ITS ON NOW, Denmark!

[Faris]

So, they reprinted the cartoons. I wonder, is this just to raise popularity? Is it really about freedom of speech? Or maybe just like many muslims claim, a deliberate attack on Islam, and the most important figure in Islamic history.

Danish newspapers have reprinted one of several caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad which sparked violent protests across the Muslim world in 2005.
They say they wanted to show their commitment to freedom of speech after an alleged plot to kill one of the cartoonists behind the drawings.

Of three suspects detained over the alleged plot on Tuesday, one - a Danish citizen - was released on Wednesday.

The remaining two - Tunisian citizens - are set to be deported without trial.

The cartoons were originally published by Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.

Danish embassies were attacked around the world and dozens died in riots that followed.

Papers defiant

Jyllands-Posten and many other major newspapers, including Politiken and Berlingske Tidende, reprinted the caricature in their Wednesday editions.

The cartoon depicts Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse.

The editors said no-one should feel their life was threatened because of a drawing.

"We are doing this to document what is at stake in this case, and to unambiguously back and support the freedom of speech that we as a newspaper will always defend," Berlingske Tidende said.

The cartoon was also broadcast on national television, and even newspapers that were originally against the publication of the caricatures are now backing the campaign to defend freedom of speech, says the BBC's Thomas Buch-Andersen in Copenhagen.

No strong reactions to the republication had been observed, a foreign ministry official told news agency AP.

Expulsions criticised

On Tuesday, the head of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (Pet), Jakob Sharf, said its operatives had carried out pre-dawn raids in the Aarhus region.

The three suspects - two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan origin - had been detained "after lengthy surveillance", he added.

The Danish citizen was released pending further investigation, while the Tunisians will be held until they are expelled from the country.

But lawyers and Muslim groups criticised the decision to deport the men without giving them a chance to defend themselves in court.

Franz Wenzel, the lawyer for one of the men, told Danish TV that the fact that the Danish citizen had been released "for lack of evidence" while two foreigners were being expelled was "incomprehensible", AFP news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Kasem Ahmed of the Islamic Faith Society in Denmark, condemned the alleged murder plot - but also criticised the newspapers' decision to republish the cartoons, saying they remained an insult to Muslims.

Police protection

The Pet did not identify the target of the alleged plot, but the online edition of Jyllands-Posten said its cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, was the focus.

The newspaper, based in Aarhus, said Mr Westergaard, 73, and his 66-year-old wife, Gitte, had been under police protection for the past three months.

In a statement on Jyllands-Posten's website, Mr Westergaard said: "Of course I fear for my life when the police intelligence service say that some people have concrete plans to kill me.

"But I have turned fear into anger and resentment."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7242258.stm

[Kuya]

Muslims are just really easy to troll. They brought it upon themselves for being uptight dweebs.

[archibaldcrane]

So, they reprinted the cartoons. I wonder, is this just to raise popularity? Is it really about freedom of speech? Or maybe just like many muslims claim, a deliberate attack on Islam, and the most important figure in Islamic history.

What would be the motivation for a newspaper in Denmark (not the whole country you over-generalizing moron) to "deliberately attack" Islam?

Portraying muslims as terrorists is a generally unpopular thing to do, but the free expression of one editorial cartoonist's opinion is something that shouldn't be jeopardized due to death threats of extremists (who, in extreme irony, legitimize the same unpopular opinion the cartoonist is expressing).

[Ryko]

Muslims would make excellent gang members, 1 person does something and suddenly everyone's fair fucking game.

If you sit there complaining about a gross overgeneralization, try not to choke on the irony.

[Faris]

Muslims are just really easy to troll. They brought it upon themselves for being uptight dweebs.

umm, they brought it upon themselves? i dont understand that. More boycotting, more money loss, and more death threats for the danish...THEY brought it upon themselves (again)

I dont see how it is really worth it to reprint something that caused more harm to the danish than on the muslim community as a whole..freedom of speech my ass.

What would be the motivation for a newspaper in Denmark (not the whole country you over-generalizing moron) to "deliberately attack" Islam?

you're so cool, calling people morons and all at the drop of a hat. their government supported it, yes, i can generalize.

[Ryko]

Their government not stepping in for not breaking any laws is not supporting it, genius.

[SwampdonkeyPLD]

Portraying muslims as terrorists is a generally unpopular thing to do

Seems like before 9/11, in every action/adventure type movie, the bad guy(s) was/were Muslim. Not so much so anymore.

[Faris]

Their government not stepping in for not breaking any laws is not supporting it, genius.

but didn't their prime minister wear a T-shirt with the cartoons printed on it?
It is harming their government, so they are involved in this whether they like it or not.

[Delta_9]

Their government not stepping in for not breaking any laws is not supporting it, genius.

but didn't their prime minister wear a T-shirt with the cartoons printed on it?
It is harming their government, so they are involved in this whether they like it or not.

Their PM isn't allowed free speech or have an opinion? It would be one thing if it was a government funded organization but it isn't.

[Eaglestrike]

Their government not stepping in for not breaking any laws is not supporting it, genius.

but didn't their prime minister wear a T-shirt with the cartoons printed on it?
It is harming their government, so they are involved in this whether they like it or not.

It's only harming their government because you guys are stuck up assholes who can't take a joke. Someone else is supposed to submit cause you say so? That's generally where some guy steps up to do it anyway. Welcome to the 21st century.

[Doofus]

I really don't think you understand freedom of speech.

You really can say anything you want (disregarding threats and the such, and if you're in the military you can't shit talk the government or something idk) but seriously, there are plenty of Americans that abuse that power and I'd like to shoot them in the face repeatedly, but it will only get me in trouble, so I just ignore them(hi2u nancy grace).

If the people who printed it aren't muslim, how an you expect them to follow your ideals on the subject of pictures of him, it doesn't make sense. Thats some form of trying to force your beliefs on other people I think. (before you retaliate with zomg bush trying to make everyone christian! I didn't vote for him, i've never tried to convert anyone to another religion, i just think people should be able to do what they want)

[Khelek]

I was gonna post w/e pics I could find on google of jesus being made fun of in some way and then say that the christian society should take down the internet for supporting such pictures... But there were so many pictures, I just couldn't choose :/ (SP had to do)
Guess how many pics were found if I changed Jesus to Muhammed, then searched? that's right. the one single picture. The only thing worth discussing is why someone would even get angry cause of said picture... Hardly worth discussing reasons for making it.

http://titancity.com/blog/wp-content...ammed_bomb.jpghttp://posuto.blog.lemonde.fr/files/...1185357548.JPG

[Kuya]

umm, they brought it upon themselves? i dont understand that. More boycotting, more money loss, and more death threats for the danish...THEY brought it upon themselves (again)

I dont see how it is really worth it to reprint something that caused more harm to the danish than on the muslim community as a whole..freedom of speech my ass.

So what are you saying? That if someone berates you beliefs, it's ok for you to kill them? Think long and hard about that one. This whole situation proved just how ridiculous religion can be at times, and that islam is going to have to learn to adapt or be crushed under its own weight.

[Faris]

Their government not stepping in for not breaking any laws is not supporting it, genius.

but didn't their prime minister wear a T-shirt with the cartoons printed on it?
It is harming their government, so they are involved in this whether they like it or not.

Their PM isn't allowed free speech or to have an opinion? It would be one thing if it was a government funded organization but it isn't.

A prime minister is a very strong representative of what we call a government, and to be seen in public wearing such cartoons, clearly represents his full support to the cartoons. Nobody else representing the government said anything other than, "its freedom of speech, and its their right to publish that sort of thing". I think freedom of speech stops when a whole community, plus a country's income, reputation and moral is at stake....
man, a guy says nigger at a comedy show and people revolt. I heard in some countries speaking publicly of the holocaust is a crime, and you can be arrested, those countries are in the west, where freedom of speech exists, apparently.

[archibaldcrane]

Their government not stepping in for not breaking any laws is not supporting it, genius.

but didn't their prime minister wear a T-shirt with the cartoons printed on it?
It is harming their government, so they are involved in this whether they like it or not.

Muslims have been freaking out and murdering people for depicting Mohammed in print IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER, which was how these cartoons came to be in the first place. They were commenting on the difficulty of a children's book writer had in trying to find an illustrator that would do a drawing of Mohammed for the book she was working on - illustrators were afraid to do their job because of fear of retribution from Muslim extremists.

One [artist declined], with reference to the murder in Amsterdam of the film director Theo van Gogh, while another [declined, citing the attack on] the lecturer at the Carsten Niebuhr Institute in Copenhagen.

Recognizing this self-censorship, the newspaper explored the issue by publishing 12 cartoons, with the explanation as such:

The modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings. It is incompatible with contemporary democracy and freedom of speech, where you must be ready to put up with insults, mockery and ridicule. It is certainly not always attractive and nice to look at, and it does not mean that religious feelings should be made fun of at any price, but that is of minor importance in the present context. [...] we are on our way to a slippery slope where no-one can tell how the self-censorship will end. That is why Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten has invited members of the Danish editorial cartoonists union to draw Muhammad as they see him.

Artists shouldn't have to self-censor for fear of their lives, and these cartoons showed how completely and utterly fucking ridiculous the situation is, where depictions of Mohammed cause a worldwide uproar and force people to fear for their lives.

You are a contributor to this fear, to this ridiculousness, to this overreaction Firas, and that's why I'm calling you a moron. Don't lump yourself in with these extremists, and don't lump the government of Denmark in with one newspaper's valid, legitimate exploration into the Muslim reaction to depictions of Mohammed of any sort.

[aurik]

Maybe him wearing the t-shirt is his way of making a statement that you don't have the right to tell him what to think / say.

Which you don't.

So really, get over it.

[Kuya]

What western countries are you talking about? As far as i'm concerned, here and in the USA, black jokes, jew jokes, holocaust jokes, jesus jokes are tossed around constantly. You don't have a leg to stand on with this argument.

[Maxxthepenguin]

Firas, are you really getting all ramped up about this?

[archibaldcrane]

What western countries are you talking about? As far as i'm concerned, here and in the USA, black jokes, jew jokes, holocaust jokes, jesus jokes are tossed around constantly. You don't have a leg to stand on with this argument.

Some countries in Western Europe have anti-hate-speech laws, where things like Holocaust denial or KKK/Nazi style groups are outlawed.

[Kuya]

What western countries are you talking about? As far as i'm concerned, here and in the USA, black jokes, jew jokes, holocaust jokes, jesus jokes are tossed around constantly. You don't have a leg to stand on with this argument.

Some countries in Western Europe have anti-hate-speech laws, where things like Holocaust denial or KKK/Nazi style groups are outlawed.

Let me guess one of them. Germany?