Cartoons and toleranace (1)

I refer to the article Publish And Be Damned. It's good to see someone from outside Denmark realising that the cartoons were not intended to offend Muslims when they were published. It seems the unfair accusations and serious lies that have been spread by some organisations (who have a particular interest in igniting a conflict to strengthen their own position) stand unopposed in many newspapers.

The cartoons were actually a protest against the death threats that extremists made to scare a number of cartoon drawers from illustrating a children's book. A museum was also forced to close down because extremists objected to an exhibition. Back then it seemed no one interpreted the offending article (which wasn't a front page story) as an attack on Muslims in general. It was an article that asked the question whether it was OK to scare people into submission.

Unfortunately there are several Islamic organisations in Denmark spreading stories about persecutions against Muslims in Denmark.

In Denmark a number of left-wing agitators are actually working among Islamic organisations, arguing that Denmark is a brutal country for Muslims when in fact there has been a huge number of initiatives to integrate the Muslims better.

In general there is a great deal of tolerance from everyone except from a small number of extreme-right nationalists.

We have had regular attacks on people who don't agree with the strict doctrines of Islam. Recently a hot-dog stand owner was attacked by two youngsters with a baseball bat because he was selling sausages that were "impure". My point is that we have serious problems with extremism, and Jyllandsposten merely commented on that. Their mission was not to offend Muslims in general.

Islamophobia is quite rare in Denmark, though recent events might have increased it considerably. I am not sure that is the case though; most people here are just in shock, they don't respond to hatred and violence with more of the same.

We see now that the entire Danish population is being punished. It hasn't helped that the Islamist organisations have constantly been spreading more rumours through the Arab media, such as the claim that the Koran would be set on fire in Copenhagen. Even the extreme right opposes these sort of methods.

Anything can be turned into an offence if you make up enough stories, and put it into the wrong context. That's what has happened with Jyllandsposten's cartoons. They are abused to set the world on fire, rather than being evaluated for what they were meant as: An attempt to ask the question whether it was acceptable to be scared into submission by the Islamist groups.

The newspapers that have since then published the cartoons have done so to support freedom of speech, and I believe it's very courageous to do so. It's probably the only way to make sure the Muslims will some day understand that they are not an attack on Muslims in general.

I'd be more than happy to contact anybody from the Muslim community in Malta to explain what it's like in Denmark from my point of view. If possible, I'd like to let them know that Muslims are not being treated without respect in Denmark.