The three largest newspapers in Denmark are reprinting this cartoon in support of freedom of expression.

Three men were arrested in Denmark accused of plotting to murder a cartoonist, two years after a dozen cartoons lampooning Islamic fundamentalism sparked violent demonstrations around the world.

The target was said to be Kurt Westergaard, 73, a staff cartoonist on Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons. Westergaard’s drawings depicted the Prophet Mohamed with a bomb-shaped turban and a burning fuse.

Police said they arrested the men while the plot to kill Westergaard was still in the planning stage. The chief of the Security and Intelligence Service, Jakob Scharf, said the arrests came after a long period of surveillance. They were intended, he said “to prevent a terror-related assassination of one of the cartoonists behind the cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed”.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Prime Minister, said: “Unfortunately… there are in Denmark groups of extremists that do not acknowledge and respect the principles on which Danish democracy is built. In Denmark, we have freedom not only to think and talk, but also to draw.”

Because of death threats, Westergaard and his wife Gitte have been provided with heavy police protection for the past three months and are moved frequently to secret locations.




  1. JimR says:

    The cartoon is not meant to be funny, just pointed in a humorous way. It’s a political statement for Spaghetti’s sake!

  2. bobbo says:

    #34–Alb==we Americans are very insular. In context though, the reference to “other than OKlahoma” was a tip off that the context was “Who besides Muslims have attacked America?” Your answer is consistent with this understanding—ie, no one else.

  3. ultraslug says:

    But the regular people of the middle east do realize that there is something wrong and that its a big threat to everybody.

    And that’s precisely the problem. They know something is wrong, but they haven’t figured out what it is. But they know one thing for sure: It Isn’t Islam.

    Until that changes, expect more and more of these stories.

  4. TheGlobalWarmingNemesis says:

    I fully support and encourage the printing of offensive speech. When someone publicly complains I encourage the reprinting of the offensive material.

  5. MikeN says:

    I wish I could, I wish I would I dream that he is me, oh if I could be like Mohammed.

  6. gregallen says:

    bobbo,

    Are you from another country, by chance? When I read political cartoons from other countries, most often they do absolutely nothing for me.

    Maybe that’s why this cartoon (for me, anyway) is neither entertaining nor adds anything to the political discourse.

    What is it saying? “Muslims are violent.” or maybe “Islam is a violent religion.”

    … like THAT old canard been spouted a million times before!

    I put this cartoon right up there with a black man eating a watermelon.

  7. TIHZ_HO says:

    #40 gregallen – “I put this cartoon right up there with a black man eating a watermelon.”

    Exactly right! For the moment making fun of Muslims blowing up things is acceptable like this photo I found somewhere on the web.

    http://tinyurl.com/32q4ea

    Cheers

  8. smartalix says:

    40,

    If eating watermelon was violent and disruptive and killed people I’d agree. But it isn’t so I don’t.

    If mainstream Muslims actually tried to open a dialog with the West we would be more open to thinking that the mainstream did not support the radicals. Yet every time we protest or mock islamic fundie violence and mayhem the entire arab world complains and threatens violence and mayhem.

  9. pgillick says:

    I wish there was a way in which could protest this by loading this a desktop and the seeing the worldwide numbers as to how many people are wiling to display this…It is currently my desktop.

  10. muslim says:

    Muhammad is the best manners

    I testify that there is no god but God and I testify that Mohammed Messenger of God

    allah akbar

  11. muslim says:

    Freedom of the individual depends upon the freedom of others

  12. someone says:

    Do you want to know who is Muhammad?

    Enter this site

    http://www.islamhouse.com/p/5088

    its very intesting websit ! 🙂

  13. your heart says:

    is that from wise to speak about person you don’t know him
    Did you know that the prophet mohammed before fight the people who wanted to kill him & kill the muslims , he was saying to muslims :don;t kill a woman or an old man or a boy .
    did you know that his Morals was the quraan .

    so i hope from you to visit the islamic center in your country & the people who can watch satellite Nile Sat to watch almagd channel for quraan on a frequency
    12053 (Pol: Vertical SR: 27500 FEC: ¾)
    and thanks for listing to your heart

  14. amr tomazy says:

    i love mohamed very
    mohamed hs the grat man


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