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Late in 2005 the Muhammed Drawings became the centre of a major political controversy in Denmark following the publishing of 12 satirical caricatures of the Islamic prophet Muhammad on September 30, 2005, including one suggesting he had a bomb in his turban. The drawings were printed by Jyllands-Posten as a satirical illustration to go along an article on self-censorship and freedom of speech, commenting on the fact that no artist was willing to illustrate a childrens book by the Danish writer Kåre Bluitgen about Muhammad without remaining anonymous, allegedly for fear of revenge from extremist Muslims, as depicting Muhammad is prohibited according to Islamic belief.

While the newspaper maintains that the drawings were an exercise in free speech, many Muslims in Denmark and further afield viewed them as a provocation. Two newspaper cartoonists were reportedly driven into hiding after death threats were issued against them and the paper has revised and heightened its security procedures.

International consequences

The embassy of Pakistan in Copenhagen told the Danish prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, to penalize the drawers, and the controversy produced labour strikes in Pakistan and Kashmir. The case is now being brought to the International Court of Justice.

Franco Frattini, the vice-President of the European Commission, called the publication of the twelve cartoons “thoughtless and inappropriate” in a time when animosity towards Islam is on the rise. According to Frattini, the EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom, and Security, the cartoons foment hostility against Islam and foreigners:

Honestly, these kinds of drawings can add to the growing Islamophobia in Europe. I fully respect the freedom of speech, but, excuse me, one should avoid making any statement like this, which only arouses and incites to the growing radicalisation.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Society in Denmark has proposed that a three day celebration of Muhammad should be held in Denmark, putting a focus on the prophet's life. This should be coordinated in part by the Islamic Society, Jyllands-Posten and at least some of the five universities in Denmark. The universities have initially responded as being interested, Jyllands-Posten however, is hesitating.

Boycotts

In early January the Egyptian government threathened with a boycott, but did not carry out their threat. However people in Saudi Arabia called out for a boycott January 20th, and carried out the boycott on Danish products January 26th. The boycott primarily targetted dairy products produced by Arla, but has also hit other products. The boycott has spread to Kuwait where the countries largest retailer-chain, Coop, owned by the state, has taken all Danish products down from the shelves. This has lead to the organisation of Danish industries sending an open letter to Jyllands-Posten where they state that the paper should comment on these events because they feel their members are caught in a 'battle' between religious movements and the paper. The newspaper has reacted to the letter and said that "Dictatorships should not dictate their policy" they also feel they've already given an apology to the muslims for offending them.

The Foreign Minister of Denmark, Per Stig Møller, stated that the boycott has not been initiated by the Saudi Arabian government. The Danish dairy-company Arla launched a massive ad-campaign in Saudi Arabia, trying to improve their reputation and stop the boycott. This happened after their sales in Saudi Arabia almost came to a complete stop. The text for the ads has been written by the Danish ambassador in Saudi Arabia, Hans Klingenberg and includes passages from the Prime Minister of Denmarks New Year's speech. Arla exports account for almost 500 million dollars a year. .

In Scandinavia

A Norwegian magazine, Magazinet, printed the drawings after getting authorization from Jyllands-Posten and it led to a great debate in Norway as well. A Norwegian man made a threat against the lives of the people at the magazine, but later admitted, when faced by the police, that it was just a prank. Some Swedish newspapers have considered printing the drawings as well.

Historical drawings

Drawing Muhammed has been practiced by the Muslims for a long time, but has mostly pictured the life of the Prophet Muhammad as a merchant and doing other everyday things. Most of the paintings don't show Muhammads face but some images showing his face can be seen here or at Commons (see further down in the article). Displaying the prophets face was mostly practiced by the Ottomans from Turkey.

The real controversy with these new drawings stems, as mentioned before, from the fact that one of them shows Muhammad with a bomb in his turban and therefore apparantly equates Islam with terror. In addition, later interpretations of the Koran have forbidden muslims to make paintings of the prophet.

Opinions in Denmark

The general opinion in Denmark is that the drawings do not violate freedom of speech, and neither the newspaper nor the cartoonists have apologized for publishing them. The question whether the drawings should have been printed in the first place has been discussed a lot in Denmark from letters to the Editors, to national television and to high schools and universities at open debate meetings.

A recent poll from Epinion for DR, the national broadcasting company of Denmark, showed that 79 % of the Danes believe that the Prime Minister of Denmark should not appoligize to the muslims and 62 % believed that neither should Jyllands-Posten. (in Danish)

See also

• Jyllands-Posten
• Muhammad
• Freedom of Speech
• Denmark

External links

• The EU Commission's vice-chairman, Franco Frattini (on this issue)
• The Muhammad Drawings (animated gif with English translations)
• The official home-page of Jyllands-Posten
• The letter to the Prime Minister from the muslim ambassadors

• Current events
• Islam
• Denmark