We Are All Danes Now
VRT reports that the Flemish press has weighed in to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammed cartoon controversy, strongly on the side of the “right to satire”.
The Daily Het Volk opens with “freedom of speech essential for democracy” .
De Standaard asks why we should respect a religion when this religion does not respect dissenting opinions. The daily also published the contested Danish cartoons, albeit on page 54.
Het Nieuwsblad opens with a cartoon of a figure wearing a burka [below]. “Muhammad in disguise” says the subtext.
The newspaper also published a “connect-the-dots” version of the Danish cartoon in which Muhammad is depicted as a terrorist, saying “Earn your own Fatwa”
De Morgen writes that “we are all Danish” when it comes to defending freedom of speech and a free press.
Het Laatste Nieuws has been talking to Flemish cartoonist, Kamagurka, who admits that he no longer dares to produce cartoons that mock Islam.
He says that it should be able to laugh at everything but that he is not going to be the one to do it. He is not too keen on having stones thrown through his window.
In Het Laatste Nieuws, he said that he thinks this is “horrible” but that he has “his children to worry about”.
In other news, The Brussels Journal has reproduced the France Soir front page and provides a timely reminder that, although the cartoons were originally published way back in September, the current controversy didn’t get going until a group of Danish imams took the cartoons - along with three that they’d done themselves - to the Arab world in order to whip up a riot.
In mid-January, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said of these radicals:
I am speechless that those people, whom we have given the right to live in Denmark and where they freely have chosen to stay, are now touring Arab countries and inciting antipathy towards Denmark and the Danish people.
If a hate crime has been committed, this group of Muslims is guilty.
Saturday 04 Feb 2006 | Paul | Denmark, Belgium
Thanks for your intelligent research Paul.
I am a danish woman getting more and more frustrated. Not only at the fanatics in the middle east, but at wimpy spokesmen for different democracies.
ESPECIALLY USA.
I cannot express how dissapointed I feel.
How dare they, in the midst of this crisis where little Denmark with a 5.000.000 population receives terror threats from the massive middle east because of some cartoons, that in the first place was meant to start a local debate ( and not to offend muslims) in our country, condemn the drawings instead of standing up together with the rest of us, for democracy and against terror and dictator regimes.
I am shocked.
USA who always is the first to get up and defend democracy, now uses this sad situation to charm their way back to the muslims. Yukk!
Who stood by their side, when they invaded Afghanistan? Denmark did. Who stood by their side when they declared war against Saddam. when the rest of EU and UN as well, except Great Brittain and a few others did not? Denmark did.
We have a long tradition of supporting them, but now where are they when we need support because of threats that are totally unreasonably and out of proportion.
All they do is sucker up to the fanatics and “condemn the drawings… THEY WERE LOCAL for …. sake! never meant to be a world issue or a weapon against islam.
Why is it that we never had a tradition for respecting peoples religious feelings all of a sudden defend it so much.
I never saw goverments standing up to defend the religious feeling of christians when we have been hurt.
Maybe its a matter of the more of a bully you are, the more respect you deserve.
It seems this way to me.
Are muslim peoples feelings to be taken more serious or what?
I dont get it.
I feel so sick of all this hypocracy in the western world right now!
Hats of to the Europeean newspapers who had the guts to stand on their principles. Also when it hurts.