Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

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The controversial cartoons of Muhammad, first published in Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.

The Muhammad Drawings are twelve editorial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad which were printed in the Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005 (and later in the Norwegian Christian newspaper Magazinet on January 10th 2006, the German newspaper Die Welt, the French daily France Soir, and many other European newspapers). The drawings, which include a depiction of Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, are satirical illustrations accompanying an article on self-censorship and freedom of speech. Jyllands-Posten commissioned and published the cartoons in response to the inability of Danish writer Kåre Bluitgen to find artists to illustrate his children's book about Muhammad, for fear of violent attacks by extremist Muslims. Islamic teachings forbid the depiction of Muhammad as a measure against idolatry (see aniconism).

Although Jyllands-Posten maintains that the drawings were an exercise in free speech, many Muslims in Denmark and elsewhere view them as provocative and racist. Two newspaper cartoonists have reportedly gone into hiding after receiving death threats, and the newspaper has enhanced its security precautions. The foreign ministries of eleven Islamic countries demanded action from the Danish government, and Libya eventually closed its embassy in Denmark in protest after the government refused to censure the newspaper or apologise. The Danish prime minister said, "The government refuses to apologise because the government does not control the media or a newspaper outlet; that would be in violation of the freedom of speech". A large and successful consumer boycott was organised in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and elsewhere in the Middle East, leading to redundancies at Danish companies. Recently the foreign ministers of seventeen Islamic countries renewed calls for the Danish government to punish those responsible for the cartoons, and to ensure that such cartoons are not published again. International Islamic organisations have demanded that the United Nations hold sanctions against Denmark.

Background

Debate about self-censorship

On 17 September 2005, the Danish newspaper Politiken ran an article under the headline "Dyb angst for kritik af islam" ("Deep fear of criticism of Islam"). The article discussed the difficulty encountered by the writer Kåre Bluitgen, who was initially unable to find an illustrator who was prepared to work with Bluitgen on his book "Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv" ("The Qur'an and the prophet Muhammad's life"). Three artists declined Bluitgen's proposal before an artist agreed to assist anonymously. According to Bluitgen:

One [artist declined], with reference to the murder in Amsterdam of the film director Theo van Gogh, while another [declined, citing the attack on] the lecturer at the Carsten Niebuhr Institute in Copenhagen. [In October 2004, a lecturer was assaulted by five assailants who opposed the lecturer's reading of the Qur'an to non-Muslims during a lecture at the Niebuhr institute at the University of Copenhagen ].

The refusal of the first three artists to participate was seen as evidence of self-censorship and led to much debate in Denmark, with other examples for similar reasons soon emerging. The comedian Frank Hvam declared that he did not dare satirise the Qur'an on television, while the translators of an essay collection critical of Islam also wished to remain anonymous due to concerns about violent reaction.

Publication of the drawings

On 30 September 2005, the daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten ("Jutland Post") published an article titled "Muhammeds ansigt" ("Muhammad's face"). The article consisted of 12 satirical drawings of Muhammad and an explanatory text, in which Flemming Rose, Jyllands-Posten's culture editor, commented:

The modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings. It is incompatible with temporal democracy and freedom of speech, where you must be ready to put up with insults, mockery and ridicule. It is certainly not always equally attractive and nice to look at, and it does not mean that religious feelings should be made fun of at any price, but that is less important in this context. [...] we are on our way to a slippery slope where no-one can tell how the self-censorship will end. That is why Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten has invited members of the Danish editorial cartoonists union to draw Muhammad as they see him. [...]"

The twelve drawings were drawn by twelve different caricaturists, after an invitation from Jyllands-Posten for around forty different artists to give their interpretation on how Muhammad may have looked. Each of the twelve drawings portrays Muhammad in a different fashion. In the clockwise direction:

• The face of Muhammad as a part of the Islamic star and crescent symbol, his right eye the star.
• The most controversial drawing shows Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, with a lit fuse and the Islamic creed written on the bomb.
• Muhammad standing with a halo resembling a crescent moon, also having the shape of two horns.
• An abstract drawing of crescent moons and Stars of David, and a poem on oppression of women "Profet! Med kuk og knald i låget som holder kvinder under åget!". In English the poem goes in the lines of: "Prophet! daft and dumb, keeping woman under thumb"
• Muhammad as a wanderer, with a donkey.
• One shows a nervous caricaturist, shakingly drawing Muhammad while looking over his shoulder.
• Two angry Muslims charge forward with sabres and bombs, while Muhammad addresses them with: "Rolig, venner, når alt kommer til alt er det jo bare en tegning lavet af en vantro sønderjyde" (loosely, "Relax guys, it's just a drawing made by some infidel South Jutlander"). A South Jutlander is a person from South Jutland; the reference is to a common Danish expression for a person from the middle of nowhere, which is how many Danes regard South Jutland.
• An Oriental looking boy in front of a blackboard, pointing to the Farsi chalkings, which translate into "the editorial team of Jyllands-Posten is a bunch of reactionary provocateurs". The boy is labelled "Mohammed, Valby school, 7.A", implying that this Muhammed is a Danish second-generation immigrant rather than the man Muslims believe was a prophet. On his shirt is written "Fremtiden" (the future). According to the editor of Jyllands Posten, he didn't know what was written on the blackboard before it was published.
• Another drawing shows Muhammad with a knife and a black bar over his eyes. He is flanked by two women in burqas.
• Muhammad standing on a cloud, greeting dead suicide bombers with "Stop Stop vi er løbet tør for Jomfruer!" ("Stop, stop, we ran out of virgins!"), an allusion to the promised reward to martyrs.
• Another shows Kåre Bluitgen, wearing a turban with the proverbial orange dropping, with the inscription "Publicity stunt". An "orange in the turban" is a Danish proverb meaning "a stroke of luck." In his hand is a stick drawing of Muhammad.

And in the center:

• A police line-up of seven people, with the witness saying: "Hm... jeg kan ikke lige genkende ham" ("Hm... I can't really recognise him"). Not all people in the line-up are immediately identifiable. They are: 1) Imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen 2) Politician Pia Kjærsgaard 3) Possible Jesus 4) Possible Buddha 5) Possible Muhammad 6) Imam Fatih Alev 7) Journalist Kåre Bluitgen, carrying a sign saying: "Kåres PR, ring og få et tilbud" ("Kåre's public relations, call and get an offer")

Not all of these drawings were wholly new, according to the chief editor of Jyllands Posten; one or more had already been published in the newspaper at earlier dates without drawing major criticism.

Islamic Tradition

Main article: Aniconism

Islamic tradition bans any depiction of the prophets either in drawing or statues, even respectful ones, out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry, and thus worshipping of Muhammad instead of the One God.

However, some Muslims do not subscribe to this and several representations of Muhammad in Islamic art do in fact exist, although some Islamic depictions of Muhammad from the front did not include his face.

In modern times however more and more controversial depictions have started to be distributed as a consequence of the ease of publication on the Internet.

International consequences

On 19 October 2005, eleven ambassadors from Islamic countries, including Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey sent a letter to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen requesting a meeting and asking him to distance himself from alleged "hate speech", including remarks by MP Louise Frevert, Culture Minister of Denmark Brian Mikkelsen, and the Radio Holger station. Rasmussen declined, saying that the government could not interfere with the right to free speech, but said that cases of blasphemy and discrimination could be tried before the courts .

On 29 December 2005, the Arab League criticised the Danish government for its handling of the affair. The Danish foreign minister Per Stig Møller responded, saying that the situation had been misrepresented.

In late January 2006, Saudi Arabia and Libya recalled their ambassadors for consultations - a traditional message of diplomatic displeasure - and Libya announced that it would close its embassy in Denmark . Pakistan's ambassador urged the Danish prime minister to penalise the cartoonists. In Bahrain, MPs called for an extraordinary session of parliament to discuss the cartoons, while protestors set Danish dairy products ablaze. Al Menbar MP Mohammed Khaled has demanded that Arab leaders take action: "We are stunned by the silence of the Arab leaders. They don't tolerate any criticism against them, yet allow others to insult the Prophet."

Demonstrations against the cartoons took place in several Arab countries and the flags of Denmark and Norway were burned in streets across the Middle East. The controversy produced labour strikes and protests in Pakistan, and mass demonstrations in Baghdad in Iraq. In Palestine, thousands of people participated in demonstrations and gunmen in the Gaza Strip threatened violence against any Scandinavians in the area. The European Union's Gaza offices were raided by 15 masked gunmen from the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. They demanded apologies from Denmark and Norway, but left 30 minutes later without any shots being fired or injuries caused. [1]

The Danish foreign ministry advised Danes to take care when travelling in Muslim countries. At the same time the Danish government learned that a fatwa had been declared against the Danish troops stationed in Iraq. The government is not certain what the fatwa will entail, but has heightened security for its troops.

Franco Frattini, the vice-President of the European Commission and EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom, and Security, called the publication of the twelve cartoons "thoughtless and inappropriate" in a time when European animosity towards Islam is said to be on the rise. According to Frattini, the cartoons foment hostility against Islam and foreigners:

Honestly, these kinds of drawings can add to the growing Islamophobia in Europe. I fully respect the freedom of speech, but, excuse me, one should avoid making any statement like this, which only arouses and incites to the growing radicalisation.

Speaking in Qatar, former U.S. president Bill Clinton strongly criticised the Danish cartoons, comparing historical anti-semitism in Europe with anti-Islamic feeling today: "So now what are we going to do? ... Replace the anti-Semitic prejudice with anti-Islamic prejudice?"

Boycotts

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In early January the Egyptian government threatened Denmark with a boycott of Danish products, but did not carry out its threat. However, people in Saudi Arabia called for a boycott on 2006-01-20, and carried out the boycott on Danish products starting 2006-01-26. The boycott primarily targeted dairy products produced by Arla Foods, but has also hit other products. The boycott has spread to Kuwait where the country's largest retail-chain, Coop, owned by the state, has taken all Danish products off the shelves. This has lead to the organisation of Danish industries sending an open letter to Jyllands-Posten where they state that the paper should comment on these events because they feel their members are caught in a 'battle' between religious movements and the paper.The newspaper has reacted to their letter and said that "Dictatorships should not dictate what Danish newspapers are to draw and write".

The Foreign Minister of Denmark, Per Stig Møller, stated that the boycott has not been initiated by the Saudi Arabian government. The Danish dairy-company Arla Foods launched a massive ad-campaign in Saudi Arabia, trying to improve their reputation and stop the boycott. This happened after their sales in Saudi Arabia almost came to a complete stop. The text for the ads has been written by the Danish ambassador in Saudi Arabia, Hans Klingenberg and includes passages from the Prime Minister of Denmark's New Year's speech. Arla exports account for almost 380 million Euros a year. . Arla has halted production in the Saudi capital Riyadh. Denmark is concerned about the potential loss of 11,000 jobs resulting from boycotts against Danish products in the Islamic world. [2]

In response to the boycott of Danish goods in parts of the Middle East, there have been some calls for a counter-boycott of Arab shops and products in Denmark. [3]

In the Nordic Countries

On 2006-01-10, a small Norwegian Christian right-wing magazine, Magazinet, printed the drawings after getting authorisation from Jyllands-Posten and it led to a great debate in Norway as well. A Norwegian man made a threat against the lives of the people at the magazine, but later claimed, when faced by the police, that it was just a prank. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry sent a letter to their ambassadors in the Middle East stating that one of the pillars of the Norwegian society is freedom of speech, but they expressed regret that Magazinet did not respect Muslims' beliefs. Major newspapers in Norway had printed facsimiles from Jyllands-Posten and reproduced all the caricatures in their online versions, but Magazinet reproduced them all in print. A few days earlier, the Swedish newspaper Expressen had printed two of the drawings in conjunction with an article discussing the event.

This is assumed to be the reason for actions directed at Sweden and Norway as well as Denmark. On 2006-01-30, Palestinian extremist groups demanded that all Scandinavians leave the country immediately. On 2006-01-30, an Islamic organisation, the Mujahedeen Army, called for terrorist acts against "all available targets" in Denmark and Norway. On the 2006-01-31 bomb threats were made against the newspaper's offices in Århus and Copenhagen.

On 2006-02-01, an Icelandic newspaper published six of the twelve drawings, claiming support for the freedom of speech.

On 2006-02-01 Finnish minister of foreign affairs Erkki Tuomioja commented on the issue, and said that Denmark should have acted more quickly and should have paid more attention to Muslim outrage over the offensive caricatures. Further, he said that governments may apologise, should a religious group be offended and that the whole matter is not a question of limiting free speech.

Reactions in support of Jyllands-Posten

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A web badge used by the "Buy Danish" campaign.

Various people and groups, including conservatives, neo-conservatives, anti-Islamic groups, freedom of speech proponents, anticlericalists and American weblogs have initiated a Buy Danish Goods campaign, which is intended to counter the boycott from Middle East countries.

The president of Reporters Without Borders Robert Ménard says that Morgenavisen Jyllandsposten has taught the world a thing or two about free speech and that there is nothing for which to apologise.

On 2006-02-01, French newspaper France Soir reproduced the caricatures, along with a caricature of Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish gods all sitting on a cloud. The front page read: “Oui, on a le droit de caricaturer Dieu” (Yes, one has the right to caricature God). The French government supported the right to free press, but added that it must be used "in a spirit of tolerance and with respect for beliefs and religions". The drawings were by this point published in newspapers all over Europe (see timeline). Later that day, the France Soir editor who published the cartoons was fired by the paper's Egyptian owner (see note in timeline for 2006-02-01).

Websites have started Support Denmark campaigns and online petitions, while weblogs have published their own parodies of the cartoons[4].

Dutch maverick politician Geert Wilders placed the cartoons on his website "to support the Danish cartoonists and to stand up for freedom of speech."

Opinions in Denmark

A recent poll from Epinion for Danmarks Radio, the national broadcasting company of Denmark, showed that of 579 Danes asked, 79% believe that the Prime Minister of Denmark should not apologise to the Muslims, with 48% citing that would be political interference with the freedom of press, while 44% thought the Prime Minister should try harder to resolve the controversy. 62% of those asked believed that Jyllands-Posten shouldn't apologise either, and while 58% did feel that while it was the right of Jyllands-Posten to publish the images, they could understand the Muslim criticism.

The organisation named Islamic Society in Denmark wanted the case put forward for a trial to determine whether the publication of the drawings had violated any laws, but the case was dismissed by the public prosecutor before it went to trial, because he found there was no basis for such a trial.

The question of whether the drawings should have been printed in the first place has been discussed a lot in Denmark from letters to the editors of news publications, to national television, to open debate meetings at high schools and universities. The controversy arises from several sources:

• Most Islamic traditions forbid representations of Muhammad.
• The satirical nature of the drawings was not considered respectful, especially one that shows Muhammad with a bomb in his turban and therefore suggests a link between Islam and terrorism.
• The drawings upset the Muslim community in Denmark at a time when relations between Muslims and mainstream society are strained.

The Islamic Society in Denmark has proposed that a three day celebration of Muhammad should be held in Denmark, putting a focus on Muhammad's life. They further proposed that this be coordinated in part by the Islamic Society, Jyllands-Posten, and at least some of the five universities in Denmark. This was declined by the universities, as they do not take part in religious activities.

The editor who originally approved the cartoons, Carsten Juste, later declared that the opponents of free speech had "won," because the furore would almost undoubtedly deter future editors from printing anything similar. He thought it unlikely that anyone would print a caricature of Muhammad within a generation. He also said that, had he known exactly what the consequences would be, that is death threats, boycotts and terror threats, he would not have printed the cartoons.

Rumours and misinformation

When the organisation Islamic Society in Denmark toured the Middle-East to create awareness about the cartoons, they also brought 3 additional images. The first of the three additional pictures, which are of dismal quality, shows Muhammad as a pedophile demon, the second shows Muhammed with a pig snout and the third depicts a praying Muslim being raped by a dog. On the tour, they claimed to represent 21 different Muslim organisations in Denmark, of which some of them have later denied to be involved.

Akhmad Akkari, spokesman of the Danish Muslim organisations which organised the tour, explained that the three drawings had been added to "give an insight in how hateful the atmosphere in Denmark is towards Muslims." Akkari claimed he does not know the origin of the three pictures. He said they had been sent anonymously to Danish Muslims. However, when Ekstra Bladet asked if it could talk to these Muslims, Akkari refused to reveal their identity. These images had however never been published in Jyllands-Posten. The society also allegedly exaggerated its membership and the hardships of Muslims in Denmark, for instance claiming to represent 200,000 angry Muslims, when the actual number was in fact fewer than 15,000. .

Imam Ahmad Abu Laban, the leader of the organisation Islamic Society in Denmark, has recommended not to boycott Denmark and said that he works actively to prevent boycotts against Denmark. However, at the same time he has stated in Al Jazeera that Muslims should support boycotting Denmark, which is exactly the opposite of what he said he would do. Ahmad Abu Laban has previously been declared unwanted in several Arab states, but was one of the front figures on the tour.

The organisation Islamic Society of Denmark claims to represent all Muslims in Denmark (approx. 180,000), even though the organisation is only one of many Muslim organisations there, and even though many muslims don't want to be associated with them. The only statistic known about the organisation is that 500-1000 people attend their Friday prayer gathering each week.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen was shocked at the way in which some Muslims were misrepresenting Denmark. “I am speechless that those people, whom we have given the right to live in Denmark and where they freely have chosen to stay, are now touring Arab countries and inciting antipathy towards Denmark and the Danish people".

BBC World also aired a story showing one of the three non-published images, on 2006-01-30, and wrongly claimed it had been published in Jyllands-Posten.

Other rumours of misinformation include the statement that Jyllands-Posten is a government-owned newspaper. Spokesman for the Danish delegation Muhammed al Samha and delegation member Ahmed al-Harbi in the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram quoted the following answer to the question on when they first sensed a crisis that needed a breaking of silence: "It was when Jyllands-Posten, a newspaper belonging to the ruling Danish party - an extreme right-wing party, publishing drawings and sketches of the prophet Muhammad." This caused the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to demand an apology from the Islamic Society in Denmark for spreading lies about the newspaper and the ruling party. Rumours of misinformation also include statements that Danish newspapers are running a campaign against Islam and that the Danish government is planning to publish a censored version of the Koran. (Newspapers are run by the government or censored in some Islamic countries, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran .)

Main Source:

Timeline

2005

• 30 September - The drawings are printed in Jyllands-Posten.
• 9 October - The Islamic Society in Denmark demands that Jyllands-Posten apologise to all Muslims and withdraw the drawings.
• 14 October:
  • 3500 people stage a peaceful demonstration outside JP's Copenhagen office.
  • Two of the cartoonists are advised to go into hiding after receiving death threats.
• 19 October - Eleven ambassadors request a meeting with the Prime Minister of Denmark, and want him to take legal actions against Jyllands-Posten. The Prime Minister refused to meet the ambassadors, on the grounds that he cannot take legal actions against Jyllands-Posten.
• November-December - A delegation of Imams from the Islamic Society in Denmark travel to the Middle East in order to get reactions towards the drawings.
• In November another Danish newspaper, WeekendAvisen, published another 10 satirical pictures of Muhammed.
• 7 December:
  • Labour strikes begin in Pakistan in response to the drawings.
  • Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed concern over the cartoons and said that United Nations is investigating racism of Danish cartoonists.
• 9 December - A Pakistani political party, Jamaat-e-Islami apparently offers a roughly $10,000 reward to anyone who kills one of the cartoonists.
• 19 December:
  • Twenty-two former Danish ambassadors criticise the Danish Prime Minister for not meeting with the 11 ambassadors in October.
  • The Council of Europe criticises the Danish government for invoking the “freedom of the press” in its refusal to take action against the “insulting” cartoons.

• 29 December - The Arab League criticises the Danish government for not acting in the matter.

January 2006

• 1 January - The Danish Prime Minister makes his yearly speech, emphasising that both religion and Freedom of Speech are respected in Denmark.
• 10 January - The Norwegian right-wing Christian newspaper Magazinet publishes the drawings.
• 22 January - The Brussels Journal publishes the pictures
• 26 January:
  • The Saudi Arabian people begin boycotting Danish products.
  • Saudi Arabia recalls its Ambassador.
  • The Norwegian government apologises that Magazinet published the drawings, but reiterates the government has no power over the free press.
• 28 January:
  • Danish ambassador in Saudi Arabia is interviewed by American AP-TV, where he criticises Jyllands-Posten's lack of judgement and knowledge of Islam, even though the Danish government has not spoken on the matter.
  • OIC (Organisation of Islamic conferences) states that the Danish government should immediately have condemned the drawings.
  • Wikipedia publishes the cartoons
• 29 January:
  • Libya closes its embassy in Denmark.
  • The Danish government announces that Denmark's ambassador to Saudi Arabia only expressed his own opinion in the January 28th interview with AP-TV. The government support party, Dansk Folkeparti, demands he be reprimanded.
  • The Danish ambassador in Jordan is summoned for a hearing.
  • The president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai calls the printing of the images a mistake, and hopes that this will lead to the media being more responsible and respectful in the future.
  • The Flag of Denmark is burned in Nablus and Hebron in Palestine.
  • Yemen's parliament condemns the images.
  • OIC heads to the UN with a resolution that forbids attacks on religious beliefs.
  • Bahrain condemns the images.
  • Syria also condemns the images.
  • A new denial-of-service attack on Jyllands-Posten's homepage. The first happened on January 27.
  • Ekstra Bladet reveals that a Danish Muslim association spreading the story in the Middle East, has claimed that it represents 200,000 Danish Muslims. Its actual membership number is around 15,000.
  • Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement gives Danes, Norwegians and Swedes 48 hours to leave the Gaza Strip.
  • Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades gives Danes and Swedes 72 hours to leave the area.
• 30 January:
  • Jyllands-Posten sends out an apology in both Danish and Arabic. Apologising, not for the printing of the drawings, but for hurting the feelings of Islamic society (Look below for English translation of the apology).
  • Armed Palestinians from the Fatah take over an EU office as a protest against the drawings.
  • The Prime Minister of Denmark says that he personally distances himself from the drawings, but reiterates that the government cannot intervene in what the media writes.
  • The Egyptian parliament encourages consumers to boycott Danish products
  • The European Union backs Denmark, saying that any retaliatory boycott of Danish goods would violate world trade rules.
  • The Danish Red Cross says that it will evacuate some workers in Yemen and the Gaza strip after receiving threats.
  • Jyllands-Posten sends out a second open letter, this time both in Arabic, Danish and English, trying to clear up several misunderstandings, and once again apologising for hurting the feelings of the Islamic society.
• 31 January:
  • Following a live televised interview on Al-Jazeera, it is reported that the "apology for any offence caused" made at the opening of the interview by Flemming Rose, Jyllands-Posten's cultural editor, was not translated into Arabic.
  • The Danish Muslim Association is satisfied with yesterday's apologies from Jyllands-Posten and the Prime Minister, and say they now will help improve the situation. They claim to be deeply sorry and surprised the case got this far.
  • A bomb threat against Jyllands-Posten leads to evacuation of two offices in Aarhus and Copenhagen.
  • Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades denies that the threat against Scandinavians is real.
  • The foreign ministers of seventeen Islamic nations renew demands for the Danish government to punish the authors of the cartoons and to "ensure that it doesn't happen again."
  • The Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen holds a press conference in both Danish and English in which he repeats that he urges Danes not to take any action that could worsen the situation. He urges Muslims in Denmark to take actions that can improve the situation. He also repeats that freedom of expression is a vital part of the Danish society and that the Danish government is not in a position to have any influence on what the press is printing. He states that he wants to come back to a situation of dialogue, based on the friendship that has existed for a long time between Denmark and the Muslim world. The prime minister is asked by the TV broadcaster Al Jazeera to appear in a program, but has not yet decided whether he will accept.
  • Bahrain's parliament demands an apology from Denmark's head of state, Queen Margrethe II, as well as from the government. If the demands are not met, they will urge an official boycott of Danish goods and the cutting off of oil exports of 159,000 barrels per day, in association with other GCC members. Ironically Denmark is a net exporter of oil, so increased oil prices would result in a increase revenue for the Danish government.
  • Hamas leader Adnan Asfour demands that Denmark punish the 12 artists and Jyllands-Posten.
  • Former US President Bill Clinton states that he fears anti-Semitism will be replaced with anti-Islamic prejudice and condemns “these totally outrageous cartoons against Islam”.
  • Russian president Vladimir Putin indicates in a speech in the Kremlin that the Danish political authorities are using the theme of freedom of expression to protect those who have insulted the Muslims.
  • The Icelandic newspaper DV publishes six of the twelve drawings.
  • The German newspaper die tageszeitung publishes two of the cartoons.

February 2006

• 1 February
  • The French newspaper France Soir publishes the cartoons, adding one of their own. Chief editor Jacques Lefranc is fired later the same day by Raymond Lakah, the Egyptian owner. The French Government dissociates itself from the initiative.
  • The German newspaper Die Welt publishes some of the cartoons, as do the German newspapers Tagesspiegel and Berliner Zeitung.
  • Italian La Stampa publishes the pictures.
  • Spanish El Periodico publishes the pictures
  • The Dutch papers Volkskrant, NRC Handelsblad and Elsevier publish the pictures.
  • The Danish embassy in Syria is evacuated because of a hoax bomb threat.
  • Syria recalls its ambassador from Denmark.
  • Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch political party Group Wilders and holder of Group Wilder's seat in the Dutch parliament, puts the drawings on his personal web site [5].
  • The Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs criticises the Danish government for its slow actions on the matter.
  • The Russian Orthodox Church and the Mufti Council condemned those European newspapers which republished the cartoons.
  • Chechen guerrilla leader Shamil Basayev condemns the drawings.
  • Jyllands-Posten's headquarters as well as its office in Copenhagen is again evacuated after a bomb threat.
  • An influential Muslim organization in Malaysia, the Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia, has called on the Malaysian government to protest the cartoons with the Danish government.
  • A spokesman from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry condemns the caricatures saying that freedom of expression should not be used as a pretext to insult a religion.

• 2 February
  • German newspaper DIE ZEIT publishes one of the cartoons on page 5
  • The managing editor of the French newspaper France Soir is fired a day after the publication.
  • Danish prime minister appears on the tv station Al-Arabiya. The recording was made february 1st.
  • The Jordanian newspaper al-Shihan prints the drawings

Main Sources:

Open letters from Jyllands-Posten

Two open letters have been published by Jyllands-Posten on its website, both in Danish and Arabic versions, and the second letter also in an English version. (See External links)

First letter

Honoured citizens

Allow me the opportunity to correct some misunderstandings regarding the drawings of the prophet Muhammad, which have now led to a boycott of Danish products in your country.

The drawings were published four months ago as a part of a Danish debate about freedom of speech – a right that we cherish in Denmark.

The initiative has been interpreted as a campaign against Muslims in Denmark and throughout the world. I must categorically repudiate that. It was not our intention to offend anyone's beliefs. That it happened anyway was unintended. We have apologized for that many times in the course of the last few months, both in our own newspaper, in other newspapers, on TV, in the radio and in international medias. We have at the same time carried out meetings with representatives of the Muslim society in Denmark. They have taken place in a positive and constructive spirit, just like we also seek to establish a rewarding dialogue with the Danish Muslims in other ways.

We are sorry that the affair has reached the present magnitude and we will therefore repeat that we did not have intentions of offending anyone, and that we like the rest of the Danish society respect religious liberty.

Sincerely, Carsten Juste Editor-in-chief

Second letter

Honourable Fellow Citizens of The Muslim World

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten is a strong proponent of democracy and freedom of religion. The newspaper respects the right of any human being to practise his or her religion. Serious misunderstandings in respect of some drawings of the Prophet Mohammed have led to much anger and, lately, also boycott of Danish goods in Muslim countries.

Please allow me to correct these misunderstandings.

On 30 September last year, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten published 12 different cartoonists' idea of what the Prophet Mohammed might have looked like. The initiative was taken as part of an ongoing public debate on freedom of expression, a freedom much cherished in Denmark.

In our opinion, the 12 drawings were sober. They were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologize.

Since then a number of offensive drawings have circulated in The Middle East which have never been published in Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten and which we would never have published, had they been offered to us. We would have refused to publish them on the grounds that they violated our ethical code.

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten attaches importance to upholding the highest ethical standards based upon the respect of our fundamental values. It is so much more deplorable, therefore, that these drawings were presented as if they had anything to do with Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten.

Maybe because of culturally based misunderstandings, the initiative to publish the 12 drawings has been interpreted as a campaign against Muslims in Denmark and the rest of the world.

I must categorically dismiss such an interpretation. Because of the very fact that we are strong proponents of the freedom of religion and because we respect the right of any human being to practise his or her religion, offending anybody on the grounds of their religious beliefs is unthinkable to us.

That this happened was, consequently, unintentional.

As a result of the debate that has been going on about the drawings, we have met with representatives of Danish Muslims, and these meetings were held in a positive and constructive spirit. We have also sought in other ways to initiate a fruitful dialogue with Danish Muslims.

It is the wish of Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten that various ethnic groups should live in peace and harmony with each other and that the debates and disagreements which will always exist in a dynamic society should do so in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

For that reason, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten has published many articles describing the positive aspects of integration, for example in a special supplement entitled The Contributors. It portrayed a number of Muslims who have had success in Denmark. The supplement was rewarded by the EU Commission.

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten takes exception to symbolic acts suited to demonise specific nationalities, religions and ethnic groups.

Sincerely yours

Carsten Juste

Editor-in-Chief

Comparable incidents

Islam and blasphemy

The controversy is one of several in recent years resulting from the conflict between Western ideas of free speech, and Islamic reaction to blasphemy:

• In 1989, Indian born British author Salman Rushdie was sentenced to death for blasphemy by Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini for Rushdie's depiction of Muhammad as a businessman in his novel The Satanic Verses. Khomeini offered a $3 million reward to anyone carrying out the sentence against Rushdie. Other Islamic scholars follow suit, providing similar fatwa (religious opinion). 1989, Khomeini died, making fatwa permanent to those who follow his teaching. In 1991, Hitoshi Igarashi, the book's Japanese translator was murdered in Tokyo. The book's Italian translator was beaten and stabbed in Milan. Willaim Nyggard, the Norwegian publisher was shot in 1993. 37 hotel guests perished when the mobs protesting against the Turkish translator, Aziz Nesin, torched the hotel. The post-Khomeini Iranian government, while maintaining that fatwa cannot be reversed, promised only in 1998 to dissociate itself from it. Rushdie stayed in hiding under police protection for several years. [6]

• In May 1994, a fatwa on Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin came after she was quoted in The Statesman that "... the Koran should be revised thoroughly." This follows attacks and persecution of Taslima for her 1993 book Lajja (Bangla word for 'shame')

• In November 2002, an article in the Nigerian ThisDay newspaper prior to the upcoming Miss World pageant, suggesting Muhammad would have chosen one of the contestants as his bride, sparked riots that eventually claimed over 200 lives.

• In December 2002, Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Marlette published a drawing that showed Muhammad driving a Ryder truck, with a nuclear rocket attached. He received more than 4,500 e-mails from angry Muslims, some with threats of death and mutilation.

• In 2004, Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali created the 10-minute movie Submission. The film is about violence against women in Islamic societies. It shows four abused naked women, wearing see-through dresses. Qur'anic verses unfavourable to women in Arabic are painted on their bodies. After the movie was released, both van Gogh and Hirsi Ali received death threats. Van Gogh was stabbed and shot dead on 2004-11-02, in Amsterdam by Mohammed Bouyeri. A note he left implanted in Van Gogh's chest threatened Western governments, Jews and Hirsi Ali (who went into hiding).

• In September 2005 the Tate Britain gallery decided not to display a work by John Latham entitled God Is Great #2, made ten years previously, which consisted in part of a Koran, a Bible and a Talmud that had been disassembled. The exhibition was close to the time of the 7 July 2005 London bombings which influenced the Tate's decision. (References: BBC News story, Tate press release).

Controversial newspaper caricatures

There are other incidents involving controversial caricatures in the press media:

• Many Islamic Middle Eastern newspapers have published, and continue publishing to this day, cartoons depicting Jews as rats, snakes, scorpions, or thieves, or with distorted "Jewish" features, often using classical anti-Semitic themes, or those created or inspired by Nazi propaganda, like in the weekly newspaper Der Stürmer. Some examples: On June 6, 2002, Akhbar al-Khalij from Bahrain published a cartoon showing a Jew piercing a baby with a spear. On July 24, 2002 Al Watan from Qatar published a cartoon of Sharon drinking from a cup of Palestinian children's blood. On December 17, 2001, Keyhan published a cartoon showing a Jew in front of a Holocaust scenery, killing Arabs. Almost all Israeli prime ministers in the last 15 years (Shamir, Peres, Rabin, Barak, Sharon) have been depicted as Nazis.
• On January 27, 2003, the Holocaust Memorial Day, British newspaper "The Independent" published a cartoon depicting the Israeli prime minister eating Palestinian children. The cartoon was eventually selected as the "Cartoon of the Year" by the United Kingdom's Political Cartoon Society. Another cartoon depicting Sharon eating Palestinian children was also published in the Palestinian Al Quds on May 17, 2001.
• A cartoon in Los Angeles Times, published in May 2003, shows a Jew praying at the Western Wall, where the stones are formed to read "Hate". Below the cartoon the inscription says "Worshiping their God".
• Le Monde (France) published in May, 2002, a cartoon showing the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising exactly the same as the Israeli military operations in Jenin. The text below it says: "History has a strange way of repeating itself!"
• On July 21, 2004, German daily "Süddeutsche Zeitung" published a cartoon depicting a Jew demolishing a French Café.
• Racist caricatures of African Americans have also appeared in the United States before the American Civil Rights Movement.
• During World War II, several American newspapers and major animated studios put out cartoons and films depicting the Japanese with over-exaggerated Asian features and as being untrustworthy or trickster figures, echoing the anti-Japanese racist sentiments common during the war period.

Free speech and hate speech

• In 1610 Galileo published his Starry Messenger, describing the surprising observations that he had made with the new telescope. These and other discoveries exposed major difficulties with the understanding of the heavens that had been held since antiquity, and raised new interest in radical teachings such as the heliocentric theory of Copernicus. In reaction, many maintained that the motion of the Earth and immobility of the Sun were heretical, as they contradicted some accounts given in the Bible as understood at that time. Galileo was ordered to Rome to stand trial on suspicion of heresy in 1633. The sentence of the Inquisition was in three essential parts:
  • Galileo was required to recant his heliocentric ideas, which were condemned as "formally heretical";.
  • He was ordered imprisoned; the sentence was later commuted to house arrest.
  • His offending Dialogue was banned; and in an action not announced at the trial, publication of any of his works was forbidden, including any he might write in the future.
• Larry Flynt, publisher of the pornographic magazine Hustler, was shot in 1978, permanently paralysing him from the waist down. The perpetrator stated he was outraged by an interracial photo shoot in Hustler.
• Orhan Pamuk, an internationally well-known Turkish author, was charged under Turkish law, after the author made a statement on the alleged killings of 1 million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds in Anatolia in 1915-1917. The charges were dropped on 22 January 2006.
• David Irving, a British Holocaust denier, was arrested in Austria in November 2005 for offenses related to Holocaust denial. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
• In U.K. incitement to racial hatred is an offence under the Public Order Act 1986 with a maximum sentence of up to seven years imprisonment. In Victoria, Australia, the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act 2001, prohibits conduct that incites hatred against or serious contempt for, or involves revulsion or severe ridicule of another on the grounds of his race or religious beliefs.
• A British evangelical organisation, Christian Voice led street protests against the BBC screening of Jerry Springer – The Opera, in which Jesus wearing a nappy says "I'm a bit gay". Christian Voice published the home addresses and telephone numbers of several BBC executives on their web site. This led to one of these people receiving death threats. Another organisation, the Christian Institute attempted to level old blasphemy charges against the BBC. These were rejected by the High Court.
• Law banning U.S. flag desecration has been passed several times in the U.S. Congress and various state legislature which was later all overturned in the Supreme Court. Starting in 1989, the legislatures of all 50 states have passed non-binding resolutions memorializing Congress to propose the constitutional amendment banning flag-desecration to the states for ratification. Additionally, countless local governments and civic organizations have sent non-binding petitions to Congress asking that this amendment be proposed for ratification.
• When the emperor Showa (Akihito) died, the mayor of Nagasaki, Hotoshi Motoyama, stated "I believe there is war responsiblity to the emperor". He was later shot in the chest by a Japanese ultra nationalist.

See also

• Blasphemy in Islam
• Blasphemy
• Freedom of speech
• Host desecration
• Islam and veneration for Muhammad
• Sacrilege

External links

• Face of Muhammed - Drawings of Muhammed , (the cartoons with english translation).
• Jihad Against Danish Newspaper
• We Are All Danes Now
• Mohammed Image Archive (historical depictions of Muhammad)
• The EU Commission's vice-chairman, Franco Frattini (on this issue)
• Template:Da icon The official home-page of Jyllands-Posten
• The letter to the Prime Minister from the Muslim ambassadors (PDF)
• First open letter in Arabic to the Muslims of Saudi Arabia from Jyllands-Posten (PDF)
• Second open letter to the Muslims of Saudi Arabia from Jyllands-Posten
  • In Arabic (PDF)
  • In English
• Support Denmark A pro-Denmark site
• Social Network perspective by the Complexity and Social Networks Blog at Harvard University