Insults to Islam Ignite Violence in Pakistan, Six Killed

REUTERS.COM: Muslim protests against insults to the Prophet Mohammad turned violent in Pakistan, where six people were killed on Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, but remained mostly peaceful in Islamic countries elsewhere.

In France, where the publication of cartoons denigrating the Prophet stoked anger over an anti-Islam video made in California, the authorities banned all protests over the issue.

"There will be strictly no exceptions. Demonstrations will be banned and broken up," said Interior Minister Manuel Valls.

Tunisia's Islamist-led government also banned protests against the images published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Four people were killed and almost 30 wounded last week when the U.S. embassy was stormed in a protest over the film.

Many Western and Muslim politicians and clerics have appealed for calm, denouncing those behind the mockery of the Prophet, but also condemning violent reactions to it.

At street level, Muslims enraged by attacks on their faith spoke of a culture war with those in the West who put rights to freedom of expression above any religious offence caused.

"They hate him (the Prophet Mohammad) and show this through their continued works in the West, through their writings, cartoons, films and the way they launch war against him in schools," said Abdessalam Abdullah, a preacher at a mosque in Beirut's Palestinian refugee camp of Bourj al-Barajneh.

Muslims generally consider any depiction of the Prophet blasphemous. » | Aisha Chowdhry | ISLAMABAD | Friday, Sep 21, 2012

New Dark Age Alert! Free Speech at Risk as U.S. Synchronizes With Islam
TOWNHALL.COM: What's wrong with the following Associated Press headline? "Charlie Hebdo cartoon spurs French gov't to order embassies, schools to close."

Cartoons of Muhammad in the satirical French weekly Charlie Hebdo didn't send France into lockdown. Their publication this week was a simple exercise in free speech on Islam, which Muslims in France and everywhere else in the world oppose as a violation of Islamic law (Shariah). It is Islamic rage over the fact that Islamic law is not dominant everywhere, all the time -- Muslims' signal weapon against a timid West -- that drove French authorities to take security precautions, not the publication of cartoons.

What's wrong with the following headline? "Cinemaniac: Feds question loon who set Muslim world on fire." Again, this headline in the New York Post leaves the actual pyromaniacs out of the picture, instead demonizing an individual who made a film about Muhammad -- his lawful right. Muslims set "the world" (American embassies) on fire in one more fit of jihad to punish a violation of Islamic law. Like other cycles of Islamic rage before it -- whether the pretext is a Miss World pageant in Nigeria or cartoons in a Danish newspaper -- this one, too, will temporarily abate, ready to flare up next time the point must be driven home: Criticism of Islam and its prophet is verboten.

This is no media flap. This is war. Islam is attempting to dominate the West by attacking the basis of the West -- freedom of speech. Our leaders won't tell us that because too many of them have already surrendered. They deplore the violence against our people and our sovereign territory, yes, but their priority is not to defend free speech but to see that Islamic speech codes are enforced. They have already decided to discard liberty for Shariah. The U.S. government and the Islamic bloc known as the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) couldn't be more in sync on this vital issue.

How to get around the First Amendment? Through "some old-fashioned techniques of peer pressure and shaming," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last year. She was speaking about the so-called Istanbul Process, the international effort she and the OIC are spearheading to see Islamic anti-"blasphemy" laws enforced around the world. » | Diana West | Friday, September 21, 2012

Protesters Target France Over Prophet Cartoons, Anti-Islam Film

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: Anti-France protesters marched in countries ranging from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Sri Lanka, after a satirical magazine published cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed. In anticipation of potential protests on Friday, Paris planned to shut its diplomatic missions, cultural centres and French schools in around 20 Muslim countries.

France was swept up Thursday in the wave of anger washing over the Muslim world as protesters in Afghanistan and Iran denounced a magazine's publication of obscene cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Chanting "Death to France! Death to America!", hundreds demonstrated in the Afghan capital Kabul against the cartoons and a US-made anti-Islam film that has sparked widespread outrage.

In Tehran, up to 100 people protested in front of France's embassy, chanting "Death to France!" as dozens of police deployed around the compound prevented the crowd from approaching.

France has been bracing for a backlash following Wednesday's publication of the cartoons -- two of which show the founder of Islam naked -- by satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.

In anticipation of potential protests on Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, Paris said it would shutter its diplomatic missions, cultural centres and French schools in around 20 Muslim countries.

More than 30 people have been killed in attacks and violent protests linked to the film "Innocence of Muslims", including 12 people who died in an attack by a female suicide bomber in Afghanistan and four Americans, among them the US ambassador, killed at the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Afghan demonstrators block a road during a protest against an anti-Islam movie in Kabul on September 20. » | AFP | Thursday, September 20, 2012

Muhammad Cartoons: How Freedom of Expression Is Curtailed Across the Globe
THE GUARDIAN: UN declaration supports free speech but this has been subject to many legal qualifications

Hate-speech crimes, and offences under blasphemy, sexual equality, defamation or racial abuse laws vary around the world. But absolute freedom of expression is curtailed in many countries.

Article 19 of the UN's universal declaration of human rights in 1948 envisaged few restrictions. "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression," it stated. "This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

In practice there are lots of legal qualifications. A 1994 judgment of the European court of human rights in Strasbourg involving a Danish journalist tried to define the overarching principle "that tolerance and respect for the equal dignity of all human beings constitute the foundations of a democratic, pluralistic society".

So, "it may be considered necessary in certain democratic societies to sanction or even prevent all forms of expression which spread, incite, promote or justify hatred based on intolerance (including religious intolerance), provided that any formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties imposed are proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued". » | Owen Bowcott, legal affairs correspondent | Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Far-Right Provocation: Berlin Worried About 'Muhammad Cartoon Contest'

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: A far-right group in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia is running a 'Muslim cartoon contest' and plans to display the works outside mosques. The move has alarmed authorities which fear it could incite violence and hurt German interests abroad, similar to the backlash that followed the 2005 publication of cartoons in Danish newspapers.

The German government has voiced concern that far-right activists in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia may incite violence with plans to hold a so-called "Muhammad cartoon contest" and to stage demonstrations outside mosques in the run-up to a regional election there on May 13.

SPIEGEL has learned that Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich warned of a confrontation between Salafists and right-wing extremists which he said could have unforeseeable consequences for public safety.

Pro-NRW, which has been categorized as an extremist right-wing group by the domestic intelligence agency, has said it plans to display the cartoons outside 25 mosques in the state. » | SPIEGEL/cro | Monday, April 30, 2012

Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad courtesy of Google Images
Pakistan Blocks YouTube in ‘Sacrilege’ Row
TIMES ONLINE: Pakistan blocked access to YouTube today because of “growing sacrilegious content” on the video-sharing website. It is the latest twist in an escalating international row over Islam and freedom of speech online.

The move came a day after the Pakistani Government responded to a court order by temporarily blocking Facebook over a page advertising a contest to draw cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Everyone Draw Muhammad Day page and several spin-offs invite users to send in caricatures of the Prophet today – infuriating many Muslims who regard any image of him as blasphemous.

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority did not say specifically which material on YouTube was deemed sacrilegious, but there are several clips relating to Everyone Draw Muhammad Day. >>> Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent | Thursday, May 20, 2010

Facebook Blocked in Pakistan Over Prophet Images


Related article here

Pakistan Court Blocks Facebook Over Mohammed Page
AFP: LAHORE, Pakistan — A Pakistani court Wednesday ordered authorities to block Facebook temporarily over a competition encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed on the social networking site.

The depiction of any prophet is strictly prohibited in Islam as blasphemous and Muslims across the world staged angry protests over the publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in European newspapers in 2006.

Controversy erupted in the conservative Muslim country last month when a Facebook user set up a page called "Draw Mohammed Day", inviting people to send in their caricatures of the Muslim prophet on May 20.

The move angered thousands of young people and Muslim faithful in Pakistan, unleashing an online campaign and isolated protests that grabbed the government's attention and the controversial page was blocked on Tuesday.

But a group of Islamic lawyers went a step further Wednesday and petitioned the court to order a blanket ban on Facebook in Pakistan. >>> Waqar Hussain, AFP | Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Mohammed Cartoonist's Home Attacked With Firebomb
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The home of a Swedish cartoonist who sparked controversy by drawing the Prophet Mohammed with the body of a dog has been attacked with a petrol bomb.

The property belonging to Lars Vilks in the village of Nyhamnslaege was slightly damaged during the incident, the latest in a series of similar attacks in the country.

Police later arrested a 21-year-old Swedish national of Kosovar origin, from the southern city of Landskrona, at his home 25 miles away.

A spokesman said he was detained after personal items were found near Mr Vilks' house.

Police found glass bottles containing petrol inside the house which was empty at the time of the attack. >>> | Sunday, May 16, 2010

Swedish Mohammed Cartoonist Attacked During Free Speech Lecture
THE TELEGRAPH: A Swedish cartoonist whose sketch of the Prophet Mohammed enraged many Muslims, was attacked while giving a lecture about freedom of speech.

A spokesman for Uppsala police said about 20 people tried to attack Mr Vilks after interrupting his lecture. Photo: The Telegraph
Lars Vilks, who depicted the Prophet Mohammad with the body of a dog in 2007, said he was headbutted by a man sitting on the front row as he spoke at the University of Uppsala, about 44 miles from Stockholm.

"He head-butted me and I fell into the wall and lost my glasses," Mr Vilks said. He added he was unharmed.

A spokesman for Uppsala police said about 20 people tried to attack Mr Vilks after interrupting his lecture, adding that the police had to intervene to stop them. Two people were detained.

Mr Vilks was not immediately available to comment further. He says he has received death threats since his Prophet sketch.

In March an American who called herself "JihadJane," was charged with plotting to kill the Swede and using the Internet to enlist co-conspirators. >>> | Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Related here and here

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad Cartoons

French Court Backs Magazine, Charlie Hebdo, over Prophet Cartoons
REUTERS: PARIS - A French court on Wednesday upheld a ruling in favor of a magazine that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, rejecting an appeal by a Muslim group which said they incited hatred of Islam.

The cartoons, published in the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in February 2006, originally appeared in a Danish newspaper five months earlier.

They provoked violent protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East in which 50 people were killed. Several European publications reprinted them as an affirmation of free speech.

"These caricatures, which clearly target a fraction and not the whole of the Muslim community, do not constitute an insult or direct personal attack against a group of people because of their religion and do not breach the limits of freedom of expression," the court in Paris ruled.

The decision was the culmination of a long legal battle over the cartoons.

A lower court ruled last year that the cartoons fell into the category of freedom of speech and did not constitute an attack on Islam in general. [Source: French court backs magazine over Prophet cartoons] (Reporting by Thierry Leveque; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Andrew Dobbie) | Wed Mar 12, 2008

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Sudan Bans Danish Goods Over Prophet Cartoon(s)
AL ARABIYA - KHARTOUM (Reuters): Sudan has banned the import of Danish goods, blaming Denmark's government for allowing papers to reprint a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad that caused outrage in Islamic countries two years ago, state media said. 



The newspapers reprinted one of the drawings this month, in solidarity with the paper that first printed the cartoons, after police arrested three men on suspicion of plotting to kill a cartoonist who drew one of the images.

Sudan's State news agency SUNA quoted the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the customs police authority as saying they had implemented a presidential decree banning imports of Danish goods. Sudan bans Danish goods over Prophet cartoon >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Still More Cartoon Protests from Muslims!
THE TELEGRAPH: Fears grew of a new confrontation over images deemed blasphemous by Muslims as Pakistan joined Iran in protest over a sketch by a Swedish artist portraying the prophet Mohammed as a dog.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said it had summoned the Swedish charge d'affaires to condemn "in the strongest terms, the publication of an offensive and blasphemous sketch of the Holy Prophet".

The move adds to a chorus of criticism over the series of drawings, by artist Lars Vilks, one of which was published earlier this month by a regional Swedish newspaper.

The drawings show the head of a turbaned man attached to the body of a dog, in front of various settings including a football goal.

The publication, in the newspaper Nerikes Allehanda, came after several galleries had refused to display the drawings, apparently for fear of violent retaliation from offended Muslims.

Early last year, violent demonstrations erupted throughout the Muslim world after the publication in Denmark of 112 cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed which were also deemed blasphemous.

"Alongside the picture, we published a comment piece saying that it was serious that there is self-censorship among exhibition [galleries]," said the Nerikes Allehanda editor-in-chief, Ulf Johansson.

Last weekend, a small gathering of protestors gathered outside the newspaper's offices to demonstrate against the cartoon's publication. New Muslim cartoon protests grow (more)

Mark Alexander

Still More Cartoon Protests Annoy Muslims!
THE TELEGRAPH: Fears grew of a new confrontation over images deemed blasphemous by Muslims as Pakistan joined Iran in protest over a sketch by a Swedish artist portraying the prophet Mohammed as a dog.

Pakistan's foreign ministry said it had summoned the Swedish charge d'affaires to condemn "in the strongest terms, the publication of an offensive and blasphemous sketch of the Holy Prophet".

The move adds to a chorus of criticism over the series of drawings, by artist Lars Vilks, one of which was published earlier this month by a regional Swedish newspaper.

The drawings show the head of a turbaned man attached to the body of a dog, in front of various settings including a football goal.

The publication, in the newspaper Nerikes Allehanda, came after several galleries had refused to display the drawings, apparently for fear of violent retaliation from offended Muslims.

Early last year, violent demonstrations erupted throughout the Muslim world after the publication in Denmark of 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed which were also deemed blasphemous.

"Alongside the picture, we published a comment piece saying that it was serious that there is self-censorship among exhibition [galleries]," said the Nerikes Allehanda editor-in-chief, Ulf Johansson.
Last weekend, a small gathering of protestors gathered outside the newspaper's offices to demonstrate against the cartoon's publication. New Muslim cartoon protests grow (more)

BBC:
Sweden 'regrets' Prophet cartoon

Mark Alexander