Now there is news in the cartoon business

[esbelt]

What is that...

why have we not heard about newspapers in egypt that printet the cartoons back in 2005

http://egyptiansandmonkey.blogspot.com/2006/02/boycott-egypt.html

[rpannier]

1. Thanks for the info

I live in Korea and I remember a report on one of the drawings by Asia-Pacific over the Mohammad book last fall.

[tocqueville]

2. thank you very much for that post

it shows with all accuracy that the theory of the "racist neocon Danish plot" is nonsense.

it was my first reaction when I read that the rioting started in.... Syria. Of all places. In secular Baathist, Saddam-like Syria ? a new awakening ? come on

check some background here

http://www.outpost911.com/

it shows that even worse cartoons were circulating before and nobody was making a big deal about it...

[allemand]

4. "Islam on rise in Syria 25 years after revolt crushed"

January 31, 2006

DAMASCUS -- Nearly 25 years after a Muslim Brotherhood uprising was crushed, Syria is witnessing the return of Islam inspired by political triumphs such as that of Hamas by Islamists in several Arab states.

A growing number of young Syrians have been attending weekly Muslim prayers in mosques, and more and more women are taking private lessons to study the Koran and wearing the veil on the streets.

"Almost 30 percent of Syrian men are taking part in Friday prayers in the 9,000 mosques of Syria," said Islamist MP Mohammed Habash who heads the Islamic Studies Center in Damascus.

"We are witnessing a religious awakening that will bring back Islamic values," he said.

http://metimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060131-053150-1617r

It's easy to be prejudiced...

[tocqueville]

5. yep, but they cannot do anything without Hassad's permission

That Syria is using the Hamas is nothing new. But letting them do as they want is another story.

"We are witnessing a religious awakening that will bring back Islamic values," he said.

Do you think the Baathists are going to look away ? I don't think so

[allemand]

6. That they allowed the demonstration does not necessarily mean that they

expected or condoned the violence. The religious authorities who had called for the demonstration certainly did not expect it, yet youth unemployment in Syria is high, Islam is on the rise and some may simply have used the occasion to "let off steam". It took some time for the police to react, but then they prevented the demonstrators from attacking the French embassy.

The events in Beirut were very similar. The (anti-Syrian) government also did not foresee that a demonstration organized by pro-government Sunni clergy would turn violent (most of the people that were arrested belong to radical Sunni Islamist groups).

Juan Cole also thinks that Syria had nothing to gain from the violence:
"It is being alleged that the Baath regime was behind the burning of the Danish embassy in Damascus, on the grounds that it could not have happened unless the police state allowed it. But things have gotten out of hand before in Syria, sometimes on a large scale. It is likely that the regime allowed the initial demonstration, which radical Sunni Muslims took advantage of to torch the embassy. The Syrian regime hates radical Islam and doesn't like disorder, either. We cannot assume that the embassy burning was directed by the Syrian state. There is no evidence for it, and it actually doesn't make any sense. What would Bashar have to gain from that?"
http://www.juancole.com/2006/02/condaleeza-rice-is-liar-blames-syria.html

[Solo_in_MD]

8. This entire flap is astroturffing

I take is my the mullahs, though others blame *.

[BushOut06]

3. Wow - the hypocrisy is amazing

Did not know that they appeared in an ARABIC newspaper also, without incident!

[MadHound]

7. Ah, but the question is what under what context were they printed?

Were they printed for informational purposes, as has been done worldwide? Or were they printed to provoke a response, as was the intent of Jyllands-Posten? I would wager a lot of money on the former rather than the latter, especially since the cartoons were already published last Sept, and were making the rounds of the Arab world.

It is an open secret in Danish journalistic circles that Jyllands-Posten was indeed trying to get a reaction. The whole excuse that this was an exercise of free speech, due to the difficulties of a "children's book" in coming up with an artist to depict Mohammed is bogus. Shortly after the cartoons were initially published, this "children's book" was indeed published, with depictions of Mohammed included, and it turns out that the books was little more than a freeper screed, inciting hate and distrust.

In addition, this same paper Jyllands-Posten refused to print some anti-Christian cartoons three years ago. And while the man who started this whole mess, the cultural editor at Jyllands-Posten was perfectly willing to run some anti-Semetic and anti-Christian cartoons this coming Sunday, his boss nixed the idea, stating that it would be too provacative. Talk about double standards:eyes:

We're getting a one-sided view of matters from our MSM. I listened to a very balanced, even-handed discussion of this issue on a local radio station show called Global Journalist. Give it a listen, it is quite enlightening. <http://www.globaljournalist.org/radio/2006/2006-02-09.html>

[esbelt]

9. still

The fact that the cartoons was in the egypt paper compared with the fact of riots of all other papers today, you most agree that something is not right. I personal think that we "DK" are in a hostage-situation in much bigger dilemma :

1.Jyllands-posten (of any reason you think) printed the cartoons in sept 2005
2.In end dec. a group of muslim Imams went on a tour in the muslim world to bring the "news"
3.Many of the pictures that was brought on this tour, was not the mentioned cartoons!
4.Riots (that you have not seen in any other muslim-conflict situations (like the story of soldiers flushing the Koran in toilets))
suddenly was almost declaring war on DK.
5.the regimes of this Riots is dictatorships that you would expect could control a riot (seen in the past with guns!)

My conclusion!

1. yes JP are ma-by wrong (they are not on the far left-wing here in DK
2. the frustration in the muslim world regarding US, GB, Israel... the muslim world have long been waiting for a chance to make solid demonstrations but have been (governments, not the people in the streets) afraid of those BIG nations. So here is a small non-worring allied of this big nations, and this small nation (DK) gave the regimes the "legal" reason to go berserk.

[MadHound]

10. As I stated before, it is a matter of context.

Jyllands-Posten deliberately printed those cartoons to get a reaction. I think that they got more than they bargained for. The fact that they have in the past, and in the present, refused to print anti-Semetic and anti-Christian cartoons due to offending the sensebilities of their readers shows to me that they are aware of the potential such misogynistic religious portrayals carried, yet they felt free to insult a religious group that is out of favor in many countries, including their own.

The papers that carried it throughout the world did so in an informational context, not an insulting one. You cannot very well tell the story of an offensive cartoon without showing the drawing in question. Thus these ME papers felt they had to print the cartoons in order to get out the full story. Their readership is intelligent and discriminating, and realized that while the Danish paper was printing them as an insult to Muslims, the ME papers were printing them as part of a story, trying to convey the needed information.

I also realize that many conservative Muslims, in Iran, Syria and elsewhere are using this as a means of hammering the West in the culture wars. They are inflaming matters out of proportion, and they need to stop. Protesting in the streets, both in their own country and around the world is acceptable. Violence and death aren't, but sadly that sort of lacking has been and is commonplace the world over, both in the ME and in the West. Oh, by the by, Muslims did violently protest the desecration of the Koran at Gitmo, here's a link<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4535491.stm>

I think that it is rather disingenous of the Danes to be running this up the flag pole of free speech. While one certainly has the right to be a misoginistic, racist bastard, common sense and good taste would hopefully preclude that. But sadly that doesn't appear to be the case, and thus the Danish people have to suffer the consequences. No, it isn't right that violence is taking place against their embassies etc. But hey, an economic embargo is a legit, non-violent response to the situation, and Denmark is now on the receiving end of it. Perhaps the editor of any Danish newspaper will put as much forethought into potentially offending Muslims with such BS as they put into not offending Christians and Jews. Yes, they have the right of free speech, but that right does not preclude the rights of those who are offended by such speech in responding with protests and boycotts. Yes the violence is over the top, and the vast majority of Muslims are condemning it and calling for it to end.

And I agree, part of this is being exacerbated by the Danish-US alliance in the Iraq war. Perhaps this will cause Danish leaders to think before they get themselves into another illegal, immoral war for oil with their US ally.