http://www.wikio.com/search=Mohammed Cartoon Wikio - Mohammed Cartoon http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68502244 Laura Ingraham hosted journalist Irshad Manji on Random House's preemptive cancellation of "The Jewel of Medina" over security concerns. Manji said that the book on the Prophet Mohammed's wife Aisha Sadigga that was pulled out of publication was about a... Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:45:24 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68502244 2008-08-21T13:45:24Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68435686 Muslims in Serbia are complaining that a book depicting the life of Muhammad is an insult to islam. What else is new? Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:54:11 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68435686 2008-08-21T02:54:11Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68432535 The Great Mohammed Cartoon Crisis back in 2006 made the whole world aware of the assertion that no representational images are permitted in Islam, especially when they depict the Prophet. According to Muslim spokesmen and the talking heads on TV, all the rioting, arson, and death were the result of the grave insult to the Prophet delivered by those dastardly Danish cartoonists who dared to create images of Mohammed — and in such a blasphemous manner! Many people have since pointed out that Mohammed has been frequently depicted by devout Muslims over the centuries, in paintings, drawings, and sculptures. When it comes to radiant kitschiness, paintings of Mohammed can rival all those lambs-and-cute-kids Jesus pictures. So what’s the deal? Is it verboten to paint a picture of ol’ Mo, or not? The latest example of Mohammed-idolatry comes from Iran. Our Israeli correspondent Abu Elvis sent us a link to this article from the Fars News Agency : Iran Unveils Prophet Mohammad Painting TEHRAN (FNA)- The Iranian city of Zanjan has unveiled the largest miniature painting, which portrays the Prophet Mohammad’s (PBUH) ascent to heaven. The “largest miniature painting”? What the heck does that mean? And how can it be distinguished from the smallest oversized painting? - - - - - - - - - Wouldn’t it be like the world’s fattest anorexic? Or the most recent antique? According to a press tv report, it took two years for the artist, Reza Najafi-Asl, to create the painting in the style of Iran’s master miniaturist Mahmoud Farshchian. I looked up some of Mahmoud Farshchian’s work , and if I could coin a phrase to describe his style, it would be “New Age Shi’ite”. Check out some of his symbolically-themed inspirational paintings and drawings. The 32-year-old artist has used 70 acrylic colors to depict Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) sitting on a horse and three angels whirling around him. Masoumeh Heidari has adorned the margin of the painting with illuminations, inspired by the work of the late illuminist, Haj Mirza Emami. Obviously, since Iran is a Muslim theocracy and this new painting is a publicly acclaimed event, visual depictions of the Prophet are not always a bad thing. Perhaps it’s a Shi’ite thing. Maybe the Sunnis are more strict about such matters. Or maybe they only get mad about it when blasphemous infidels are the ones doing the depicting. Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:56:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68432535 2008-08-20T23:56:00Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68212120 Copenhagen/Stockholm - The decision by US publisher Random House not to publish a controversial book on the Prophet Mohammed for fear that it would offend Muslims has been criticized by one of the Danish cartoonists behind the Mohammed cartoons contr... Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:56:18 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68212120 2008-08-19T10:56:18Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68211977 The Jewel of Medina, Sherry Jones’ historical Mo-ro about the prophet of Islam’s child bride, has been withdrawn from bookshops in Serbia after complaints from a Muslim “community leader”. The book got its global debut three weeks ago in the Balkan state, where it was published by Beobuk. However, Muarem Zukorlic, leader of the Islamic Community [...] Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:44:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68211977 2008-08-19T09:44:00Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68181595 This is the same book that Random House recently withdrew. Ironically, this process has gotten the book much more exposure -- in the U.S. and abroad -- than it likely ever would have garnered if not for Random House's fear... Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:18:36 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68181595 2008-08-19T01:18:36Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68123467 New reports regarding Kurt Westergaard, who faces trail in Jordan for drawing the infamous Mohammed cartoon, state that he is not planning to go to Jordan to stand trial. While the Jordanian government has subpoenaed Kurt, he has not received it. Fearing for his safety if he traveled to the Middle East, he has said [...] Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:58:56 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68123467 2008-08-18T14:58:56Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68066657 17 August 2008 | 10:49 | Source: B92 BELGRADE — A book that the Islamic Community in Serbia has deemed offensive to Muslims has been withdrawn from the bookstores. A strongly worded reaction from this religious community was sufficient for the Belgrade published Beobuk to swiftly withdraw Sherry Jones’ novel “The Jewel of Medina”. Director Aleksandar Jasić confirmed [...] Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:39:39 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68066657 2008-08-18T05:39:39Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68026572 Here’s a lesson to the peaceniks: The aggressive use of force will win. If free thought threatens Islamists then so to does the Bible and the Torah. In time these books will also be found to be offensive to Muslims. There is no Bill of Rights in Islam. CAVING TO TERROR Two years after much of the American [...] Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:11:09 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=68026572 2008-08-17T16:11:09Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67962610 A Jordanian prosecutor in June summoned Westergaard to answer questions after local media sued over his cartoon, which was republished in at least 17...... Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:31:33 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67962610 2008-08-16T17:31:33Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67911441 Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard says he is not planning to go to Jordan to face a trial over his controversial caricature of Mohammed, the founder of Islam.A Jordanian prosecutor in June summoned Westergaard to answer questions after local media sued over his cartoon, which was republished in at least 17 Danish dailies in February. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Westergaard said he would likely be arrested the moment he stepped foot in Jordan.The cartoon, depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban, was one of 12 originally published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005.Asked what he would say to a Jordanian court, Westergaard told the German newspaper he would try to explain the cartoon was not an attack at Islam. Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:08:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67911441 2008-08-16T01:08:00Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67840883 IPT News August 14, 2008 http://www.investigativeproject.org/article/749 A brouhaha in the publishing world is raising the specter that violence seen in protests to Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, or in reaction to a fatwa against author Salman Rushdie, could take place in the United States. The Jewel of Medina, a novel by Sherry Jones, was supposed to hit bookstore shelves Tuesday. But publisher Random House dropped the book at the last minute after being advised it could be offensive to some Muslims. In a statement, the company added: "(B)ut also that it could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment. We felt an obligation to take these concerns very seriously. We consulted with security experts as well as with scholars of Islam, whom we asked to review the book and offer their assessments of potential reactions. We stand firmly by our responsibility to support our authors and the free discussion of ideas, even those that may be construed as offensive by some. However, a publisher must weigh that responsibility against others that it also bears, and in this instance we decided, after much deliberation, to postpone publication for the safety of the author, employees of Random House, Inc., booksellers and anyone else who would be involved in distribution and sale of the book." The company declined a request for more information, including more about the security experts and scholars it consulted. So what happens next? Jones is free to shop The Jewel of Medina to other publishers. If none is willing to replace Random House, free speech advocates fear a chilling precedent has been set. Books, even works of fiction, can be silenced not in the face of threats, but out of the fear that threats could develop. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Dutch parliamentarian who moved to America to protect herself from death threats from Muslim extremists, accused Random House of letting a small minority of people dictate corporate decisions. If that stands, the problem will grow, she told the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) in an interview, nodding to current events in Europe. "A majority of the decision makers in Europe agreed on a strategy of doing nothing to offend Muslims and terrorism will disappear. It led to demand after demand after demand to the point that the Archbishop of Canterbury is saying Sharia law is an inevitability." The episode offers moderate Muslims in America a chance to demonstrate their openness by standing in support of Jones and the publication of her work, Hirsi Ali said, but she does not expect any groundswell from major national organizations. "There will be no large demonstrations of moderate Muslims taking to the street saying ‘Please don't offend us. Publish this novel.'" The story first was highlighted by Asra Nomani, a former Wall Street Journal reporter writing in an Aug. 6 op-ed piece in her former paper. The book might indeed offend some readers, Nomani said. But Random House backed off out of concern a threat might develop, not because of any actual risk to the company and its employees. "I'm not naïve about the fact that this kind of stuff can spread like wild fire," Nomani said in an interview with the IPT. Her own writings and pursuit of gender equality within Islam have subjected her to death threats. "I also think that we can't be paralyzed by that kind of fear. We need to be smarter than that fear." Random House could have orchestrated a public relations campaign to address the controversy up front. It could have organized public meetings, offered bibliographies and engaged in damage control routinely employed by corporations. "If they can't figure out how to outsmart a bunch of radical, violent extremists, who can?" she asked. Jones, meanwhile, is shopping for a new publisher. She declined a request for an interview, saying "I do not want to spend any more energy discussing my book before it is published." But in a column, she described her five-year effort to research, write and rewrite the book. Initially, its prospects looked strong, with a promotional tour and foreign sales rights in the works. But, she acknowledged, her book is "a novel of women's empowerment, never a popular theme among fundamentalists of any faith." The trouble started when advance copies of The Jewel of Medina were distributed in search of endorsements. Denise A. Spellman, a University of Texas history and Middle East studies professor, found the work historically inaccurate and potentially outrageous to Muslim readers. "As an expert on Aisha's life," Spellman wrote in a letter to the Journal, "I felt it was my professional responsibility to counter this novel's fallacious representation of a very real woman's life. The author and the press brought me into a process, and I used my scholarly expertise to assess the novel. It was in that same professional capacity that I felt it my duty to warn the press of the novel's potential to provoke anger among some Muslims." She took issue with Nomani's article, which cast Spellman as the instigator leading to the Random House withdrawal. She didn't have the power to do such a thing, she wrote. Nomani disagreed, saying Spellberg's alarmist reaction was "the spark that prompted them to start raising the red flags." Even alt.Muslim.com website editor Shahed Amanullah, who may have contributed to Random House's decision by sending out an email relating Spellman's concerns that ended up on a Shiite website seemed to take issue with the outcome. "Anyone should have the right to publish whatever they want about Islam or Muslims - even if their views are offensive - without fear of censorship or retribution. Muslims, however, shouldn't be expected to be passive consumers of these views. An offended Muslim has the right - indeed, the responsibility - to vigorously critique anything written about them or their religion, provided they do not cross the line into intimidation and coercion. In an ideal world, both parties would open their minds enough to understand the other point of view. Getting people on both sides of this equation to follow these guidelines will take a lot of reconditioning. But the alternative - a hyper-sensitive Muslim community that is unable to constructively respond to external criticism (or internal criticism, for that matter), coupled with a journalistic/artistic/secular community that feels genuine fear and is prevented from free expression - cannot be an option. We are witnessing today the stagnation and increased misunderstanding that comes from a stifled discourse." In her essay, Jones found Spellberg's reaction contrary to the mission of an academic: "As a journalist for the last 28 years, I hold the right to free speech especially dear. The First Amendment is, in my view, the very best thing about living in the United States. Publishing houses can, of course, do whatever they want. But university professors? Ms. Spellberg urged Random House to abstain from publishing. The reason, she is telling reporters now, is that she doesn't like my book. Does this development mean our public universities no longer support the free exchange of ideas?" In addition, there can be more than one interpretation of history beyond Spellberg's, said Joan Bertin, executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship. Bertin said she needed to know more about how Random House reached its decision before casting judgment. The company has a solid reputation overall and "don't have a history of pulling things thoughtlessly or in a knee-jerk way." She did say she found the way the publisher dealt with Jones "distressing." "They are book publishers," Bertin said. "They are supposed to stand up for their right to say what they want, especially in a work of fiction." In fiction, an author should be granted license even for "flights of fancy." Episodes like this one fit under a concept familiar to First Amendment advocates as the "heckler's veto," she said. "You can't restrict speech based on the crankiest member of the community and the most reckless member of the community," Bertin said. Hirsi Ali has devoted her life to combating the crankiest and most reckless elements. As she describes in her autobiography, Infidel, she broke away from her family after being set up for an arranged marriage. She moved to the Netherlands, where she became a member of parliament. But she had to flee in 2004 after Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was murdered. Hirsi Ali collaborated with Van Gogh on the production of "Submission," a short film depicting what she saw as the oppression women face in Islam. It interspersed images of an abused woman with Quranic passages. Van Gogh's murderer left a note on his body saying Hirsi Ali would be next. In the U.S., Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) spokesman Ibrahim Hooper dismissed her as "just another Muslim basher on the lecture circuit." With The Jewel of Medina, Random House's concern was misdirected, Hirsi Ali said. "There is so much out there about the wives of the Prophet that offends rational people. It's all in defense of polygamy, telling us fables of how all these women lived happily together." Still, Hirsi Ali predicts a "happy ending" for Jones, in part because the American market is freer than Europe's. "I expect there are any number of publishers who will say, ‘Thank you, Random House, for making all this free publicity for us.'" RSS 2.0: http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'alt=rss Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:42:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67840883 2008-08-15T06:42:00Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67811201 After the welcome news of the UC-Calvary lawsuit's dismissal, I'm happy to say I have two other pieces of good news to report on this week: • The Alberta Human Rights Commission, a group of petty bureaucrats who make it their mission to censor people's thoughts, has dismissed the charges against Ezra Levant that I wrote [...] Fri, 15 Aug 2008 02:48:15 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67811201 2008-08-15T02:48:15Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67791973 Worth a trial? Worth killing for? He says they're misusing Islam. That's not enough for them. More on this story. "Danish cartoonist, editor: We're ready to face Jordan court," from DPA, August 14 (thanks to Block Ness): Amman -... Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:30:42 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67791973 2008-08-14T21:30:42Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67751660 Kurt Westergaard, the man who drew the no infamous Mohammed carton that incited Muslims from around the world says he’s prepared to stand trial in Jordon. In a story posted on ABC News Australia he says: “I would like to go to Amman to stand trial. However, what I fear is that I am convicted [...] Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:02:39 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67751660 2008-08-14T15:02:39Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67720020 Amman, Aug 14 (DPA) The Danish cartoonist who drew caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed three years ago which sparked worldwide protests by Muslims and a boycott of Danish products said he was ready to defend himself in an Amman court, Jordanian media reported Thursday. Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:01:27 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67720020 2008-08-14T09:01:27Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67703688 Amman - The Danish cartoonist who drew caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed three years ago which sparked worldwide protests by Muslims and a boycott of Danish products said he was ready to defend himself in an Amman court, Jordanian media reported Th... Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:08:45 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67703688 2008-08-14T07:08:45Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67691435 In Sweden offensive speech is punished by the state as hets mot folkgrupp . In Britain bloggers can be arrested for “racist” writings on their blogs. A publisher in France was put on trial for printing a cartoon of Mohammed. In the Netherlands, Gregorius Nekschot was summoned by the police for drawing offensive cartoons. America is heading for a crackdown on free speech, but it won’t be like these examples from Europe. We have the First Amendment, after all, and the anointed officials of our government have to at least pretend that they respect it and are abiding by it. No, the United States will choose a much nicer way to crack down on the expression of improper opinions in public: it will be done in the name of “fairness”. According to the Business and Media Institute : FCC Commissioner: Return of Fairness Doctrine Could Control Web Content McDowell warns reinstated powers could play in net neutrality debate, lead to government requiring balance on Web sites. There’s a huge concern among conservative talk radio hosts that reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine would all-but destroy the industry due to equal time constraints. But speech limits might not stop at radio. They could even be extended to include the Internet and “government dictating content policy.” FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell raised that as a possibility after talking with bloggers at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. McDowell spoke about a recent FCC vote to bar Comcast from engaging in certain Internet practices — expanding the federal agency’s oversight of Internet networks. - - - - - - - - - The commissioner, a 2006 President Bush appointee, told the Business & Media Institute the Fairness Doctrine could be intertwined with the net neutrality battle. The result might end with the government regulating content on the Web, he warned. McDowell, who was against reprimanding Comcast, said the net neutrality effort could win the support of “a few isolated conservatives” who may not fully realize the long-term effects of government regulation. “I think the fear is that somehow large corporations will censor their content, their points of view, right,” McDowell said. “I think the bigger concern for them should be if you have government dictating content policy, which by the way would have a big First Amendment problem.” “Then, whoever is in charge of government is going to determine what is fair, under a so-called ‘Fairness Doctrine,’ which won’t be called that — it’ll be called something else,” McDowell said. “So, will Web sites, will bloggers have to give equal time or equal space on their Web site to opposing views rather than letting the marketplace of ideas determine that'” So Gates of Vienna will have to give equal time to someone else. Hmm… Who could adequately represent the opposing point of view here? Tariq Ramadan? Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam? Mullah Krekar? Cindy Sheehan? I’ll have to ponder that one for awhile. By the way — the fairness doctrine, under whatever fancy newspeak term it’s labeled with this time, will destroy talk radio the same way Title IX destroyed men’s college sports: by pulling one side down to the level of disinterest shown the other side. No one wants to listen to liberal talk radio. That’s why Air America went belly-up. Liberals already own the three major networks, CNN, MSNBC, all the major newspapers, and countless local papers and media outlets. That’s why conservative listeners flock to talk radio: it’s the one area of public discourse not already controlled by the PC Multi-Culti liberal consensus. So everything will be fair again. 90% of conservative talk radio will disappear. But if you think that also means that Robert Spencer will be appearing regularly on ABC network news, I’ve got a sweet little parcel of Florida swampland that I’ll let you have at a discount… Hat tip: TB, who reads everything . Thu, 14 Aug 2008 03:11:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67691435 2008-08-14T03:11:00Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67796214 Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is ready to stand trial in Jordan over his controversial caricature depicting the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) with a bomb in his turban, the press reported on Thursday. A Jordanian prosecutor summoned Westergaard for questioning in June after local media outlets Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:00:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67796214 2008-08-13T21:00:00Z http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67623020 The story of how a (non-Muslim) college professor shut down the publication of a novel about Mohammed's first wife is bizarre enough: On April 30, Shahed Amanullah, a guest lecturer in [Professor Denise] Spellberg's classes and the editor of a... Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:22:00 GMT http://www.wikio.com/search/Mohammed+Cartoon?rinfoid=67623020 2008-08-13T14:22:00Z