“Cartoons, Personal Agendas and Denmark”

Here’s the conclusion of an informative roundup by Bookish. 

The whole post and the often thoughtful comments are well worth reading.

bookish » On Cartoons, Personal Agendas and Denmark

The cartoons were deliberatedly published to promote an outcry from the Muslim community – particularly the orthodox part of the community. The outcry was desirable for the newspaper in sofar as it would further a political agenda. What nobody had anticipated was that the outcry would spread outside Denmark and cause an international crisis. Various parties and groups have subsequently sought to exploit the situation to further their own interests. At the heart of the matter is that two hardline groups are facing each other, lines have been drawn and I have no idea how this is going to end. Personally I hope that, despite my misgivings, Mr Fogh Rasmussen will act as a responsible statesman and seek consensus with moderate Muslim groups and parts both here in Denmark and abroad. Hopefully he will also realise what dallying with political agendas as promoted by the Danish People’s Party means.

P.S.  If you like, you can read all my posts re: the Danish cartoons on a single, long page.