[Enver Masud is the founder of The Wisdom
Fund - a nonprofit corporation. An earlier version of this article was
sent today as a letter to the editor and ombudsman of The Washington Post.]
[Prodigy eventually settled on an editorial policy of not allowing comments
that were 'grossly repugnant to community standards'.--Avi-Jacob Hyman, "A Draft of a Legal Policy Paper on how to
Deal with the Dissemination of Racist and Holocaust-Denial Information via
Electronic Media, particularly the Internet," March 1995]
[Like the legal codes of other nations, Article 5 also sets out the
possibility of limitations on the freedom of expression.--"Freedom of Speech and Recent Legal Controversies in Germany," The
German Embassy, Washington, DC, June 2001]
Jonathan Power, "War of Civilizations?,"
International Herald Tribune, October 29, 2004
[At the forefront of this movement is David Horowitz and his academic
watchdog organization, Students for Academic Freedom (SAF).--Vanessa Dern
and Theodora Ruhs, "Conservative Plan
to Override Academic Freedom in the Classroom," Project Censored,
April 4, 2005]
["Identity is thus a quintessentially plural concept, with varying relevance
of different identities in distinct contexts. And, most importantly, we have
choice over what significance to attach to our different
identities."--Amartya Sen, "The
Argumentative Indian," Farrar, Straus and Giroux, October 12, 2005]
"Longer, Broader War on Islam," The
Wisdom Fund, October 17, 2005
Enver Masud, "Oxymorons in News
Media," The Wisdom Fund, October 23, 2005
Kevin Maguire and Andy Lines, "Bush's
Plot to Bomb Al-Jazeera," Daily Mirror, November 23, 2005
[Flemming Rose (the cultural editor of Jyllands-Posten who commissioned
cartoonists to produce the blasphemous images) traveled to Philadelphia in
October 2004 to visit Daniel
Pipes, the Neo-Con ideologue who says the only path to Middle East
peace will come through a total Israeli military victory. Rose then penned a
positive article about Pipes, who compares "militant Islam" with fascism and
communism.--Christopher Bollyn, "European
Media Provokes Muslims to Inflame Zionist 'Clash of Civilizations',"
American Free Press, February 2, 2006]
It was reported to The Wisdom Fund that the German newspaper Die Welt, part of the Axel
Springer conglomerate, published the cartoons three times. Die
Welt's editor-in-chief Roger Koeppel said that Mathias Doepsner, CEO Axel
Springer, showed "strong support" for publishing the cartoons. Doepsner is a
good friend of Haim Saban, whose Saban
Capital Group, according to the New York Times, bought a chunk of
German media about two years ago in order to change German opinion in favor
of Israel.
Alan Cowell, "More European Papers Print Cartoons of
Muhammad, Fueling Dispute With Muslims," New York Times, February 2,
2006
[Mr Griffin, 46, and Mr Collett, 24, had denied using words intended to stir
up hatred in West Yorkshire in 2004.--"BNP duo
to face race hate retrial," BBC News, February 3, 2006]
[For Muslims, the Prophet is the man who received divine words directly from
God. We see our prophets as faintly historical figures, at odds with our
high-tech human rights, almost cariacatures of themselves. The fact is that
Muslims live their religion. We do not.--Robert Fisk, "Don't be
fooled, this isn't an issue of Islam versus secularism," Independent,
February 4, 2006]
[. . . as soon as the row about the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in
Jyllands-Posten broke, angry Muslims popped up in Gaza City, and many other
places, well supplied with Danish flags ready to burn. . . .
Who built up the stockpile so that they could be quickly dragged out
right across the Muslim world and burnt where television cameras would come
and look?--Charles Moore, "If you get rid of the Danes, you'll have to keep paying the
Danegeld," Telegraph, February 4, 2006]
"Freedom
v faith: the firestorm," Sunday Times, February 5, 2006
[The malicious, false depiction of Prophet, Muhammad (P), in defamatory
cartoons published in Denmark's Jylland-Posten then deliberately
re-published in other European papers can only be understood as a
renaissance of the Inquisition. Such defamation of the Prophet must be met
with a civil lawsuit. A civil lawsuit squarely meets the legal requirement
under Denmark's and Europe's "Defamatory Law."--Mohamed Khodr, "Europe's
Defamation of the Prophet," Media Monitors Net, February 5, 2006]
Robert Fisk, "Religious
fury threatens to wrest control from secular governments," Independent,
February 6, 2006
[Zieler received an email back from the paper's Sunday editor, Jens Kaiser,
which said: "I don't think Jyllands-Posten's readers will enjoy the
drawings. As a matter of fact, I think that they will provoke an outcry.
Therefore, I will not use them."--Gwladys Fouche, "Danish
paper rejected Jesus cartoons," Guardian, February 6, 2006]
"Rolling
Stones agreed to censor Super Bowl show: NFL," AFP, February 6, 2006
[He was also convicted of three out of four charges under the Public Order
Act 1986 of "using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with
the intention of stirring up racial hatred".--Simon Freeman, "Abu Hamza
guilty of inciting murder and racial hatred," Times Online, February 7,
2006]
[At the core of the row is the Islamic tradition which holds that any
depiction of the prophets is sacrilegious.
. . . the Quran, the Islamic holy book, does not explicitly prohibit the
depiction of human figures, . . .
Within Islamic history there have been periods when certain pictorial
representations existed or even flourished. . . .
In the current furore - aside from the pictorial representations of the
prophet - what has caused grave offence to Muslims are attempts to
equate him and Islam as a whole with terrorism.--Humayun Chaudhry, "The taboo on picturing the prophet," Aljazeera.net,
February 7, 2006]
[Is this what freedom of the press is all about - the freedom to insult the
faith of a billion people and start a religious war?--Patrick J. Buchanan,
"Secularist
Stupidity and Religious Wars," lewrockwell.com, February 7, 2006]
[Have a look at their logo: the yellow star
- they got it, as soon the neswpaper was overtaken by a consortium, who also
is involved in the "Danish" Newspaper Politiken (also called "Jerusalems
Stiftstidene") and Extrabladet.--Thora
Pedersen, Germany, February 8, 2005]
Matthew Rothschild, "VA
Nurse Investigated for "Sedition" for Criticizing Bush," The
Progressive, February 8, 2006--Matthew Rothschild has been with The
Progressive since 1983. His McCarthyism Watch web column has chronicled more
than 150 incidents of repression since 9/11.
Hassan M. Fattah, "At Mecca Meeting, Cartoon Outrage Crystallized,"
New York Times, February 9, 2006
[GERMAN cops will use sweeping powers to collar England fans doing Basil
Fawlty-style Hitler impressions at the World Cup. . . .
If convicted of inciting hatred they will face jail terms of up to THREE
YEARS.
Wearing joke German helmets or any offensive insignia will also result in a
stretch behind bars.--Nick Parker, "Don't mention
the walk," The Sun, February 9, 2006]
Tamara Traubmann, "U.S. Jews block
conference set to include anti-Israel professors," Haaretz, February 10,
2006
"Sweden shuts
website over cartoon," BBC News, February 10, 2006
"Coulter: Islam is 'a
car-burning cult'," mediamatters.org, February 10, 2006
[Demonstrators marched in at least 13 countries -- Kenya, Iran, India,
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Egypt, Israel and Jordan--Kevin Sullivan, "Muslims' Fury Rages Unabated Over Cartoons,"
Washington Post, February 11, 2006]
[While KARAMAH fully identifies with the Islamic aversion to such
representation of the Prophet, we are very pleased that Islamic
contributions to law are recognized in the highest court of our land. We see
that attempt in a tolerant light similar to that in which earlier Muslims
saw Turkish and Persian art.--"Supreme Court Frieze
Controversy," Karamah, February 11, 2006]
John Kifner, "Images of Muhammad, Gone for Good," New York Times
February 12, 2006
Mary Jordan, "Muslim Crowds Decry Cartoons, Violent Retort,"
Washington Post, February 12, 2006
Dan Bilefsky, "Cartoon Dispute Prompts Identity Crisis
for Liberal Denmark," International Herald Tribune, February 12, 2006
Fareena Alam, "Why I
reject the anarchists who claim to speak for Islam," Observer, February
12, 2006
[Accustomed to the respect of Senegal's Muslim community, many Christians
have been among the most outspoken critics of the controversial caricatures
of the Prophet--Diadie Ba, "Senegal shows tolerant face of Islam," Reuters, February
13, 2006]
[One of the major disconnects in the present conflict is the way in which
European and American analysis obsesses with the apparently anarchic
outbursts of violence in the "Arab street" without taking in how brutally
violent the post-9/11 "coalition" assault has been, not only physically but
psychologically. --James Carroll, "Misunderstanding Muslims," Boston
Globe, February 13, 2006]
[Who is the Enemy? . . . But to be sure, the same people who offended
Muslims do not think twice before offending believing Christians . . .
While the Jyllands Posten of Flemming Rose is semi-fascist and neo-con, its
sister newspaper, belonging to the same owner, Politiken, is liberal and
humanist, . . .
The British PM Tony Blair . . . tried to pass the Internet Terror Bill, that
would have given police the power to shut down websites which "promote
terrorism". The House of Lords blocked it. . . .
After that, the Adversary splashed the Satanic Pictures. The predictable and
predicted reaction of the offended Muslims will force the parliaments to
accept the new set of 'anti-hate' laws. . . .
You do not have to care about Muslim sensibilities or Jewish prejudices -
it is your freedom at stake.--Israel Shamir, "Satanic
Pictures," israelshamir.net, February 2006]
Kevin Sullivan, "British Lawmakers Vote to Ban 'Glorifying'
Terrorism," Washington Post, February 15, 2006
[J-P explained to its readers: "In our society Muslims must learn to be
scorned, mocked, and ridiculed."--"The State Of Denmark," CBS 60 Minutes, February 19, 2006]
[Given Mossad's long-standing penetration of the Danish intelligence
agencies, and their close working relations with the right wing media, it is
not surprising that a Ukranian Jew, operating under the name of "Flemming
Rose" with close working relations with the Israeli state (and in particular
the far right Likud regime) should be the center of the controversy over the
cartoons. . . .
The Islamic-hate cartoons were published in Denmark in September 2005 as
Israeli and US Zionists escalated their war propaganda against Iran. The
initial response from the Islamic countries however was limited. The story
wasn't picked up in the International Herald Journal until late December
2005. By early January 2006, Mossad "Katsas" (Hebrew for case officers)
activated sayanim (volunteer Jewish collaborators outside of Israel)
throughout Western and Eastern European media to simultaneously reproduce
the cartoons on Feb. 1 and 2, 1006. One such sayanim operation would have
been the decision by France-Soir Senior Editor, Arnaud Levy and Editor in
Chief Serge Faubert, to publish the cartoons.--James Petras and Robin
Eastman-Abaya, "The
caricatures in Middle East politics," La Haine, February 19, 2006]
[One hundred and fifty-eight people have been convicted of Holocaust denial
in Austria between 1999 and 2004--Roger Boyes, "Backlash at
jailing of historian who denied Holocaust," Times, February 21, 2006]
[Rooted in poverty, poor education and lack of democracy, it is driven by
Palestine, Iraq, oil politics, and the thoughtless demonisation of all
Muslims in the post-9/11 "war on terror".--Simon Tisdall, "Cartoon
row draws from well of discontent," Guardian, February 21, 2006]
"German
court convicts man for insulting Islam," Reuters, February 23, 2006
Matthew Beard, "Livingstone
suspended for four weeks over Nazi gibe," Independent, February 24, 2006
[Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Lithuania,
Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland--"COUNTRIES WITH
LAWS AGAINST HOLOCAUST DENIAL," BBC News, February 28, 2006]
[If a young, middle-class, scrupulously fair-minded, and dead, American
woman, whose superb writing about her job as a mental health worker,
ex-boyfriends, troublesome parents, struggle to find out who she wanted to
be, and how she found that by traveling to Gaza and discovering the
shocking conditions under which the Palestinians live - if a voice like this
cannot be heard on a New York stage, what hope is there for anyone else?
The non-American, the non-white, the non-dead, the oppressed?--Katharine
Viner, "Surely
Americans will not put up with this censorship," Guardian, March 1,
2006]
Xeni Jardin, "When
America exports censorship," The New York Times, March 10, 2006
Robert Fisk, "The
erosion of free speech," Independent, March 11, 2006
Patrick J. Buchanan, "Cultural
Warmongers: Picking a fight with a faith 1.3 billion strong," The
American Conservative, March 13, 2006
Matthew Rothschild, "Woman Gets $100 Ticket For
"BUSHIT" Bumper Sticker," The Progressive, March 28, 2006
[University professors denounced for anti-Americanism; schoolteachers
suspended for their politics; students encouraged to report on their
tutors.--Gary Younge, "Silence in
class," Guardian, April 4, 2006]
"Wal-Mart
Sues 'Wal-ocaust' T-Shirt Seller," Associated Press, April 12, 2006
John Hooper, "Opus
Dei paper prints prophet in hell cartoon," Guardian, April 17, 2006
Matthew Rothschild, "Ten-Year-Old Forbidden From
Singing Pink's Anti-Bush Song at School," The Progressive, May 10, 2006
Suzanne Goldenberg, "Films on
Guantanamo and Iraq face war of cuts," Guardian, May 18, 2006
Douglas Giles, "Professor Fired
for Allowing Questions about Judaism and Islam," labournet.net, July 13, 2006
David Ray Griffin, "The
Attempt to Box In Academic Freedom," mujca.com, July, 2006
Shahid Raza Burney, "India Bans Arab TV Channels Under Pressure From Israel,"
Arab News, August 6, 2006
Henry Porter, "The
land of the free - but free speech is a rare commodity," Observer,
August 13, 2006
Robert Tait, "Tehran
exhibition attacks West's 'double standards' over religious satire,"
Observer, August 20, 2006
"US charges
Hezbollah TV provider," BBC News, August 25, 2006
Brian Whitaker, "Muslims
angry at new Danish cartoons scandal," Guardian, October 10, 2006
"Denmark throws
out cartoons suit," BBC News, October 26, 2006
Angelique Chrisafis, "Cartoons
did not incite hatred, French court rules," Guardian, March 23, 2007
[Islamic countries pushed through a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights
Council on Friday urging a global prohibition on the public defamation of
religion - a response largely to the furor last year over caricatures
published in a Danish newspaper of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.--Elaine
Engeler, "U.N.
panel OKs measure on Islam," Associated Press, March 30, 2007]
[Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said . . . that the
knighthood showed that the process of insulting Islamic sanctities was not
accidental but was being supported by some Western countries. "Iran condemns
Rushdie knighthood," BBC News, June 17, 2007]
["Freedom of expression is Danish, stupidity is not"--Gwladys Fouche, "Danish-Muslim leader lampoons far-right over latest prophet
cartoon," Guardian, October 26, 2007]
Mark Tran, "Dutch
government could ban anti-Islam film," Guardian, March 3, 2008
Mark Sweney, "Beauty
ad banned after Christian outcry," Guardian, March 12, 2008
[Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders made a controversial film last year
equating Islam with violence and has likened the Koran to Adolf Hitler's
Mein Kampf.--"Islam film Dutch MP
to be charged," BBC News, January 21, 2009]
Steven Thomma, "Helen Thomas, under siege about Israel
comments, retires," McClatchy Newspapers, June 7, 2010
Copyright © 2006 The Wisdom Fund -
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