Danish Cartoonist Editor: We’re Ready to Face Jordan Court
THE EARTH TIMES: Amman - The Danish cartoonist who drew caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed three years ago which sparked worldwide protests by Muslims and a boycott of Danish products said he was ready to defend himself in an Amman court, Jordanian media reported Thursday. "I would like to go to Amman to stand trial. However, what I fear is that I would be convicted in advance," Kurt Westergaard told the Jordan Times in an interview that was conducted in Copenhagen earlier this week.

On June 3, Amman Prosecutor Hassan Abdullat subpoenaed Westergaard and 20 other Danish journalists and editors involved in the republication of the 12 controversial images that were originally published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.

The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed in April by a coalition of media outlets, professional syndicates and political parties.

The prosecutor's move was based on articles in the Jordanian penal code and the country's Press and Publication Law.

Westergaard said he had learnt that he had been subpoenaed by the Amman prosecutor, but that he had not been officially notified of the subpoena.

Asked about the rationale behind the pictures, the 73-year-old artist said, "I made the cartoons to highlight that there are some terrorists who misuse Islam and they take it as their spiritual ammunition."

"I wanted to depict the terrorists as if they were taking the Prophet Mohammed as a hostage. I have no problems with Islam but with the terrorists."

Westergaard described himself as an atheist and stressed his respect for Islam and all religions, but refused to apologize.

"I respect Islam and its followers and I have nothing against it. However, I will not apologize. We have freedom of the press and religion in Denmark," he said. Danish Cartoonist, Editor: We're Ready to Face Jordan Court >>> By DPA | August 14, 2008

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Denmark Drops Cartoon Murder Plot Charges
REUTERS: COPENHAGEN - Danish prosecutors on Wednesday dropped charges against a Moroccan-born man accused of plotting to murder one of 12 cartoonists whose drawings of the Prophet Mohammad caused worldwide uproar in 2006.

"Even though there is information of a connection between the 40-year-old and the planners of the plot to murder Kurt Westergaard, it is not possible to submit sufficient evidence in court that he took part in the planning," prosecutor Elsemette Casoe said, according to Danish news agency Ritzau.

Westergaard, 73, drew the cartoon that caused most controversy, depicting the founder of Islam with a bomb in his turban. He told Ritzau he accepted the prosecutor's decision but wanted Denmark to deport two other suspects still in detention who are fighting deportation to their native Tunisia. Denmark Drops Cartoon Murder Plot Charges >>> | July 9, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Denmark)

Zwanenberg Plumps for Eternal Dhimmitude
Poster of Dutch-Danish products boycott
“Zwanenberg announces its solidarity with the ‘Messenger of Allah Unites Us Campaign’ in its endeavours to pass an international legislation to stop any insult of any religion including Islam and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)” – Zwanenberg announcement

THE JORDAN TIMES: AMMAN - The multilateral Danish-Dutch boycott campaign is moving ahead with the addition of a major brand, the removal of others and an ongoing lawsuit, while Jordanian importers still suffer losses.

Launched in late February to protest against the republication of disturbing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, “The Messenger of Allah Unites Us” campaign was relaunched in mid-June to add products from the Netherlands after Dutch MP Geert Wilders posted an anti-Islam film on the Internet.

The ultimate goal, according to campaign spokesperson Zakaria Sheikh, is to enact a universal law that prohibits the defamation of any prophet or religion, similar to the international legislation banning anti-Semitism.

Sheikh told The Jordan Times that the boycott will assist them in providing proof of the harm of “hateful messages” when advocating for the law. Boycott Campaign Moves Ahead >>> By Linda Hindi | June 25, 2008

Diana West: "The Islamic strategy to compel the suicidal West to destroy its own identifying liberties by exploiting capitalism's essential weakness – blithering fear of shrinking markets – continues apace with renewed calls for an Islamic boycott of Dutch and Danish goods." >>>

Zwanenberg Food Group >>>

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Danish Cartoon Ruling May Prompt "Islamophobia"-OIC
REUTERS: RIYADH - The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), a league of 57 Muslim nations, said on Monday a Danish court's rejection of a suit against a paper for printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad could provoke "Islamophobia."

The High Court for western Denmark on Thursday rejected a suit against Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that first published cartoons of Islam's prophet, leading to deadly protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

The court said the editors had not meant to depict Muslims as criminals or terrorists, the cartoons had not broken the law, and there was a relationship between acts of violence and Islam -- comments that provoked outcry among Muslim groups in Denmark.

"It is a known fact that acts of terror have been carried out in the name of Islam and it is not illegal to make satire out of this relationship," the court said.

The Saudi-based OIC, the largest grouping of Muslim countries, said the ruling could encourage "Islamophobia", a fear or dislike of Islam, which the group has identified as existing in the West. Danish Cartoon Ruling May Prompt "Islamophobia"-OIC >>> | June 23, 2008

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Pakistan Parliament Slams Anti-Koran Film and Cartoon
REUTERS: ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's parliament passed a resolution on Tuesday denouncing an anti-Koran film made by a Dutch politician and the reprinting of a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad in Danish newspapers.

Titled "Fitna", a Koranic term sometimes translated as "strife", the film by anti-immigration lawmaker Geert Wilders accuses the Koran of inciting violence and has drawn condemnation from many Muslim countries, including Pakistan.

Small protests have also been held by hardline Islamic groups in Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim nation of 160 million people, against both the film and the republication of one of the 12 cartoons of the Prophet in Danish newspapers in February.

At least 50 people were killed during violent protests in the Muslim countries in 2006 over the cartoons, which were first published in late 2005. Five of were killed in Pakistan.

"This House strongly condemns the printing and reprinting of the sacrilegious and blasphemous caricatures of the Holy Prophet of Islam and release of an offensive and derogatory documentary on Islam titled 'Fitna'," read the resolution adopted by the National Assembly, parliament's lower house.

The resolution called on the United Nations to take steps to ensure respect for all religions. Pakistan Parliament Slams Anti-Koran Film and Cartoon >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
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25,000 Pakistanis Rally Against Anti-Qur’an Film
CKWS: KARACHI, Pakistan - More than 25,000 people rallied in Karachi on Sunday in the largest protest in Pakistan so far against an anti-Qur'an film made by a Dutch legislator.

The 15-minute film by Geert Wilders, which sets verses from the Muslim holy book against a background of violent images from terror attacks, was released in March.

It has since sparked weekly protests in Pakistan, usually drawing hundreds of people after prayers on Friday, the Muslim Sabbath.

But on Sunday, Pakistani police estimated the crowed at 25,000, many of whom demanded that their government expel the Dutch ambassador.

Munawwar Hasan, a leader of the main Islamic party Jamat-e-Islami and a keynote speaker at the rally, was among those who denounced the film.

Hasan said the West calls such films freedom of expression, but that Muslims see it as "freedom of aggression."

Wearing head bands inscribed "We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the sanctity of the Prophet," the crowd marched more than a 1 1/2 kilometres, then gathered on Karachi's main street to listen to speeches. More than 25,000 Pakistanis Rally against Anti-Qur’an Film, Prophet Cartoons >>> | April 6, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback)
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Bin Laden Threatens the EU
BBC: In a new audio message purportedly from Osama Bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader threatens the EU over the re-printing of a cartoon offensive to Muslims.

The voice on it says the cartoon, re-published recently in all major Danish newspapers, was part of a crusade involving Pope Benedict XVI.

The drawing, first published in 2005, depicts the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.

The voice on the audio has not yet been verified as belonging to Bin Laden.

The message comes on the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq.

But the BBC's Jonathan Beale in Washington says that the message was probably released to not to mark that anniversary, but rather the anniversary of the birth of Prophet Muhammad, which Sunni Muslims mark on Thursday.

It appeared on a [sic] Islamist website that has carried al-Qaeda messages in the past.

Over the audio is a graphic with a still image of Bin Laden holding an AK-47 and bearing the logo of al-Sahab, the media wing of al-Qaeda. There is a written translation of the message in English. New 'Bin Laden tape' threatens EU >>>

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
’Bin Laden Tape’ Threatens EU

REUTERS:
Dutch Keep Threat Level High After Bin Laden Message | Thursday March 20. 2008

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Netherlands to Get Backing from EU Counterparts over Anti-Quran Film
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: BRUSSELS, Belgium: The Netherlands is asking for European Union solidarity at a summit of the bloc's leaders in case the expected release of an anti-Quran film by a maverick Dutch lawmaker leads to violence, officials said Thursday.

And the EU, which said 2 1/2 years ago that publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed deemed offensive by Muslims went too far, appeared set to back the Dutch position on freedom of speech. The issue was to be discussed later Thursday.

The Dutch lawmaker, Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders, has said he plans to air the film this month. Dutch and other European officials fear the film could spark violent protests in Muslim countries similar to those held after the publication of the cartoons in Denmark.

The Netherlands has been warned by Islamic figures and countries, including Iran, that releasing the film would lead to violence there. It wants other EU countries to support its view that it cannot silence Wilders due to the constitutional right to freedom of expression.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told fellow Christian Democratic leaders — including German Chancellor Angela Merkel — meeting before the summit that his government does not share Wilders' anti-Islam views but it respects his right to air his views. Officials: Netherlands to get backing from EU counterparts over anti-Quran film >>> Associated Press

NIS NEWS BULLETIN:
Netherlands Wants No Explicit Statement on Freedom of Speech

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Multiculturalism Kills; Cartoons Don’t
Kurt Westergaard’s cartoon of the prophet Muhammad courtesy of Google Images
FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS: Marked for death, his life will never be the same. He and his wife move constantly under police guard. Kurt Westergaard did what he was told: he drew a cartoon of Mohammed for his employer, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. He had no idea that by doing so he would have to spend the rest of his life hiding from Islamofascists who want to kill him. Watching him being interviewed on Danish TV, it occurred to me that Westergaard’s situation symbolizes the utter failure of multiculturalism. Most Europeans still don’t get it and neither do most Americans. They still insist that we all tolerate a culture which pledges to destroy our own. Westergaard’s interviewer epitomizes smug, multicultural ignorance.

Westergaard’s cartoon depicted Muhammed with a bomb in his turban because he wanted to show “that there are terrorists who get their spiritual dynamite or their spiritual ammunition from Islam.” Radical Muslims proved him right as they rioted across the realm of Islam. His Danish interviewer asked if he felt responsible for a hundred riot deaths. “I see the riots as something which was staged by some governments in some badly managed countries,” responded Westergaard. They were staged because governments in Muslim countries want to divert popular attention from their failure. “But that is not my responsibility,” he concluded, and he’s right of course. Multiculturalism Kills; Cartoons Don’t >>> By Tom McLaughlin

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

82 Kurt Westergaards!
Cartoon courtesy of Google Images
THE TELEGRAPH: Denmark's security services have provided protection to namesakes of the Danish cartoonist behind controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

There are 82 Kurt Westergaards living in Denmark but only one of them is the man who[se] life is under daily threat because of his caricatures of the founder of Islam.

However, some of other 81 "Kurts" scattered across Denmark have also received mistaken identity death threats because they share the same name as the illustrator.

One, a businessman from the Danish town of Aabenraa, has been offered protection by Denmark's intelligence agency, the PET, after receiving multiple death threats.

"The worst thing was that they also called my three children. They wanted to kidnap my family and murder me," he said. Danish cartoonist's 81 namesakes in terror risk >>> By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Muslim Anger Mounts Over Cartoons, Movie
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Sudan threatens to ban Danish aid workers; Europe braces for possible protests.

Outrage continued to rise this week in parts of the Muslim world over the depiction of Islam in Danish newspapers earlier this month and the possible release of a film in the Netherlands critical of the religion.

Muslims in Sudan, Pakistan, Turkey, the Middle East, and other parts of the Islamic world, have been angered over the republication of one cartoon from a 2005 series that satirized Islam's prophet Muhammad. Muslims regard visual depictions of the prophet Muhammad as blasphemous.

Governments in Europe are also bracing for protests against the possible broadcast of an anti-Islamic film by right-wing Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders that links Islam to violence. Mr. Wilders says the film, which he plans to broadcast on the Internet and possibly television, will be finished Sunday, Reuters reports. Pakistan's YouTube shutdown last weekend has been attributed in part to the film's appearance on the video-sharing website.

In Sudan, President Omar al-Bashir said Wednesday that Danes would be banned from Sudan and the Danish peacekeeping force faced possible expulsion. He was speaking before a crowd of tens of thousands denouncing Denmark during a government-backed protest against the republications of the cartoons, reports the Associated Press.

"We urge all Muslims around the world to boycott Danish commodities, goods, companies, institutions, organizations and personalities," Al-Bashir told the crowd.

Mr. Bashir's Islamist government has used other perceived insults to the prophet to bolster support for the regime and oppose the acceptance of United Nations peacekeepers in Sudan. Muslim Anger Mounts Over Cartoons, Movie >>> By Tom McCawley | February 28, 2008

REUTERS:
Dutch Lawmaker Says Anti-Koran Film Almost Finished

YAHOO NEWS:
Sudan Decries Danes Over prophet Cartoon[s]

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Motoon Crisis Version 2
EUROPE NEWS: Being based in Denmark, EuropeNews has a natural interest in the resurgent Muhammad cartoon crisis. It evokes a clear feeling "We've been here before", and it shows also that we'll end up here again. The Danish press stands tight in solidarity this time.

Islamists find the sancticity of Muhammad challenged, and in true Islamic fashion responds with anger. Religions differ, and we see here Muslims express their religious feelings in accordance with their tradition.

Now, to a Christian or Western mind, it is strange that Muslims react with such fury. Is it because we have the audacity to indicate that Muhammad had a criminal mind? We would never do that, would we? Accuse Muhammad of instigating a regime of terror, emulated by Jihadists today? Would we come across the notion that perhaps Muhammad would assassinate critics just like Jihadist assassinate critics today? Why would we do that?

Actually, there's no need for us to do anything like this. It would constitute an insult to Islam, and we all know what the punishment is for doing that. The Religion of Peace would never resort to violence, except in the direst need. Or would it? Motoon crisis Version 2 >>> By Henrik R Clausen

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

YouTube Cut Off Over Offensive Cartoons

TIMESONLINE: Pakistan blocked access to YouTube yesterday because the website was carrying cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that have sparked protests by Muslims across the world.

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority ordered the country's 70 internet service providers to block YouTube because it contained “blasphemous content, videos and documents”, government officials said.

The cartoons were published by Danish newspapers in 2005 and reprinted earlier this month. “They asked us to ban it [YouTube] immediately ... and the order says the ban will continue until further notice,” said Wahaj-us-Siraj, the convener of the Association of Pakistan Internet Service Providers.

Publication of the cartoons led to protests in many Muslim countries, including Pakistan, in which at least 50 people were killed and three Danish embassies attacked. Five people died in Pakistan during the riots, while a cleric offered $1 million (£500,000) and a new car for anyone who killed any of the cartoonists. YouTubecut off over offensive cartoons >>> By Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Egypt Bans Four Foreign Newspapers Over Republication of Anti-Prophet Cartoons
EDITOR & PUBLISHER: CAIRO, Egypt Egypt banned editions of four foreign newspapers including the New York-based Wall Street Journal and Britain's The Observer for reprinting the controversial Danish cartoons criticizing the Prophet Muhammad, the state-run news agency reported Tuesday.



Two German newspapers, Frankfurter Allgemeine and Die Welt, were also banned, according to the Middle East News Agency, quoting Information Minister Anas el-Fiqi. The papers are only sold in Egypt at newsstands specializing in foreign publications.



The issue of the cartoons, which exploded in 2006, returned to prominence recently when more than a dozen of leading Danish newspapers reprinted the 12 cartoons in a gesture of solidarity after police revealed a plot to kill one of the artists. Egypt Bans Four Foreign Newspapers Over Republication of Anti-Prophet Cartoons >>>

TEHRAN TIMES:
Insulting Caricatures an Act of Incitement to Hatred

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

In Solidarity with the Cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, Danish Newspapers Reprint the Cartoons of Muhammad
Cartoon courtesy of Jyllands-Posten
It is to be noted that no newspaper in the United Kingdom or in the United States has yet had the courage to reprint any of the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. Denmark is a small country, but its people have more courage, it seems, than than the British and Americans combined! The proud Danes put PRINCIPLE before PROFIT. If 'freedom of speech' and 'freedom of expression' survive this onslaught by the 'people of the desert', then we will have the Danes - and other courageous Europeans - to thank! Shame on the home of freedom, the USA! Shame on the home of the 'mother of parliaments', Great Britain! - ©Mark

BBC: Danish newspapers have reprinted one of several caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad which sparked violent protests across the Muslim world two years ago.

They say they wanted to show their commitment to freedom of speech after an alleged plot to kill one of the cartoonists behind the drawings.

Three suspects were held in Denmark on Tuesday "to prevent a murder linked to terrorism", officials said.

The cartoons were originally published by Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.

Danish embassies were attacked around the world and dozens died in riots that followed.

'Defiant'

Jyllands-Posten and many other major newspapers - including Politiken and Berlingske Tidende - reprinted the caricature in their Wednesday editions. Danish Muhammad cartoon reprinted >>>

JYLLANDS-POSTEN:
Newspapers reprint Mohammed cartoon

THE COPENHAGEN POST:
Newspapers reprint Mohammed cartoon

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Danish Cartoon ‘Plotters’ Held

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
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Shock! Horror! The BBC Shows the Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad
With many thanks to Always On Watch and Little Green Footballs for this excellent video:

The BBC Shows Mohammed Cartoons
Mark Alexander

Jail for Muslims Demonstrating in an Unacceptable Way Against the Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad
Click on the image to enlarge All the fuss was about the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad which are brought to you courtesy of Wikipedia
BBC: Four Muslim men have been jailed for their part in protests at the Danish embassy in London, against cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.

Mizanur Rahman, 24, Umran Javed, 27, and Abdul Muhid, 24, were each jailed for six years for soliciting to murder after telling a crowd to bomb the UK.

A fourth man, Abdul Saleem, 32, was jailed for four years for stirring up racial hatred at the protest in 2006.

The men, from London and Birmingham, were convicted at the Old Bailey.

Judge Brian Barker said their words had been designed to encourage murder and terrorism. Four men jailed over cartoon demo (more)

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Four jailed over cartoon demo

BBC:
Who were the jailed four and why were they jailed?

BBC:
How far can freedom of speech go?

Was the BBC ‘spineless’ in not airing the cartoons?
This from 3. February 2006:

BBC: As the row over the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad has intensified, media executives - in television, print and online - have faced some difficult decisions.

Should they publish the pictures and risk offending Muslim readers and viewers? Or by not showing them, would they be preventing the public from coming to informed opinions about the controversy?

Many people have rung or called the BBC complaining that the cartoons are not being shown on television news or the website.

Reports have shown brief glimpses of the pictures in some of the European newspapers which have published them, but no close-ups.

Lawrie May wrote: "You cannot report a news subject relating to a visual matter without showing that matter." BBC's dilemma over cartoons (more)

WATCH NEWSWATCH VIDEO:
NewsWatch 3 February 2006

Mark Alexander

Do Muslims Belong in a Secular Europe? Indeed in a Secular West?

If a cartoon such as this one bothers them so much, then I guess the answer is 'NO'!


It is heartening to note that the European press is making a firm stand on this matter. Die Welt went ahead today and published the cartoon in defiance of the Muslims living in Germany, as did France-Soir in defiance of the Muslims living there.

The New York Times: European Papers Publish Cartoons in Stand for Press Freedom

CNN: Papers reprint Islam row cartoons

Die Welt: Mohammed-Karikaturen: Dänische Zeitung gibt sich geschlagen

The Moscow Times: Cartoons of Mohammed reprinted

Die Neue Zürcher Zeitung: Streit um Mohammed-Karikaturen geht weiter

Le Figaro: Caricatures de Mahomet : la polémique gagne la France

Le Monde: La polémique sur les caricatures de Mahomet s'invite en France

WARNING! Freedom of expression, once lost, will be lost forever!

Mark Alexander