Denmark fights back over Prophet cartoons
Danish leaders blame violence on extremism and lack of integration
Feb 21, 2006
The Straits Times
COPENHAGEN - THE Danes are fighting back, with three of the main players in the row over cartoons of Prophet Muhammad taking a stand against their critics.
The Prime Minister attributes trouble in Europe to Muslims not integrating into society, the Foreign Minister blames extremists for the violence, and the man who commissioned the drawings asserts 'his freedom' to publish the material.
Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen pointed out at the weekend that the crisis followed riots by immigrant youths in France late last year and suicide bombings by Muslim extremists in London in July.
He said this showed Europe as a whole had failed to integrate its Muslim minorities.
'It is not just a problem between Denmark and the Muslim world,' he said.
And his solution: 'Better education and more jobs for immigrants - these are the main elements of better social cohesion all over Europe.'
However, the tough immigration policies introduced by Mr Rasmussen's first government in 2002 have sparked accusations from immigrant groups of increasing hostility towards minorities there.
Mr Rasmussen admitted that Denmark faced particular 'challenges' in integrating its immigrant population, which began to grow substantially about 15 years ago, though it remains proportionally smaller than in many bigger European countries.
At the same time, Denmark has the highest immigrant unemployment rates in Europe.
'Denmark has traditionally been a very homogenous society and has not long been a host country,' he said.
Taking another tack, Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller yesterday blamed extremists for violent protests in Muslim countries, and warned that Al-Qaeda would exploit the situation.
Mr Moeller noted that protests have been tapering off in many Arab countries but escalating in Pakistan and Turkey.
'It's the extremist forces that wish to keep it going,' he told reporters in Copenhagen.
'There is no doubt that all extremists will exploit the situation. Al-Qaeda, too, will use it to fan the fire.'
Mr Moeller said a Pakistani cleric's offer of a US$1 million (S$1.6 million) reward for killing one of the cartoonists behind the drawings was tantamount to terrorism.
'When money is put on the cartoonists' heads, then terror is also being used,' he said.
'It's murder, and murder is also forbidden by the Quran.'
But cleric Maulana Yousef Qureshi, who offered the reward, said: 'If the West can place a bounty on Osama bin Laden...we can also announce a reward for killing the man who has caused this sacrilege of the holy Prophet.'
Meanwhile, culture editor Flemming Rose, of the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten which first published the cartoons, stood by his decision to publish them.
In an opinion piece in Sunday's Washington Post, he said his goal had been to stir a debate about freedom of speech, not to disrespect Islam or incite violence.
'I commissioned the cartoons in response to several incidents of self-censorship in Europe caused by widening fears and feelings of intimidation in dealing with issues related to Islam,' he wrote.
'The idea wasn't to provoke gratuitously - and we certainly didn't intend to trigger violent demonstrations throughout the Muslim world.
'Our goal was simply to push back self-imposed limits on expression that seemed to be closing in tighter.'
He also claimed that the publication of the cartoons in September has led to a 'constructive debate in Denmark and Europe about freedom of expression, freedom of religion and respect for immigrants and people's beliefs'.
'Never before have so many Danish Muslims participated in a public dialogue,' he said, adding such a debate was what Jyllands-Posten had hoped to generate by publishing the cartoons.
'Did we achieve our purpose? Yes and no,' he said.
'Some of the spirited defences of our freedom of expression have been inspiring. But tragic demonstrations throughout the Middle East and Asia were not what we anticipated, much less desired.' -- FINANCIAL TIMES, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, ASSOCIATED PRESS
