This week Denmark’s Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called elections for November 13, and today Danish People’s party announced that they will place election posters around the country with a cartoon of the Muslim prophet Mohammed.
They do not hide that they are inspired by the cartoon crisis in 2006 that put Denmark in the headlines around the world. Demonstrations and violence in the Muslim world erupted.
The cartoon is drawn from a portrait of the prophet from a book about Islam by Alexander Ross published in 1683. Ross was behind the first translation of the Koran into English (1649). The poster reads ”Free speech is Danish, censorship isn’t – we stand by our Danish values”.
In an interview with Nyhedsavisen party leader Pia Kjaersgaard explains the reasoning behind the decision to put Mohammed’s face on election posters.
“”It’s part of our campaign for Danish values and we want to draw attention to those values. Among others they include equality between the sexes, solidarity and other things. This election add clearly has to do with the right to free speech.”
Why do you run this add after the violence during the cartoon crisis?
”Why shouldn’t we? Is it forbidden? On the contray, we have had a very comprehensive debate, that was very good because we spoke about the values we were in the process of losing. We have to stick to those values. We would never have spoken about these matters if it hadn’t been for the cartoon crisis. Self censorship is a bad thing.”
Don’t you think that you are undermining the diplomatic effort by the Prime minister to calm down the situation during the crisis?
”No, I don’t think so. It would be self censorship if we were thinking that we shouln’t do something like this.”
Did you consider the risk of provoking violence with this add?
”No, that hasn’t been part of our deliberations about publication of the cartoon.””
Klaus Kjoeller, expert on political communcation, comments on the add (Nyhedsavisen):
”It’s pretty smart of Danish People’s party. They have everything to win with this add. Experience tells us that the higher immigrants and culture clashes move up on the political agenda the more votes they get. They have to provoke and at the same time stay respectable negotiating partners to the Prime minister. With this add they achieve both.”
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9 Comments
1. Tom Sawyer:Liberals shouldn’t be offended by any of this because its free speech, right?
They still believe in the mantra of “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”?
Don’t they? I guess we will find out…
Oct 26, 2007 - 4:12 pm 2. John Schuh:Were can I see a copy of the picture of Mohammed? One of President Bush’s mistakes was not realizing how fearful the European elites are of provoking their Muslim populations.
Oct 26, 2007 - 4:17 pm 3. Universalgeni:Yes of cause we need a picture of the poster. Here you are:
http://i24.tinypic.com/rwrl80.jpg
Oct 26, 2007 - 4:22 pm 4. Jon Herstad:@ John Schuh
“One of President Bush’s mistakes was not realizing how fearful the European elites are of provoking their Muslim populations”
Or maybe his real mistake was not to realize how fearfull and cowardly the US media are—from Fox to MSNBC, from O’Reilly to Moyes—none of them showed the cartoons. Mostly with the lame excuse that their viewers could go online to find them and at the same time having no problem showing demeaning cartoons and caricatures from Arab news outlets depicting Jews, Christians and western politicians—to show how fare out these are.
Standards are good but double standards are twice as good..!
Oct 26, 2007 - 5:35 pm 5. tanstaafl:I think the commissioned Jyllands Posten cartoons were published in the (American publication) The Weekly Standard.
Anyway, it shouldn’t be a measure of one’s courage OR cowardice to publish or not publish the (original) Danish cartoons.
You’re playing into the (somewhat false) sensibilities many modern Muslims use as a device to take “offense” when you play that game of not so veiled intimidation.
Realistically speaking, depictions of The Prophet have been common over the 14 centuries since his demise, and little brouhaha has been made until these modern times and circumstances.
http://zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/
Oct 28, 2007 - 1:07 am 6. Jon Herstad:@ tanstaafl
The Jyllands-Posten cartoons where shown in several American publications—The Weekly Standard not among them—but none of them being the big news outlets which was what I said.
I actually think it says a lot about the media when they have no problem showing demeaning pictures or cartoons of Jews, Christians going on crusade (Bush/Iraq) etc. published in Arab media, but not the Muhammad cartoons with lame excuses mentioned above.
”You’re playing into the (somewhat false) sensibilities many modern Muslims use as a device to take “offense” when you play that game of not so veiled intimidation”
Explain please!
Oct 28, 2007 - 6:07 pm 7. Anonymous:Jon:
The Weekly Standard published the cartoons in its February 20, 2006 edition. Reportedly, Harper’s followed suit in June.
http://michellemalkin.com/2006/05/17/harpers-publishes-mo-cartoons/
As for explaining my remark, the “cartoon controversy” itself was largely a whipped up controversy, the outrage actually ginned up several months after their appearance in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands Posten.
A Danish imam carried the cartoons around the middle east (and other far less humorous, disgusting Mohammed cartoons that had not been published in the newspaper) and it was only after those travels that the conflagration & protests, flag burnings etc. happened.
In other words, the cartoons were used to stir up the pot.
Ginned up “outrage” is a device (along with devices like accusing westerners of “Islamophobia”) that is being employed by radical Islamists in the propaganda wars.
We should not play into those games.
Oct 29, 2007 - 8:22 pm 8. Jon Herstad:Regarding The Weekly Standard, my mistake and apology (especially to Mr. Kristol) but it doesn’t change the basic issue; major US media outlet didn’t dare to print the cartoons, period!
Regarding the events of the cartoon controversy, as a Dane I know them all to well!
Last you write:
“You’re playing into the (somewhat false) sensibilities many modern Muslims use as a device to take “offense” when you play that game of not so veiled intimidation.”
No, you play into the (somewhat false) sensibilities [of] many modern Muslims by not showing the pictures and hiding in the bush so to speak…
Oct 29, 2007 - 10:08 pm 9. tanstaafl:By making an issue of publishing or not publishing the cartoons and calling it, on the one hand, courage and, on the other hand, cowardice…
You’re playing the game of the radical Islamist agenda.
Remember the picture of the burning Koran amidst the rubble of summer 2006 meltdown in Lebanon ?
Who do you think it was that “desecrated” that particular Koran? Very likely, it was done by Muslims themselves, for purposes of “inciting” the base and attracting attention.
Why would a group of Muslims make a show of prayer in a public airport in Minneapolis MN, get on the airplane and ask for “seat extenders” unless they were trying to attract attention to themselves ?
Islam actually excuses you from prayer obligations if you are in circumstances that are not conducive. I don’t think you see such public “prayer demonstrations” in Ridyah’s airport.
…I can sense the frustration in Denmark, not to mention the Netherlands and Europe in general.
I see no problem with Jyllands Posten first commissioning and then publishing those cartoons in Denmark. They were, as a group, not meanspirited, but rather funny.
As for the aftermath, however, the best route (the route the Islamists couldn’t stand) is ignoring them altogether.
Oct 30, 2007 - 1:09 am