Express Controversy
Cause:
Effect:
Mohammed Cartoon Conflict Gets Even Hotter
The controversy over Danish editorial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed has widened, escalating into an armed standoff in the Gaza Strip. Now, Jordan has stepped into the fray -- in favor of the editorials.
Some twenty armed Palestinian scaled the walls of the EU offices in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, amid growing unrest after cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed were published in several European countries.
Among the 12 caricatures, one shows Mohammed with a bomb-shaped turban; another depicts him as a wild-eyed, knife-wielding Bedouin flanked by two women shrouded in black. In Islam, depicting the Prophet Mohammed is tantamount to blasphemy.
Earlier in the day, two armed groups, the Popular Resistance Committee and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, had threatened to harm Danes, French and Norwegians in the Palestinian territories after newspapers in France and Norway opted to reprint the Danish cartoons.
"Every Norwegian, Dane and Frenchman in our country is a target," said the Popular Resistance Committee and the radical Al-Aqsa brigades. If the three countries in question don't shut down their offices and consulates in the Palestinian territories, "we won't hesitate to destroy them."
Call for apology
The militants at the EU offices scrawled the words "Closed Until Further Notice" on the front door of building in Gaza City, which had not even opened for business on Thursday for fear of violence.
The gunmen, from the militant group Islamic Jihad and an armed faction of Fatah known as the Yasser Arafat brigade, fired into the air as they climbed the surrounding walls of the EU compound.
They called for an apology within 48 hours for the cartoons, which were first published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in late September, unleashing a controversy that has grown steadily in recent days.
Jordan makes the leap
Meanwhile, a Jordanian gossip tabloid on defiantly published three of the cartoons that have triggered outrage in the Arab and Muslim world.
"Muslims of the world, be reasonable," said the editor-in-chief of the weekly independent newspaper Al-Shihan in an editorial alongside the cartoons, including the one showing the Muslim religion's founder wearing a bomb-shaped turban.
"What brings more prejudice against Islam, these caricatures or pictures of a hostage-taker slashing the throat of his victim in front of the cameras or a suicide bomber who blows himself up during a wedding ceremony in Amman?" wrote Jihad Momani.
He told the AFP news service he decided to publish the offending cartoons "so people know what they are protesting about... People are attacking drawings that they have not even seen."
France, Germany, Spain also publish
To date, the Danish government has refused to apologize. While it says the views expressed by the newspaper did not reflect its own, it has consistently insisted on defending the right to freedom of expression.
So far, newspapers in France, Germany and Spain as well as Norway have reprinted the caricatures -- some in solidarity with the Danish publication on the issue of press freedom, and some as an "illustration" of articles about the issue.
In addition to heating up the ongoing diplomatic crisis, with ambassadors being recalled and threats issued, Denmark's foreign minister has said the European newspapers' actions threaten to worsen the Muslim world's ongoing boycott against Denmark, which that the images unleashed.
"One can expect that the boycott will spread further. There are still countries that have not held their Friday prayer sessions about this question, and now countries like France, Germany and Austria have published the drawings," Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller told the Boersen financial daily.
"This could heat things up further," he added.
According to Boersen, Moeller is especially worried that Algeria, which along with Morocco annually buys about one billion $162 million (134 million euros) in Danish exports, will join the boycott.
"Since France-Soir has also published the 12 drawings there is now suddenly an audience on the other side of the Mediterranean, which so far has remained calm, that could suddenly react," Moeller told the paper.
Jyllands-Posten editor-in-chief Carsten Juste meanwhile said that he was thrilled at the "solidarity" shown by the European newspapers that published the drawings.
The editor-in-chief of Paris newspaper France-Soir, Jacques Lefranc, was fired by the newspaper's Egyptian owner, Raymond Lakah, after he published the Mohammed cartoons. No reason was given for the decision to fire him, according to members of the staff.
DW staff/AFP
Deutsche Welle, Germany
Effect:
Mohammed Cartoon Conflict Gets Even Hotter
The controversy over Danish editorial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed has widened, escalating into an armed standoff in the Gaza Strip. Now, Jordan has stepped into the fray -- in favor of the editorials.
Some twenty armed Palestinian scaled the walls of the EU offices in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, amid growing unrest after cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed were published in several European countries.
Among the 12 caricatures, one shows Mohammed with a bomb-shaped turban; another depicts him as a wild-eyed, knife-wielding Bedouin flanked by two women shrouded in black. In Islam, depicting the Prophet Mohammed is tantamount to blasphemy.
Earlier in the day, two armed groups, the Popular Resistance Committee and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, had threatened to harm Danes, French and Norwegians in the Palestinian territories after newspapers in France and Norway opted to reprint the Danish cartoons.
"Every Norwegian, Dane and Frenchman in our country is a target," said the Popular Resistance Committee and the radical Al-Aqsa brigades. If the three countries in question don't shut down their offices and consulates in the Palestinian territories, "we won't hesitate to destroy them."
Call for apology
The militants at the EU offices scrawled the words "Closed Until Further Notice" on the front door of building in Gaza City, which had not even opened for business on Thursday for fear of violence.
The gunmen, from the militant group Islamic Jihad and an armed faction of Fatah known as the Yasser Arafat brigade, fired into the air as they climbed the surrounding walls of the EU compound.
They called for an apology within 48 hours for the cartoons, which were first published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in late September, unleashing a controversy that has grown steadily in recent days.
Jordan makes the leap
Meanwhile, a Jordanian gossip tabloid on defiantly published three of the cartoons that have triggered outrage in the Arab and Muslim world.
"Muslims of the world, be reasonable," said the editor-in-chief of the weekly independent newspaper Al-Shihan in an editorial alongside the cartoons, including the one showing the Muslim religion's founder wearing a bomb-shaped turban.
"What brings more prejudice against Islam, these caricatures or pictures of a hostage-taker slashing the throat of his victim in front of the cameras or a suicide bomber who blows himself up during a wedding ceremony in Amman?" wrote Jihad Momani.
He told the AFP news service he decided to publish the offending cartoons "so people know what they are protesting about... People are attacking drawings that they have not even seen."
France, Germany, Spain also publish
To date, the Danish government has refused to apologize. While it says the views expressed by the newspaper did not reflect its own, it has consistently insisted on defending the right to freedom of expression.
So far, newspapers in France, Germany and Spain as well as Norway have reprinted the caricatures -- some in solidarity with the Danish publication on the issue of press freedom, and some as an "illustration" of articles about the issue.
In addition to heating up the ongoing diplomatic crisis, with ambassadors being recalled and threats issued, Denmark's foreign minister has said the European newspapers' actions threaten to worsen the Muslim world's ongoing boycott against Denmark, which that the images unleashed.
"One can expect that the boycott will spread further. There are still countries that have not held their Friday prayer sessions about this question, and now countries like France, Germany and Austria have published the drawings," Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller told the Boersen financial daily.
"This could heat things up further," he added.
According to Boersen, Moeller is especially worried that Algeria, which along with Morocco annually buys about one billion $162 million (134 million euros) in Danish exports, will join the boycott.
"Since France-Soir has also published the 12 drawings there is now suddenly an audience on the other side of the Mediterranean, which so far has remained calm, that could suddenly react," Moeller told the paper.
Jyllands-Posten editor-in-chief Carsten Juste meanwhile said that he was thrilled at the "solidarity" shown by the European newspapers that published the drawings.
The editor-in-chief of Paris newspaper France-Soir, Jacques Lefranc, was fired by the newspaper's Egyptian owner, Raymond Lakah, after he published the Mohammed cartoons. No reason was given for the decision to fire him, according to members of the staff.
DW staff/AFP
Deutsche Welle, Germany
posted by Kelvin Lim at 11:36 pm
8 Comments:
Kelvin, I hope you will take down the pictures which has sparked the rage of many muslims around the world. You are really treading on very sensitive grounds. Even the Singapore media did not publish the pics out of respect for the Muslim community. I understand your neutral stand on the issue, and you are merely expressing your freedom of speech. As a Muslim i must say it's blasphemous to have these cartoons depicting a prophet. What more to make fun of him? Especially with the very offensive tag lines. It's like making a cartoon of the Pope with very offensive joke tag lines. I hope you'll understand being a Christian yourself.
Personally, I think freedom of speech retrogresses to nihility when it is being hijacked for such incendiary contents.
And yes, the cartoons are both blasphemous and derogative not only to Muslims, but innumerable people affected by it.
I actually wanted to protray the flagant tactlessness of the Danish cartoonist; and that to every feckless action, grave consequences follow.
Oh, and on a side note, the Singapore Media is probably one of the last in the world to be labelled as free press.
So duh... Of course Singapore won't publish it.
Freedom of speech? It's a Holy Grail all desires but none deserves.
Well... Kelvin did not exactly accompany the pictures with blasphemous comments... And it would be quite impossible to grasp the point he is trying to bring across without the pictures that started it all... So, in a contextual basis, I think it's still ok. Be it cartoon of the pope or cartoon of the prophet.
An article in the Straits Times recently mentioned that Christians and Catholics are becoming more open-minded about religion. Look at how many times Jesus is parodied. And the Pope is probably R Catholic so I don't supposed that Christians are seriously affected.
However, there are still Christians/Catholics who are very much strict about this.
This becomes more sensitive with the Jews and the Muslims since the latter is not supposed to portray the Prophet or God.
I supposed in the case of Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions that originated from Asia, being the Asians that we are, we are more reverent and less expressive in commenting anything else about our religious figures other than their almighty work.
Read last week's papers to understand the changes in the mindsets of the Westerners and some of the religious controversies that have occurred over the years.
Making use of my newfound sociological imagination, I believe encroaching into one's values, mores and belief is inevitable from time to time.
What is more important is the actions that follow from the reactions as observed from the belated apologies from the Danish press.
Ja.. und ich kann uberhaupt einfach sehen, dass du total Quatsch sprichst. schlimm..
BLASPHEMY! I only hope that this site falls into the eyes of muslims worldwide. Then you will feel the wrath of angry muslims. I am a non-muslim and I for once bliv that this site should not be insensitive and post such cartoons, whatever your agenda is. I hope your singapore government will take action, or i will send an email to them myself.
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