Main focus of Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Controversy over the caricatures of Muhammad

Denmark is facing a backlash across the Muslim world over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad - something banned by Islam - in a Danish newspaper. Some Muslims are boycotting Danish goods and calling for diplomatic sanctions, while Denmark is advising its citizens against non-essential travel to certain Muslim countries. The controversy has left Europe questioning its perceptions of Islam.

Jyllands-Posten - Denmark

The Danish paper "Jyllands-Posten" had long defended its publication of the Mohammed cartoons with reference to freedom of expression. Now the paper's editor-in-chief, Carsten Juste, has published an open letter addressed to Muslims all over the world in which he apologises for the cartoons' impact: "Serious misinterpretations of a series of drawings of the prophet Mohammed have recently led to a lot of anger and the boycotting of Danish products in the Muslim world. Perhaps owing to cultural differences, the act of publishing these 12 cartoons has been interpreted as a campaign against Muslims in Denmark and the rest of the world. I categorically deny these accusations. We have no intention of offending people because of their beliefs. If we have done so, it was unintentional. Jyllands-Posten disassociates itself from any kind of symbolic act aimed at demonising certain nationalities, religions or population groups." (30/01/2006)

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Dagens Nyheter - Sweden

Henrik Berggren says Jyllands-Posten's apology comes too late, and is only half-hearted. "In the big picture of things, the EU states are now called on to show solidarity with Denmark. Not with the 'Jyllands-Posten' cartoons, which Bill Clinton quite rightly compared with 1930s anti-Semitic pictures, but against countries which make no distinction between state power and free civil society. The stance adopted by Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is perfectly understandable. To discuss things that have been published in Danish newspapers with official representatives from other states would be an indirect attack on freedom of the press and freedom of expression. At the same time, one of the main purposes of diplomacy is to discuss issues with representative of regimes with whom one disagrees. The internal criticism of the Danish government's chaotic behaviour also shows it should have more actively sought dialogue, without compromising its basic position in this issue." (31/01/2006)

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Libération - France

Gilles Kepel, a professor at the Institute of Political Sciences in Paris and a specialist in the Muslim world, says in an interview led by Marc Semo that "the notion of blasphemy remains an extremely sensitive one in a Muslim world that lives with the feeling of being under siege and that Islam is a religion under threat - even though many preachers and imams go around asserting that it is going to conquer the world. ... It is understandable that believers should consider themselves appalled by a drawing depicting the founder of their religion as a terrorist. While certain terrorists are islamists, that in no way means that all Muslims are." (31/01/2006)

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All available articles from » Gilles Kepel

Le Soir - Belgium

"If an evil genie had been looking to ignite a firestorm in the 'clash of civilisations', he could not have found a better way of doing so," Jurek Kuczkiewicz observes in an editorial. "The confrontation of various beliefs and convictions with freedom of expression is not always easy to weather. The confrontation with caricature - by its very nature excessive, if not unjust - is even less so. ... It is at once revealing and distressing that this whole affair of the 'Muhammad drawings' has occurred in Europe. That is, in the part of the world where freedom of expression remains least burdened by the 'politically correct', but where cultural and racial diversity have raised tolerance to the status of...religion. The demand for tolerance, however, cannot limit the ideal of freedom to the level of the least tolerant among us. Whatever their faith." (31/01/2006)

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All available articles from » Jurek Kuczkiewicz

taz - Germany

Reinhard Wolff describes the publication of the Mohammed cartoons by the newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" as an act of "calculated provocation". "Over the past few years Denmark has gained a reputation as a country with policies overtly hostile to foreigners. This policy has left its mark not only in politics and law, but also in the public discourse. Leading Danish politicians can refer to entire groups of immigrants as second-class citizens and liken Islam to the plague without triggering major protests." Wolff nonetheless complains that the reactions of the Muslim world have been so predictable. "This reaction leaves the West no alternative but to defend the freedom of the press – even if it's a difficult task considering the unappetising nature of the cartoons." (31/01/2006)

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All available articles from » Reinhard Wolff

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