International reactions to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

The publication of satirical cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Danish newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" on September 30 2005 led to violence, arrests, inter-governmental tensions, and debate about the scope of free speech and the place of Muslims in the West. Many Muslims claim that any image of Muhammad is blasphemous, while many Westerners have defended the right of free speech. A number of governments, organizations, and individuals have issued statements defining their stance on the protests or cartoons.

Political Reactions

=cite news|date=2006-01-31|title=Fatwa mod danske soldater i Irak|publisher=DR|url=http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Udland/2006/01/31/173929.htm]

Burning embassies

On February 4, the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus, Syria were set on fire, after being stormed by an angry mob. Within the building housing the Danish embassy were the Chilean and Swedish embassies, both having no formal connection to the present row. [cite news|title=Cartoon row: Danish embassy ablaze|date=2006-02-04|publisher=CNN|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/04/syria.cartoon.ap/index.html] . As it was a holiday, no one was present inside the building when this occurred, so no one was hurt. As a response to this incident, the Danish and Norwegian Ministries of Foreign Affairs issued a warning, urging their citizens in Syria to leave the country immediately.The German Cultural Centre in Gaza was raided by Palestinian students [cite news|title=Cartoon row: German cultural centre|date=2006-02-04|publisher=Der Spiegel|url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,399007,00.html]

On February 5, the Danish consulate in Lebanon was set on fire by demonstrators, reportedly police and military tried to restrain them from doing so.

In Tehran, on February 6, the Danish and Norwegian embassies were attacked by protestors. According to reports, homemade grenades were thrown at the embassies. However, the embassies weren't set ablaze.

On October 19, ten ambassadors from Islamic countries, including Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, Pakistan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, as well as the head of the Palestinian delegation in Denmark, sent a letter to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen requesting a meeting and asking him to distance himself from hate speech, including remarks by MP Louise Frevert, Culture Minister of Denmark Brian Mikkelsen, and the Radio Holger station. [cite news|date=2005-12-10|title=Letter from Ambassadors|url=http://www.filtrat.dk/grafik/Letterfromambassadors.pdf|publisher=org|format=PDF] 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, [da iconcite news|date=2005-10-21|title=Fogh afviser muslimsk klage over profet-tegninger|publisher=Politiken|url=http://politiken.dk/VisArtikel.iasp?PageID=403877] a reaction essentially seen as a snub by the Muslims. [cite news|date=2006-01-31|title=In Arab countries, rage growing over cartoons|publisher=International Herald Tribune|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/31/news/cartoons.php]

On February 18, the Italian consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was set on fire by demonstrators. Police fired into the crowd, killing 11.

In the Nordic countries

On January 10, a marginal Norwegian Christian magazine, [http://www.magazinet.no "Magazinet"] , printed the drawings after getting authorization from "Jyllands-Posten". Major newspapers in Norway had printed facsimiles from "Jyllands-Posten" and reproduced all the caricatures in their online versions; a few days earlier, the Swedish newspaper Expressen had printed two of the drawings in conjunction with an article discussing the event. [sv iconcite news|first=Pernilla|last=Ouis|date=2006-01-07
title=Vi måste tåla nidbilderna|url=http://expressen.se/index.jsp?a=501717|publisher=Expressen] However, it was the "Magazinet" printing that led to a great debate in Norway, and is assumed to be the reason for actions directed at Sweden and Norway.

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. [cite news|first=Hasan|last=Cucuk|date=2006-01-28|title=Norway Apologises for Cartoons Insulting Prophet Mohammed|url=http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20060128&hn=29124|publisher=Zaman Online]

On January 30, Palestinian groups demanded that all Scandinavians leave the Palestinian territories immediately. On January 30, an Islamic organisation, the Mujahedeen Army, called for militant attacks against "all available targets" in Denmark and Norway. [da iconcite news|date=2006-01-30|title=Irakisk militsgruppe truer med angreb på danske mål|url=http://www.jp.dk/udland/artikel:aid=3527224/|publisher=Jyllands-Posten] On January 31 bomb threats were made against the newspaper's offices in Århus and Copenhagen.

In Finland the biggest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat considered publishing the cartoons, however it did not publish them. Finland's comparatively small Muslim community held a peaceful demonstration with tens of demonstrators, close to the Danish embassy.

References