OIC Horrified

(hat tip to Bare Naked Islam)

As usual, when freedom of expression is involved, Islamomaniacs are offended.

This time, the OIC is horrified by the latest Charles Hebdo comic book mocking MTP.  From Arab News:

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has slammed caricatures of the Prophet (peace be upon him), published in the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, saying it incites hatred and intolerance against Muslims.

OIC Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu expressed concern at the publication of the comic book series on the life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Ihsanoglu said the publication went against the norms of responsible journalism and was tantamount to abuse of the right to freedom of expression. He added that incitement and advocacy of hatred and intolerance on religious grounds signified by this publication was in contravention of international human rights laws and instruments.

He called on the magazine to abide by the provisions, particularly those in the European Union (EU) context, on incitement to hatred and violence. He urged the authorities in France to take appropriate action against the magazine....

SSDD.

Islamomaniacs have zero sense of humor, zero sense that anyone should disagree with them.

MTP himself probably found his own reflection blasphemous:

CARTOON CRISIS UPDATE - TWO MEN ARRESTED IN CHICAGO

From the Astute Bloggers:

Two men have been arrested in Chicago (?!?) for planning to execute terror against Jyllands Posten - publisher of the renowned Muhammad Cartoons.

It is reported that one of them visited Denmark at least twice to videotape targets, and that they had direct connections to extremists in Pakistan.

LOCAL REPORT ON IT HERE.

LINK TO ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF DANISH ARTICLE HERE.

MORE HERE.

EVEN MORE HERE.

RELIAPUNDIT ADDS:

• A CANADIAN AND A CHICAGOAN PLANNING ATTACKS IN EUROPE.
• THEY JUST HAPPEN TO BE MUSLIMS.
• AND WE JUST HAPPEN TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF A GLOBAL WAR MUSLIMS STARTED - 1000 YEARS AGO.
• IT'S GLOBAL JIHAD.
• DENYING THIS AIDS THE ENEMY.

More About The Dhimmitude Of Yale University Press

Previous postings about this topic are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

After the information as to Yale Press's self-censorship came out in the Washington Post, letters printed in the hard copy of the newspaper were overwhelmingly in support of Yale's decision.

Now comes this commentary in the Saturday, August 29, 2009 edition of the Washington Post:

Yale's Misguided Retreat

In deciding to omit the images from a book it is publishing about the controversy sparked by Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, Yale University Press has handed a victory to extremists. Both Yale and the extremists distorting this issue should be ashamed. I say this as a Muslim who supported the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten's right to publish the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in late 2005 and as someone who also understands the offense taken at those cartoons by many Muslims, including my mother. After a while, she and I agreed to stop talking about them because the subject always made us argue.

[...]

Speaking at a conference that Khader hosted at the Danish parliament a year after the cartoons' publication, I warned of two right wings -- a non-Muslim one that hijacked the issue to fuel racism against immigrants in Denmark, and a Muslim one that hijacked the issue to silence Muslims and fuel anti-Western rhetoric.

Sadly, both groups are celebrating Yale's decision because it has proven them "right."

[...]

The cowardice shown by Yale Press recognizes none of the nuance that filled my conversations in Copenhagen nor discussions I had with Muslims in Qatar and Egypt during the controversy. Many told me they were dismayed at the double standards that stoked rage at these Danish cartoons yet did not question silence at anti-Semitic and racist cartoons in the region's media.

Does Yale realize that it has proven what Flemming Rose said was his original intent in commissioning the cartoons -- that artists were self-censoring out of fear of Muslim radicals?

Yale has sided with the various Muslim dictators and radical groups...

Read the entire essay HERE. As you might expect, the essay has generated pages and pages of comments.

About the author of the essay:

Mona Eltahawy, an Egyptian-born commentator based in New York, writes and lectures on Arab and Muslim issues. She is a columnist for the Danish newspaper Politiken. Her e-mail address is info@monaeltahawy.com.

So, is Mona Eltahaway one of those hoped-for moderate Muslims? What say you, fellow infidels?

The WaPo Addresses Self-Censorship

In a lead editorial on Sunday, August 23, 2009, and regarding Yale University Press's cowardice in not publishing the MTP cartoons:

Self-Muzzled at Yale:
A university publisher allows the possibility of Muslim reaction to alter an academic work

AN ILLUSTRATION from a children's book. An Ottoman print. A 19th-century artist's depiction of "Dante's Inferno." These are among the images Yale University Press has decided it's unsafe to reproduce in a scholarly work, lest they incite violence from Islamic extremists. The Press's John Donatich explained that the publisher doesn't shy away from controversy, but "when it came between that and blood on my hands, there was no question."

This is simply wrong.

The scholarly work in question is Jytte Klausen's "Cartoons that Shook the World," a book about the 12 cartoons of the prophet Muhammad whose 2005 appearance in a Danish paper ignited a worldwide controversy. Yale University Press is publishing it in the fall -- or some of it. Not just the picture of the newspaper's controversial page of cartoons but all of the book's illustrations, which include a historical range of artistic depictions of the prophet, will be omitted. Why? Because what the Press described as a group of "counterterrorism officials . . . U.S. diplomats . . . foreign ambassadors from Muslim countries . . . and senior scholars in Islamic studies" -- without so much as reading the book -- deemed them too inflammatory to publish. This was after the book had passed Yale University Press's own vetting process, was examined by lawyers and read by multiple Islamic reviewers who agreed that the images should be included. Worse, the book's author could not even read the objections from the largely unidentified group of experts unless she signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Yale's self-censorship establishes a dangerous precedent. If one of the world's most respected scholarly publishers cannot print these images in context in an academic work, who can? To be sure, the cartoons are inflammatory and tasteless, depicting the prophet with a bomb as a turban or telling a group of suicide bombers to "Stop! We have run out of virgins!" But it's difficult to imagine a more legitimate place for them or to understand why a prohibition on images of the prophet that is not even observed by all Muslims should have to apply to a scholarly work by a nonbeliever.

In effect, Yale University Press is allowing violent extremists to set the terms of free speech. As an academic press that embraces the university's motto of "Lux et Veritas," it should be ashamed.

The editorial has three pages of comments so far.

1001 Caricatures of Mohammad

I just got the following invitation from "John Smith," a Norwegian university student, and I wrote back to tell him I had a whole group of friends on the Infidel Blogger's Alliance that might be very interested in this, and asked him if I could publish his letter to me. He agreed, so here it is:

I am a Norwegian University College student, and I'm more or less done with writing the manuscript for my book; "1001 Caricatures of Mohammad" as a defense, for the right to ask the critical questions and make caricatures. As you understand from the book's title, I need contributions in the form of 1001 caricature drawings of Mohammad. It would be helpful for me and the book project if you could write an article about this in your site.

Yours sincerely

Alias John Smith

Contribution request

1001 caricatures of Mohammad

What should the answer of the freedom-loving peoples of the West be against the fascist forces in Islam who threatens with violence to stop critical opinions and caricatures of Islam?

If you are one of many who share my beliefs that we have to fight this totalitarian ideology, you now have the possibility to participate.

I am writing a book called "1001 Caricatures of Mohammad" as a defense, for the right to ask the critical questions and make caricatures. As you understand from the book's title, I need contributions in the form of 1001 caricature drawings of Mohammad.

I am writing this book under a fictional name because of the dangers combined with expressing critical views of Islam. Any contribution will be protected in the same manner as myself.

Make history; defend the freedom to many take for granted. With a pen you can stand up and fight for the right to be free in the battle of liberty for all the peoples of the world. Send your contribution to:

1001.muhammed@gmail.com

Yours sincerely

Alias John Smith

Parameters for the caricatures

JPEG, GIF and tiff form:

size:

• black/white 1200 piksler/dpi
• Gray 300 piksler/dpi
• color 300 piksler/dpi

I like his fighting spirit, and I think he has a worthy project. Let's support him with material. I sent him this one because I loved it: http://ibloga.blogspot.com/2007/09/reward-money.html. If you post anything he might use, send a link to him at 1001.muhammed@gmail.com.

In Solidarity with the Cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, Danish Newspapers Reprint the Cartoons of Muhammad

Cartoon courtesy of Jyllands-Posten
It is to be noted that no newspaper in the United Kingdom or in the United States has yet had the courage to reprint any of the cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. Denmark is a small country, but its people have more courage, it seems, than than the British and Americans combined! The proud Danes put PRINCIPLE before PROFIT. If 'freedom of speech' and 'freedom of expression' survive this onslaught by the 'people of the desert', then we will have the Danes - and other courageous Europeans - to thank! Shame on the home of freedom, the USA! Shame on the home of the 'mother of parliaments', Great Britain! - ©Mark

BBC: Danish newspapers have reprinted one of several caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad which sparked violent protests across the Muslim world two years ago.

They say they wanted to show their commitment to freedom of speech after an alleged plot to kill one of the cartoonists behind the drawings.

Three suspects were held in Denmark on Tuesday "to prevent a murder linked to terrorism", officials said.

The cartoons were originally published by Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.

Danish embassies were attacked around the world and dozens died in riots that followed.

'Defiant'

Jyllands-Posten and many other major newspapers - including Politiken and Berlingske Tidende - reprinted the caricature in their Wednesday editions. Danish Muhammad cartoon reprinted >>>

JYLLANDS-POSTEN:
Newspapers reprint Mohammed cartoon

THE COPENHAGEN POST:
Newspapers reprint Mohammed cartoon

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Danish Cartoon ‘Plotters’ Held

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)