Muhammad caricatures

Anttech

I feel for you Warren, but you cant blame Islam for that. In the same way you cant blame Denmark for a Newspaper publication within that countries free press... They (Islam) have the right to wave there hands, scream, shout, burn flags, etc etc... And we have the same right to just ignore them...

Moonbear

Then that's a personal problem. I'm sure plenty of Catholics were not amused when the Pope was depicted as promoting child molestation either, but it's fully within the rights of the paper to choose to publish it, and fully within the rights of their readers to write letters to the editor complaining about it. In the article in the original post, it did state that the paper had issued an apology. That should be the end of it. There's no need to boycott an entire country for it. Again, that's the point of a democracy that espouses freedom of the press...the government does NOT control what is published, what is written in a paper is not an official statement of the government's position on an issue, and as such, if you have a dispute with a newspaper, it is ONLY with the newspaper, not the country and the government.

Is the protest of the images okay, sure, that's freedom of speech. They have the right to be offended just as much as the paper has the right to publish it. It's the reaction with threats of violence, and the attempt to get the government to suppress what is published (why else would you boycott the entire country if you didn't expect them to do something about it?) that has escalated the issue and inspired the reaction of the other newspapers. Are they mocking Muslims? No, just those extremists who would attempt to suppress freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

chroot

I'm not blaming Islam.
I don't care about waving hands, screaming, shouting, or burning flags. They can do that for the next decade if they want. I just condemn the death threats and bomb threats the newspaper has since endured.

- Warren

devious_

Anyway, I'm gonna go away now. I really don't like participating in political/religious discussions because most of the time they're pointless.

All what I was trying to say was that the cartoon can easily be considered very offensive by any Muslim, and hence they have the right to react (within reason -- and bombing and kill is clearly not within reason!) and not accept being mocked.

chroot

Agreed, in toto.

- Warren

Anttech

To be honest I bundle this within "Screaming and waving hands" Maybe I should take the threats more seriously. But this is almost daily service in the ME right now..

Moonbear

Then I'm not even sure what the argument was about. I thought you were trying to defend the actions of the extremists who were threatening to bomb the newspaper offices. Since now I see you weren't, I think we actually all agree here, more or less.

chroot

Well, I personally feel that "screaming" and "threatening to kill someone" are two distinct categories of response. These people do regularly conduct bombings, so at least some of their threats are not empty.

- Warren

Azael

I agree aswell. 3 pages of discussion when we all agree

chroot

Well, hey, that sure beats most threads in this forum. :)

- Warren

Anttech

ohh by the way I also Aggree :)

Anttech

Some french paper has just published the pictures on its front page with "We have the right to caracturise God"

http://www.natashatynes.org/newswire..._paper_re.html

Stirring the pot? lol

Bilal

Although there was great respect to Denmark in Arab world and economical relations, this country (nation and goverment) are used to be anti Arab since decades. They always great supporters of the Zionists. Also they invaded Iraq with USA.

However, it is not just caricatures , here how the problem started:
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15/04/2005)

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...5/ixworld.html


“Queen Margrethe II of Denmark has called on the country "to show our opposition to Islam", regardless of the opprobium such a stance provokes abroad.”
She said: "We are being challenged by Islam these years - globally as well as locally. It is a challenge we have to take seriously. We have let this issue float about for too long because we are tolerant and lazy.
"We have to show our opposition to Islam and we have to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on us because there are some things for which we should display no tolerance."
"And when we are tolerant, we must know whether it is because of convenience or conviction."
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Few months ago, the ME media mentioned that one of Danish newspapers suggested establishing ‘’isolated camps” for Muslims in Europe ….

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Danish PM rejected to meet the ambassadors of several Muslims (including Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bosnia ...) countries and ignored them!

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Danish PM ignored the request of the Arab league and the Islamic global conference ………

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After such dramatic behavior of the Denmark toward the East, the people in Arab and Islamic worlds decided to express their personal freedom by boycotting their products ….

Anttech

Bilab, sorry Mate you "quoting out of context" on this one.

She was talking about intergration, she wanted people who migrate there to learn Danish so they can intergrate into Denmark better. Right now they the second biggest religion in Denmark is Islam, and it is growing. She was calling on all Citizans to become Danish... regardless of Relgion..

(And the Telegraph is a right wing "rag")

Her Speech is less edited here

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13230

Bilal

I agree, but this is not what indicated by the Arabic media ... they mentioned her comments as ''new crusade”.... unfortunately the Danish goverment did not do enough to explain the situation...

The same concerning the caricatures , there are several governments who decided to make a big problem after the Danish government rejected to meet their ambassadors. They asked the media to focus on this issue . Some of these governments want to become popular among their people by making more pressure on Denmark.

Bilal

I am disappointed from this problem. I am also surprised from such unexpected reaction from many people in Islamic world. It seems they want to put all their anger on Denmark.

I wish to see good relations between Denmark and ME soon ......

BobG

Not to single you out, since a few seem to have missed what the newspaper actually did. Yours just provides the perfect contrast.

A cartoon of the Pope fondling children would not be equivalent to a cartoon of Mohammed wearing a "bomb" turban. To be equivalent, the cartoon would have to depict Jesus fondling children. Depicting Jesus as a child molester would spark some serious outrage even in the US.