Jordan renews calls for Danish boycott

NEW CALL: Jordanian political parties and media syndicates will launch a fresh campaign protesting cartoons published by Danish paper Jyllands-Posten. (Getty Images)

A group of Jordanian political parties and media syndicates will launch a major campaign calling for the boycott of Danish and Dutch products in a delayed reaction to February’s reprinting of offensive cartoons by Danish newspapers.

The controversial pictures were originally printed by the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005, outraging the Islamic world. At least 17 Danish newspapers reprinted a controversial cartoon of Prophet Mohammed on February 13, vowing to defend freedom of expression, after police foiled a murder plot against the cartoonist.

The drawing, featuring Prophet Mohammed's head with a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse, has infuriated Muslims worldwide, who believe the cartoon mocks Islam.

One of the Jordanian protest leaders, Zakaria Al-Sheikh, told Saudi daily Arab News, Dutch products have been added to a list of blacklisted Danish goods after Dutch MP Geert Wilders released an anti-Islam film on the Internet in March.

The campaign organisers had decided to delay the launch to give ample time for local agencies of Danish and Dutch products to sell the already imported goods, he added.

The campaign would include highway billboards, posters, printed T-shirts, bumper stickers and the like “to inform consumers not only to boycott foods but anything associated with Denmark and the Netherlands such as airlines and shipping agencies.”

Campaign organizers also decided to launch legal action against those involved in the offensive behaviour, arguing that their behavior violated the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and several articles of the Jordanian Penal Code.

Three men were arrested on February 12 in Denmark for planning to murder Kurt Westergaard, 73, a cartoonist at Jyllands-Posten, the paper that originally ran the controversial drawings in September 2005.

A number of Danish embassies were attacked and more than 50 people were killed in rioting across the Middle East, Africa and Asia following the original publication of the cartoons, first in the Danish press and subsequently by numerous media outlets around the world.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Irony
Posted by Paul, Dubai on Monday 26 May 2008 at 13:17 UAE time


"What do muslims have, the ire of a number of people for the crimes committed by a few. Is this justified?"

What do Danes have, the ire of a number of people for the crimes committed by a few. Is this justified?

Incidentally, who specifically has been killed by non-Jews on behalf of Jews for denying the Holocaust? As far as I'm aware, no legal or government group has executed anyone specifically for denying the Holocaust. I would very much love to hear about these people because if they have been acting in my name, I am absolutely horrified and would want to bring such organisations to account.

Freedom of speech!!
Posted by Ahmad, Dubai on Saturday 24 May 2008 at 20:54 UAE time


A very interesting essay by E R Braithwaithe has a line on freedom- “your freedom ends where my nose begins!!”
The idea is to treat others with a little dignity and respect, that is all that is asked for here. To keep publishing these cartoons again and again is rubbing salt in the wounds inflicted by you.

I, for one, treat these cartoons as a rambling of the rabble who are totally insecure with the growth of Islam in the world and worthy of our utter contempt. Violent reaction is stupid, just shows us in bad light.
More poor fools they, as like Bush, they don’t realize, that these acts of theirs strengthen the hands of the extremists who go, ‘See, told you so, they have utter contempt for us and our beliefs.’

And as for denying the holucast, it’s the most infernally horrible irony. And is in no way relevant. Thse who perpetrated it are remembering it with all solemnity!! I do hope denying the Holucast being perpetrated by Israel also attracted a similar penalty.
As regards tolerance, the west has no religious leaning anymore, just materialistic bias, so they will never understand the Islamic faith and the deep hurt these caricatures have caused.

What if any, is the reason for this, I fail to understand; current event cartoons are on relevant current day stories or scandals, perfectly understandable. Why the prophet, I fail to understand this, except
1. either as a manifestation of deep set inadequacies and inferiority complexes or
2. they were paid off by the ‘us or them’ type of extremists.

Whatever be the rationale, I find a Danish product, I’m not buying!!

Freedom of speech is all fine, but the only language they understand is money!! So pardon me for not subscribing to the freedom of speech doctrine that does not give me the freedom to dislike the Danes and not buy what they have the temerity to come peddling to us. So ladies and gentlemen:
1. Let their big ECCO shoes pinch a little !!
2. Let the DANSK cookies crumble a bit!!
3. Let the LURPACK butter melt a bit!!
4. Let the EMBORG FROZENS melt a little bit!!
5. Let the LEGO structures fall a bit!!
6. Let the ID Design furniture rot a a bit!!
7. Let the ROSENBORG Cheeses spoil a bit!!!

Strange Imbalance
Posted by Taher Moinuddin, JUBAIL INDUSTRIAL CITY, Saudi Arabia on Saturday 24 May 2008 at 16:36 UAE time


Paul, you are right that there is no Jew who tries to kill someone for the denial of the Holocaust, because, they have someone else to do it for them.
What do muslims have, the ire of a number of people for the crimes committed by a few. Is this justified?

Let's not get confused here
Posted by Paul on Saturday 24 May 2008 at 15:37 UAE time


By all means, boycott Danish products if you think the Danish government is responsible for the printing of the cartoons, as opposed to a group of private individuals who are simply legally allowed to publish them. Given that Denmark's principle exports are bacon and Carlsberg, I can't really see a boycott doing much damage.

As for the freedom of speech issue...let's not get confused here. It's only in a select group of European countries where it's illegal to deny the Holocaust. Those countries are wrong for having such laws. But in many Western countries, it is perfectly legal to deny the Holocaust. Indeed, there are several people in the West who have made tidy profits doing so, through having their books published. Yes, that's right. In several European countries, it is legal to publish entire BOOKS denying the Holocaust, which seems to take freedom of speech even further that drawing one cartoon.

Here's the other thing. As far as I'm aware, no Jew has ever tried to murder a Holocaust revisionist. Or his publisher. THAT'S the crucial difference.

It is perfectly legal to deny the Holocaust in the West. But much like the printing of the cartoons, while it may be legal to do so, it probably isn't prudent or sensible to do so.

But it's both illegal and imprudent to threaten to kill people for their beliefs, don't you think? I'm not aware of any Muslim in the West being killed specifically for their beliefs. I'm aware of many non-Muslims being killed by 'Muslims' in the West though, and maybe the good, decent followers of Islam would do better to condemn those who truly insult the good name of their faith - those who commit terrible acts such as flying planes into towers or detonating bombs on trains, all in the name of Islam.

Those people are the real insult to faith.

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