In September 2005, a Danish newspaper called Jyllands-Posten printed a series of cartoons mocking the prophet Mohammad and linking Islam with violence. The cartoons were reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty other countries. Notably, only two Australian newspapers followed suit and both were from Queensland: the Courier-Mail and the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin.
In Islam, any depiction (let alone a derisive depiction) of Mohammad is blasphemous. The publication of the cartoons triggered a wave of violence across the Arab world in the course which Danish and other European buildings were attacked and set ablaze.
In Canada, The Western Standard printed the cartoons and its publisher, Ezra Levant, was called before the Alberta Human Rights Commission following a complaint lodged by Syed Soharwardy of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada. Click here to watch his scathing opening statement. The complaint by Soharwardy was later withdrawn but I understand that another complaint, by Edmonton Muslim Council, still stands.
Do you believe what Levant did was right? Should he be punished for it? Where do we draw the line between freedom of speech and hate speech?
The same people who rave about freedom of speech in regards to the depictions of the Prophet (sws) are those who call for the banning of Hijab in school systems. The same newspapers who published the depictions apparently earlier refused to publish pictures of Isa/Jesus (as) because they were offensive (I am wary of making such a claim without verification and am open to correction).
There is a difference between freedom of speech and yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded room. It was not done as an expression of freedom of speech, it was done as incitement and thus succeeded. The status the the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, is hard to understand for those who are not Muslim. This offence was combined in the rest of the Muslim world with a bitter history of economic and military oppression and interference and lead to regrettable violence and rebellion.
Do I believe that Levant should be punished? Yes.. but not by me, or anyone on this earth. I am sure that any Muslim would agree with me in the belief that such actions are answerable to more than a trial in this realm. Should such vilification of the Muslim religion be discouraged? That is another question! Were the group being vilified an ethnic minority, there would be no question of it, but somehow the status of Muslims as a RELIGIOUS minority seems to make people consider the question differently. This is not to say that Muslims are not ALSO an ethnic minority, as this is most certainly also the case, but from a secular perspective the insult appears less.
I would say that the vilification of an entire people is always going to be negative, especially when those vilified are a minority. I believe that in this case the very purpose of the cartoons was incitement and they, in communities marginalised and vilified, succeeded. Go figure.
Will,
What is it you find vilifying to a group of people about the iconoclastic representation of one of their most renowned figureheads?
We treat major political world leaders with iconoclasm (see: the caricatures page of your local newspaper); we also treat world leaders in pop culture, economics, fashion, science, activism, and other areas with iconoclasm.
We treat with various levels of disregard many differences between minority groups with our inane and sometimes humorous misrepresentations of them.
Why should we place religion, or anything else, for that matter, on a pedestal?
It is perhaps the ironic case in point of the illustrator and myself that these comics caused the incitement you speak of, whereas so many other iconoclastic social comments (otherwise known as art) have not before.
-W
The satirical representation of political figures is a time honoured tradition in Europe… they did it in France and Germany with the Jews, in Italy with the Gypsies, Britain with the Irish.. oh wait, thats not what we are talking about.
Or is it?
Representation of political leaders of countries are not made with the intent to paint ALL those within that country with the same brush, because, democracy aside, they do not REPRESENT all people in their country.
Mohammed (sws) REPRESENTS Islam, he is the embodiment of the practice of our religion, to say that he is a terrorist, a mysoginist, is to say that we, all Muslims, are terrorists and mysoginists.
This is not done in the name of humour, as it wasn’t funny, or art, the drawings were hardly brilliant, it was done in the name of incitement and vilification. The man to a greater part responsible for the cartoons has called for a public desecration of the Qu’ran using menstrual blood… does this seem like actions merely intended for harmless iconoclasm? I think not.
Peace 
Will.
Janet Albrechtsen in The Australian (20/4/09) - off the topic but relevant nonetheless:
“ARE some events in history so evil they are beyond discussion? Many passionately believe so. I don’t.
I understand the genesis of the passion to shutdown those, such as Frederick Toben, who deny the Holocaust. But if we truly believe in freedom of expression as a core Western value, we have to be consistent.
I detest Frederick Toben’s views about the Holocaust. They are wrong. They are stupid. They are offensive. But using laws to censor his views does not enhance our democracy. It diminishes our democratic fibre by suggesting that we are too precious, or too lacking in confidence, to confront wrong words with right words. Let the man speak. These foolish views will be defeated by facts in the end.
Alas, too many people rail in favour of free speech only when it means defending those with whom they agree. That’s not the deal. You can’t always pick and choose your allies here. Neither is free speech a left/right thing, as Mark Steyn said. It’s a free/unfree thing. You are either for free speech - whoever exercises it - or not. Freedom of expression is simply meaningless if it does not include a right to be wrong and a right to be offensive. Protecting nice speech is the easy part.”
I keep listening to the news speak about getting free online grant applications so I have been looking around for the best site to get one.:)
