International Freedom of Expression Exchange: The global network for free expression
1 February 2006
CARTOONS CAUSE DIPLOMATIC ROW
The reproduction of cartoons in several European newspapers depicting the Prophet Muhammad has ignited a storm of controversy in Europe and the Middle East over freedom of expression, media ethics and religious fundamentalism.
On 30 September 2005, Denmark's leading newspaper, "Jyllands-Posten", published 12 cartoons showing Muhammad in various guises. One of the cartoons showed the Prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb.
The cartoons set off protests by thousands of Muslims in Denmark who viewed the illustrations as an attack on the religion. Islam forbids depictions of Muhammad and Allah on the grounds that it could lead to idol worship.
On 10 January 2006, an Evangelical Christian magazine in Norway, "Magazinet", republished the cartoons, setting off protests in several Arab countries. Other newspapers in France, Germany, Jordan, Spain and Italy followed suit a few weeks later.
Jordan's parliament issued a statement calling on Norwegian and Danish authorities "to express their condemnation and disapproval of this hateful crime and to punish the perpetrators and instigators."
The ambassadors of 11 Muslim countries lodged complaints with Denmark's prime minister, while Saudi Arabia and Lebanon recalled their ambassadors to Denmark. In Beirut and Damascus last week, angry protesters set fire to buildings housing the Danish and Norwegian embassies.
Danish goods have also been boycotted in several Middle Eastern countries, a move Cartoonists Rights International says could lead to press freedom being compromised.
The editor of "Jyllands-Posten", Carsten Juste, and the cartoonists responsible for the 12 illustrations have received several death threats, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Similar threats have been made against "Magazinet".
The controversy has prompted the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) to appeal for calm on both sides.
The IFJ says that Arab-world governments calling for political action against media are guilty of undue interference in the work of journalists. "This is an ethical issue which must be discussed, debated and resolved by journalists. Governments should keep their hands out of the newsroom and stop interfering," the organisation argues.
On the other hand, IFJ urged media to "tread carefully," noting that the controversy over the cartoons "reveals a gulf in understanding that needs to be corrected through an awareness-raising exercise allowing journalists from the Muslim world and colleagues from other religious and cultural traditions to learn the lessons of recent events."
RSF notes that the newspapers that published these cartoons are all in countries "in which religion belongs to the private domain. In this tradition, religious freedom goes hand in hand with freedom of expression, which includes the right to make fun of beliefs one does not share."
RSF also says those in the West should concentrate on defusing tension and avoiding what could be seen as unnecessary provocations. "How are we to reconcile freedom of expression - which many perceive as an overriding need, wherever they live - and respect for each individual's deepest convictions?"
"Jyllands-Posten" says it first published the cartoons after a Danish writer complained that nobody dared illustrate his book about the Prophet Muhammad.
The newspaper said, "We must quietly point out here that the drawings illustrated an article on the self-censorship which rules large parts of the Western world. Our right to say, write, photograph and draw what we want to within the framework of the law exists and must endure - unconditionally!"
On 30 January, the paper issued an apology.
Visit these links:
- CRN: http://www.cartoon-crn.com/alert.htm
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/europe/denmark01feb06na.html
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/appeal.php3
- ARTICLE 19 Comments: http://tinyurl.com/8p35u
- Index on Censorship: http://www.indexonline.org
- WAN: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70481
- The Offending Cartoons: http://tinyurl.com/cltsd
- Jyllands-Posten Apologises: http://www.jp.dk/meninger/artikel:aid=3527646/
- BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4159220.stm
- Cartoon row highlights deep divisions:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4678220.stm
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