Casbah Udine

vignette-2

Autore: Orma

Muslim groups to exhibit 'muhammad dogs'

the local: sweden's news in english, 17th August 2007 18:07 CET

Two Muslim groups have indicated their willingness to exhibit controversial sketches by artist Lars Vilks after galleries in western Sweden declined to show the artworks. Inspired by Sweden's recent 'roundabout dogs' craze, Vilks composed a series of sketches portraying the Muslim prophet Muhammad as just such a creature. The well-known artist took his pictures to galleries in Värmland and Bohuslän. However, both refused to show the drawings on the grounds that the security risk was too great. But now two groups - the Secular Muslims in Sweden (SEMUS) network and the magazine Minaret - have taken a joint decision to exhibit the sketches.

"This will take place at an established musical and cultural venue in Stockholm. Negotiations are underway and I think it will be ready at the beginning of next week," SEMUS spokesman Hooman Anvari told news agency TT. Anvari believes that there is a very good chance that the exhibition will go ahead as planned. "Partly because there's a public interest in generating a nuanced discussion on this issue and partly because Lars Vilks has agreed to participate," he said.

While he himself considers the drawings to be tasteless, Anvari is adamant that they should be put on display. "Our intention is to create a nuanced debate around freedom of speech, religious freedom and democracy. These issues tend to cause polarization if they are not tackled in the right way," he said.

Iran summons swedish envoy
iran focus, 28 agosto 2007

Tehran, Iran, Aug. 28 - Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned on Monday Sweden's envoy in Tehran over the recent publication of a caricature of Islam's Prophet Mohammad - deemed to be offensive - in a Swedish daily, the state broadcasting corporation reported. The Iranian Foreign Ministry protested to the Swedish charge d'affaires over the publication of the drawing in the Swedish regional daily Nerikes Allehanda.

The state-run news agency ISNA report that the Iranian Foreign Ministry had condemned the caricature as an “offence to more than one billion Muslims around the world”.

Swedish paper sparks fresh cartoon row

gwladys fouché, guardian unlimited, august 28, 2007

Iran has summoned a senior Swedish diplomat to protest against the publication in a local newspaper of a drawing of Muhammad showing his head on a dog's body, calling it "an insult against the prophet". The Swedish chargé d'affaires, Gunilla von Bahr, was summoned to the Iranian foreign ministry yesterday. "A protest was given to her because of the publication in a newspaper of a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad," a Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman, Sofia Karlberg, said today. "She was told it was an insult against the prophet. We consider the matter closed."

The row follows the publication earlier this month of a hand-drawn sketch by Swedish artist Lars Vilks in Nerikes Allehanda, a local newspaper in Örebro, a city in southern central Sweden. Mr Vilks' drawing depicted Muhammad's head on a dog's body in a street with traffic around it.

Nerikes Allehanda decided to publish the drawing following a row in the Nordic country this summer over Mr Vilks' attempt to exhibit his series of drawings about Muhammad. At least two galleries declined to show the pictures, citing security fears. "Alongside the picture, we published a comment piece saying that it was serious that there is self-censorship among exhibition [galleries]," said the Nerikes Allehanda editor-in-chief, Ulf Johansson. Nerikes Allehanda has a circulation of about 65,000 copies.

The row in Sweden echoes the one that began in Denmark in September 2005 when one of the country's top daily papers, Jyllands-Posten, printed 12 cartoons depicting Muhammad, after a children's book author complained that he had difficulties finding an illustrator for his book on the life of the prophet. These drawings sparked violent protests across the Muslim world, culminating with the burning of the Danish embassy in Damascus and its consulate in Beirut in February 2006. The editor who published the cartoons, Flemming Rose, had to go into hiding for an extensive period with police protection.

Asked whether he was concerned, before the publication of Mr Vilks' drawing, that Nerikes Allehanda might face a similar backlash to Jyllands-Posten, Mr Johansson said: "Of course I was [concerned], but I still went ahead with it." Regarding Iran's reaction, he added: "I am not that interested in what they said, it's a special kind of regime."

A week after the publication, a group of about 60 people demonstrated outside the newspaper's office to protest.

The right to riducule a religion

lars ströman, nerikes allehanda (sweden), 28 agosto 2007 13:38

Artist Lars Vilks has made three drawings ridiculing the prophet Mohammed. The prophet is portrayed as a “roundabout dog”. So far three art exhibitions have declined to publish his pictures. The Art Association in Tällerud said no. Then the school Gerlesborgsskolan in the county of Bohuslän said no. Now the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm has also said no.

This is unacceptable self-censorship. A liberal society must be able to do two things at the same time. On the one hand, it must be able to defend Muslims’ right to freedom of religion and their right to build mosques. However, on the other hand, it is also permissible to ridicule Islam’s most foremost symbols – just like all other religions’ symbols. There is no opposition between these two goals. In fact, it is even the case that they presuppose each other.

Therefore it is quite logical that the Muslim newspaper Minaret, together with the association Secular Muslims in Sweden, is planning an exhibition displaying Lars Vilks’ drawings. Religion is a more sensitive area than politics. Religious belief is more personal and therefore if a religious symbol is violated or ridiculed, this can be felt to be a personal insult. This does not only apply to Muslims.

In 1979, the Monty Python team made the film “Life of Brian”. It is not about Jesus but about Brian, a young man who was born and who lived contemporarily with the founder of Christianity. “Life of Brian” was forbidden in Norway under the law forbidding blaspheme. In the USA, there were voices calling for the film to be forbidden. John Cleese pointed out that God no doubt can take care of himself. I am a practicing Christian myself and I think “Life of Brian” is a very funny film.

The background to Lars Vilks having problems getting his drawings exhibited is the so-called caricature crisis which Denmark was subjected to in January 2006. There were riots outside embassies in Muslim countries. The dairy giant Arla’s sales in the Muslim world plummeted. There were diplomatic consequences. On the surface, the issue was the newspaper Jyllands-Posten publishing a series of caricatures of Mohammed. Of course it was correct of Denmark to assert its freedom of the press. But the caricatures were rotten. They had similarities to anti-Semitic drawings done by pro-Nazi drawers during the 1930s and 1940s. For a number of years now, xenophobic forces in Danish politics have had too much space to manoeuvre. For instance, the sister party of the Swedish Democrat party has gained direct influence. For many Muslims in Denmark, the drawings in Jyllands-Posten were an expression of increased intolerance.

It is somewhat more difficult to see through the political game that has been going on in the countries where embassy buildings were subjected to riots. But it would seem to be the case that the riots – at least in some instances – were not as spontaneous as it would appear. It could have been a way of directing attention towards an external enemy.

The Danish government was not able to do two things at the same time. Right from the start, the government should have said that the caricatures in Jyllands-Posten were poor and of bad taste, while at the same time making it clear that in a democracy, it is permissible to make caricatures that are rude and of bad taste.

Now, some really lousy caricatures published in Denmark, have resulted in one art gallery after another refusing to display Lars Vilks’ three drawings. People are afraid that something unpleasant is going to happen. “I think the drawings are good. But there is also a sense of fear here at the local heritage centre that it will lead to problems and conflict,” says Märtha Wennerström, responsible for the art exhibition in Tällberg (SvD 21/7). So art galleries are allowing themselves to be frightened by a diffuse threat. They are giving the message that it is easy to be frightened into silence.

The right to freedom of religion and the right to blaspheme religions go together. They presuppose one another. What happens if a fundamentalist Muslim wants to express his faith through pictorial art? Quite clearly, it will be easy to persuade art galleries that the pictures are unsuitable, that they may lead to conflict. So the restriction of Lars Vilks’ possibilities to express himself may also negatively affect Muslims’ right to express themselves.

Lars Ströman
Editorial-writer

Swedish paper defends publishing Mohammad drawing

reuters, 29 agosto 2007 - 1:23PM BST

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish newspaper on Wednesday defended its publication of a drawing depicting the head of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad on the body of a dog, following an official protest from Iran. Daily Nerikes Allehanda published the drawing last week, prompting the Iranian government to summon Sweden's charge d'affaires in Tehran on Monday to object to what it called a disrespectful drawing.

The drawing was by Swedish artist Lars Vilks and was part of a series which art galleries in Sweden had declined to display. The newspaper published the image in what it called a defence of free speech. "This is unacceptable self-censorship," the newspaper wrote in an editorial on its Web site on Wednesday, referring to the reluctance by galleries to exhibit Vilks's drawings. "The right to freedom of religion and the right to blaspheme religions go together," it wrote.

Last year, Muslims around the world launched a firestorm of protest after a Danish newspaper published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that were reprinted by other European newspapers.

Sweden's Muslim Council, an umbrella organisation for Islamic groups in the country, took issue with Nerikes Allehanda's arguments. Helena Benauda, chair of the council, said she was surprised because the newspaper had been involved in a dialogue with Muslims following the Danish controversy. "I think they did understand our point of view -- that you should not publish pictures that could be seen as racist, xenophobic or anti-Semitic," Benauda told Reuters.

Ulf Johansson, editor-in-chief of Nerikes Allehanda, said there was a difference between how his newspaper was approaching the issue and the Danish case. "This newspaper has always been very eager to defend Muslim rights in Sweden and freedom of religion overall. But we are also very clear that the freedom of speech goes hand-in-hand with that."

Islam, nuovo scandalo vignette. "Maometto oltraggiato in Svezia"

andrea tarquini, repubblica, 30 agosto 2007

BERLINO - La Svezia rischia una guerra delle caricature con il mondo musulmano, simile alle polemiche che esplosero quando, all'inizio del 2006, in Danimarca furono pubblicate le vignette su Maometto. La situazione è simile: un disegnatore, Lars Vilks, si è visto censurare da diversi musei svedesi alcuni suoi disegni, uno dei quali raffigurava il Profeta dell'Islam come un monumento a un cane piazzato al centro di un grande incrocio. I tre maggiori quotidiani del paese e una testata locale allora le hanno pubblicate per protesta.

Il clima è teso. I musulmani cominciano a scendere in piazza. Le loro prime manifestazioni di protesta si sono svolte a Oerebro, dove è pubblicato Nerikes Allehanda, uno dei giornali "colpevoli". Nuovi cortei sono attesi, o temuti, per oggi. I governi iraniano e pakistano hanno protestato convocando al ministero degli Esteri i rispettivi rappresentanti dell'ambasciata reale. Ma il governo di Stoccolma ha reagito con calma: "In Svezia vige la libertà di stampa, quindi le autorità non vogliono e non possono per legge immischiarsi nella vicenda".

Non si registrano, o almeno non ancora, violenze contro media o istituzioni pubbliche svedesi, ma il timore è forte. Al Riksdag, il Parlamento di Stoccolma, il partito liberale popolare ha chiesto con un'interrogazione come voglia reagire al caso della vignetta di Maometto ridotto a cane, cosa pensa della libertà dell'arte e al tempo stesso come vuole garantire l'ordine pubblico. Cecilia Wikstroem, vicepresidente della commissione Cultura, ha detto che dopo il caso danese l'autocensura è diventata un riflesso automatico esagerato. Ha ricordato la cancellazione dell'Idomeneo a Berlino, in una messa in scena in cui il re di Creta decapitava Maometto, Gesù e Buddha.

Tutto è cominciato quando Vilks ha cercato di organizzare mostre delle sue vignette. Molti musei le hanno rifiutate: troppo pericoloso, hanno detto. Ma i media cartacei hanno reagito indignati: il Dagens Nyheter, il quotidiano più influente, e i tabloid Expressen e Aftonbladet, hanno pubblicato le vignette. A Teheran il presidente Ahmadinejad ha minimizzato, parlando di "stupido errore di un giornale insignificante". Ma ha anche avanzato il sospetto di una "congiura sionista". Vilks, forse per smentirlo, ha allora pubblicato vignette antisemite.

Another Blasphemous Caricature

Arab News, Friday, 31, August, 2007 (18, Sha`ban, 1428)

JEDDAH, 31 August 2007 — The Organization of the Islamic Conference yesterday condemned the publication of a blasphemous caricature of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) by Swedish artist Lars Vilks in the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper. The Swedish daily published the drawing, part of a series by Vilks, last Friday after art galleries had declined to display it. The newspaper argued the publication was in the defense of free speech.

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu strongly condemned the newspaper for publishing the blasphemous caricature and said that this was an irresponsible and despicable act with mala fide and provocative intentions in the name of freedom of expression. He said the caricature was intended to solely insult and arouse the sentiments of Muslims of the world. Ihsanoglu said: “The international community was well aware of the serious impact of such publications that were globally felt during the controversy that was created by the publication of similar cartoons by a Danish newspaper last year.” He called on the Swedish government to take immediate punitive actions against the artist and the publishers of the cartoon and asked for their unqualified apology. He also called on Muslims to remain calm and to exercise restraint.

Earlier, Pakistan condemned the publication of the caricature, calling it offensive and blasphemous. “Regrettably, the tendency among some Europeans to mix the freedom of expression with an outright and deliberate insult to 1.3 billion Muslims in the world is on the rise,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Such acts deeply undermine the efforts of those who seek to promote respect and understanding among religions and civilizations,” it said. The Swedish charge d’affaires was summoned to the ministry and a strong protest lodged with him, the ministry said.

Demonstrators in Muhammad picture protest

the local: sweden's news in english, 31st August 2007 17:32 CET

Just after 2pm on Friday a group of around 300 demonstrators marched the short distance from the Islamic Cultural Centre in Örebro to the offices of Nerikes Allehanda newspaper. The demonstrators chanted slogans and bore placards demanding an apology from the newspaper and calling for a ban on insults to Muhammad. The Islamic Cultural Centre said it was protesting against the newspaper's decision to publish a drawing by artist Lars Vilks, whose series of pictures depicting the head of Muslim prophet Muhammad on a dog's body was rejected by galleries in western Sweden.

But not everybody in the Swedish Muslim community has applauded Friday's demonstration - the second in the space of a week. "I think the demonstration is counterproductive and will only serve to reinforce any prejudices people have about Muslims," Mohamed Omar, editor of Minaret magazine, told The Local. "Nerikes Allehanda published the picture to illustrate a story. It's irrational to regard their decision to publish as being offensive to Muslims."

Contrary to initial reports, Mohamed Omar says that Minaret never intended to exhibit the pictures, which he regarded as questionable from an ethical standpoint. "Exhibiting them would have just contributed to anti-Muslim sentiment. Although Nerikes Allehanda had a legal right to publish, I am critical of their decision for the same reason that I didn't want any part in exhibiting the pictures."

The controversy has gained momentum in recent days following official protests from the Pakistani foreign ministry and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "Iran and Pakistan are just playing to the Muslim gallery. Ordinary Muslims in Sweden are the ones who have to suffer the consequences."

The Islamic Cultural Centre was not the only group protesting outside Nerikes Allehanda's offices. An hour earlier, representatives from the Liberal Party's youth wing showed for a demonstration in support of freedom of expression. "We are doing this to protect freedom of expression and freedom of the press. It has come to our attention that there are people don't think people should be able to say what they want and that makes us angry. Freedom of expression is absolutely central," spokeswoman Hannah Ström told TT.

Afghanistan, criticate le vignette svedesi su Maometto

reuters italia, 1 settembre 2007 3.49

KABUL (Reuters) - Le autorità afghane hanno condannato oggi la pubblicazione in un giornale svedese di una vignetta del profeta Maometto disegnato con il corpo di un cane, definendolo un atto di ostilità nei confronti del mondo musulmano. Il disegno è stato condannato anche dal vicino Pakistan, che l'ha definito blasfemo. La religione musulmana vieta di riprodurre l'immagine del profeta Maometto e considera il cane un animale impuro.

"La vignetta del nostro profeta apparsa in un giornale svedese è stata vissuta come una provocazione da parte di tutti gli afghani", ha scritto oggi il Kabul Times pubblicando un parere espresso congiuntamente da eminenti studiosi di Islam, predicatori e dal ministero afghano per l'Islam. "Ancora una volta i nemici dell'Islam hanno osato disegnare l'immagine del rispettato profeta". La dichiarazione congiunta chiede che i responsabili della pubblicazione delle vignette vengano portati davanti ad un tribunale e condannati.

Già nel 2006 la pubblicazione di vignette di Maometto in Danimarca aveva scatenato le reazioni rabbiose di varie comunità musulmane e le diverse sensibilità culturali hanno portato ad altri incidenti. Gli Stati Uniti la settimana scorsa si sono scusati per una campagna di distribuzione di palloni da calcio che ha finito con l'offendere molti cittadini afghani. I palloni regalati ai bambini, infatti, avevano disegnate sopra le bandiere di diversi stati del mondo. Fra queste, però, c'era anche la bandiera dell'Arabia Saudita che contiene al suo interno la dichiarazione di fede musulmana e i nomi di Allah e del profeta Maometto. E l'idea che qualcuno potesse prendere a calci queste scritte è stata considerata come profondamente offensiva dalla popolazione locale.

Swedish Muslims Protest Prophet Cartoon

karl ritter, associated press, 1 settembre 2007

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Swedish Muslims demonstrated Friday against a newspaper that published a drawing depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a dog's body and demanded its chief editor apologize. The rally outside the newspaper Nerikes Allehanda in Orebro followed formal protests by the governments of Iran and Pakistan over the cartoon by Swedish artist Lars Vilks.

Sweden's prime minister called for mutual respect between Muslims, Christians and nonreligious groups in an attempt to avert a wider conflict. Last year, fiery protests erupted in Muslim countries after a Danish newspaper published 12 cartoons of Muhammad. Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depiction of the prophet for fear it could lead to idolatry.

About 300 people rallied outside the Nerikes Allehanda offices, saying the rough sketch showing Muhammad's head on a dog's body insulted Muslims, the news agency TT reported. "We want to show Nerike's Allehanda that Muslims in this city are upset over what happened," Jamal Lamhamdi, chairman of the Islamic cultural center in Orebro, told Swedish public radio. Orebro is a city of about 100,000 people 125 miles west of Stockholm. Earlier, a handful of people, mostly young, staged a separate demonstration outside the newspaper in defense of press freedom, TT said.

The newspaper's editor-in-chief, Ulf Johansson, met with Lamhamdi but refused to apologize for the cartoon, which was part of an Aug. 19 editorial criticizing several Swedish art galleries for refusing to display a series of Vilks' drawings showing Muhammad. "They say they are offended and I regret that, because our purpose was not to offend anyone," Johansson told The Associated Press. "But they are asking for an apology and a promise that I never again publish a similar image ... and that I cannot do." The editorial defended "Muslims' right to freedom of religion" but also said artists must be permitted to "ridicule Islam's most foremost symbols — just like all other religions' symbols."

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt commented on the dispute for the first time Friday, saying Sweden is a country "where Muslims and Christians, those who believe in God and those who don't believe in God can live side by side with mutual respect." "At the same time we are eager to stand up for the freedom of speech ... which is about not taking decisions politically about what is published in newspapers," Reinfeldt told TT.

In a phone interview with AP, Vilks said he had expected protests but insisted he didn't mean to insult Muslims. "My images are art. I don't have a xenophobic attitude. I'm not against Islam," he said.

Associated Press writer Stephan Nasstrom contributed to this report.

Pakistan protests to Sweden over new Mohammed cartoon

afp, 1 settembre 2007

ISLAMABAD (AFP) — Pakistan said it had summoned a Swedish diplomat to its foreign ministry on Thursday to protest against a "blasphemous" cartoon in a Swedish newspaper depicting the Prophet Mohammed. The drawing, showing Mohammed's head on the body of a dog, was drawn by Swedish artist Lars Vilks and published in Nerikes Allehanda newspaper in Oerebro on August 18.

"Pakistan condemns, in the strongest terms, the publication of an offensive and blasphemous sketch of the Holy Prophet in the Swedish newspaper," a Pakistani foreign ministry statement said. "The Swedish Charge d'Affaires was told that the publication of the sketch had caused grave affront to the religious sentiments of Muslims," it added.

The Swedish diplomat said his government "fully shared the views of the Muslim community and termed the publication as unfortunate," the Pakistani statement said. Sweden's embassy in Islamabad was not immediately available for comment.

Iran has also protested against the cartoon, whose publication comes the year after deadly riots in several countries including Pakistan against 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in Denmark's biggest daily. "Regrettably, the tendency among some Europeans to mix the freedom of expression with an outright and deliberate insult to 1.3 billion Muslims in the world is on the rise," the Pakistani ministry said.

The statement said Pakistan would consult with the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference to determine a future course of action "against the repetition of such provocative publications." In a statement, OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu condemned the publication of the "blasphemous caricatures" and urged the Swedish government to punish the artist and the publisher and demand an apology. "This was an irresponsible and despicable act with bad and provocative intentions in the name of the so-called freedom of expression and was intended to solely insult and arouse the sentiments of Muslims," he said. However, the chief of the Saudi-based body urged Muslims to remain calm and exercise restraint.

Pakistan's religious affairs minister Ijaz-ul Haq said in June that a suicide attack against "Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie was justified after Britain awarded him a knighthood.

vignette islamiche: stampa svedese, non ci scuseremo

repubblica.it, 1 settembre 2007, ore 20:45

Monta la polemica sul nuovo caso di vignette satiriche raffiguranti Maometto pubblicate in Svezia meno di due anni dopo il caso aperto da un quotidiano danese. Mentre alcuni Paesi islamici, in primis Iran e Pakistan hanno protestato per la pubblicazione sul giornale svedese 'Nerikes Allehanda' di una caricatura in cui il profeta veniva ritratto come un cane la stampa svedese fa quadrato. L'autorevole 'Dagen Nyheter' ha pubblicato in prima pagina un editoriale in cui ha chiesto al governo svedese di non chiedere scusa sottolineando come invece Stoccolma abbia "il dovere di difendere i propri principi".

Sulla stessa linea al'autore del disegno, Lars Vilks, che malgrado abbia ricevuto minacce di morte, ha difeso il diritto "di criticare la religione, anche se io non mi oppongo all'Islam". A conferma della sua indipendenza Vilks ha ricordato come in passato abbia realizzato caricature che avevano come obiettivo gli ebrei. Ieri circa duecento musulmani avevano manifestato a Oerebro, dove ha sede il giornale che ha pubblicato la vignetta, reclamando la messa al bando di iniziative in odore di blasfemia e le scuse del 'Nerikes Allehanda'. Il capo del centro islamico locale, Jamal Lamhamdi, ha incontrato il direttore del giornale per chiedergli spiegazioni. Dodici caricature di Maometto pubblicate il 30 settembre del 2005 sul quotidiano danese 'Jyllands-Posten' diedero vita a una serie di violente proteste nel mondo islamico dove, secondo l'interpretazione piu' radicale, ogni raffigurazione del profeta e' proibita.

Egypt joins in Muhammad cartoon row

the local: sweden's news in english, 2nd September 2007 22:44 CET

The Egyptian government and a Saudi-based Muslim organization on Sunday both joined the condemnation of the publication in Sweden of a cartoon of Islam's prophet. Egypt's Ministry of Al-Awkaf (religious endowments) referred to the publication of the caricature as "irresponsible and offensive", Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reports. KUNA further quotes the ministry as saying that: "Such an irresponsible act is not conducive to friendly ties between the Islamic world and the west." The ministry is also reported to have urged Swedish authorities to apologize for the act and to take measures against newspaper Nerikes Allehanda.

The Prophet Muhammad cartoon in a Swedish paper was "a flagrant assault on the sanctities of more than 1.3 billion Muslims," said Adel bin Ali Sheddi, head of the Global Programme for Introducing the Prophet of Mercy. The organization, based in the Saudi capital Riyadh, is affiliated to the Saudi-backed Muslim World League headquartered in Mecca. A statement on the group's website www.prophet-of-mercy.com and carried by the official SPA news agency urged Muslims to take "practical and wise stands" in support of their prophet while "exercising restraint" in condemning the offensive cartoon. Sheddi said the organization would soon approach "more than 15,000 important media and academic groups worldwide, including in Sweden," as part of a drive to explain the prophet's "real message."

The Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published a cartoon on August 18th showing Muhammad's head on the body of a dog to illustrate an editorial on self-censorship and freedom of expression and religion. Iran and Pakistan both summoned Swedish diplomats to protest against the caricature, which was also condemned by the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

It was published less than two years after cartoons deemed offensive to the Muslim prophet printed in Denmark's biggest daily sparked anger across the Islamic world, culminating in deadly protests in several countries in early 2006.

Department Of Religious Affairs Protests Caricature Of Prophet Mohammad In A Swedish Paper

turkish press, 4 settembre 2007

ANKARA - "The world public opinion needs a legal arrangement and agreement that will determine the limits between freedom of press and speech and desecration of religious values," Turkish Department of Religious Affairs said on Tuesday while protesting caricature of Prophet Mohammad that was published in a Swedish newspaper.

Releasing a written statement, the Department said, "we have been observing that anti-Islamist attitudes and Islamophobia take place in various media organs and bureaucratic statements. Unfortunately, such kind of attitudes continue." "All Muslims and everybody having common sense express regret over the progress of anti-Islamist stances in the West towards desecration of religious values on which Muslim people are sensitive. Desecration of religious values of Islam fuels a global crisis and tension between the two worlds and leaves behind deep sorrows," the statement said.

"Some centres in Western societies persistently continue to insult sacred values of Islam," the statement added. It said, "such kind of attacks and insults leading to reciprocal tension, enmity and hatred, can not be shown as legal by using freedoms. We want the call made by Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in March 2007, which was accepted by UN Human Rights Commission, to become law soon."

In a resolution on combatting defamation of religions, the Council urged the states to take resolute action to prohibit the dissemination of racist and xenophobic ideas and material aimed at any religion or its followers that constituted incitement to racial and religious hatred, hostility or violence.

Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published on August 19th a controversial drawing by a Swedish artist, depicting Mohammed`s head on a dog`s body. Several demonstrations were organized in moslem countries to condemn Sweden.

Swedish premier invites muslim ambassadors to meeting over prophet cartoon

the associated press - 6 settembre2007

STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has invited ambassadors from Muslim countries to talks over a drawing of the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper, the government said Thursday. Reinfeldt has been trying to prevent an international crisis over the cartoon, which has drawn protests from Swedish Muslim groups and formal complaints from Muslim countries, including Pakistan and Iran.

The prime minister had invited "ambassadors from Arabic and Muslim countries" to a meeting Friday, Reinfeldt spokesman Oscar Hallen said. The invitation has been sent out to all 20 Muslim countries with ambassador representation in Sweden, he said, of which more than 15 have already accepted.

The sketch by Swedish artist Lars Vilks showed the prophet's head on a dog's body. It was published in an Aug. 19 editorial in the Nerikes Allehanda newspaper, which criticized Swedish art galleries for refusing to display Vilks' drawings. Nerikes Allehanda is a local newspaper with a circulation of about 67,000. Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depiction of the prophet for fear it could lead to idolatry.

Reinfeldt has been trying to reach out to Muslim groups in Sweden and abroad to avoid a repeat of last year's mass protests in Muslim countries over Danish newspaper cartoons of the prophet. Many observers say Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen exacerbated that crisis when he refused to hold talks with Muslim ambassadors who had requested a meeting. "I want to point out that we are the ones that have taken the initiative for this meeting," Hallen said about Reinfeldt's invitation. Reinfeldt has expressed regret that Muslims were offended by the cartoon while noting that politicians cannot "pass judgment" on the free press in Sweden.

Egypt's Ambassador to Sweden Samah Mohamed Sotouhi, told Swedish news agency TT that Reinfeldt's initiative "was very constructive." "Everybody will compare his wisdom with what happened in Denmark, whose prime minister treated the problem with arrogance, or at least delayed handling so that the problem worsened." Despite the praise, Sotouhi said the invited Muslim diplomats have agreed on presenting a list of demands to the premier at Friday's meeting. The list, which is aimed at seeking a long-term solution of the controversy, includes demands for a law change to protect Muslims against the Prophet Muhammad being violated, he said. "We want action, not just empty words," he said.

Vilks' drawing has been reproduced in three Danish newspapers, including one of the country's main newspapers Berlingske Tidende, which defended the cartoon publication by saying it was "a documentation" of the Swedish case.

Aggiungi il Tuo Commento:

nome (*)

e-mail (*)

commento all'articolo (*)

Inviando questa risposta dichiaro di aver letto ed approvato le condizioni di utilizzo di questo sito web.

(*) = campo obbligatorio.

Condizioni di Utilizzo

1 - Tutte le risposte inviate a questo sito saranno sottoposte a moderazione manuale da parte dell'amministratore al fine di evitare il fenomeno detto "SPAM".

2 - Tutti i dati inseriti nel modulo di risposta verranno pubblicati in questa pagina ad eccezione dell'e-mail. Tale informazione viene richiesta ed archiviata dagli amministratori al fine di scoraggiare un utilizzo non consono del blog.

3 - Non utilizzare le risposte per pubblicizzare il tuo sito web. Tale tentativo verrà cancellato dall'amministratore. In ogni caso ai link inseriti nelle risposte viene applicato il "nofollow" per cui non ti portano vantaggi.

categorie disponibili

ultimi articoli

vignette-2

Aggiungi il Tuo Commento:

Condizioni di Utilizzo