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Muhammad
Cartoons Spark Violent Protest |
Posted:
2.15.06
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Months of violence by Muslims around the world protesting editorial
cartoons published in European papers have highlighted the cultural
divisions between Western Democracies and Islam.
Printer-friendly versions: PDF
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The problems began in September 2005 when a Danish
newspaper published a 12-cartoon series on Muslim issues. One
of the cartoons depicted the Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban
shaped like a bomb.
In Islam, even positive depictions of Muhammad are forbidden,
but Danish Muslims were also offended by the newspaper's reasons
for publishing the series.
Unlike most political cartoons, the series was not the result
of a news event, but of what the newspaper described as a test
of self-censorship among cartoonists addressing Muslim issues.
An outcry arose among Danish Muslims.
Ambassadors from 10 predominantly Muslim nations sent a letter
to Danish Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen demanding a meeting and
urging him "to take all those responsible to task,"
but Rasmussen refused.
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Conflict
spreads from Denmark to Europe and Middle East |
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Since their concerns went unheard in Denmark, several Danish
Muslims traveled to the Middle East to seek support.
The Danish group met with representatives of 57 Muslim nations
who had gathered in Mecca, Saudi Arabia for a December summit.
The meeting's closing statement condemned the "desecration
of the image of the Holy Prophet Muhammad" and expressed
"concern at rising hatred against Islam and Muslims"
and the use of "the freedom of expression as a pretext to
defame religions." 
Then in February, European newspapers, intent on showing their
support for freedom of speech and solidarity with the Danish newspaper,
decided to re-publish the cartoons.
The move sparked violent protests throughout the Islamic world
and in Islamic communities in England and Germany.
The death toll from the outrage has reached at least 13 and many
more have been injured.
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More than
just cartoons |
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The Danish prime minister called the protests "a growing
global crisis" that is about more than just the drawings.
 Many
European countries have had difficulty integrating Muslim immigrants
into their societies and in some countries anti-immigrant tensions
are high.
France has experienced riots and Spain and Britain are still
reeling from attacks on their railway systems.
"The cartoons in themselves can't really explain the extent
of the protest and the anger that we're seeing. … Increasingly
people across the Arab and Muslim world perceive themselves to
be under a generalized assault by the United States and its allies,"
Ali Abunimah, founder of the Electronic Intifada and journalist
on Middle Eastern issues, said on the NewsHour.
He said anti-Western sentiment in the region is fed by "the
war in Iraq, U.S. support for Israel, Guantanamo, Abu Grahib …
and increasing xenophobia against Muslim communities within Europe."
Middle Eastern countries are also feeling the pressure. Islamic
groups opposed to Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf,
have led the outcry and directed anger over the cartoons into
denunciations of Musharraff's alliance with the West and President
Bush.
Many Western leaders, including Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice accuse Islamic radicals of manipulating the crowds to inflame
anti-Western sentiment and create disorder in the region.
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A call for
dialogue |
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Imam Ahmed Abu Laban, one of the Danish Muslim leaders instrumental
in raising concerns about the cartoons, said Muslims have a religious
obligation to defend the Prophet Muhammad in a democracy -- but
said that violence is not the right way to do so.
"We both believe there is something called 'holy.' Danes
say freedom of speech is holy. Muslims say Muhammad is holy. Let
us sit together and think how to reshape the necessary values
and commitment to address this dilemma," he said.
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prime ministers of traditionally Christian Spain and Muslim Turkey,
issued a joint statement calling for "respect and calm"
in an opinion piece published in the International Herald Tribune.
"In a globalized world, in which the relationships and exchanges
among different civilizations continue to multiply, and in which
a local incident may have worldwide repercussions, it is vital
that we cultivate the values of respect, tolerance and peaceful
coexistence," wrote Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister of Turkey,
and Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, prime minister of Spain.
--
Compiled by Anne Bell for NewsHour Extra
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