Muslims "Internationalize" Anti-Prophet Cartoons

From the article:

"It was decided to take such a step because it is wrong to turn a blind eye to the fact that some European countries discriminate against their Muslims on the grounds that they are not democratic"

Yes, terrible, isn't it? Such countries also discriminate against honour killers on the grounds that they are murderers, and against polygamists on the grounds that it is ... what's the word?....illegal.

"Abu Laban stressed that Muslims in Denmark will also try to mobilize support for their case among Danes.

So Danish Muslims are not Danes, they are just "Muslims in Denmark"? Well, by that logic, I'm not going to pay my Council Tax - I'm not a Londoner, but a "Lancastrian in London".

I have posted this before, but in case you haven't sent an email, please do so:

http://fjordman.blogspot.com/2005/10/islam-vs-free-speech-case-of-denmark.html

When some Muslims complain about their religion being slighted, the entire Islamic world seems to support them. Unfortunately, the same is not the case with the infidels using their freedom of speech. They are too frequently left to fight alone, with little support. This needs to change. The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), with dozens of member states backed by Saudi oil money, is now up against one newspaper and the government of a nation of just above 5 million inhabitants. But what is at stake is nothing less than the very concept of freedom of speech and thus democracy itself, an issue far greater than Denmark. It is totally unacceptable that Muslims try to intimidate the citizens of free nations from speaking their minds, and it is time that this is made clear in no uncertain terms. As an expression of solidarity, you can send in this draft message:

I would hereby like to express my support for the newspaper Jyllands-Posten publishing cartoons of Islam’s prophet Muhammad. Freedom of speech is the lifeblood of a democratic society, and cannot be tampered with. Muslims in Denmark freely exercise this right, even to say things that people in Denmark find greatly offensive. A leading Danish mufti in 2004 said that Danish women not wearing the veil “were asking for rape.” Another imam wanted to import the sharia concept of blood money to Denmark, and pay the equivalent of 100 camels for a man’s life. If Muslims in Denmark think these are acceptable statements, they cannot by any right claim to be offended by a few simple drawings. At least not if they really mean that Islam is compatible with Western democracy. Jyllands-Posten should know that this case is being followed by individuals from all around the world, and that you have the support of thousands of people who don’t want to see their freedom slip away. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen should also be commended for his clear and principled stand in this case, as Dutch ex-Muslim Ayaan Hirsi Ali points out. In an age where too many political leaders shy away from defending the basic values of our societies, it serves to Denmark’s credit to have a leader who still possesses a backbone.

I would also like to condemn the actions made by the ambassadors of several Muslims countries in this case, and those of Turkey in particular. The behavior of the Turkish government is incompatible with that of a nation with a desire to become a part of a Western community such as the EU. If Turkey thinks that the EU shouldn’t be a Christian club, than Turkey should respond in kind by withdrawing from all “Islamic clubs” such as the OIC. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has earlier stated that anti-Islamism should be viewed as a ”crime against humanity”, has pushed for criticism of Islam to be treated as racism within the EU and is now backing an effort to curtail the freedom of speech of the citizens of an EU nation. These actions are not those of a secular politician such as Ataturk, but more closely mirror the attitude of the Ottoman sultans of old. They indicate that a Turkey within the EU would threaten the freedom of European citizens, and clearly demonstrate that Turkey is not yet ready to become a part of the European community.

Suggested email addresses:

Newspaper Jyllands-Posten:

jp@jp.dk , debat@jp.dk

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen:

stm@stm.dk

Embassy of the Republic of Turkey, Copenhagen, Denmark:

turkembassy@internet.dk

Office of the Turkish President:

cumhurbaskanligi@tccb.gov.tr

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC):

info@oic-oci.org , cabinet@oic-oci.org

For an update on who Abu Laban is, here is one of my earlier posts about him:

http://fjordman.blogspot.com/2005/07/camel-economics.html

Two men have been killed in street shootings in a row involving a group of second generation immigrants in Copenhagen. An injured gang leader was subsequently freed by a group of masked men from the State Hospital, where he was under police surveillance. Integration Minister Hvilshøj rejected a proposal from Imam Abu Laban that blood money be paid to the family of a man who was killed. Since the shooting of a 24 year old and the wounding of his older brother, there has been much speculation about when revenge would be taken. But according to the Imam, the thirst for revenge could be cooled if 200,000 kroner were paid either by the family of the doorman who fired the shots or by the Islamic community. He said the practice of paying blood money to the family of a deceased person was normal in Muslim societies.

200,000 Danish kroner is approximately the value of 100 camels. Some baffled commentators at first thought it was said tongue-in-cheek when Imam Abu Laban wanted the equivalent of 100 camels to be paid for a man’s life. That’s probably not the case. Ahmad Abu Laban is involved in an international group of Muslims who are known for supporting the anti-Western Islamist struggle of the school of global Jihad. He also tried to block the re-election of the right-wing government in Denmark in the previous election.

The idea of blood money originates from the Koran, 2.178:

O ye who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the murdered; the freeman for the freeman, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. And for him who is forgiven somewhat by his (injured) brother, prosecution according to usage and payment unto him in kindness. This is an alleviation and a mercy from your Lord. He who transgresseth after this will have a painful doom.

Ali Sina puts it this way in his essay "Is Political Islam Fascism?":

In the April 9, 2002 issue, The Wall Street Journal published the concept of blood money in Saudi Arabia. If a person has been killed or caused to die by another, the latter has to pay blood money or compensation, as follow.

100,000 riyals if the victim is a Muslim man
50,000 riyals if a Muslim woman
50,000 riyals if a Christian man
25,000 riyals if a Christian woman
6,666 riyals if a Hindu man
3,333 riyals if a Hindu woman

According to this hierarchy, a Muslim man's life is worth 33 times that of a Hindu woman. This hierarchy is based on the Islamic definition of human rights and is rooted in the Quran and Sharia (Islamic law). How can we talk of democracy when the concept of equality in Islam is non-existent?

Scandinavians were once involved in blood feuds, too. It's called the Viking Age, and we left it behind a thousand years ago, as should Muslims have done. We have no particular urge to return to a primitive tribal society. Yet too many of our "new countrymen" seem to insist on bringing one into our living room. Muslims make up less than 4 % of the population in Denmark, one of the toughest countries in Western Europe when it comes to confronting Islam. The fact that many of them, some even born and raised in the country, can still flaunt such blatant disregard for the most fundamental principles of our society should have alarm bells ringing all over Europe. Time is long overdue for some brutal honesty: Islam cannot coexist with Western society. All its basic tenets are hostile to every single idea on which liberal democracy and Western civilization are founded. Islamic culture cannot be integrated into the West any more than fire can be integrated with water. If Muslim immigration is allowed to continue, Muslim parallel societies will destroy our countries from within. We need to face this painful truth and act accordingly, or lights will soon go out over much of Europe.

Read the above carefully.

Muslims want us to respect their primative beliefs and yet they have no qualms about disrespecting our beliefs when it conflicts with theirs. As Fjordman points out yet again, islam is simply not compatible with the western world and the day they leave our western lands, that is the day I start respecting them. Until then I will only view them as squatters in the land of the free standing.

Another poignant display of the folly of multiculturalism....

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1117/p09s02-coop.html

Speaking of multiculturalism, here's what a well-educated, intelligent, ordinary middle class American guy who's also a dabbler in the history of philosophy says about the French riots, with specific reference to that Christian Science Monitor article:

"[That] account leaves out much of the reason that poor and unaccepted Muslim children in France may be tempted to turn to radical Islamist beliefs and attitudes--because they are not permitted to integrate freely into French society; because their desires to assimilate and become as French as the French--desires that the education they receive in French schools promulgates in them--are frustrated by the hypocritical and unspoken limits imposed upon them by French society.

And so, in classic Hegelian and Marxist fashion, they become alienated from the French society that rejects them because it falsely promises them equality and fraternity. They turn instead to an ideology--a very modern ideology, one that pretends to grow out of Islam but that is mostly an anti-liberal reaction to a very modern condition of alienation and disenfranchisement--an ideology that seems to speak to their own identities, and that seems to heighten the value of their own identities to themselves, however extreme and anti-liberal that ideology is."

The fact that well-educated, intelligent, ordinary middle class American guys can write stuff like the above shows how deep and broad the PC Leftist problem is, and how it is seriously hobbling our efforts at dealing with the Problem of Islam -- which problem, as yet on the Western Radar Screen, does not exist.

Thanks Anne for continuing the important work of JW while Robert is 'out of pocket' ..

"Hirohito was Japanese emperor throughout the events of World War II, and was the last Japanese emperor to claim imperial divinity in the Shinto religion. During his reign, he allowed the Japanese military to heavily influence politics, which led to a policy of expansion, and eventually, war. As the war progressed, Hirohito began to resist the leaders of the military and unsuccessfully sought peace with the Allies. After the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the military leaders finally admitted defeat to the Allies, and Hirohito announced an unconditional surrender to the Allies on Japanese radio. This was the first time that an emperor of Japan had ever made a public address. Following the surrender, he was allowed to rule as a ceremonial monarch only, and was forced to denounce his divinity. He cooperated totally with the Allied occupation forces, and for this reason he was not heavily tried and sentenced for war crimes."

Good move Hirohito. And I suppose the Kamikaze pilots actions had nothing to do with their militaristic religiosity? And cats don't meow and dogs don't bark.

Buried in Daisytoo's post is the remarkable fact which not too many people know about Japan's surrender to America: America forced the Emperor of Japan to tell his people -- "I am not divine."

If the day ever comes that the West definitively defeats Islam (first, of course, the West has to wake from its PC Leftist slumber to the fact that a Problem of Islam even exists at all), the West should force all Muslim clerics -- round up 100,000 imams from around the world, put them in a stadium and broadcast their assent -- to say to their fellow world Muslims -- "The Koran is not the immutable word of Allah, it is the mutable and imperfect words of men."

The original issue:

Kare Bluitgen, an author stated that artists were unwilling to produce drawings of Mohammad for his soon to be published children's book, as they were fearful of Denmarks's Muslim fundamentalists.

I'm not saying that their fears were unjustified, I'm sure they were. And I'm not condoning the ensuing demonstrations. Nor am I suggesting that we in the West should, in any way, acquiesce to Muslim beliefs.

But something isn't quite kosher here.

I don't know what kind of drawings Jyllands-Posten actually requested, but apparently 40 were submitted. Of the twelve published, two (numbers six and twelve) were submitted in protest of the newspapers request.

So, as you're viewing them, ask yourselves:

**Which of them would be appropriate for a children's book?

**If you were a Muslim, which would you find insulting?

**Did publishing those drawings test the author's concern?

Just so you know, drawing umber six states, "'Jyllands-Posten's journalists are a bunch of reactionary provocateurs."

(You'll need to scroll to the bottom, wait a second or two, and click on the icon to enlarge the drawings).

http://www.newspaperindex.com/blog/wp-images/Mohammed-drawings-newspaper.jpg

I must have read 50 articles on this. Most contain some variation of "depictions of Mohammad are prohibited in Islam".

Here's my contention:

The newspaper should have published more images like drawing number one. And they should have challenged Muslims to show where even they are prohibited from producing drawings of Mohammad, or anyone else.

Isn't it time to challenge Muslim nonsense with their own texts?

"...an ideology that seems to speak to their own identities, and that seems to heighten the value of their own identities to themselves, however extreme and anti-liberal that ideology is."

The fact that well-educated, intelligent, ordinary middle class American guys can write stuff like the above shows how deep and broad the PC Leftist problem is, and how it is seriously hobbling our efforts at dealing with the Problem of Islam -- which problem, as yet on the Western Radar Screen, does not exist.
Posted by: Dr. Pepper

I become more convinced daily that Left dhimmi fascism is our gravest concern from our greatest enemy, our own people. I've written four times in the past week or so on "Identity Fascism" and I suspect I'll continue for weeks to come on this topic.

The hatred of Modernity and the philobarbarism of our intelligentsia leads to neo-feudalism, the mire of France that we see today: rampaging primitives and manorial lords feasting at the trough filled by the taxed and the pressed. Our new peasant classes, under the tutelage of the welfare barons, provide labour in exchange for protection in times of need.

We're witnessing a return to the Middle Ages, this time with computers. We're seeing before our very lying eyes the triumph of the counter-Enlightenment reactionaries who survived the choppers. This is a return to 1788. This is a war against the American revolutionaries and a reimposition of rule by foreign Kings. This is the smashing of the Industrial Age. This is a war against Modernity.

sonofwalker,

I was with you until I read, "The hatred of Modernity and the philobarbarism of our intelligentsia..."

I mean, I'm still with you on every point you make, but I have to take exception to pinpointing the problem with "intelligentsia". This problem of PC Leftism is not just a problem with some elite cadre of professionals -- it is a much broader, deeper problem than that -- a general cultural miasma that has spread well beyond the ivory towers and the Beltway and the Euro-Bureaus.

I was reflecting on my own copy, writing about a quotation from Isaiah Berlin in which he distinguishes between the intelligentsia and intellectuals. I wrote recently that Sean Penn, for example, qualifies as one of our intelligentsia, and that most people go along with the view from Hollywood and such centres of genius because of the Romance attitude we've inherited and never examined closely. Most people lkook at romantic movie idols as Romance heroes, and they take ideas from there rather than from genuine intellectuals. My main point is that we live in a Romanitic era rather than an Enlightenment era, and that upsets me and makes me wonder if we have a future at all.

I wrote of Indentity Fascism as part of the Romantic ethos of hero embodied in the group, like a movie start Today, like the Leader of yesteryear. In fact, it's long and so far in four parts. If you get some time and have the inclination to read it, it might be clearer than I am here. It's not quite on topic here, and the length would offend Hugh, so if you have time please go to the following and look for Identity Fascism. If you have an essay to contribute, I would be delighted to post it.

http://nodhimmitude.blogspot.com

or write to my secret e-mail address at:

dag dot walker at gmail dot com

PRCS posted: Isn't it time to challenge Muslim nonsense with their own texts?

In muslim nations that is the way to go. However if we accept their texts as the basis for any challenges over here, then ipso facto we accept that their texts, define what is or is not acceptable in the West.

I have also posted a bit on the elevator problem on the other site.

DP111,

I responded at the other post. Hope that helps.

My point here is not to accept their texts, but rather to exploit their texts, and to say to them, "You folks don't even know what your own religion says".

As near as I can tell, there is no Qur'anic prohibition against drawing pictures of Mohammad, or any other human being.

And Muslims, and members of the press who continue to repeat such claims, should be challenged (unless I'm completely wrong about the subject).

It's kind of like the 'journalists' who dutifully state, after an aircraft accident, 'Black Boxes' Found!, without understanding that an altimeter is a black box, an airspeed indicator is a black box, a landing gear position indicator is a black box...

Our ignorant press is one of Islam's biggest enablers.

PRCS

Your position understood. Just thought I should point out the obvious pit that one can so easily fall into.

On the elevator issue - I'm going to see an old freind of mine who has decades of experience in flying all types of passenger aircaft. Will let you know what transpires.

You know, this sort of thing intrigues me and but for this islam idiocy that has somehow been allowed to gain a purchase over here, I would have been doing far more interesting and challenging stuff.

This is exactly how Muslims force Kuffars to practise Islam by proxy , and in Canada the MSA's are in the Universities trying to force them to build Mosques on campus or create a prayer room ( Muslim prayer room as I expect) so they don't have to go out side in the cold.
Guess they don't like Allah and Muhammed enough to leave a warm and comfy school.

Muslims at these Universities love the seperation from religion so they don't have to see and hear from "The jews" and Christians on campus, but they are using the "Freedom of religion" Right in our Charter to impose Islam on the other students.
Even when other schools allowed a small space for prayer the Muslims didn't stop there, the bitching continued and next was the class-time that fell during the daily prayers .
Also sensitivity training for teachers was demanded , then Islamic books in the library , and then refunds on tutition for the time away from clases during Muslim holidays and other holidays.

I just don't give a sh*t about their troubles any more , it's like a whinning brat that loves being the career-victim that can find something that offends them.

Here are two political cartoons published in the U.S. criticizing Islam as protected under the First Amendment:

Time Magazine

Los Angeles Times

¿Tiene usted un problema, Señor Hooper?

Lisa:

Funny, isn't it, that the editorial cartoonists are probably light-years ahead of the editors and columnists in comprehending what's going on and have no hesitation in expressing their opinions.

Thanks Lisa for the link to the cartoons. I have taken the liberty of linking them elsewhere, with due acknowledgement to you.