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Cartoons of Prophet Met With Outrage
Members of the Popular Resistance Commitees, a militant Palestinian group, burn a Danish flag next to the European Commission building during a protest in Gaza City.
(By Emilio Morenatti -- Associated Press)
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The tumult passed, but was reignited even more furiously when Magazinet, the evangelical Christian paper in Norway, reprinted the cartoons. The editor, Vebjoern Selbekk, wrote that he was "sick of the ongoing hidden erosion of the freedom of expression." He told the Reuters news agency that he had received 15 death threats and more than 1,000 hate letters.
The Danish Foreign Ministry late Sunday issued a statement warning its citizens in nine Middle Eastern countries and the Palestinian territories to "show extra vigilance" because of the "strong negative feelings" sparked by the uproar.
Meanwhile, a Denmark-based dairy group, Arla Foods -- which according to a statement on its Web site sells about $421 million annually in the Middle East and has about 1,000 employees there -- said that sales had come to a "standstill" across the region.
The newspapers have issued explanations but have couched their apologies. "We are sorry if Muslims have been offended," Jyllands' editor in chief, Carsten Juste, told the Associated Press, adding that the newspapers actions were "within the constitution, the Danish penal code and international convention. . . . It is not a dictatorship like Saudi Arabia that is going to dictate our editorial line here in Denmark."
Norway described the cartoons as "unfortunate and deplorable." Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has refused to apologize. In a recent speech, without mentioning the controversy, he denounced "any expression, action of indication that attempts to demonize groups of people on the basis of the religion or ethnic background." But he added that "freedom of speech is absolute. It is not negotiable."
"The question here is how far do you show sensitivity and self-control over issues without falling into self-censorship," said Medhi Mozaffari, a professor at Aarhus University in Denmark, who defended his government's stance not to apologize.
"It's unthinkable that the prime minister would make an apology," he said. "This is Islamists putting democracies on trial to see how far they can be pressured."
Special correspondent Marie Valla contributed to this report.
