Post by modeski on Feb 6, 2006 2:12:18 GMT
I'm sure most of you will have seen the news reports of the recent outrage expressed by many Muslim protestors around the world over the publication last September of a cartoon of their prophet Mohammed, but here is an article about it anyway:
The cartoons in question can be found here: www.humaneventsonline.com/sarticle.php?id=12146
And here are a couple of bonus pictures from the protests:
My first reaction on seeing this was "Jesus Christ!"
. I'm truly aghast at the reaction to some cartoons. I mean, burning the Danish embassy down? Death threats? It's deeply and tragically ironic that they respond to a cartoon that may (or may not be) portraying muslims in a bad light (I would argue that that was not the point at all), by threatening to kill everyone who disagrees with them.
Is it any wonder that the vast majority of the general public now associate islam with violence? Most people put very little thought into - well, anything, and so will jump on the mainstream media's assertion that muslim=terrorist. Anyone with half a brain and even the most basic understanding of Islam can see that the rioters represent the most idiotic fundamentalist minority of muslims. It's just sad that that minority are the most vocal.
I think part of the problem stems from the fact that Islamic states haven't gone through any kind of renaissance yet, and so religion is the dominant force in all areas of life. The idea of free speech is anathema to many (see pics above), because with free speech comes freedom of thought. As we all know, independent thought is dangerous, and must be quelled.
Another aspect of this that perplexes me is why the Danish embassy was bombed. What on earth did the Danish have to do with it? Well, nothing obviously, but to a country where the government/religious leaders control the press, I suppose the idea that a newspaper could publish something without government sanction doesn't even cross their minds.
So, TK, what do you think?
If I disagree with what you say, then I will kill you, your family, and bomb the embassy of the country that you happen to reside in.
Annan Calls for Calm as Cartoons Spark Protests in Middle East
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called on Muslims to refrain from violence after protests in Lebanon, Syria and other Islamic nations over cartoons of the prophet Mohammad published in a newspaper in Denmark.
Crowds yesterday set fire to the Danish consulate in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, a day after the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Syria's capital, Damascus, were attacked. Protests have taken place in recent days in countries including Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population.
``Such resentment cannot justify violence, least of all when directed at people who have no responsibility for, or control over the publications in question,'' Annan said yesterday in a statement on the UN's Web site.
The 12 cartoons were first published in September in Denmark's largest broadsheet, Jyllands-Posten. They were reprinted in Norway, and last week appeared in newspapers and magazines in countries such as France, Germany Switzerland, Austria and Italy, where editors said they were defending freedom of expression.
Annan said, while he shared the distress felt by many at the publication of the cartoons, he is ``alarmed by the threats and violence, including the attacks on embassies that have occurred in Syria and Lebanon and other countries.''
Carsten Juste, editor-in-chief at Aarhus, Denmark-based Jyllands-Posten, apologized for offending Muslims in a statement on the newspaper's Web site Jan. 31. One of the cartoons depicts Islam's prophet Mohammad wearing a bomb in place of a turban.
Reduce Tensions
Muslims should accept the apology given by the newspaper and act in the ``true spirit of a religion famed for its values of mercy and compassion,'' Annan said in his statement, according to the UN. Governments should ``do everything they can to reduce tensions and avoid actions or statements that might increase it,'' Annan said.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference, representing 57 Muslim countries and based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in a statement yesterday described the ``regrettable and deplorable'' attacks on the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus as detrimental to the image of Islam, Agence France-Presse reported.
The Muslim Council of Britain yesterday condemned demonstrations in London in recent days in which a minority of protesters carried placards glorifying the July 7 London bombings and Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S.
Denmark's government advised its nationals to leave Lebanon after the attack on its Beirut consulate.
``This is a critical and very serious situation,'' Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said yesterday in an interview with Danmarks Radio. ``It has escalated beyond a response to the cartoons.''
In other protests yesterday, demonstrators threw eggs at police in Istanbul for preventing them reaching the Danish embassy, Turkey's NTV said. In the West Bank city of Nablus, gunmen stormed the French cultural centre, AFP reported.
Source: www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aP7AhVayLhu0&refer=europe
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan called on Muslims to refrain from violence after protests in Lebanon, Syria and other Islamic nations over cartoons of the prophet Mohammad published in a newspaper in Denmark.
Crowds yesterday set fire to the Danish consulate in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, a day after the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Syria's capital, Damascus, were attacked. Protests have taken place in recent days in countries including Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population.
``Such resentment cannot justify violence, least of all when directed at people who have no responsibility for, or control over the publications in question,'' Annan said yesterday in a statement on the UN's Web site.
The 12 cartoons were first published in September in Denmark's largest broadsheet, Jyllands-Posten. They were reprinted in Norway, and last week appeared in newspapers and magazines in countries such as France, Germany Switzerland, Austria and Italy, where editors said they were defending freedom of expression.
Annan said, while he shared the distress felt by many at the publication of the cartoons, he is ``alarmed by the threats and violence, including the attacks on embassies that have occurred in Syria and Lebanon and other countries.''
Carsten Juste, editor-in-chief at Aarhus, Denmark-based Jyllands-Posten, apologized for offending Muslims in a statement on the newspaper's Web site Jan. 31. One of the cartoons depicts Islam's prophet Mohammad wearing a bomb in place of a turban.
Reduce Tensions
Muslims should accept the apology given by the newspaper and act in the ``true spirit of a religion famed for its values of mercy and compassion,'' Annan said in his statement, according to the UN. Governments should ``do everything they can to reduce tensions and avoid actions or statements that might increase it,'' Annan said.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference, representing 57 Muslim countries and based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in a statement yesterday described the ``regrettable and deplorable'' attacks on the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus as detrimental to the image of Islam, Agence France-Presse reported.
The Muslim Council of Britain yesterday condemned demonstrations in London in recent days in which a minority of protesters carried placards glorifying the July 7 London bombings and Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S.
Denmark's government advised its nationals to leave Lebanon after the attack on its Beirut consulate.
``This is a critical and very serious situation,'' Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said yesterday in an interview with Danmarks Radio. ``It has escalated beyond a response to the cartoons.''
In other protests yesterday, demonstrators threw eggs at police in Istanbul for preventing them reaching the Danish embassy, Turkey's NTV said. In the West Bank city of Nablus, gunmen stormed the French cultural centre, AFP reported.
Source: www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aP7AhVayLhu0&refer=europe
The cartoons in question can be found here: www.humaneventsonline.com/sarticle.php?id=12146
And here are a couple of bonus pictures from the protests:
My first reaction on seeing this was "Jesus Christ!"
. I'm truly aghast at the reaction to some cartoons. I mean, burning the Danish embassy down? Death threats? It's deeply and tragically ironic that they respond to a cartoon that may (or may not be) portraying muslims in a bad light (I would argue that that was not the point at all), by threatening to kill everyone who disagrees with them.Is it any wonder that the vast majority of the general public now associate islam with violence? Most people put very little thought into - well, anything, and so will jump on the mainstream media's assertion that muslim=terrorist. Anyone with half a brain and even the most basic understanding of Islam can see that the rioters represent the most idiotic fundamentalist minority of muslims. It's just sad that that minority are the most vocal.
I think part of the problem stems from the fact that Islamic states haven't gone through any kind of renaissance yet, and so religion is the dominant force in all areas of life. The idea of free speech is anathema to many (see pics above), because with free speech comes freedom of thought. As we all know, independent thought is dangerous, and must be quelled.
Another aspect of this that perplexes me is why the Danish embassy was bombed. What on earth did the Danish have to do with it? Well, nothing obviously, but to a country where the government/religious leaders control the press, I suppose the idea that a newspaper could publish something without government sanction doesn't even cross their minds.
So, TK, what do you think?
If I disagree with what you say, then I will kill you, your family, and bomb the embassy of the country that you happen to reside in.
