My Views on News

The furor raised by the publication in Europe of cartoons believed by many Muslims to be insulting to Islam is far from being the first time that Western notions of freedom of expression have clashed with Islamic sensibilities. Below are a few of the major incidents in this long-running tension.

2005: London's Tate Britain museum removes from exhibition the "God Is Great #2" sculpture by John Latham for fear of offending Muslims, citing the "sensitive climate" after 7 July suicide bombings in London. The sculpture piece consists of three sacred religious texts -- the Koran, the Bible, and the Talmud -- embedded in a sheet of glass.

2004: Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh is murdered after release of his film "Submission" about violence against women in Islamic societies. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born member of Dutch parliament who wrote script, plans another film about Islam's attitude to gays. She has also received death threats.

2002: Nigerian journalist Isioma Daniel incenses Muslims by writing in "This Day" newspaper that Prophet Muhammad would have approved of the "Miss World" contest and might have wed a beauty queen. Muslim-Christian riots in northern city of Kaduna kill 200. Daniel flees Nigeria after a fatwa urges Muslims to kill her.

1995: An Egyptian court brands academic Nasr Hamed Abu Zaid an apostate because of his writings on Islam and annuls his marriage on grounds that a Muslim may not be married to an apostate. Abu Zaid and his wife move to the Netherlands.

1994: Taslima Nasreen flees Bangladesh for Sweden after court charges her with "maliciously hurting Muslim religious sentiments." Some Muslims demand she be killed for her book "Lajja" (Shame), banned for blasphemy and suggesting free sex.

1989: Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calls on all Muslims to kill British author Salman Rushdie for blasphemy against Islam in his book "The Satanic Verses."

A French court has dismissed the case against a satirical weekly newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Muslim groups had accused the publication, "Charlie Hebdo," of insulting Muslims by reprinting cartoons that first appeared in a Danish newspaper last year.

But the court said the cartoons were covered by French laws governing freedom of expression.

The announcement triggered applause in the crowded Paris courtroom.

The newspaper's editor, Phillippe Val, called the ruling a victory for secular French Muslims.

The Union of Islamic Organizations of France, one of the groups that brought the suit, said it planned to appeal.

Muslims Organizations should stop creating controversies. They should respect the rules of the country ,  which has given them pleasant and happy life.

Technorati Tags: Prophet Muhammad's Cartoons

An editorial in Egypt's Al Gumhuriya said the United States could no longer be a Middle East peace process sponsor since it had gone from being an honest broker to an enemy that supported Israel.

The semi-official daily added that Washington had lost its peace broker status since it regularly aided Israel in "killing Palestinians, [establishing] settlements, erecting the apartheid wall, destroying Lebanon in an aggressive war, and threatening the security and stability of the Arab people with a nuclear arsenal that is not contained or internationally supervised."

The mass-circulation said the most recent demonstration of US support for Israel was the State Department's announcement of maintaining the sanctions on the Palestinian government in line with the Jewish state's position.

Thus, upholding the anti-Palestinian sanctions, inciting the international community against them, and refusing to recognize the Palestinian national unity government, disqualified the US from brokering a regional peace, it opined.


Technorati Tags: Middle East, Palestine, Palestinian, Israel

An editorial in Palestine's Al Quds said Wednesday that while the West generally regarded Palestinians as aggressors and the Israelis as defending themselves, it appeared Western countries were about to deal with the new Palestinian government despite Israeli calls to boycott it.

The mainstream daily added that Israel would do its best to prevent international recognition of the Palestinian national unity government, and that the Jewish state was escalating its threats.

The paper cited Israeli warnings that it would forcefully retaliate to the shooting of an Israeli near the Gazan border, cautioning Palestinians to be realistic and to work toward their national interests at this stage.



The Jerusalem-based paper argued that a "comprehensive calm" would broaden acceptance of the new Palestinian situation and lift international sanctions. It also called for a swift deal to exchange an abducted Israeli soldier with Palestinian prisoners.

Technorati Tags: Palestinian, Israelis