Good grief… Aljazeera.Net – Iran paper plans Holocaust cartoons Iran’s largest selling newspaper has announced it is holding a contest on cartoons of the Holocaust in response to the publishing in European papers of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. BTW, this Ahmadinejad bozo is truly a calamity for Iran, and a dream come true for Islamophobes around the globe. Read more
This article in The Guardian provides more background on the breaking of Jyllands-Posten’s refusal a few years ago to run potentially offensive cartoons about Jesus Christ. [Thanks for the heads-up, Carsten.] This piece left out the juicier (and in some respects more damning) revelations the newspaper’s editor strenuously objecting to a , shall we say, sexually charged portrayal of Jesus Christ that I mentioned in my earlier post. Seems a glaring omission to me. Could it be that they’re skittish... Read more
I have an article in the current issue of Islamica Magazine, "Comprehending Catastrophe", on the Hurricane Katrina tragedy and what it says about American political and religious life. Don’t let my presence in its pages fool you. This magazine has some heavy hitters. Please support it. Read more
First, Palestinian gunmen in Gaza raided an EU office demanding an apology. Then the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Syria were burnt down. Now, a Danish consulate in Lebanon has been set afire inspite of water cannon and tear gas. Iran’s officially boycotting Danish goods. Fresh protests have broken out in India, Thailand and Malaysia. And general consumer boycott of all things Danish n the Middle East shows no signs of waning. I guess it was just a matter of... Read more
Yakoub the Muslim Anarchist captures my scorn for all this Europe-is-under-siege-from-Muslim-extremism rhetoric: To claim publishing these cartoons is in any way a defiant act is like saying shooting fish in a barrel is shark fishing. Europeans have been vomiting all over the Islamic faith since the crusades, and contemporary examples pile layer upon layer of hatred and prejudice – whether it be Rushdie’s Satanic Verses or Daniel Pipes’ campus watch. Freedom of speech my backside! Well, here’s my freedom of... Read more
If anyone cares–and you shouldn't–I find this demand silly. IPS: Russion Muslims Demand a Place on the Flag A new dispute has erupted over demands by some Muslim groups to remove Christian signs from the Russian flag and other national emblems. Assuming there isn't something inherently anti-Muslim about the icons involved (a la the controversy over the Confederate flag), this campaign strikes me as silly and very counterproductive. The Russian Orthodox faith is part of the shared cultural heritage of... Read more
Jyllands-Posten’s defense has been refuted by its own record. Exhibit A: Rune Engelbreth Larsen reports in "05.02.2006 | JPs dobbeltmoral og Hornbechs kritik" (with my own bland translation into English following): Nu har Politiken (4.2.2006) afsløret, at JPs dobbeltmoral også viser sig deri, at avisen i 2003 nægtede at bringe en temmelig uskyldig Jesus-tegning (sammenlignet med en dæmoniseret Muhammed med bomber i hovedet) – og med hvilken begrundelse? Daværende søndagsredaktør, Jens Kaiser afviste den 9. apil 2003 tegningerne med begrundelsen:... Read more
The plot thickens: [Thanks to The Predicate] Raymond Lakah, the owner of the French newspaper France Soir, has sacked Jacques Lefranc, the paper’s editor. Yesterday France-Soir republished the twelve controversial Danish Muhammad cartoons (see them all here, halfway down the page). Mr Lakah declared: "We express our apologies to the Muslim community and to all the persons that were shocked by the publication of the cartoons." France, of course, has far more Muslims than Denmark, both relatively and in absolute... Read more
Cartoons and Hypocrisy:Danes Finally Apologize to Muslims (But for the Wrong Reasons) By RACHARD ITANI http://www.counterpunch.org/itani02022006.html In many European countries, there are laws that will land in jail any person who has the chutzpah to deny not only the historicity of the Jewish holocaust, but also the method by which Jews were put to death by the Nazis. In some of these countries, this prohibition goes as far as prosecuting those who would claim or attempt to prove that... Read more
When I look at analysis of the Danish cartoon controversy, I’m struck by how so many otherwise well informed and intelligent commentators simply don’t get what’s really going on. The basic reasons for and issues involved in this crisis are pretty easy to grasp, but conspicuously absent from most discussions of this saga. Instead, one finds ethereal discursions on freedom of religion and freedom of speech, ideals that actually have precious little to do with this lamentable turn of events,... Read more
Akram's Razor
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