Europe Criticises Copenhagen over Cartoons
From the desk of Paul Belien on Wed, 2005-12-21 15:13

According to Islam it is blasphemy to depict the Prophet Muhammad. Last Summer a Danish writer complained that he could not find an artist to illustrate his book about Muhammad because illustrators feared retaliation by Denmark’s Muslim immigrant population. This prompted Jyllands-Posten (JP), Denmark’s largest newspaper, to test whether the threat of Islamic terrorism has restricted the freedom of expression in Denmark. JP asked a considerable number of artists to draw a picture of Muhammad to illustrate an article about freedom of speech in a multicultural society. Only 12 artists were prepared to do so.

On 7 December, the 56 member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) unanimously condemned Denmark for its refusal to act against alleged “islamophobia” in the press. In a letter to the OIC Louise Arbour, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, deplored the Danish newspaper’s “lack of respect for the religion of others” and announced that the UN experts on racism would take the matter up with the Danish government.

Islamophobia ? Is that what you call it when Muslims make death threats?

Of course Muslims are well-known for their sense of humor. Ahem. Take for example Albert Brooks’ Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World:

Although the movie does not discuss religion and lightly ridicules Washington, Brooks faced difficulties getting it on screen. He said the title caused Sony to refuse to distribute it fearing reprisals from Muslims, a reaction he said underscored the importance of challenging stereotypes in Hollywood.

According to Brooks Americans are so stupid we can’t tell the difference between Arab and Asian Muslims. Ha ha. Let me take a crack. One wants to conquer the world starting with the Middle East, the other wants to conquer the world starting with Asia. Or is there something about dar al islam, dar al harb, and jihad that I don’t understand?

So what is the result of the Jyllands-Posten “test”? Where are the brave free speech advocates and champions of secularism that should be leaping to the defense of this Danish newspaper? They leap to the defense of those who drown Christ in piss, but Allah forbid you draw his Prophet. Cross that line and you’re on your own islamophobe.