Posted on 08/30/2007 1:24:54 PM PDT by Stoat
By David Ibison in Stockholm
Published: August 29 2007 23:11 | Last updated: August 29 2007 23:11
The growing dispute in Sweden is linked to rondellhund roundabout dogs which are amateur and usually humorous sculptures of dogs placed covertly on roundabouts around the country as a form of counter-cultural expression.
When Lars Wilks, a Swedish artist, decided to draw a shaky picture of a rondellhund in which the dog bore the head of Mohammed, it prompted debate in Swedens national newspapers about whether art galleries should carry the picture.
This depiction of the Prophet would be considered particularly insulting as dogs are widely held to be unclean in Islamic culture.
Ulf Johansson, editor-in-chief of Nerikes Allehanda, a regional newspaper in the city of Orebro, west of Stockholm, thought this debate worthy of further analysis and published the picture alongside an article discussing freedom of expression.
In Iran, however, the authorities reacted sharply. On Monday they summoned Swedens chargé daffaires in Tehran to receive an official complaint about the publication of the picture.
On Tuesday, Irans president, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, blamed Zionists for being behind the Swedish cartoon because their survival is in war. He called on Muslims not to react, as Zionists will be uprooted if there is peace in world.
It is not that important for Islamic governments to become mobilised, he said. When a mad person insults a scientist, he proves his own madness. The cartoon, he added, would not be held against the Swedish people.
Swedens foreign ministry confirmed it had received a warning, but said it had not responded in any other way, apart from emphasising that freedom of speech and the press are vital in Sweden.
Mr Johansson has received threatening e-mails and has been forced to use a bodyguard. Some said I would burn in hell, he said.
Police have stepped up security around the newspapers office.
Local Muslims in Orebro staged a small, peaceful demonstration outside the newspapers office last Friday, but a much larger protest is planned for Friday, according to the Islamic culture centre in Orebro.
If you had a picture of the Pope as a dog, people would think the Pope is no good, he said. So why is it OK to have a picture of the Prophet like that? It is now up to other Muslims in other towns to take action.
The Islamic centre said that up to 800 people were expected at Fridays demonstration, and added that Islamic centres around Sweden were being contacted and asked to join in.
Mr Johansson said he was simply trying to spur debate. I thought it was a good opportunity to raise the issue of freedom of religion and speech in Sweden not only for Swedes but for those Muslims living in Sweden, he told the FT. They have the right to protest here. That is really the point.
Public reaction has been mixed. One writer to a newspaper website captured the mood: I believe that freedom of speech is worth defending, but also think there are boundaries, even in Sweden, for what the media should print in the name of freedom of speech.
In early 2006, cartoons of the Prophet were published in papers in Denmark, triggering violent protests in which more than 100 people were killed by Muslims worldwide and a boycott of Danish products.
Security experts have warned the internet could be used to spread the Swedish protests in coming weeks.
Sweden is one of the worlds most internet-connected countries, and the number of Muslims there has grown rapidly in recent years under a relatively open immigration policy.
The best thing that could be done, is for Mad Mo and his minions to be mocked and ridiculed world wide
coo-oo-ool ,.. & here we go again
( do Swedes’ flags smell different , burning? . . . sandmaggots will be torching them here , in NYC )
yeah so whats the problem? are we not speaking the truth? politically correct brainwashing has turned all of you into cowering girly men!
( do Swedes flags smell different , burning? . . . sandmaggots will be torching them here , in NYC )
If the Swedish Government and affected institutions stand up to the Muzzie hordes in a similar manner as the Danes did, it will foster a "Buy Swedish" movement here in the USA and elsewhere just as was done with the "Buy Danish" campaign.
How will your home look, redecorated with Ikea furniture? :-)
Muhammad cartoon Sweden 'sorry for hurt feelings' (or perhaps 'not so sorry')
The Swedish Chargé d'Affaires in Islamabad, Lennart Holst, was given a dressing down on Thursday by Miangul Akbar Zed, a middle-ranking official at the Pakistani Foreign Office. The official protest was relayed during the course of a planned meeting.
According to the Pakistani statement, Holst said the Swedish government "fully shared the views of the Muslim community" and called the publication on August 18th "unfortunate."
Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Björkander told The Local it had been a "misunderstanding" on the part of the Pakistanis to conclude that the government fully shared the views of the Muslim community.
Björkander added, however: "The Chargé d'Affaires said he was sorry if the publication had hurt Muslim feelings."
She also said that Holst had told the Pakistani official that freedom of the press is strongly protected in the Swedish constitution.
"Otherwise the Swedish government has no opinion on the matter," she said.
- As a Swede, I’d prefer if the Muslim countries initiated boycotts on Western made products like, for instance, the large amounts of Swedish trucks they import.
I believe Western technology and medieval ideologies don’t mix well.
Sort of indicates why there are so very, very few muslim Nobel Prize winners out a population of over a billion: inbreeding has made them idiots.
The German film director Hans Juergen Syberberg put Hitler’s head on a dog and no one complained. What’s the difference?
And I REALLY like the little "puffball" on the top of his turban / headdiaper....very stylish, in the mood of South Park's Stan
LOL! Hilarious!
Just in case you haven't see it yet.
Classic!
I can’t wait to use that.
Consider it yours. Post it as much as you can!
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