Westergaard is no hero of free speech: he has successfully sued Anders Gravers of our sister organization, Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), for unauthorized use of his Muhammad cartoon in a demonstration. Clearly he hasn’t the first foggiest idea of why his cartoon is important, or of what the reaction to it — including this story — tells the world about Islam and Islamic supremacism. Nonetheless, Western authorities should be protecting him from this Jordanian action, and from jihadist vigilantes who want to execute sentence on Westergaard themselves.
“Jordan to try Danish artist over Mohammed cartoon,” from AFP, April 14 (thanks to Paul):
AMMAN “” A Jordanian court will begin this month the trial of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard over a controversial caricature of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed, but it was unclear if he will attend.
Zakarya Sheikh, spokesman for a group of local media outlets that sued Westergaard in 2008 for depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban, said on Thursday the artist and others have been summoned by a magistrates’ court in Amman to stand trial on April 25.”
A copy of the subpoena obtained by AFP says Westergaard “is accused of the crime of blasphemy.”
“These legal measures seek to prevent attempts to insult Islam and incite racial hatred against Muslims worldwide, particularly in Europe,” Sheikh told AFP….
What race is Islam again? In any case, Sheikh is at least refreshingly honest: these legal measures are designed to stifle free speech about Islam in the West, and to force the West to adopt Sharia blasphemy provisions.
Westergaard, meanwhile, remains clueless:
He has been quoted in local news reports as saying that he “would like to go to Amman to stand trial. However, what I fear is that I am convicted in advance.”
“I wanted to depict the terrorists as if they were taking the Prophet Mohammed as a hostage. I have no problem with Islam but with the terrorists,” he said, insisting that he respects Islam but “will not apologise.”
MPs have demanded that the government sever ties with Denmark, and Amman has condemned the caricature, warning that it could spark further extremism and harm relations between Denmark and Muslim countries.
If it sparks further “extremism,” no one is to blame but the “extremists,” and Western authorities should be telling Amman that.