Posted on 02/03/2006 10:36:14 PM PST by Icelander
TWELVE Danish cartoonists whose pictures sparked such outcry have gone into hiding under round-the-clock protection, fearing for their lives.
The cartoonists, many of whom had reservations about the pictures, have been shocked by how the affair has escalated into a global “clash of civilisations”. They have since tried, unsuccessfully, to stop them being reprinted.
A spokesman for the cartoonists said: “They are in hiding around Denmark. Some of them are really, really scared. They don’t want to see the pictures reprinted all over the world. We couldn’t stop it. We tried, but we couldn’t.”
Mogens Blicher Bjerregaard, president of the Danish Union of Journalists, told The Times: “They are keeping a very low profile. They are very concerned about their safety. They feel a big responsibility on their shoulders. It’s blown up so big. It is tough for them.”
The cartoonists’ names were originally printed in the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten. Flemming Rose, the paper’s cultural editor, invited 25 newspaper cartoonists to draw a picture of Muhammad “how they saw him”, after a children’s author complained that cartoonists would only dare illustrate a book he was writing on the life of Muhammad if they could be anonymous. Twelve cartoonists responded, had their pictures printed in September, and were paid 800 Danish krone (£73) each.
In an interview with a Swedish newspaper this week, some of the cartoonists expressed their doubts about the entire episode. “It felt a little like a lose-lose situation. If I said no, I was a coward who contributes to self-censorship. If I said yes, I became an irresponsible hate monger against Islam,” one of the cartoonists said.
Another said: “I was actually angry when I first received the letter [from Jyllands-Posten]. I thought it was a really bad idea. At first I didn’t want to participate, but then I talked it over with some friends from the Middle East, and they thought I should do it.”
The cartoonists come from a variety of different political backgrounds, which is reflected in their work. While some of the pictures satirise Muhammad, others attack populist right-wing politicians and even Jyllands-Posten itself, which is rightwing.
Having failed to stop the cartoons being reprinted across Europe, the cartoonists have now decided to use all the money raised from the sales of the pictures to set up a foundation which will award an annual international prize for press freedom.
These cartoonists are gonna be assassinated just like Van Gogh.
Exactly my thoughts.
Ah, but you're overlooking the myopia of the masses my FRiend.
Too many actually believe their protestations are what "won" their current status, not that the power holder deigned to give them greater status.
Dinesh D'Sousa has a line in "What's So Great About America" where he tells of an insightful, if not particularly delicate high school teacher he had growing up in India.
This teacher was fond of pointing out "if Hitler had been running India, Gandhi would be a lampshade."
D'Sousa's point was that while on the surface Gandhi was critical of British morals and values, in point of fact he positively depended on them to effect his goals.
My statement is designed to remind those who have always bought their meat in tidy plastic trays that procurring that meat involves no less blood, and guts, and slaughter than it ever has.
Ah, I see. We are in total agreement!
Thanks. These people have really shown their true selves.
I'll say it again: ISLAM IS A PEACEFUL RELIGION. Iran is committed to human to rights - their record is better than the United States'.
These cartoonists should be more afraid of what the US military is going to do to them...of course, we're not looking for them, but they should be afraid anyway...
(T3)
That animal would make perfect target practice.
Why aren't we beheading the beheaders?
I was referring to the rumble on our own soil to include non military personnel. And yes I am aware it has already started with 911 and previous attacks...
Seems there is another candidate for the dajjal :-)
Every one of these SOBs should be shot.
I'm ready. Have >4,000 rounds in stock.
Of course the publication was a mistake and not in favor of Europe which--excluding some Balkan nations being in Ottoman/Muslim slavery for some 5 sentries--has nothing to do with hating Muslims. In my opinion it was a well managed provocation by the secret services of a nation or nations that would mostly benefit of focusing Muslims attention on a subject and places far a way from the scene that was making the news in the last couple of years. The world is the same old village: Divide et impera – divide and conquer.
The Danes should detain, deport, or defenestrate if necessary. That will give the sheetheads something to whine about..
Man, do I feel for those guys. I mean, Salman Rushdie sort of knew what he was getting into when he published "The Satanic Verses." But these guys are just CARTOONISTS, for Heaven's sake!!!
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