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."
Muslims worldwide have caused unnecessary violence, destruction, and death.
Drawing on my limited knowledge of US tort law, in order to prove any defemation you need to show injury. Further you need standing, considering that Mohammed,if he existed, has been dead for a long time, therefore he cannot sue.
A class action lawsuit against all nations subscribing to TROP...multiple lawsuits demanding punitive damages filed continuously until the b-st-rds are out of money!
Those savages of TROP have to learn that freedom works for others besides themselves!
"We see these cartoons as racist."
Are all Muslims from the same race?
If you are a non Arab Muslim you should pay very close attention to what this man said.
Does this mean that they will be sueing the Newspapers from around the world, and the news media??????
(Pulling up chair, with popcorn, and beer)......
Canada Ping!
Please FReepmail me to get on or off this Canada ping list.
Good point.
well good! And then the rest of europe can sue them for all the damage done during their rioting. And the media can sue them for taking up so much face time.
Right!
Why are we going after their oil, when we just need to go after their money!
;-D
Do you think the ADL and CAIR are in cahoots with the ACLU? (rhetorical question).
We need to start doing what CAIR does here. "Polite email campaigns" in support of any publication brave enough enough to stand up to the Muslims.
Well..it get complex up here.
Sections 318 and 319 of the Criminal Code make it a criminal offence to: advocate genocide, publicly incite hatred, wilfully promote hatred, against an "identifible" group. Muslims are such a group.
Levant and co. didn't advocate genocide, so they're ok there. But Canadian jurisprudence is very flexible on the "inciting hatred and willfully promoting hatred bit". If the courts or the government feel that restricting freedom of expression in order to preserve public order and peace is neccessary, they can.
The Conservatives are in charge in Ottawa, and they are unlikely to do anything legislative about this.Likewise, this happened in the glorious province of Alberta. So that's fine. The courts are a wildcard, but they recently allowed a pervert to retain and create pornographic images with children in them on account of his freedom of expression. If he could create an retain images outraging the basic nature of the young, I think the sensibilities of the Muslim community aren't going to cut it.
Your milage may vary. The courts up here are about as inconsistant and caprious as meth addicts attempting to put IKEA furniture together with Sanskrit instructions.
Yep, and boycott those too cowardly to take a stand. I sent emails to Jylland-Posten and Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen last week thanking them for their courage.
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 real damage is between the covers of the Koran. The rest was done during hate indoctrination as these poor muslim children go through Islamic schools.
Welcome to FR...the problem really isn't about cartoons, its about terrorism. In this case, muslims are threatening violence to quash freedom of speech in the west. The cartoons are simply a convenient vehicle.
lol...I love it! Hey isn't that mohammed?
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