Danish minister apologizes to Abbas over cartoons

[occuserpens]

This is a good idea. Actually, Danes would better call each and every Muslim country and apologize for this ugly PR disaster.

Ali Waked. Danish minister apologizes to Abbas over cartoons
The Palestinian news agency reported Friday Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller called Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and apologized for the insult to Muslims caused by the publication of cartoons mocking Prophet Muhammad in several European papers.

[tocqueville]

1. this is a very BAD idea

it's a huge victory for intolerance

next time US Christian fundies will use that to ask for excuses for criticism of religion

HOW CAN YOU BE SO BLIND ?

[uppityperson]

2. for example, here's link Progressive Muslims Support Cartoons:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x319090
Fundamentalists are the problem, of whatever religion or sect.

[Erika]

4. Do you know of any Muslim cartoons that mock Christ?

We're talking about religious respect.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. No.

But know plenty of Muslim cartoons that mock Jews. I don't ever recall seeing any editor or head of state apologizing for them. Nor do I recall calls for violent attacks on those countries because of said cartoons.

Anti-Semitism in the Arab World Do check out the "cartoon of the week."

[Erika]

12. Mohammed was a prophet to Allah

As Christ was perceived to be the prophet of God to both the Jews and Arabs. I will ask again if the Jews or Arabs ran cartoons mocking Christ.

[Behind the Aegis]

14. I thought...

"We're talking about religious respect."

And, which Jews perceive Jesus as a prophet of G-d? Here is a list of Jewish prophets

However, the Muslims do regard Jesus as a prophet.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lithos]

10. Fixing original post

Which was to the image and thus in violation of I/P. I'm reposting with a link to the page.

*********************************************8

Author: tocqueville
Body:
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http://www.iranian.com/Satire/Cartoon/2002/February/jesus.html

and it's probably not the only one

where was the Muslim outrage when the Talibans blew up the Buddhas ?


why should it be an ABSOLUTE respect for religious manifestations ? Why should religions be above crirticism ? Should Salman Rushdie had avoided to write that the devil tricked Muhammad and that his wifes were whores ?

cm'on

[Erika]

11. Making cartoons of religious prophets is its own category

The Jews and Arabs both believe Christ was a prophet of God. Mohammad was a prophet of Allah.

This is not cartoon material.

[occuserpens]

6. It is better to look like a conventional idiot

than neoconservatives' useful idiot

[tocqueville]

3. BTW the article is biased

I saw his speech on TV and he said (which the article hints) that they would do nothing about it because of the freedom of expression in Denmark. It's one thing (like Chirac said too) to say that one is sorry if sensibilities have been hurt, but it doesn't change anything to THE RIGHT of doing so...

"it's not Denmarks official stance" is hot air. Does that mean that the State of Denmark doesn't believe that Mohammed wears bombs in his turban ?

well I guess soon that some are going to quote Shakespeare...

[channa18]

5. Man....this whole thing is weird.

I fully support freedom of speech........but

I actually might be pissed off if i was a muslim and the person who i hold as my ultimate religious leader is portrayed in negative light....although different people see the cartoons in different ways.

One wonders what drove the Denmark newspaper to publish them IN ONE EDITION....almost as if they were drawing a line in the sand and almost was begging for the reaction.

Quite frankly, did the newspaper publish the cartoons and light the fuse expecting this exact result ?

Not sure you could have scripted this scenario. Will be interesting to see which way this goes.

[Tom Joad]

8. Yeah, I don't think the motives of the publishers were all that

enlightened, either. So I find myself agreeing with this post by Channa18. I think they were published more than once, also. First time in Sept. the reaction was not as bad. Now it seems they are goading the Muslims.

Many in this wealthy, affluent country go nuts when someone does something to the US flag, so it is that kind of feeling.

Muslims feel the oppression... in Palestine... in Iraq... and many other places. I mean it should be looked to in context. The west expresses its hate not only with cartoons, but with Abu Grahib, with bulldozers that demolish crops and homes in Palestine, bombs dropped on Fallujah... the list goes on and on. Real desecration of not just drawings, but real life experiences day in and day out.

[channa18]

15. Thank You for your response......

then I know you are equally outraged, as the ADL and I am ,over the relentless "despicable anti-Jewish caricatures (that) appear daily in newspapers across the Arab and Muslim world" ?

And in that same vein I would also imagine that you are equally outraged over the unabated,unremitting ME TV and radio that depicts jews (note: not even hiding their feelings by using the word israelis) as "pigs and monkeys" and that "the zionist entity" should be eliminated because they are less than human?

[DaveinMD]

13. ludicrous

the world needs to stand up to extremists in all religions who deem to tell us what we can't write, draw, say and think. Freedom of speech and of the press depends on it. This is the same as the conservative christians getting nbc to cancel the book of daniel.

[channa18]

16. Danish cartoonists fear for their lives

TWELVE Danish cartoonists whose pictures sparked such outcry have gone into hiding under round-the-clock protection, fearing for their lives.

The cartoonists, many of whom had reservations about the pictures, have been shocked by how the affair has escalated into a global “clash of civilisations”. They have since tried, unsuccessfully, to stop them being reprinted.

A spokesman for the cartoonists said: “They are in hiding around Denmark. Some of them are really, really scared. They don’t want to see the pictures reprinted all over the world. We couldn’t stop it. We tried, but we couldn’t.”

Mogens Blicher Bjerregaard, president of the Danish Union of Journalists, told The Times: “They are keeping a very low profile. They are very concerned about their safety. They feel a big responsibility on their shoulders. It’s blown up so big. It is tough for them.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2024306,00.html
................................................................

"Concerned" ??.....I'll bet.

[channa18]

17. Call for holy war at London demo

MUSLIM protesters threatened more terrorist attacks as they converged in their hundreds outside the Danish Embassy in London yesterday for what organisers said was the start of a new holy war in Britain.
Parading banners that called for the killing of newspaper editors and broadcasters from the BBC who showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, they marched across the capital from the mosque in Regent’s Park after Friday prayers.

There were sporadic clashes with passers-by over chants praising the four British-born suicide bombers who killed 52 passengers on three Underground trains and a London bus last July 7.

People who tried to snatch away what they regarded as offending placards were held back by police. Several members of the public tackled senior police officers guarding the protesters, demanding to know why they allowed banners that praised the “Magnificent 19” — the terrorists who hijacked the aircrafts used on September 11, 2001 — and others threatening further attacks on London.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2024304,00.html