Danish newspaper Politiken has announced a settlement in the controversial Mohammed cartoon case, with the new agreement reached with descendants of the Prophet including an apology for any offence caused by the depictions. Politiken has become the first newspaper to do so, much to the dismay of fellow media publications.
Politiken reached the agreement with legal representatives of 94,923 descendants of Mohammed who were represented by eight organisations. Toger Seidenfaden, Editor-in-Chief for the newspaper, claimed that the open dialogue was the way forward and did not represent a selling out of the ideals of freedom of speech.
“The settlement looks ahead and expresses very sensible views. It may possibly reduce the tensions that have shown themselves to be so resilient. It gives us hope that relations between Denmark, and not least its media, and the Muslim world can be improved,” said Seidenfaden
Lawyer Faisal Yamani, the lawyer who entered into the agreement representing the descendants called the settlement good. “This is a good settlement. It would be wrong to speak of a victory. Both parties have reached the point where they understand the background to what has happened. Politiken is courageous in apologizing, even though it was not their intention to offend anyone,” said Yamani.
Danish politicians, however, have condemned the move. Social Democratic head Helle Thorning-Schmidt said “It’s crazy. The media carries offensive material every day. That is what freedom of speech is about,” while Socialist People’s Party Leader Villy Sovndal argued that “freedom of speech is not up for negotiation”.
Pia Kjaersgaard, the Danish People’s Party Leader, said she was speechless at the absurdity of the situation. “It is deeply, deeply embarrassing that Toger Seidenfaden has sold out of Denmark’s and the West’s freedom of speech. I cannot distance myself enough from this total sell-out to this doctrine,” said Kjaersgaard.
Absurd!
A dead man cannot be slandered or defamed! That legal category is only available to a living person.
Moreover, since Mohammed is a man…not a god…criticism of him is not ‘blasphemy’. Moslems don’t like to hear ‘others’ think poorly of Mohammed? But that is part of freedom of opinion and freedom of expression. Mocking Mohammed is also a right under free expression. Grow up.
It is perfectly true that freedom of speech is the freedom to offend.
Someone will be offended by almost anything we say.
Moslems are claiming they have a unique human right: the right of never hearing anything they dislike.
No one has that unique right.
We are not going to join Moslems by going back to the 7th century.
“Freedom of speech” why not holocaust denial is crime in Europe?
What **** Freedom of speech.
does Any person can abuse each other in European society?
” first of all i would like to say that when ever we lack in ourselves we point out others”
Hear, hear, that is exactly what typifies every islamic (arab) state: always blaming others (the jews, the USA, the western world) for everything that is their OWN failure: no economy, no democracy, no scientific and social advance, no military, corrupt and brutal politicians….and off course only the jews/USA/the West are to blame for this….
and they have no right to talk against any personality
A fundamental misunderstanding of western democracy.
first of all i would like to say that when ever we lack in ourselves we point out others and talk against them.Danish cartoons are the wrong interpretation of muslima and they have no right to talk against any personality.they should their character first ,analyse themselves and talk about others.i dnt understand why always they try to demonize muslims .do they have any problem with them.why dont they stay within their limits?
It is not about muslims only, every now and then believers of any religion do feel insulted in many ways by people who project a wrong or modified image of their beliefs. Just go to USA and see how FANATIC people can be about what you say about GOD, some communities could be so violent that many killings have been made in the name of religion. Christian believers a world wide and historically known for their killings and crimes in the name of GOD and Jesus the Christ. Hundreds of homosexuals are killed around the world every year by the hand of Christians. Lets just remember EUROPEAN inquisition, when hundreds of thousands of people were killed for having beliefs that were supposed to be against christian values. Some weeks ago an Art exhibition was closed down at the University of Granada, Spain, because Christians said it depicted Jesus as gay and Magdalena as a prostitute ( well, Magdalena was a prostitute in real life), but Christians dont want anyone to make them remember that someone can be wrong, make mistakes and have an opportunity to change… Their idea of christianity is that you are perfect, pure and virgin and that you don’t use condoms ( because the Divine Grace protects everyone from AIDS).
Lets be clear here, there have to be some line here to show us where the limits are. What is not justified is that people KILL or THREATENS in the name of a religion. Because it is just so egoist and a BLASFEMY to think that God has given you the right to KILL OR DO JUSTICE on to others.
The proplem is that we have to defend freedom of speech, but we need to remember that freedom of speech COMES ALONG with other fundamental rights in any democracy. The picture of “the arab guy” was not respectful and it was stereotyping of the WHOLE ARAB COMMUNITY. The picture was a JOKE WITH DUBLE SENSE. We should not make jokes where other human beings dignity is attacked. That picture is the clear PROOF of HOW CLOSE MINDED AND CULTURALLY POOR DANISH SOCIETY IS. Danish see them as arab immigrants and not as just “people”. Danish society creates stereotypes for the people they cannot ( and dont want to) understand. If you come here you have to be like us, look like us and think like us. HOW STUPID!! Our western society has so many miseries, we are far of being perfect and our democracy is a joke. In Europe if you don´t have money you are NO ONE, in the richest countries of the world, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS LIVE ON THE STREET. WE ARE SO EGOIST THAT, IF THERE IS ANY GOD OUT THERE, HE will be crying for our acts as much as he cries when a muslim kill someone in his name.
So much hypocresy, in our western societies, in all societies. The picture in that newspaper was INSULTING, STEREOTYPING AND NOT RESPECTFUL. A REAL PROOF OR OUR IGNORANCE ABOUT “THE OTHERS”
[…] Danish newspaper settles cartoon dispute with Mohammed descendants … […]
The offering of the apology was the correct course. The cartoon depiction was not a depiction of the Prophet Mohammed, of course, no one knows what Mohammed looked like. No pictures of him were preserved, if any were made. But the depiction was a vituperation. It was not a caricature. A caricature is an exaggeration that is without vindictive or vicious element. A vituperation has both. The purpose of the Mohammed cartoon was to depict Arabs, as a people, as vicious through depicting the religious leader of Muslim Arabs as vicious. This was the wrong. It did require apology.
It was odd to see the cartoon degrading a whole people come from Denmark. It was odd to have Danes defending such a depiction. Denmark, after all, was occupied by the Nazis during WWII, and so had first hand historical experience with cartoons of that character, which the Nazis made many of, depicting Jews and others very much as the cartoon did Arabs.
It was, not oddly at all, Gunther Grass who noted right away that the Danish cartoon was of the same ink as the Nazi cartoons he saw in his youth. I don’t know why none of the political and other authorities did not listen to Gunther Grass, or recognize he was correct. Instead they unthinkingly sounded off. Too many of them, too many times. They sounded off sounding like Nazis in the 1930’s did when their vituperative propaganda cartoons were criticized.
No entire peoples, however great hostility toward any ones of them may be, should ever be depicted vituperatively. It may be done, of course, freedom of expression does allow. What must not be done is condone or defend it when it is done. Politiken only replicated the cartoon, so its readers could see what the controversy was about. Hence, it was not for itself Politiken needed to apologize, or did pologize. It was for Denmark.
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[…] `Danish newspaper settles cartoon dispute with Mohammed … […]
Speaking for 5728957234 descendants of His Holy Highness Pharaoh Tutankhamun, we are outraged by the profanation of His tomb. We demand an apology!
It’s pathetical, in a rational world one would just laugh back at Politiken and at the 94293 fools who claim to descend from a guy who lived 14 centuries ago, and just bring up the old saying that “mater semper certa est, pater numquam”
It would help everybody if the many Muslims so quick to feel insulted would just grow up. But as with raising kids, giving in every time actually makes matters worse…