Sunday, February 05, 2006
Muslim Fury over Carton
I have been looking at photos showing Muslim reaction throughout the world, and thought the slideshow really brings home the significance of this incident in the eyes of the Islamic people, and how much this incident may affect all people around the world. Take a look for yourself, and draw your own conclusions.
England: This protest is outside the French embassy, and included hundreds of people with angry signs calling for violence, as well as the ready chant of “Europe your 9/11 will come.” This was one of many protests inside England, the largest of which was at the Danish embassy in London. The London protests were all non-violent.
This is from a protest in Iran Friday. Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani condemned the European press for printing the cartoons of Mohammed, but urged Muslims to respond calmly. No such renunciation of violence has come from the acting Iranian government, and some think that current President Ahmadinejad urged Syria to protest violently against the cartoons.
Small protests broke out across the West Bank today, often including the burning of Danish flags and calls for Muslims to shed their own blood to avenge Mohammed. Violence has been widespread, but not organized enough to cause a serious threat to people or property.
Things are much worse in Gaza City. This rally took place on Friday, and was more violent than the protests in the West Bank. Danes have been briefly kidnapped on Friday and Saturday from Gaza, and all Europeans have been recalled from Gaza over concerns for their safety.
In Indonesia, scores of Muslim protestors took to the streets on Friday, including this large march on the Danish embassy in Jakarta. No violence occurred in Jakarta, though things were not necessarily so peaceful across the Indonesian countryside.
Lebanese protestors set the Danish embassy on fire this morning, and protestors wielding sticks and stones smashed windows in the building and ransacked it. Police eventually entered the area and broke up the protest with tear gas, but only after the damage was done.
This protestor, who marched on the Danish embassy in London, wielded a sign that spells out the fears of the entire Western world!
More protests were seen in places like New Zealand, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Germany. Dutch Islamists have posted a responding cartoon, with Anne Frank and Hitler in bed (I haven’t found a copy of that one to post yet). And Denmark shows no signs of backing down.
Is this freedom of the press or blasphemy? Are the cartoons pure hatred and disrespectful, or are they simply a commentary on the tension between the West and Islam. And will protest over the cartoons continue to escalate, making the world a far more dangerous place? I have my opinions, but your guess is as good as mine. So I would really like to hear your thoughts, and we can put them next to my prayers that tensions over the cartoons will calm down in the near future.
Posted by Scottage at 1:34 PM /
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England: This protest is outside the French embassy, and included hundreds of people with angry signs calling for violence, as well as the ready chant of “Europe your 9/11 will come.” This was one of many protests inside England, the largest of which was at the Danish embassy in London. The London protests were all non-violent.
This is from a protest in Iran Friday. Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani condemned the European press for printing the cartoons of Mohammed, but urged Muslims to respond calmly. No such renunciation of violence has come from the acting Iranian government, and some think that current President Ahmadinejad urged Syria to protest violently against the cartoons.
Small protests broke out across the West Bank today, often including the burning of Danish flags and calls for Muslims to shed their own blood to avenge Mohammed. Violence has been widespread, but not organized enough to cause a serious threat to people or property.
