UN helpful
Denmark.dk (via MediaWatchWatch) reports that the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, has waded into the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy.
A quick recap for those that have just arrived…
Back in October, published a series of 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which they called for after a a writer complained that nobody dared illustrate his book about Muhammad. This was followed by a series of death threats against journalists and editors and the paper found itself forcred to hire security guards to protect its employees.
Then an organisation calling itself ‘The Glory Brigades in Northern Europe’ issued a series of threats against ‘targets in Denmark.’ Although these threats may turn out to be empty, they were so threatening that - according to terrorism researcher, Søren Hove - they “should be investigated by the police.”
And then, earlier this month, a real threat. Jamaate-Islami, a Pakistani religious group offered a bounty of DKK 50,000 (EUR 7000) for the head of the cartoonist responsible for the drawings (there were twelve cartoonists, but facts rarely get in the way of fundamentalists).
And what’s Louise Arbour’s take on all this?
‘I would like to emphasise that I deplore any statement or act showing a lack of respect towards other people’s religion,’ she said.
Personally, I deplore any statement or act that puts people in fear for their life just for expressing a view that some nut disagrees with.
Danish Foreign Minister, Per Stig Møller, said that Denmark would cooperate with a UN investigation, but also reinforced that freedom of speech was a matter to be decided by the courts.
Thursday 08 Dec 2005 | Paul | Denmark
I cannot call insulting other peoples religions freedom of speech because muslims are respecting all divine religeons as requested by the Holy Quran and therefore others should consequently respect our religeon too. By doing these provocations, these type of naive people, who dont even have respect for their own religeon too or even they dont follow any religeon at all, are provocing the extremists to react against them and when they react nobody is happy with it.
I believe this newspaper should issue an official apology about their indecent action otherwise repercussions will continue and calls to boycott danish products will take effect and this of course will have a deep effect on the danish economy.
The Muhammad pictures may well offend you, and you have every right to take offence at whatever you like. However, being offended at something cannot and should not be used as a justification for issuing death threats or turning to wider terrorist activities.
I find this “provoking extremists” argument highly objectionable. You, I and everyone else are responsible for our own actions. The implication that religious extremists are somehow forced to go around threatening people because of their convictions is both dangerous and wrong.
As far as respect goes, you are under no obligation to respect my opinions and I am under no obligation to respect yours.
In a free society, you have the right to express opinions that other people may find deeply offensive. The other side of this coin is that other people can, and will, say things that offend you.
It is better to be occasionally offended than repressed.
And to quickly address your idea of a boycott. Denmark is one of the most generous countries in the world when it comes to foreign aid. If Muslim countries decide that they done want anything to do with Denmark, does that include aid? Has Jyllands-Posten just earned the Danes a tax cut?
Go check in France how laws are enacted laws to prevent putting into question the official version of the holocaust story. Denying the official version is now a crime. Why don’t you talk about that since you are so keen to defend freedom of expression? What about hate speech laws in the name of which Muslims are jailed? Don’t you think hate speech laws equally apply to such cartoons? Unfortunately, you are too biased and are only able to talk when Muslims react. Muslims should take all insults and shut up in the name of freedom of expression. Since when did freedom of expression become freedom of insulting and making fun of others?