Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

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The controversial cartoons of Muhammad, first published in Jyllands-Posten in September 2005. [Larger] versions of the cartoons are available off-site.

The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30, 2005. The newspaper explained that this publication was a contribution to debate regarding criticism of Islam and self-censorship. In response, Danish Muslim organizations held public protests and spread knowledge of Jyllands-Posten's publication. As the controversy grew, examples of the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty other countries, which led to both peaceful and violent protests as well as deadly rioting, particularly in the Muslim world.

Critics of the cartoons describe them as islamophobic and argue that they are blasphemous to people of the Muslim faith, intended to humiliate a marginalized Danish minority, and that they are a manifestation of ignorance about the history of western imperialism, from colonialism to the current conflicts in the Middle East.

Supporters of the cartoons claim they illustrate an important issue in a period of Islamic extremist terrorism and that their publication is a legitimate exercise of the right of free speech. They also note that similar cartoons about other religions are frequently printed, arguing that the followers of Islam were not targeted in a discriminatory way.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen described the controversy as Denmark's worst international crisis since World War II.

Contents

Descriptions of the drawings

Some of the cartoons can be difficult to understand for those without knowledge of certain Danish language metaphors or awareness of individuals of note to the Danish public. Furthermore, certain cartoons have captions written in Danish. Detailed descriptions of the cartoons and translations of the captions as well as explanations concerning Danish cultural references are provided here.

Timeline

Jyllands-Posten
cartoons controversy

Events and reactions

Primary parties involved

Debate about self-censorship

On September 17 2005, the Danish newspaper Politiken ran an article under the headline "Dyb angst for kritik af islam" () ("Profound fear of criticism of Islam"). The article discussed the difficulty encountered by the writer Kåre Bluitgen, who was initially unable to find an illustrator who was prepared to work with Bluitgen on his children's book Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv (English: The Qur'an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad ISBN 87-638-0049-7). Three artists declined Bluitgen's proposal before an artist agreed to assist anonymously. According to Bluitgen:

One [artist declined], with reference to the murder in Amsterdam of the film director Theo van Gogh, while another [declined, citing the attack on] the lecturer at the Carsten Niebuhr Institute in Copenhagen.

In October 2004, a lecturer at the Niebuhr institute at the University of Copenhagen was assaulted by five assailants who opposed his reading the Qur'an to non-Muslims during a lecture. ()

The refusal of the first three artists to participate was seen as evidence of self-censorship and led to much debate in Denmark, with other examples for similar reasons soon emerging. Comedian Frank Hvam declared that he would (hypothetically) dare urinating on the Bible on television, but not on the Qur'an () while the translators of an essay collection critical of Islam also wished to remain anonymous due to concerns about violent reprisals.

Publication of the cartoons

Wikinews has previous reports related to this article:

On September 30 2005, the daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten ("The Jutland Post") published an article entitled "Muhammeds ansigt" () ("The face of Muhammad"). The article consisted of twelve cartoons (of which only some depicted Muhammad) and an explanatory text, in which Flemming Rose, Jyllands-Posten's culture editor, commented:

The modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings. It is incompatible with contemporary democracy and freedom of speech, where you must be ready to put up with insults, mockery and ridicule. It is certainly not always attractive and nice to look at, and it does not mean that religious feelings should be made fun of at any price, but that is of minor importance in the present context. [...] we are on our way to a slippery slope where no-one can tell how the self-censorship will end. That is why Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten has invited members of the Danish editorial cartoonists union to draw Muhammad as they see him. [...]

After the invitation from Jyllands-Posten to around forty different artists to give their interpretation of Muhammad, twelve caricaturists chose to respond with a drawing each. Many also commented on the surrounding self-censorship debate. Four of these twelve cartoons were illustrated by Jyllands-Posten's own staff, including the "bomb" and "niqaab" cartoons.

On February 19, Rose explained his intent further In the Washington Post:

The cartoonists treated Islam the same way they treat Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions. And by treating Muslims in Denmark as equals they made a point: We are integrating you into the Danish tradition of satire because you are part of our society, not strangers. The cartoons are including, rather than excluding, Muslims.

In October the Danish daily Politiken polled thirty-one of the forty-three members of the Danish cartoonist association. Twenty-three were willing to draw Muhammad. One had doubts, one refused because of fear of possible reprisals and six cartoonists refused to make the drawings because they respected the Muslim ban on depicting the prophet. Fifteen of the thirty-one cartoonists rejected Jyllands-Posten's project."Profetens ansigt: Ingen selvcensur blandt tegnere". Politiken 20. oktober 2005, 2. sektion, side 3

Danish Prime Minister's meeting refusal

Having received petitions from Danish imams, eleven Islamic ambassadors asked for a meeting with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen in 12 October 2005, in order to discuss what they perceived as an "on-going smearing campaign in Danish public circles and media against Islam and Muslims". In a letter the ambassadors mentioned not only the issue of the Muhammad cartoons, but also a recent indictment against Radio Holger, and statements by MP Louise Frevert() and the Minister of Culture Brian Mikkelsen.() It concluded:

We deplore these statements and publications and urge Your Excellency’s government to take all those responsible to task under law of the land in the interest of inter-faith harmony, better integration and Denmark's overall relations with the Muslim world.[Official letter from the 12 ambassadors] PDF

The government answered the ambassadors' request for a meeting with Rasmussen with a letter only: "The freedom of expression has a wide scope and the Danish government has no means of influencing the press. However, Danish legislation prohibits acts or expressions of blasphemous or discriminatory nature. The offended party may bring such acts or expressions to court, and it is for the courts to decide in individual cases."[Official response to ambassadors from A.F.Rasmussen] PDF

The ambassadors maintained that they had never asked for Jyllands-Posten to be prosecuted; possibly, the non-technical phrase of the letter, "to take NN to task under law", meant something like "to hold NN responsible within the limits of the law". Rasmussen replied: "Even a non-judicial intervention against Jyllands-Posten would be impossible within our system".()

The Egypt Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aboul Gheit, wrote several letters to the Prime Minister of Denmark and to the secretary general of the UN explaining that they did not want the Prime Minister to prosecute Jyllands-Posten; they only wanted "an official Danish statement underlining the need for and the obligation of respecting all religions and desisting from offending their devotees to prevent an escalation which would have serious and far-reaching consequences".() Subsequently, Egypt played a leading role in diffusing the issue in the Middle East.()

The refusal to meet the ambassadors has been criticized by the opposition, twenty-two Danish ex-ambassadors,() and ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen.

Judicial investigation of Jyllands-Posten

On October 27, 2005, a number of Muslim organizations filed a complaint with the Danish police claiming that Jyllands-Posten had committed an offence under section 140 and 266b of the Danish Criminal Code. PDF ()

Section 140 () of the Criminal Code, known as the blasphemy law, prohibits disturbing public order by publicly ridiculing or insulting the dogmas of worship of any lawfully existing religious community in Denmark. Only one case has ever resulted in a sentence, a 1938 case involving an anti-Semitic group. The most recent case was in 1971 when a program director of Danmarks Radio was charged, but found not guilty. ()

Section 266b () criminalises insult, threat or degradation of natural persons, by publicly and with malice attacking their race, color of skin, national or ethnical roots, faith or sexual orientation.

On 6 January 2006, the Regional Public Prosecutor in Viborg discontinued the investigation as he found no basis for concluding that the cartoons constituted a criminal offence. His reason is based on his finding that the article concerns a subject of public interest and, further, on Danish case law which extends editorial freedom to journalists when it comes to a subject of public interest. He stated that, in assessing what constitutes an offence, the right to freedom of speech must be taken into consideration. He stated that the right to freedom of speech must be exercised with the necessary respect for other human rights, including the right to protection against discrimination, insult and degradation, but no apparent violation of the law had occurred. In a new hearing, the Director of Public Prosecutors in Denmark agreed. PDF

Danish Imams tour the Middle East

A group of Danish imams, dissatisfied with the reaction of the Danish Government and Jyllands-Posten created a forty-three-page document entitled, "Dossier about championing the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him."

The dossier consists of several letters from Muslim organisations explaining their case, citing the Jyllands-Posten cartoons but also the following causes of "pain and torment" for the authors:

Pictures from another Danish newspaper, Weekendavisen, which they called "even more offending" (than the original twelve cartoons);
Hate-mail pictures and letters that the dossier's authors alleged were sent to Muslims in Denmark, said to be indicative of the rejection of Muslims by the Danish;
A televised interview discussing Islam with Dutch member of parliament and Islam critic Hirsi Ali, who had received the Freedom Prize "for her work to further freedom of speech and the rights of women" from the Danish Liberal Party represented by Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Appended to the dossier are multiple clippings from Jyllands-Posten, multiple clippings from Weekendavisen, some clippings from Arabic-language papers, and three additional images.

French pig-squealing contestant from the imams' dossier. Original caption included in the dossier: "Here is the real image of Muhammad."

The group of imams said that the three additional images were sent anonymously by mail to Muslims who were participating in an online debate on Jyllands-Posten, See question asked by xaria and answered by Akkari () and were circulated to illustrate the atmosphere of Islamophobia in which they lived. On February 1 BBC World incorrectly reported that one of them had been published in Jyllands-Posten. () This image was later found to be a wire-service photo of a contestant at a French pig-squealing contest.[Neandernews: Danish Imams Busted!][A clash of rights and responsibilities, BBC][Duo hogs top prize in pig-squealing contest] One of the other two additional images (a photo) portrayed a Muslim being mounted by a dog while praying, and the other (a cartoon) portrayed Muhammad as a demonic pedophile.

The group of imams set out for a tour of the Middle East to present their case to many influential religious and political leaders, and to ask for support.[Alienated Danish Muslims Sought Help from Arabs] The dossier contains such statements as the following:

We urge you [recipient of the letter or dossier] to — on the behalf of thousands of believing Muslims — to give us the opportunity of having a constructive contact with the press and particularly with the relevant decision makers, not briefly, but with a scientific methodology and a planned and long-term programme seeking to make views approach each other and remove misunderstandings between the two parties involved. Since we do not wish for Muslims to be accused of being backward and narrow, likewise we do not wish for Danes to be accused of ideological arrogance either. When this relationship is back on its track, the result will bring satisfaction, an underpinning of security and the stable relations, and a flourishing Denmark for all that live here.
The faithful in their religion (Muslims) suffer under a number of circumstances, first and foremost the lack of official recognition of the Islamic faith. This has led to a lot of problems, especially the lack of right to build mosques [...]
Even though they [the Danes] belong to the Christian faith, the secularizations have overcome them, and if you say that they are all infidels, then you are not wrong.
We [Muslims] do not need lessons in democracy, but it is actually us, who through our deeds and speeches educate the whole world in democracy.
This [Europe's] dictatorial way of using democracy is completely unacceptable.

The inclusion in the dossier of the cartoons from Weekendavisen was possibly a misunderstanding, as these were more likely intended as parodies of the pompousness of Jyllands-Posten's cartoons than as comments on the prophet in their own right.[Trossamfund angriber Muhammed-satire i Weekendavisen] () They consist of reproductions of works such as the Mona Lisa (caption: For centuries, a previously unknown society has known that this is a painting of the Prophet, and guarded this secret. The back page's anonymous artist is doing everything he can to reveal this secret in his contribution. He has since then been forced to go underground, fearing for the wrath of a crazy albino imam). This is an obvious parody of the Da Vinci Code.

At a 6 December 2005 summit of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, with many heads of state in attendance, the dossier was handed around on the sidelines first, and eventually an official communiqué was issued, demanding that the United Nations impose international sanctions upon Denmark.

Jyllands-Posten response

In response to protests from Muslim groups, Jyllands-Posten published two open letters on its website, each of them in a Danish and an Arabic version.[Jyllands-Posten's letter in Arabic] PDF () The second letter, dated 30 January 2006, also has an English version:

In our opinion, the 12 drawings were sober. They were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologize.

On February 26, the cartoonist who had drawn the bomb in turban picture, the most controversial of the twelve, explained:

There are interpretations of it [the drawing] that are incorrect. The general impression among Muslims is that it is about Islam as a whole. It is not. It is about certain fundamentalist aspects, that of course are not shared by everyone. But the fuel for the terrorists’ acts stem from interpretations of Islam. [...] if parts of a religion develop in a totalitarian and aggressive direction, then I think you have to protest. We did so under the other 'isms. ()

Reprinting in other newspapers

El Fagr's October 17, 2005 headline page.

In 2005, the Muhammad cartoons controversy received only minor media attention outside of Denmark. Six of the cartoons were first reprinted by the Egyptian newspaper El Fagr on October 17, 2005, along with an article strongly denouncing them, but publication did not provoke any condemnations or other reactions from religious or government authorities. Between October 2005 and the end of January 2006, examples of the cartoons were reprinted in major European newspapers from the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, Belgium and France. Very soon after, as protests grew, there were further re-publications around the globe, but primarily in continental Europe.

Notable for a lack of republication of the cartoons were major newspapers in the USA and the United Kingdom, where editorials covered the story without including them. Several newspapers were closed and editors fired or arrested for their decision or intention to re-publish the cartoons.

Economic and human costs

Map shows a colored matrix of republication (blue) and violence (red)

A consumer boycott was organised in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Middle East countries. For weeks, numerous notable demonstrations and other protests against the cartoons took place worldwide. Rumours spread via SMS and word-of-mouth.On February 4 2006, the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Syria were set ablaze, though with no injuries. In Beirut, the Danish Embassy was set on fire, leaving one protester dead. Altogether, at least 139 people were killed in protests, mainly in Nigeria, Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Several death threats and reward offers for killing those responsible for the cartoons have been made, resulting in the cartoonists going into hiding.[TimesOnline: Danish cartoonists fear for their lives] Four ministers have resigned amidst the controversy, among them Roberto Calderoli and Laila Freivalds.

Danish Imams investigated

The French/Algerian journalist Mohammed Sifaoui [Inside al Qaeda by Mohamed Sifaoui] secretly filmed Ahmed Akkari, spokesman for the group of Danish Imams that toured the Middle East, in conversation with Sheikh Raed Hlayhel (head of the delegation), threatening to have MP Naser Khader bombed. Ahmad Abu Laban was also filmed, talking about a man who wants "to wreak absolute havoc" and "wants to join the fray and turn it into a Martyr operation right now." Akkari initially denied the remarks, then explained he was only joking. Both men were investigated, but no charges were brought.

Opinions and issues

Danish journalistic tradition

Freedom of speech was obtained in a new constitution[The Danish constitution] PDF in 1849, and defended vigorously ever since. It was suspended for the duration the German occupation of Denmark in World War II. Freedom of expression is also protected by the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Newspapers are privately owned and independent from the government. Danish freedom of expression is quite far-reaching, even by Western standards, drawing official German protests about printing neo-nazi propaganda, and from Russia for "solidarity with terrorists." The organization Reporters Without Borders ranks Denmark at the top of its Worldwide Press Freedom Index for 2005.

Religion is often portrayed in ways that other societies consider illegal blasphemy.[Painting by Jens Jørgen Thorsen][Danish movie Jesus vender tilbage] on Internet Movie Database[Jesus vender tilbage plot description in the New York Times] While Jyllands-Posten has published satirical cartoons depicting Christian figures,[Drawing from Jullands-Posten] it did, in 2003, reject unsolicited surreal cartoons depicting Jesus,[Zieler, Resurrection] opening them to accusations of a double standard. Jyllands-Posten has also refused to publish Holocaust denial cartoons offered by an Iranian newspaper.[Danish paper refuses Holocaust cartoons, The Scotsman, February 9, 2006]

Aniconistic Muslim traditions

Muhammad rededicating the Kaaba Black Stone. In Jami Al-Tawarikh "The Universal History" by Rashid Al-Din, at the University of Edinburgh library; c. 1315.

Main articles: Aniconism and Depictions of Muhammad

The Qur'an condemns idolatry, but has no direct prohibitions of pictorial art. These are found in hadiths: "Ibn ‘Umar reported Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) having said: Those who paint pictures would be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it would be said to them: Breathe soul into what you have created." [Translation of Sahih Muslim, Book 24][Translation of Sahih Muslim, Book 24][Translation of Sahih Muslim, Book 24][Islam Today: Drawing Pictures & Producing Animated Cartoons]

Views regarding pictorial representations within Muslim communities have varied. Shi'a Islam has been generally tolerant of pictorial representations of human figures, including Muhammad.[Answers of Grand Ayatollah Uzma Sistani] Contemporary Sunni Islam generally forbids any pictorial representation of Muhammad,[CAIR press release] but has had periods allowing depictions of Muhammad's face covered with a veil or as a featureless void emanating light.

A few contemporary interpretations of Islam, such as some adherents of Wahhabism and Salafism, are aniconistic and condemn pictorial representations of any kind. The Taliban, while in power in Afghanistan, banned television, photographs and images in newspapers and destroyed paintings including frescoes in the vicinity of the Buddhas of Bamiyan.[Afghanistan: At the Crossroads of Ancient Civilisations]

Associating Islam with terrorism

Many Muslims have explained their anti-cartoon stance as against insulting pictures and not so much as against pictures in general. According to the BBC:

It is the satirical intent of the cartoonists and the association of the Prophet with terrorism, that is so offensive to the vast majority of Muslims.

Why is the insult so deeply felt by some Muslims? Of course, there is the prohibition on images of Muhammad. But one cartoon, showing the Prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse, extends the caricature of Muslims as terrorists to Muhammad. In this image, Muslims see a depiction of Islam, its prophet and Muslims in general as terrorists. This will certainly play into a widespread perception among Muslims across the world that many in the West harbour a hostility towards – or fear of – Islam and Muslims.

Prohibition to insult Muhammad

In Muslim societies, for a Muslim to insult the prophet Muhammad is one of the most serious crimes anyone could commit. Some interpretations of the Shariah, in particular the relatively fringe Salafi group, state that any insult to Muhammad warrants death.

The Organisation of Islamic Countries has denounced calls for the death of the Danish cartoonist. OIC's Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told journalists in Islamabad:

This is not a joke to go and say kill this and that. This is a very serious matter and nobody has the authority to issue a ruling to kill people.

Islamism and xenophobia

Fundamentalist Islam is now alleged to be a problem in Europe recently, while disillusionment with multiculturalism is on the rise in Denmark. This is further fuelled by Mullah Krekar stating, that: "the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes." The UNCHR Special Rapporteur, on the other hand, saw xenophobia and racism in Europe as the root of the crisis. Denmark has been singled out in this regard.

Allegations of \"agendas\"

The West's or Zionist agendas

Some commentators see the publications of the cartoons and the riots that took place in response, as part of a coordinated effort to show Muslims and Islam in a bad light, thus influencing public opinion in the West to support further military intervention in the Middle East.

Among others, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed a "Zionist conspiracy" for the row over the cartoons. The Palestinian envoy to Washington said the Likud party concocted distribution of Muhammad caricatures worldwide in a bid to create a clash between the West and the Muslim world. The criminalization of denial of the Holocaust in parts of Europe received renewed interest, raising concerns over freedom of speech being asserted selectively. Hamshahri, a newspaper published by the municipality of Tehran, ran a Holocaust cartoon contest to see if Western newspapers would print them.

Islamist or Mideast regime agendas

Other commentators see Islamists jockeying for influence both in Europe and the Islamic Ummah, who tried (unsuccessfully) to widen the split between the USA and Europe, and simultaneously bridge the split between the Sunnis and the Shia.

Regimes in the Middle East have been accused of taking advantage of the crisis, and adding to it, in order to demonstrate their Islamic credentials, distracting from their failures by setting up an external enemy, () and "(using) the cartoons [...] as a way of showing that the expansion of freedom and democracy in their countries would lead inevitably to the denigration of Islam." Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced a Holocaust Conference, supported by the OIC, to uncover what he called the "myth" used to justify the creation of Israel. Ahmadinejad started voicing doubts about the veracity of the holocaust at the same OIC conference in Mecca that served to spread the Akkari-Laban dossier to leaders of the Muslim world.

Political correctness

Critics of political correctness see the cartoon crisis as a sign that attempts at judicial codification of such concepts as respect, tolerance and offense have backfired on their advocates, "leaving them without a leg to stand on" and in retreat again:

The issue will almost certainly lead to a revisiting of the lamentable laws against "hate speech" in Europe, and with any luck to a debate on whether these laws are more likely to destroy public harmony than encourage it. Muslim activists are finding out why getting into a negative-publicity fight is as inadvisable as wrestling with a pig: You get dirty and the pig enjoys it.

International reactions

What started with the problem of a Danish author trying to find an illustrator for his book, became an international crisis. Many governments and international organizations have issued statements.

Comparable references

Numerous comparisons have been offered in public discourse comparing earlier controversies over propriety of speech and art with the controversy that surrounded the Jyllands-Posten cartoons. Some examples include:

The Satanic Verses (novel, 1988, 2006, Global)
The Life of Jesus (book, 2005, Greece)
Jerry Springer - The Opera (musical, 2005, Britain)
The Last Supper (billboard based upon a Leonardo da Vinci painting, 2005, Italy, France)''
Submission (short film, 2004, Netherlands)
Snow White and The Madness of Truth (installation, 2004, Sweden)
''Bloody Mary (TV, 2000s, United States, New Zealand, and Australia)
Ecce Homo (exhibition, 2000, Europe)
''Sensation (exhibition, 1999, London and New York)
''Corpus Christi (play, 1998, United States)
''Great Lawgivers (frieze, 1997, Washington D.C.)
Tatiana Soskin (drawing, 1997, Israel)
Taslima Nasrin (newspaper, 1994, Bangladesh)
Piss Christ (photo, 1989, United States)
The Last Temptation of Christ (film, 1988, United States and Europe)
Life of Brian (film, 1979, United States and Europe)
Mohammad, Messenger of God (film, 1977, United States, Libya, UK and Lebanon)
''Anti-Semitic Cartoons

External links

Primary sources

PDF

[The response to the letters from the ambassadors]

PDF

[First open letter in Arabic to the Muslims of Saudi Arabia from Jyllands-Posten]

PDF

Second open letter to the Muslims of Saudi Arabia from Jyllands-Posten
*[In Arabic]

PDF

Islamic views

[Declaration on behalf of Muslim Religious Leaders] signed by many [notable clerics and scholars].
[Imran Anwar - Let's Make New Cartoons Of The Prophet]
[Amr khaled - A message to the World]
[Danish cartoons and sacred imagery]
[Drawings Against Drawings]
[A Danish Trojan Horse: Law and the Muhammad Cartoons], JURIST
[Tolerance on Trial: Why We Reprinted the Danish Cartoons] (op-ed by the publisher of the English-language Yemen Observer newspaper), JURIST
[Support Your Prophet] A declaration condemning the attack by reporters from Denmark and Norway against the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam.
[A Carnival of Caricatures, the Deadly Politics of Humor] Islamica Magazine.

Non-Islamic views

[() Was nun, ferner Bärtiger?], die tageszeitung, February 6, 2006 [What's next, bearded one?]

Press reviews

[BBC, Q&A Depicting the Prophet Muhammad]
[The Guardian special reports: cartoon protests]
[World press review by BBC Monitoring]
[BBC Viewpoints]
[The twelve Muhammad cartoons] a European press review at signandsight.com

Video

[London demonstration in front of the Danish embassy 3 Feb 2006]
[Protesters Burn European Embassies, Consulates, Churches in Damascus and Beirut February 4-5 2006]
[Interview with American Muslim Hamza Yusuf] on Danish news show Deadline
[BBC HARDtalk: Ahmad Abu Laban and Fleming Rose, 8 February 2006]
[JFK Jr. Forum cartoons controversy discussion] at Harvard University by Shahab Ahmed, Jocelyne Cesari, Father J. Bryan Hehir, Dr. Joseph S. Nye Jr. (RealPlayer stream)

Images

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[Special]

Online petitions

[It is Enough Now] Letter for reconciliation in Arabic, Danish and English
[Forsoning nu!] Danish petition for reconciliation
[A letter from Another Denmark] Another Danish petition for reconciliation
[An online protest against cartoons of Prophet Muhammad] A site that condemns the Jyllands Posten cartoons and invites others to protest by submitting their e-mail addresses. As of April 8, 2006 more than 145,000 individuals had entered their addresses.
[Bad Democracy Award] for March 2006. Abu Laban won by a landslide.

Other sources

[Cartoon Body Count: Death by Drawing] An independent website tallying the total casualty count as a result of the controversy (based on verified news sources).
[Cartoons riots Google Maps mashup] A mashup displaying places where protests, riots and fatalities occurred during the Mohamed cartoons row
[The Mohammed-Cartoon Controversy, Israel, and the Jews: A Case Study] by Manfred Gerstenfeld of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

References

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