By Paul Belien
Tuesday, January 31, 2006Four months ago to the day, on September 30th, Jyllands-Posten published its twelve Muhammad cartoons. Over the past four months The Brussels Journal, an internet publication, has posted 19 stories about the affair, but the mainstream media (MSM) have – until today – remained conspicuously silent. In the Belgian newspapers and magazines not a single letter has been published about this important story. and when the MSM finally decide to devote some attention to the case it is amazing to see how they manage to get basic facts wrong despite having had loads of time to do their research. The australian networks SBS reported today that one of the twelve cartoons shows a pig-snouted Mohammed, while our readers know from our article of 14 January that Muslim hate mongerers had added this particular cartoon (and two others) to the original twelve because they did not deem the original cartoons offensive enough. Why do Western journalists repeat the lies of these anti-Western fanatics? Out of incompetence, or worse?
Meanwhile, one can but admire the courage of Danish Prime Minister anders Fogh Rasmussen. He is one of the very few European politicians with guts. If anyone deserves a prize for his valiant defence of freedom of speech and freedom of the press, it is certainly Mr Rasmussen. He did not give in to pressure from Muslim fanatics, nor from the appeasers at the UN, the European Commission and the Council of Europe. In the past weeks Denmark has shown that all is not yet lost in Europe. If something is rotten now it is not in Denmark.
Today conservative americans have started a "Buy Danish” campaign in support of Copenhagen's valiant stand. The Danes deserve this. The sale of Danish products in the Middle East has come to a standstill.
Meanwhile, today's raid on the EU offices in Gaza has dragged the EU into an affair it has so far generally tried to ignore. The European ministers of Foreign affairs discussed the cartoons in Brussels today and condemned threats against Danish and Swedish citizens – since they are EU citizens. "We have expressed a spirit of solidarity with our northern colleagues, as well as our belief and attachment to the freedom of press and the freedom of expression as part of our fundamental values, and the freedom of religious beliefs,” austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik said after the meeting. Her French colleague, Philippe Douste-Blazy added: "We have all declared our solidarity with the Danes.”
The EU is also considering bringing the boycott of Danish products before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) because a boycott of Danish products is also a boycott of EU products. EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson told the Saudi minister of Trade to "convey the seriousness of this issue to his government.” "any boycott of Danish goods would be seen as a boycott of European goods,” Mr Mandelson said.
Muslim consumers, however, have a right to boycott whomever they want. Similarly, Western consumers have the right to support whomever they want, and privately owned newspapers have the right to publish cartoons without government interference. If there must be a clash of civilizations and cultures, let it be over these cartoons. The Danish cartoons are as important as fighting for Danzig once was. If the West is unwilling to fight this battle, slavery will inevitably come and slavery will be what it deserves.
Postscript
We got our share of complaints again today, including this one:
In The Name Of Biggest Of Biggests! In The Name Of GOD That Every Power in the world In against His Power Is Not value.
Hi, I am a Muslim. I am in iran. I see pictures from below link. i was very offending with this pictures. this pictures was very bad. your comment is your personal idea and is not acceptable for Me but is respectfull in free idea worlds. but uploading pictures is not true to be in public view untill peoples laugh to muslims. the Free Idea in World Is to this mean that we speak to others and we reach to a idea, Not that every one offend to others without every dialog, why we do not offend to other Prophet? Because 2 others Prophets is acceptable in our idea; whole of two is sended By God.
i didnt know you but you with republishing pictures in other site again offended muslims as me. just want you remove this pictures unless your comments and others. i am waiting for your action. we dont know tell you in what case that this things is very very respectfull for muslims.
for your information i should tell that we say hello to name of our Prophet 10 time in every day atleast, i say this because of value of respect to our Prophet. with this description this reaction by muslim is nature.
Bye.
What can one reply to this except that people who do not want to see these cartoons, because they are offended by them, should not look at them. Do we need to issue a warning to visitors: You must be a non-Muslim to enter this site?
We also got this from an Egyptian colleague:
Dear sir
I've read your article on the Danish Cartoons ridiculing Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and saw the cartoons on your paper. as an Egyptian Muslim who is a news editor, I must say that though the area of freedom of expression which was mixed here with the respect Islam's Prophet enjoys among some 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide – though this area is a blurry one, I still do not understand how we could fail to see the facts surrounding the whole issue! While, as a reporter and a news editor, I stand firmly with freedom of expression, but I will sure be selective in choosing my words while on TV (not using offensive language I may use while among friends). Can't the same be applied to the cartoons' issue?! I mean offending 1.3 billion people (whether intended or not) sure demands an apology from the offender, do not you agree?! Goes without saying that I categorically reject death threats against the editors or the paper. and I also believe republishing the cartoons by other papers and media outlets is not the right way to reject demands by radicals. Why do not we just take into consideration the feelings of almost a quarter of the human race and realize what Muhammed means for them? This way, we – reporters and editors of all faiths and races – may then focus on more important issues threatening our very existence on this earth!
Thank you
The problem is that West Europeans have allowed millions of Islamic foreigners to settle in the West. No doubt these people feel genuinely offended by some Western practices. However, the Danish cartoons were published in a Danish newspaper for a Danish public. Now Muslims want Europeans to "consider their [Muslim] feelings,” to apologize and shut up in their own countries.
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