Islam and the War against Freedom of Expression

Here is a detailed history of Muslim attempts throughout history to destroy works of art they find to be offensive. The Danish cartoon riots are nothing new. Islam has consistently destroyed any and all religious artifacts of other religions whenever they could.
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Islam and the War against Freedom of Expression
Adrian Morgan

The Danish Cartoons

On September 30, 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a series of 12 images of Mohammed, founder of Islam. The intention was not to insult Islam, but to highlight how artists had become too scared to tackle Islam head-on. The issue stemmed from attempts by Kare Blultgen, a Danish author, to find illustrators to provide pictures for a children's book he had written about Mohammed, founder of Islam. Blultgen said he found no artist willing to take the risk of depicting Mohammed. As a result, Jyllands-Posten invited artists from across Denmark to submit their pictures. These can be seen here.

There was limited reaction within Denmark, until Palestinian-born radical cleric Ahmed Abu Laban, who ran the Waqfs mosque in Copenhagen, decided to send a delegation to tour the Middle East. The delegation brought a dossier containing the cartoons. Dishonestly, Laban added three pictures which were never printed by Jyllands-Posten. One of these was a crude drawing of Mohammed, emblazoned with the word "pedophile", while another purported to be a picture of Mohammed as a pig. This was a photocopy of a photograph of the winner of a French pig-squealing competition, and had no relation to the Danish cartoons.



In October 2005, one website carried messages from "The Glory Brigades in Northern Europe" which threatened retribution against Jyllands-Posten and Denmark. In the same month, 5,000 Muslims organized a demonstration in Copenhagen against the cartoons and the newspaper. On October 20, 2005, ambassadors from 11 Muslim countries petitioned Danish premier Anders Fogh Rasmussen to protest the publication of the images.

Carsten Juste, editor of Jyllands-Posten, said: "To demand that we take religious feelings into consideration is irreconcilable with [W]estern democracy and freedom of expression. This doesn't mean that we want to insult any Muslims." Two illustrators, Franz Fuschel and Kurt Westgaard had been issued with death threats and forced into hiding. Fuschel said that he had not set out to offend, "but I live in 2005, not 905 and I use my quill in the way that Danish law allows me."

The European Union gave little support to Denmark. EU Commissioner Franco Frattini condemned the cartoons. In January 2006, Bill Clinton said in Qatar that the cartoons were "appalling."

The actions of Abu Laban and his assistant, Lebanese-born Ahmed Akkiri, were to prove more damaging. Their Middle East delegation inflamed the sentiments of leading Muslims, so much so that by February 2006 there were riots across the Muslim world. In Borno state in northern Nigeria, Muslims went on the rampage, killing Christians. In Indonesia, the Islamists of Front Pembela Islam stoned the American Embassy on February 19th, 2006, and in Hong Kong foreign Muslims protested against the US, even though on February 3rd, U.S. State Department press officer Janelle Hironimus had claimed the cartoons were "offensive to the beliefs of Muslims."



In London on February 3rd of that year, Islamists carried placards with slogans such as: "Behead those who insult Islam", "Europe. Take some lessons from 9/11", "Europe you will pay. Demolition is on its way", "Europe you will pay. Your extermination is on its way," "Slay those who insult Islam," "Butcher those who insult Islam." This protest was arranged by a former member of Al Muhajiroun, Anjem Choudary. What shocked people about the protest was the fact that no one was arrested at the time, despite speakers openly calling for the murder of Danes and Americans.

Four individuals, all members of the disbanded group Al Muhajiroun, were later arrested and stood trial on charges of inciting racial hatred and inciting murder. On July 18, 2007, Abdul Rahman Saleem (aka "Abu Yahya") was sentenced to four years' jail for inciting racial hatred. Abdul Muhid, Mizanur Rahman and Umran Javed were sentenced to six years' jail for soliciting murder, with additional concurrent sentences of three years for stirring up racial hatred. Other individuals who were sought by police appear to have escaped justice entirely.

At the time of the London protest, the Islamist group Al-Ghurabaa, which comprised former Al Muhajiroun members published a text on its website. Entitled "Kill those who insult the prophet Muhammad" this used the issue of the cartoons, combined with historical instances of people whom Mohammed killed for insulting him, to justify slaughter of anyone, Muslim or non-Muslim, who insulted Islam. This is an extract:

"The insulting of the Messenger Muhammad (saw) is something that the Muslims cannot and will not tolerate and the punishment in Islam for the one who does so is death. This is the sunnah of the prophet and the verdict of Islam upon such people, one that any Muslim is able execute. The response of the Muslims all over the world shows us the inability to deal with such people, the kuffar are attacking our Messenger and are allowed to get away with it whilst the Muslims have no power to do anything about it. The leaders of the Muslim world have no care for the deen (belief) of Islam as they are busy cementing their seats content with their power and wealth. Where are the Muhammad ibn Maslamah's of our ummah who will ?"

On February 3, 2006 in Syria, the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus were set alight. A thousand protesters marched in Nazareth, Israel, on the same day, and in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his trade minister to investigate severing contracts with countries that had published the cartoons. An official from Hamas said: "We should have killed all those who defiled the Prophet Muhammad, but instead we are protesting in peace."
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