A New Zealand newspaper has published controversial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammed. The Dominion Post, a Fairfax-owned Wellington newspaper, published the cartoons today, saying its decision was in the interests of press freedom. "It’s important for our readers to see what the fuss is about and to make up their own minds. Ours is a secular society based on western ideals of tolerance and open debate, even if that may occasionally offend," said Tim Pankhurst, Dominion Post editor and Commonwealth Press Union chairman.
"We do not wish to be deliberately provocative but neither should we allow ourselves to be intimidated. If we allow Christianity and more particularly the Catholic Church and the Pope to be satirized, and we do, should Islam be treated differently?" he asked.
Source: [The age]
Ahh! Will this issue ever end? Enough! Both sides are taking it to extremes and simply taunting one another for what are surely ignoble ends! Stop the mayhem! Geez! Can’t we just all get along?
Meanwhile, the husband and I have aggregated a number of news items related to the cartoon controversy. They can be seen in one fell swoop here. One story of interest is the Newsweek interview with Jihad Al-Momani, the Jordanian editor who republished the infamous cartoons in Sheehan. Obviously, he gave the interview right before his arrest on Saturday. Apparently, last month’s campaign to end journalist imprisonment in Jordan has not been that fruitful.
They are fakes:
http://jarrarsupariver.blogspot.com/2006/02/neander-news-reports-danish-imams.html
Are we at all surprised? If the Muslim’s that over reacted to this lie have *any* sence of the justice they claim to, they would turn on their leaders and burn down *their* government buildings for lying to them like this, for the sole purpose of inciting unjustified violence against the innocent, but given the gullibility about false claims of conspiracy and the unwillingness of them to look closely at their own leaders, I am not holding my breath. You want insults, this scam, this lie, is more offensive than the cartoons themselves to Islam. And I am saying this as someone that thinks religion is a bane on humanity, not some glorious helper.
There is way more than meets the eye about this whole cartoon mess. It has accomplished it’s objective.
American Thinker has got the cartoonist number
Some Iraqi bloggers I read pointed out this site:
http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/
Not too hard to figure out that if these past images where not cause for riots, that something a great deal stupider must be involved now, especially the ones towards the bottom, which while I haven’t yet seen the ones that started this BS, can’t possibly be less intentionally offensive…
Ignore the quotation by Mr Pankhurst. The New Zealand press was probably motivated by profits. Most newspapers realize their circulations are falling, and in desperation, want to feel relevant. So ignoring real Muslims, and putting westerners at risk in some places, is their idea of feeling powerful. They can then report on themselves and the violence, all while more of us become disgusted and turn to blogs for the real viewpoints of Muslims.
Catholic priest killed in Turkey. Reason: Unknown.
But if it is connected to this cartoons issue then it certainly is a dangerous development. What does a Catholic priest have to do with anything?
Yet another despicable crime.
Now can any one draw us caricatures of the wall of hate ?may be we can attract same cowed to demonstrate to boycott the wall.
I was covering the demonstration in Beirut today and it was absolutely disgusting. The worst part of it was that it has enflared sectarian strife in this country.
Walla 3alam fadhiya !
This issue is completely exhausted at this point! I think it just highlights the tension between the west and the muslim world, If its not offensive cartoons then its gona be something else.
At this point, I think backing down from Europe to the moslem world is a very critical thing. I would’nt have minded if, in the begining ,that the publisher of those cartoons would apologize for his readers about the offensive nature of cartoons to some; now that the moslems made it public and stirred up the whole Islamic world behind them, it is a matter of what Europe stands for. If they back down, it will be too bad for the freedom of speech and thinking, and the east will intemidate every time they smell there is something written here or there that they dont like. I also find it shameful on the Secretary of State to side against this freedom of speech; but I understand the politics in it.