and Budapest's Magyar Hirlap ran some of the offending cartoons on Thursday, bringing more European nations into the dispute.
France Soir defended its right to publish in an editorial, saying religious freedom gives people the right to practise their faith, but not to impose the rules of their religion on all of society.
Berlin's Die Welt argued there was a right to blaspheme in the West, and asked whether Islam was capable of coping with satire.
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said the reaction in the Muslim world "betrays a lack of understanding" of how essential a free press is to democracy. The call for European governments to use sanctions against newspapers shows a misunderstanding of the relationship between the press and the state, it said.
Initially Muslim anger had centred on Denmark, but now the dispute encompasses most of Europe.
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the issue had gone beyond a row between Copenhagen and the Muslim world and now centred on Western free speech versus taboos in Islam. Islam is the second religion in many European countries.
"We are talking about an issue with fundamental significance to how democracies work," Rasmussen told the Copenhagen daily Politiken. "One can safely say it is now an even bigger issue." |
Source
Apparently one newspaper published a headline reading, "Yes, we do have the right to caricature God."
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
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| Thu Feb 02, 2006 11:35 pm |
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Yeah, I don't like this. Nor do I like the big attack on Rumsfeld, using our injured troops as ammo. That was horrible, that cartoon, as well. I don't like either of 'em.
And on the Rumsfeld one, I'm glad the Joint Chiefs wrote a letter to the Washington Post about it, because that was a horrible cartoon.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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WeAz
Commodore
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Location: Where you aren't
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| Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:10 pm |
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I think these guys were justified posting them. Every other major religion has been carictured why not Islam?
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
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| Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:20 pm |
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To me it's not the fact that they made this cartoon, but how they did it--what they did in it.
And I'm a Catholic.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Hitchhiker
Rear Admiral
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| Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:26 pm |
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| Janeway_74656 wrote: | | I think these guys were justified posting them. Every other major religion has been carictured why not Islam? |
I agree with you in principle. However, these cartoons apparently feature some very controversial things.
Firstly, understand that in Islam it is blasphemy to make an effigy of Muhammad. Even so, I do think that caricaturing Muhammad is fine--but not when it portrays him as linked to terrorist actions and such.
There is a very fine line between what is satirical and what is offensive. :/ I think that the papers should at least apologise, because clearly it is not being taken satirically, regardless of whether or not they were in the right by running the cartoon.
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Republican_Man
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| Fri Feb 03, 2006 10:39 pm |
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Agreed, and that was my point in the last post. It's not so much the fact that they made the caricature, but what its content was. Not good.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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| Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:29 pm Embassies torched in cartoon fury |
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| Quote: |
Embassies torched in cartoon fury
Danish, Norwegian embassies in Syria attacked by Muslims
DAMASCUS, Syria (CNN) -- Muslim demonstrators in Damascus torched the Norwegian Embassy and the building housing Denmark's embassy because newspapers in those countries published what the protesters consider blasphemous depictions of Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
Thousands of angry Muslims protested in other cities, including Islamabad, Pakistan; Baghdad, Iraq; Khartoum, Sudan; Jakarta, Indonesia; and the Palestinian territories. (Read about one Danish ambassador's meeting with protesters)
In Damascus, protesters set a bonfire outside Denmark's embassy, using chairs and furniture from its offices, and protesters clashed with police and shattered windows with stones.
The building also houses the embassies of Sweden and Chile.
Sweden's ambassador to Syria, Catharina Kipp, said no staff members were inside the building because the staff is on holiday.
The Norwegian ambassador to Syria, Svein Sevj, said his embassy staff was safe.
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Saturday his "government condemns the publication" of the drawings, but he urged his citizens to remain calm.
"The government can understand reactions and protests among the people against the publication of these caricatures. However, as religious people, we should accept the apologies of the Danish government," he said.
On Friday, Pakistan's government unanimously passed a resolution condemning the cartoons. (Full story)
A dozen caricatures of the prophet first appeared in September in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten . Muslims consider some of the images particularly demeaning, including one of Mohammed wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse.
The drawings accompanied an article about the illustrator of a Danish book on the life of Mohammed. According to the article, the illustrator demanded to remain anonymous, because the book's cover depicted the prophet.
Jyllands-Posten has apologized, and the Danish government has expressed regret for the furor but refused to become involved, citing freedom of expression.
Since the publication of the story and the drawings, other newspapers have run the story and drawings, characterizing their publication as a matter of free speech.
Die Welt in Berlin, Germany, and France Soir in Paris, France, reprinted the cartoons, as did two weekly Jordanian newspapers, Shihan and Al-Mehwar.
Arrest warrants were issued Saturday for the editors of the Jordanian papers, according to Jordan's Petra News Agency. Shihan's editor, Jihad Momeni, a former member of the Jordanian Senate, was fired after publishing the cartoons.
Jordan's King Abdullah II said the publication of such images is a "crime that that cannot be justified under freedom of expression," Petra reported.
Islamic law bans any depiction of the prophet, and Muslims consider likenesses of Mohammed blasphemous.
In a strongly worded statement, a U.S. State Department spokesman said Friday that the U.S. respects freedom of expression, but the publication of cartoons that incite religious or ethnic hatred is unacceptable.
The Vatican also weighed in Saturday, saying freedom "cannot imply the right to offend" religious faiths, but emphasized also that "violent actions of protest are deplorable."
The Vatican said a government should not be held responsible for actions of a newspaper. However, authorities "could and must, eventually, intervene according to the principals of the national legislation," the Vatican added.
CNN has chosen to not show the cartoons out of respect for Islam.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/04/syria.cartoon/index.html
Feb. 4: Angry demonstrators set fire to the Danish embassy in Damascus
Feb. 4: Palestinian Hamas supporters burn a Danish flag during a demonstration in the Gaza Strip.
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I hope that cartoon was worth all of this.
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Republican_Man
STV's Premier Conservative
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| Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:30 pm |
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Yeah...Things just became a bit worse in the world, don't'cha think?
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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webtaz99
Commodore
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 1:45 am |
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I find it intruiging that so much violent protesting resulted from a few cartoons, while so little results from beheadings televised by Islamic extremists.
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"History is made at night! Character is who you are in the dark." (Lord John Whorfin)
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Republican_Man
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 1:55 am |
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I do as well. It's sad, really, and horrible at the same time. I just don't get it...
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Republican_Man
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 3:18 pm |
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So the apology has been made, yet the riots continue...
It IS really interesting how they don't do them for beheadings, etc....
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Birdy
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 4:56 pm |
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I think it's weird. In my country there have always been jokes and cartoons about Christian and Catholic people, and there was never an apology. It's freedom of speech. Now someone makes a cartoon, the muslim community is not pleased about it, threatens to kill people, and the Danish apologize?
Weird, weird world we live in. Why do we give in to people who threaten us? What's up with that? I don't understand why the Danish people did that.
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Republican_Man
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:02 pm |
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Well, just keep in mind, though, that it is blasphemous to show images of Muhammed in the Islam faith...But what if the person isn't Islam?
I don't think it's so much that they did it as much as it is how they went about it--what was in the cartoon.
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Birdy
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:05 pm |
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Yeah, maybe it is. I can understand that people's feelings are hurt, I really do.
Of course, it was offensive to those who believe in the Islam.
But when they threaten to kill people, to predict terroristic attacks, is it the right thing to do, to apologize? I think not. Not at all.
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Republican_Man
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:07 pm |
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Agreed. I think that they shouldn't have, simply because of that. That reeks of giving in to terrorists.
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Birdy
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:12 pm |
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Exactly. Of course I understand that it's hard to see the God you believe in is being subjected to a bad cartoon, I think it's a stupid cartoon too..
But still, I think people should be able to express themselves. If they do it in a nice way, portraying the actual news, the things that people are currently dealing with, and it's a good cartoon, I personally see nothing wrong with it...
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Republican_Man
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:21 pm |
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Sure, sure. But Muhammed, mind you, isn't their God, but rather the last prophet, which is pretty dang important in their religion.
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Birdy
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:39 pm |
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Well, I'm sorry if I don't know exactly how their religion is.
You know what I mean.
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Republican_Man
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 5:41 pm |
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Oh, yeah, I wasn't trying to be mean or anything, just clear things up  Allah is their God--the same God of Christianity and Judaism. Muhammed is their last prophet
But yeah, I see what you're saying, and pretty much agree, even though either way I don't think religion should be portrayed in such manners, no matter what the faith.
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Republican_Man
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:53 pm |
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I agree with Brit Hume when he says that this is a tremendous double standard. Outrage over this, but not over slaughter in the name of Allah, not over a variety of other things--but this. A cartoon.
Yes, the cartoon is wrong, offensive, tasteless, and bad, but the reaction, is far worse.
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Founder
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:29 pm |
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| Birdy wrote: | Exactly. Of course I understand that it's hard to see the God you believe in is being subjected to a bad cartoon, I think it's a stupid cartoon too..
But still, I think people should be able to express themselves. If they do it in a nice way, portraying the actual news, the things that people are currently dealing with, and it's a good cartoon, I personally see nothing wrong with it... |
You see nothing wrong with the cartoon? How about the Muhammed=a terrorist.
Those cartoons are tasteless and was done to piss people off. I mean honestly, they "didn't know it would have this reaction"? Then those people are idiots.
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Republican_Man
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:31 pm |
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I agree with both of you. That is, I agree with Founder that it was tasteless and meant to receive the reaction, but at the same time I'm disgruntled at the response to this in comparison to the beheadings of people in the name of Allah, etc.
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Founder
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:56 pm |
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Well you are right RM about the fact that its messed up they dont make this kind of outrage when an innocent gets beheaded....
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Republican_Man
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| Sun Feb 05, 2006 10:59 pm |
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I do have to say that although their outrage is justified (but not their expression of it), it's a real double standard...
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"Rights are only as good as the willingness of some to exercise responsibility for those rights- Fmr. Colorado Senate Pres. John Andrews
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Birdy
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| Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:18 pm |
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@ RM: ok, then we agree pretty much!  That's almost a first, right? 
| Founder wrote: | You see nothing wrong with the cartoon? How about the Muhammed=a terrorist.
Those cartoons are tasteless and was done to piss people off. I mean honestly, they "didn't know it would have this reaction"? Then those people are idiots. |
I see nothing wrong with a cartoon. I saw the pic myself too, and I didn't think it was funny or something. I personally don't mind pics about religion portrayed, as long as they're good pictures/cartoons.
I just want people to understand that freedom of speech is a good thing in this world. Of course there's always this fine line on how far you can go, but I think as long as the cartoonist is trying to display the news, and he does it in a good and nice way, I think he should.
But I agree with you that that cartoon about Muhammed wasn't very nice.
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