Posted on 02/13/2006 11:41:57 AM PST by Dark Skies
The head of Calgary's Muslim community is considering a civil lawsuit against two local publishers for reprinting controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad -- images that have sparked deadly riots overseas.
Syed Soharwardy, president of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, said the cartoons have caused Muslims in Calgary, and worldwide, unnecessary stress and heartache.
"We are, on Monday, going to see lawyers. We will try to find out if there is a possibility to have a civil lawsuit. That's what we're going to explore," Soharwardy said Sunday.
"We see these cartoons as racist. We see these cartoons as hurtful, and we see these cartoons as against our religion. There has been damages towards the Muslim community for their losing their peace of mind, and creating stress on people's heart."
The Jewish Free Press and Western Standard Magazine, both Calgary-based, are among the first publications in Canada to print the cartoons.
One of the drawings depicts Muhammad wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb.
While copies of Jewish Free Press have been available since last week, Western Standard Magazine is expected to hit newsstands today. Publisher Ezra Levant said the threat of a lawsuit won't deter him.
Levant said the move proves Soharwardy and other Canadian Muslims who are angry over the cartoons don't "understand Canadian values" and freedom of the press.
Around 40,000 issues of Western Standard will be published with the cartoons. The Jewish Free Press, going to 2,000 Calgary homes, ran the images in its Feb. 9 issue.
The Jewish Free Press had the front page headline, "First they came for the cartoonists. . . ." It also featured portraits of Muhammad printed over the past 200 years, including an icon now on sale on the streets of Tehran, Iran.
On page 2, the Jewish Free Press had a selection of the Danish cartoons, including the "Muhammad in a bomb-turban" print.
The Calgary Herald has decided not to publish the drawings.
Jewish Free Press publisher Richard Bronstein said reprinting the cartoons wasn't meant to offend Muslims, but instead to inform the public about the issue.
"When (the cartoons) dominate the world news for that period of time, to be an informed person you have to see what it's all about," said Bronstein.
The paper also published a selection of anti-Semitic cartoons printed in Muslim countries -- like a cartoon of hook-nosed, diabolical Jew tunnelling under Jerusalem's Temple Mount, a holy site to Muslims and Jews.
Bronstein said he will ask a member of Calgary's Muslim community to write a guest column in an upcoming edition. "I'll give them the whole front page," he said.
Bronstein would not comment on the possibility of a lawsuit.
He apologized if he insulted Muslims, but stands by his decision to reprint the cartoons.
Soharwardy refused the apology.
"Jewish Free Press, they knew that it is not acceptable, that it is offensive to Muslims, they knew it. They took a calculated risk and they went ahead," he said. "Their apology is nothing but a hypocrisy -- a preplanned apology and I don't accept their apology."
On Sunday, Soharwardy offered a free seminar on the Prophet Muhammad to members of all faiths.
More than a dozen non-Muslims showed up at the Al-Madinah Calgary Islamic Centre in Falconridge for the two-hour session.
Hal Joffe, a prominent member of Calgary's Jewish community, said he attended to have Soharwardy answer some outstanding questions.
"I was just trying to figure out if it was just Muhammad being portrayed at all or whether it was the particular characterization," Joffe said of the controversy. "It's important to see the context and then to do this and try to find a dialogue and common ground."
Don't ever be rude to an Arab!
http://www.mwscomp.com/sounds/mp3/nevrude.mp3
He forgot to include Coyote - the most abused animal in cartoons ever seen. ;)
I think Muslims have caused a lot more people stress and heartache...who can I sue ?
If the courts aren't filled with sycophantic appeasers, then lawsuit will be nixed. A moment of truth for Canada.
This is NOT a bad thing. Many people see those people "over there" as "insane fanatics", but the people "over here" are "just like us." It's not true. Lawsuits like this will help us see that many of the ones "over here" are more like those "over there" that they are like us...
Hahahaha ... This [giggle] ... coming from a ... [chortle]... MUSLIM!... [guffaw, guffaw] People who live, eat, and breathe hatred! Aw, c'mon, stop it! Yer hurtin' my sides.
Islam is a race?
I am so...SHOCKED! :)
Free speech hurts my feelings. It's racist.
I saw a cute piece on the news this weekend about Muslim stand-up comedians in the U.S. One of the guys said of the cartoon hoopla, that of course Muslims should be offended by those cartoons, but that the right thing to do wasn't to stage violent protests, but to hire Jewish lawyers and sue. He said this with the most perfectly straight face and serious tone, as if he were a government official explaining a policy decision.
Sue Mohammed.
Each one of the cartoons will be presented in court for all to see. Also, though I certainly do not know Canadian law, I presume the plaintiff's lawyers will try to prove the cartoons have defamed or slandered Canadian muslims and that probably requires the cartoons to be proven to be false representations of mohammed's character (any lawyerly help here would be appreciated). It would be my hope that, directly or indirectly, mohammed's character is called into question...talk about blasphemy!
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