Italian Newspapers Reprint Danish Cartoons

Links at FreeThoughts.com.

US State Department Q&A on Danish Cartoons

From Little Green Footballs:

QUESTION: Yes? Can you say anything about a U.S. response or a U.S. reaction to this uproar in Europe over the Prophet Muhammad pictures? Do you have any reaction to it? Are you concerned that the violence is going to spread and make everything just —

MR. MCCORMACK: I haven’t seen any — first of all, this is matter of fact. I haven’t seen it. I have seen a lot of protests. I’ve seen a great deal of distress expressed by Muslims across the globe. The Muslims around the world have expressed the fact that they are outraged and that they take great offense at the images that were printed in the Danish newspaper, as well as in other newspapers around the world.

Our response is to say that while we certainly don’t agree with, support, or in some cases, we condemn the views that are aired in public that are published in media organizations around the world, we, at the same time, defend the right of those individuals to express their views. For us, freedom of expression is at the core of our democracy and it is something that we have shed blood and treasure around the world to defend and we will continue to do so. That said, there are other aspects to democracy, our democracy — democracies around the world — and that is to promote understanding, to promote respect for minority rights, to try to appreciate the differences that may exist among us.

We believe, for example in our country, that people from different religious backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds, national backgrounds add to our strength as a country. And it is important to recognize and appreciate those differences. And it is also important to protect the rights of individuals and the media to express a point of view concerning various subjects. So while we share the offense that Muslims have taken at these images, we at the same time vigorously defend the right of individuals to express points of view. We may — like I said, we may not agree with those points of view, we may condemn those points of view but we respect and emphasize the importance that those individuals have the right to express those points of view.

For example — and on the particular cartoon that was published — I know the Prime Minister of Denmark has talked about his, I know that the newspaper that originally printed it has apologized, so they have addressed this particular issue. So we would urge all parties to exercise the maximum degree of understanding, the maximum degree of tolerance when they talk about this issue. And we would urge dialogue, not violence. And that also those that might take offense at these images that have been published, when they see similar views or images that could be perceived as anti-Semitic or anti-Catholic, that they speak out with equal vigor against those images.

QUESTION: That the Muslims speak out with equal vigor when they see — that’s what you’re asking?

MR. MCCORMACK: We would — we believe that it is an important principle that peoples around the world encourage dialogue, not violence; dialogue, not misunderstanding and that when you see an image that is offensive to another particular group, to speak out against that. Anti-Muslim images are as unacceptable as anti-Semitic images, as anti-Christian images or any other religious belief. We have to remember and respect the deeply held beliefs of those who have different beliefs from us. But it is important that we also support the rights of individuals to express their freely held views.

QUESTION: So basically you’re just hoping that it doesn’t — I’m sorry I misspoke when I said there was violence, I meant uproar. Your bottom line is that both sides have the right to do exactly as they’re doing and you just hope it doesn’t get worse?

MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I —

QUESTION: You just hope it doesn’t escalate.

MR. MCCORMACK: I gave a pretty long answer, so —

QUESTION: You did. I’m trying to sum it up for you. (Laughter.)

MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah. Sure.

QUESTION: A couple of years ago, I think it was a couple of years ago when, I think it was the Syrians and the Lebanese were introducing this documentary about the Jews — or it was the Egyptians — this Administration spoke out very strongly about that and called it offensive, said it was —

MR. MCCORMACK: I just said that the images were offensive; we found them offensive.

QUESTION: Well, no you said that you understand that the Muslims found them offensive, but —

MR. MCCORMACK: I’m saying now, we find them offensive. And we certainly understand why Muslims would find these images offensive.

Yes.

QUESTION: One word is puzzling me in this, Sean, and that’s the use of the word “unacceptable” and “not acceptable,” exactly what that implies. I mean, it’s not quite obvious that you find the images offensive. When you say “unacceptable,” it applies some sort of action against the people who perpetrate those images.

MR. MCCORMACK: No. I think I made it very clear that our defense of freedom of expression and the ability of individuals and media organizations to engage in free expression is forthright and it is strong, you know. This is — our First Amendment rights, the freedom of expression, are some of the most strongly held and dearly held views that we have here in America. And certainly nothing that I said, I would hope, would imply any diminution of that support.

QUESTION: It’s just the one word “unacceptable,” I’m just wondering if that implied any action, you know. But it doesn’t you say?

MR. MCCORMACK: No.

QUESTION: Okay.

MR. MCCORMACK: Yes.

Danish Cartoonists Go Into Hiding

According to The Times of London, Danish cartoonists have gone into hiding, afraid for their lives as a result of the international agitation against their published cartoons of Mohammed.

Strangely, I didn't hear any condemnations of the threats from Britain's Jack Straw or US State Department Sean McCormack.

Margaret Thatcher, on the other hand, stood up to terror and offered Salman Rushdie full-time police protection. She remembered what Bush and Blair have forgotten: Appeasement breeds aggression.

Roger L Simon on Denmark

From Astute Blogger:

WHERE'S THE OUTRAGE .... on the part of artists and writers!?

Has the WGA or PEN (or any other artists' or writers' organizations) voiced ANY support for the Denmark?

NOPE. They are as silent about this afront to freedom of expression as they were about the murder of Theo van Gogh. They SHOULD be as supportive to Denmark as the dozen or so European newspaper which have reprinted the cartoons in a fabulous display of solidarity with Denmark.

This blogger happens to be a former official of the WGA and PEN. That they are both silent on this issue does not suprise me in the slightest. Much of their membership is probably not even aware of it.

Clash of Civilizations Continues

Ghe Financial Times says rage against Denmark is still spreading:

Angry protests over newspaper cartoons of the prophet Mohammad continued to spread globally on Friday as Muslim leaders and politicians in Europe expressed mounting concern that the outrage could destabilise the multicultural continent.

In Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation, protesters stormed the lobby of the Jakarta high-rise building housing the Danish embassy. Other incidents and protests were reported from Pakistan to the Darfur region of Sudan and the Palestinian territories, where European Union observers evacuated Danish and French nationals after gunmen had briefly held a German man in the West Bank on Thursday night.

In London, hundreds of Muslims marched from the Regent's Park mosque, one of the biggest Islamic centres in Europe, to the heavily protected Danish embassy, bearing placards declaring “Behead the one who insults the prophet” and “Free speech go to hell”.

The most serious religious clash since the 1989 Salman Rushdie affair erupted last September when Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten published 12 caricatures of Mohammad, the seventh-century founder of Islam, in protest at what it called “the rejection of modern, secular society” by some Muslims.

The debate only boiled over last month when European newspapers began reprinting the cartoons, considered blasphemous by many Muslims, sparking a fresh wave of protests in the Muslim world, including boycotts of Danish products and the recalling of ambassadors to Copenhagen.

Islamik Trossamfund, a small Danish Muslim organisation, has been accused of throwing petrol on the fire after its leaders toured the Middle-East circulating highly offensive pictures of Muslims that had never appeared in the Danish press.

Support Denmark.com

It's the pen v. the sword; bloggers and writers v. mobs and their fanatic leaders; free speech v. submission.

Denmark's supporters are rushing to their electronic pens, as one can see at websites like Support Denmark.com.

Palestinians Rage Against Denmark

Reuters reports from the Palestinian Authority:

"Whoever defames our prophet should be executed," said Ismail Hassan, 37, a tailor who marched through the pouring rain along with hundreds of others in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"Bin Laden our beloved, Denmark must be blown up," protesters in Ramallah chanted.

In mosques throughout Palestinian cities, clerics condemned the cartoons. An imam at the Omari Mosque in Gaza City told 9,000 worshippers that those behind the drawings should have their heads cut off.

"If they want a war of religions, we are ready," Hassan Sharaf, an imam in Nablus, said in his sermon.

About 10,000 demonstrators, including gunmen from the Islamic militant group Hamas firing in the air, marched through Gaza City to the Palestinian legislature, where they climbed on the roof, waving green Hamas banners.

"We are ready to redeem you with our souls and our blood our beloved prophet," they chanted. "Down, Down Denmark."

Will Danish Cartoons Spark World War III?

The BBC is reporting here and here and in a reader's forum here a worldwide "clash of civilizations" over those famous Danish cartoons of Mohammed.

Could this really spark World War III? It seems hard to believe that matters will get so out of hand--yet one remembers that a simple visit by Ariel Sharon to Jerusalem's Temple Mount sparked the Palestinian Intifada; the National Endowment for the Arts' funding of "Piss Christ" led to a Republican takeover of the US Congress; and Paris's kidnapping of Helen of Troy led to the Trojan War-- as well as a line that seems appropriate in relation to the Danish cartoon crisis:

"Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?"

Little Green Footballs has a slideshow of the cartoons, here. Bigger than what we posted below, and makes clear that they are not very nasty, as Andrew Sullivan described them, "tame" by American standards.

For another historical reference, see Voltaire's play Le fanatisme, ou Mahomet le prophète. Background on a banned Geneva revival, here.

More about today's calls to war at Little Green Footballs.

Human Events has posted a cartoon gallery here.

Financial Times story here.

Telegraph stories here and here.

More reason to like Sarkozy:

This from the Guardian: But not everyone was acquiescent. France's interior minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, said he preferred "an excess of caricature to an excess of censure".

African American Lives

I just loved watching this Henry Louis Gates PBS show tonight, part detective story, part science program, part inspirational saga, part history, part autobiography of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. I am happy that PBS made it, every segment is interesting in a different way. Congratulations to everyone involved in a wonderful television series that has so many different levels that it is hard to talk about.

Putin Meets the Press

Meanwhile, back in the Kremlin, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin held a 3-hour press conference. You can read the full transcript here. Of particular interest to me was his answer to a question about Uzbekistan:

STEVEN GUTTERMAN (correspondent for the Associated Press, USA): During your presidency you said that Russia is a European country that shares European culture and values. But sometimes Russia supports certain opinions or a certain regime in the former Soviet Union which obviously does not share these values. For example, events in Andizhan and Russian support for Uzbekistan's actions during these events. Do you not think that these approaches are incompatible?

Thank you.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: I do not think that these approaches are incompatible, especially since we know better than you do what happened in Andizhan. And we know who trained the people who ignited the situation in Uzbekistan and in that city in particular, where they were trained, and how many of them were trained. This does not exclude the fact that there are a great many problems in Uzbekistan, but it does exclude the fact that we take an approach in which we oscillate, or in which we could allow ourselves to shake up the situation in that country.

You probably know what the Fergana valley is and you know how difficult the situation is there, the population's situation and their level of economic well-being. We do not need a second Afghanistan in Central Asian and we shall proceed very carefully. We do not need revolutions there, we need an evolution which will lead to establishing those values you spoke about, but that will not encourage explosions like the ones we faced in Andizhan.

Also interesting was Putin's analysis of the Hamas victory in Palestinian elections:

MOHAMMED AMRO (Al-Jazeera): Mr President!

After Hamas' victory in the Middle East there have been certain statements from the west threatening to stop or diminish the help they give the Palestinian population.

Will your position on this issue change? And do you agree with the opinion that what is happening now in the Middle East is the failure of American diplomacy?

Thank you.

VLADIMIR PUTIN: It is a big setback, an important setback for American efforts in the Middle East. A very serious setback.

I think that if we want to resolve these difficult global problems than we must only do so together and not invite the participants in the process to pull the chestnuts out of the fire, but rather sit down together and to listen to each other right from the beginning and to take corresponding decisions.

Our position concerning Hamas differs from the American and western European positions. The foreign ministry of the Russian Federation never declared that Hamas is a terrorist organization. But this does not mean that we approve and support everything that Hamas does and all the declarations that they have made recently. We think that it is one thing when this political force was the opposition and trying to get into power and we know that throughout the whole world very often the opposition makes very radical statements. It is another thing when it receives the people's vote of confidence and must make sure that the people who believed in this movement feel the positive results of their authorities' work. ves the people's vote of confidence and must make sure that the people who believed in this movement feel the positive results of their authorities' work. And for this it is necessary to leave behind the extremist positions, to recognize Israel's right to exist and to have relations with the international community.

We call on Hamas to do these things. In any case we would consider refusing to help the Palestinian people a mistake.

Of course, he spoke about the Russian-Ukranian gas showdown:

OLGA SOLOMONOVA (Trud newspaper): I have a question concerning Russian-Ukrainian relations in the gas sector.

It seems that everything had been resolved at the beginning of this year, that you agreed on everything. You met personally with Yushchenko. Everything seemed normal.

Now, as is well-known, Ukraine is once again starting to take gas outright and Gazprom is constantly increasing deliveries to Europe.

What is your impression of this situation?

VLADIMIR PUTIN: First of all I consider very positive the fact that we were able to agree with Ukrainian leadership on a common approach towards supplying Ukraine with Russian energy. It is positive both for our bilateral relations and for the energy situation in Europe and in the world.

And I consider that Ukrainian leadership took a courageous and correct step when it accepted these agreements. These agreements were a compromise and each party is satisfied with them. Along with this, you are correct. We agreed on everything, signed everything regarding prices, fixing prices, the volumes of deliveries. And despite all of these agreements and without any conflicts, we were faced with the situation in which a large amount of Russian gas is being siphoned off from the pipelines through which it is exported to Europe. During a cold period in Ukraine this amounted to 34-35 million cubic metres of gas per day. Gazprom wanted to remake these losses for western European consumers and unilaterally increased daily deliveries by 35 million. What happened next? Our Ukrainian partners continued to take 35 million daily in addition to the supplementary amount that Gazprom was delivering, that is 70 million cubic metres a day.

And now I would like to ask a question to those sceptics who didn't believe it was necessary to construct the Northern European Gas Pipeline under the Baltic Sea. Is this pipeline necessary to ensure a stable gas supply to western Europe or not? Whoever talks about this theme in the future must reflect on whose interests they have at heart, the interests of their own population or other interests that are difficult to justify. 

We expect that we shall be able to find an equilibrium in our relations with our Ukrainian partners. I am happy about the fact that, in contrast to previous years, our Ukrainian partners said straight out that they were taking this gas, there was no tentative to cover up, nor to distort the fact. It is important to us that we are paid for this gas according to the prices we agreed on. This can be done either at the end of February or in another way, seeing as the quantity of gas delivered to Ukraine, the quantity of Russian gas, is limited to 17 billion cubic metres a year. This means that at one point the total volume shall be determined and then we must agree on the new volume. But it is important that this is not hidden but discussed openly. I hope that these discussions will lead to a positive result.

The most Russian moment seemed to be this exchange with a reporter who covers the Russian automobile industry and asked to test drive the President's car:

FEDOR BYSTROV (Volga Press): ...And I have a second question if you do not consider it out of place: would it be possible to use your private car for a test drive? I think that many Russians would be interested to know what is in the President's car.
Well, using this opportunity, I would like to invite you to drive in a Togliatti.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: Thank you, thank you for the invitation.
Which car would you like to receive? (excitement in the room)
FEDOR. BYSTROV: A Volga.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: A Volga?
FEDOR BYSTROV: Yes, I would like to do an article on a Volga.
VLADIMIR PUTIN: Okay, fine, we agreed.

Like Putin, I'm surprised any reporter wants to test-drive a Volga . . .

We Have Lots More Danish Readers Now . . .

Buy Danish! Campaign Grows

From Little Green Footballs. The Danish article mentions Bang & Olufsen, perhaps of interest to some of our more affluent audiophile readers...

Ann Althouse on the State of the Union

Ann Althouse:

A nice, vigorous speech. Full of optimism and courage. Ack! Now the NBC commentators come on and talk first about the "deep divisions" in the room. The Republicans applauded a lot more than the Democrats. Isn't that disturbing? "We just plain disagree on every fundamental issue that is confronting this country," Tim Russert says in a dire tone. What can Bush get done? Very little! Hey, forget your damned optimism and get depressed fast, people.

Enough for me. I'm switching over the the TiVo'd "American Idol."

Switchgrass?

Listening to Bush's State of the Union speech, according to the New York Times written by my old contact at the Wall Street Journal editorial page, Bill McGurn (better than the average Bush speech, Bill!), the word switchgrass sounded strange.

Luckily, Jim Lehrer, who is from Texas, explained it to David Brooks on PBS afterwards, and I looked it up. Yep, it's a biomass fuel that can be made into pellets or ethanol and burned for energy instead of oil, coal, or gas. There's more at this University of Kentucky website

How do I invest?

Jill Carroll Still Alive

According to this CNN report, she's been shown crying and pleading on Al Jazeera television, asking for more Iraqis to be released in exchange for her life.

It's painful to watch . . .

James Na on Google's China Deal

The Asianist has some harsh words for the search engine giant's Chinese censorship plan, along with a link to this stinging animated cartoon by Mark Fiore

New Twist in Abu Hamza Case: Judge's Home Burgled, Laptop Stolen

And according to this story in the Daily Mirror, the laptop contained the judges' case-notes on Abu Hamza. Accordig to the Glasgow Daily Record, the judge maintains the theft is not related to Abu Hamza's case. Meanwhile, Scotland Yard is investigating.

Montgomery, Alabama Mourns Coretta Scott King

From the Montgomery Advertiser:

Montgomerians of all ages and races mourned Mrs. King, both as a neighbor in the late 1950s and as a leader advancing the cause of civil rights for decades after her husband’s death.

Thomas McPherson, vice-president of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Foundation, said he was saddened by Mrs. King’s death, but glad for the work she’s done.

“I’m proud of the fact that Mrs. King, in her own right, has left a legacy that will serve as a guide and a motivator in the continuing struggle for equality,” McPherson said. “She was a woman of true character, of commitment and of loyalty to her husband.”

The Rev. Michael F. Thurman, pastor of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, recalled Mrs. King as a woman of incredible strength.

“My first meeting with Mrs. King was 25 years ago when I was in college at Morehouse in Atlanta, her husband’s alma mater,” Thurman said. “She was a very stately woman, very poised. I remember thanking her for the contributions she had made, the sacrifices she had made for this nation.”

Thurman said Americans will remember Mrs. King for her leadership in her years after her husband’s death and for the dignity she showed during her husband’s funeral.

“The footage from the funeral is etched in the nation’s mind,” he said.

Thurman said Mrs. King was left to pick up the pieces when her husband was assassinated.

“We failed to realize that his family paid a price. He was taken from his family at the age of 39. They had a dad and a husband who was the victim of a crime, who sacrificed his life. I’m sure his family endured a feeling of ‘Why us? Why did my family have to be the chosen one?’ For Mrs. King, it meant that she was left to rear her children as a single parent. She showed incredible strength to not only tackle the task of being a single parent but in the course of tremendous grief, she was able to make a contribution to further her husband’s vision, to continue to give life and meaning to his values.”

Danish Boycott Crisis Grows

According to this BBC report, the Danish paper in question has now apologized for offending Muslims, while defending its right to free speech. Here's the text of the apology (ht lgf):

Honourable Citizens of The Muslim World

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten is a strong proponent of democracy and freedom of religion. The newspaper respects the right of any human being to practise his or her religion. Serious misunderstandings in respect of some drawings of the Prophet Mohammed have led to much anger and, lately, also boycott of Danish goods in Muslim countries.

Please allow me to correct these misunderstandings.

On 30 September last year, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten published 12 different cartoonists' idea of what the Prophet Mohammed might have looked like. The initiative was taken as part of an ongoing public debate on freedom of expression, a freedom much cherished in Denmark.

In our opinion, the 12 drawings were sober. They were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologize.

Since then a number of offensive drawings have circulated in The Middle East which have never been published in Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten and which we would never have published, had they been offered to us. We would have refused to publish them on the grounds that they violated our ethical code.

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten attaches importance to upholding the highest ethical standards based upon the respect of our fundamental values. It is so much more deplorable, therefore, that these drawings were presented as if they had anything to do with Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten.

Maybe because of culturally based misunderstandings, the initiative to publish the 12 drawings has been interpreted as a campaign against Muslims in Denmark and the rest of the world.

I must categorically dismiss such an interpretation. Because of the very fact that we are strong proponents of the freedom of religion and because we respect the right of any human being to practise his or her religion, offending anybody on the grounds of their religious beliefs is unthinkable to us.

That this happened was, consequently, unintentional.

As a result of the debate that has been going on about the drawings, we have met with representatives of Danish Muslims, and these meetings were held in a positive and constructive spirit. We have also sought in other ways to initiate a fruitful dialogue with Danish Muslims.

It is the wish of Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten that various ethnic groups should live in peace and harmony with each other and that the debates and disagreements which will always exist in a dynamic society should do so in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

For that reason, Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten has published many articles describing the positive aspects of integration, for example in a special supplement entitled The Contributors. It portrayed a number of Muslims who have had success in Denmark. The supplement was rewarded by the EU Commission.

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten takes exception to symbolic acts suited to demonise specific nationalities, religions and ethnic groups.

Sincerely yours
Carsten Juste
Editor-in-Chief

My own two cents is, why such sensitivity to hurt feelings over a Danish newspaper cartoon--but none to sermons in mosques, fatwas against Americans and Jews, and articles and cartoons in the Islamist press making all sorts of offensive statements? Is this a one-way or a two-way street? Does Denmark, or the US, or Israel, now have a right to demand that Saudi Arabia muzzle its imams, and censor Arab media? If so, when will this sensitivity begin to show itself?

Or, is the Danish case really more about an imposition of submission and craven kow-towing to Islam? In which case, it is not only a violation of freedom of speech, it is also a violation freedom of religion--the right to live free from Islamic law.

UPDATE: Here are the cartoons in question, from Samizdata.net:(ht AndrewSullivan.com)

Jeff Jacoby: Bush is Delusional

About Hamas' victory in Palestinian elections, says Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe (ht lgf):

Some of that delusion was on display at the White House on Thursday, when President Bush painted the Palestinian election as a ''healthy" exercise in civic reform:

''Obviously, people were not happy with the status quo," Bush explained. ''The people are demanding honest government. The people want services. They want to be able to raise their children in an environment in which they can get a decent education and they can find healthcare. And so the elections should open the eyes of the old guard there in the Palestinian territories. . . . There's something healthy about a system that does that."

Spare us, Mr. President. If a slate of neo-Nazi skinheads swept to power in a European election, would you say that the voters were seeking ''honest government" and ''services"? Palestinians are not stupid, and it insults their intelligence to pretend that when they vote to empower a genocidal organization with a platform straight out of ''Mein Kampf," what they're really after is better healthcare. Islamist extremism isn't needed to fix Palestinian hospitals any more than fascism was needed to make Italian trains run on time in the 1920s. If Palestinians turned out en masse to elect a party that unapologetically stands for hatred and mass murder, it's a safe bet that hatred and mass murder had something to do with the turnout.

By the same token, Hamas's new duties are not going to turn it into a moderate group of diligent civil servants. When violent Islamists win political power, their brutality and zealotry do not diminish. (See Khomeini, Ayatollah and Taliban, Afghan). The notion that Hamas now has ''a choice to make" is just another example of the delusional thinking that is so pervasive when it comes to the Palestinian Authority.