More cartoon fuckups

[Edward Yee]

The hell did Austria do? Iranians hurl petrol bombs at Austrian embassy

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A crowd of about 200 people pelted the Austrian Embassy in Tehran with petrol bombs and stones on Monday to protest against the publication of satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad in European newspapers.

The protesters, chanting "God is Greatest" and "Europe, Europe, shame on you", smashed all the diplomatic mission's windows with stones and then tried to hurl petrol bombs inside.

Austria currently holds the presidency of the European Union. Protesters also waved placards and shouted slogans against the EU's stance on Iran's nuclear program.

The bombs exploded in flames against metal grilles guarding the windows. But the building did not catch fire and the flames were quickly put out by police with fire extinguishers.

On the second page, the article confirms that the Basij (an official militia aligned with the Revolutionary Guards) organized the "demonstration." However, I'm calling bullshit on the Iranian FM:

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to discuss Islamophobia in the West.

"Insult to Islamic values and Muslims' sanctity in the West has become a main challenge facing Islamic nations now. It is vital to seriously confront this challenge," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

The hell?? At last check, "Islamophobia" (its definition alone is up for contention) is less prevalent than others in "Western" (US, Europe, Australia, etc.) nations... likewise, how is it the main and overriding challenge?

[SirNitram]

Not surprising. When you're talking about leaving Iraq through Iran for a few years, they get paranoid. Someone touches a match to the powder keg, shit starts to burn. Now the crazy people are in the streets.

[FSTargetDrone]

I'm guessing they heard about some cartoons in New Zealand, mistakenly assumed it was part of Australia, misread the Austrian Embassy as "Australia" and there you have it.

That's just a guess, though.

[Edward Yee]

The sad part, FSTargetDrone? I know of nothing (to date) which renders your guess impossible.

[FSTargetDrone]

I will happily cite the Australia/Austria Parliament House visual joke from The Simpsons, "Bart Vs. Australia," to be the germ of that idea.

[Alan Bolte]

I think Zed has it right this time. Kind of silly though, to make a generalization about some group, saying that they make unfair generalizations. Whatever, we know what is meant.

[Colonel Olrik]

The hell did Austria do?

They hold the Presidency of the EU.

[Stuart Mackey]

The hell did Austria do?

They hold the Presidency of the EU.

Which automatacally makes them responsible for the actions of an editor of a newspaper 1km south of Cowfuck, Denmark, that no one can remember the name of for more than five minutes, and never heard of at all untill last week.
Reveiled the middle eastern fundi mind is.

[Tiriol]

The hell did Austria do?

They hold the Presidency of the EU.

That's kind of shooting one's own foot while shouting "Suffer, you infidels! Lord be praised, the evil Western conspiracy of the Crusaders has been defiled!" - EU has had an exceedingly lenient approach to Middle-East and its Muslim population the last time I heard (I might be misinformed, though). Torching the embassy of the country which holds the Presidency of the EU is not a smart thing to do if they actually want to have ANY positive effects and actually have somewhat stable relationship with the EU.

Of course, we are talking about fundamentalists (backed by a lot of political maneuvering from those in power in Middle-East) who wouldn't recognize real-life logic even if it would seduce them, have anal sex with them and later fart at their faces and write its initials on their foreheads with red-hot metal.

[Colonel Olrik]

The hell did Austria do?

They hold the Presidency of the EU.

That's kind of shooting one's own foot while shouting "Suffer, you infidels! Lord be praised, the evil Western conspiracy of the Crusaders has been defiled!" - EU has had an exceedingly lenient approach to Middle-East and its Muslim population the last time I heard (I might be misinformed, though). Torching the embassy of the country which holds the Presidency of the EU is not a smart thing to do if they actually want to have ANY positive effects and actually have somewhat stable relationship with the EU.

Of course, we are talking about fundamentalists (backed by a lot of political maneuvering from those in power in Middle-East) who wouldn't recognize real-life logic even if it would seduce them, have anal sex with them and later fart at their faces and write its initials on their foreheads with red-hot metal.

They seem to think that shouting "Apologize and give me all your money, you infidel son of a whore, or I'll keep on shooting myself" is the best idea ever.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Wait a minute, so the cartoons were originally published in September? And the whole ruckus only started in January?

Seems the fanatics are a bit slow to react...

[sketerpot]

Personally I think that while there was agravation on the part of the Western papers. Printing it once was a joke that went wrong, several other papers printing it again was intended as an insult, though it is refreshing to see France actually show a spine.

Bullshit. Printing it once was a mediocre publicity stunt (at least one of the cartoons said as much), but subsequent printings were intended to support freedom of the press. If just one newspaper prints something that gets that kind of huge overreaction, it's quite likely that it will bow to pressure, apologize, fire everyone involved, and swear never to do it again. But if lots of newspapers, in several different countries, all publish the cartoons, there's no way in hell that they're going away.

Newspapers, for all their faults, tend to take a hard line on freedom of the press. It affects them directly. Any major new threat to their freedom to publish what they want gets a reaction out of them, and it has nothing to do with insulting Muslims.

[Glocksman]

Wait a minute, so the cartoons were originally published in September? And the whole ruckus only started in January?

Seems the fanatics are a bit slow to react...

The reason for that is explained in this BBC article

"Muslim leadership the world over has historically been the most cynical manipulator of Islam - and this is especially true of Pakistan," says one analyst.
"Injured religious sentiment has seldom translated into public unrest unless there was political mileage to be gained from it by some vested interest," he argues.

And the Guantanamo desecration protests came at a time when Pakistan's military government was under pressure over the large number of Pakistani detainees in that facility.
"We all saw the impassioned protests against desecration reports from Guantanamo," says another analyst.
"But the post-Saddam sacking of the Baghdad museum which destroyed precious manuscripts of the Koran went completely unnoticed in Pakistan."

[Glocksman]

It's nice to see a University stand up for free speech

Paper withdrawn over cartoon row
A student newspaper has recalled 8,000 copies and suspended its editor after publishing a cartoon satirising the Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist.

It is thought Cardiff University's student union paper Gair Rhydd is the first UK publication to use the image which has caused global protests.

The paper has been withdrawn and said it regretted any upset caused.

Complaints over the cartoons in European papers have escalated into violent protests.

One of the images - first published in Denmark in September 2005 - shows Muhammad carrying a lit bomb on his head decorated with the Muslim declaration of faith instead of a turban.

Despite complaints by ambassadors from Islamic countries, the cartoons were subsequently republished in Norway, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

A protest outside London's Danish embassy on Friday and Saturday mirrored those throughout Europe and Asia - embassies in Syria and Lebanon were attacked and at least five people died in Afghanistan.

It was on Saturday Gair Rhydd - which means Free Word in English - was published showing one of the cartoons.

The decision to pull the newspaper was taken the same day, but the university said it was likely that about 200 copies remained in circulation.

A statement by Cardiff University Students' Union read: "The opinions expressed in Gair Rhydd are those of the editorial team independently of the Students' Union or University. The Students' Union very much regrets any upset caused or disrespect shown by the publication of the controversial cartoon and has taken immediate action by promptly withdrawing all copies of this week's edition of Gair Rhydd."

The statement went on to say that an investigation was under way and that the editor and three student journalists had been suspended.

Cardiff University has said it is very proud of its history as a campus where "many faiths work, study and socialise together in harmony".

A spokesman said: "Cardiff University has excellent relationships with both local and national Muslim communities and is proud in 2005 to have launched the unique Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK which aims to promote a greater understanding of Islam and the life of Muslim communities in the UK."

The centre's director, Sophie Gilliat-Ray, told BBC Wales: "It was a very stupid thing to do on the part of the students and I think the university has acted very promptly and responsibly by distancing itself from this publication."

Chairman of the Federation of Student Islamic Societies Omar Arabi and former student at Cardiff University, said: "It must be stressed that this irresponsible decision was taken by a few individuals on the editorial board of the newspaper, and is not representative of the diverse community that exists at Cardiff University.

"The insensitive actions of a few individuals should not, and will not, stop the atmosphere of respect and tolerance that exists at the university."

Launched in 1972, Gair Rhydd has won numerous awards including newspaper of the year at the 2005 Guardian Student Media Awards.

[Lord Zentei]

More embassy attacks. Gotta love fundies.

Tensions rise in Denmark-Iran row

Denmark says it holds Iran responsible after its Tehran embassy was attacked by hundreds of people protesting about cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Several hundred angry Iranians hurled stones and fire bombs and were forced back by police with tear gas.

The attacks came as Iran said it was cutting all trade ties with Denmark.

The anti-Danish protests have been repeated across the Muslim world, and have led to at least five deaths in Afghanistan and one in Somalia.

Many Muslims are angry at the publishing of cartoons of Muhammad in a Danish paper.

Islamic tradition explicitly prohibits images of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.

The cartoons published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten, and since reprinted in Norway and other European countries, included an image portraying Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.

With tension rising:

# Hundreds of Muslims gather on Tuesday in Cotabato, the southern Philippines, demanding Denmark punish Jyllands-Posten

# Norway demands compensation from Syria after its embassy in Damascus was set on fire on Saturday

# The Turkish and Spanish prime ministers make a joint plea for respect and calm in an article in the International Herald Tribune

# In Indonesia, protesters target the Danish and US consulates in Surabaya, the country's second-largest city. Protests are also held in the capital, Jakarta

# Shops and businesses across Indian-administered Kashmir close after a general strike is called in protest at the drawings.

Trade pressure

On Monday evening a crowd of about 400 demonstrators bore down on the Danish embassy in Tehran, which Denmark had closed the day before.

They burned Danish flags and chanted "Death to Denmark".

The embassy gate and two trees caught fire, before Iranian police intervened, forcing the protesters back with tear gas.

At least nine protesters were hurt, police said.

Denmark's foreign minister, Per Stig Moeller, told a Danish radio station that he would hold Iran responsible for any damage to the embassy, and was asking for security guarantees for its citizens still in the country.

But Mr Moeller said he could do little about the trade embargo, under which Iran has banned all Danish imports as well as any other business dealings.

Iran currently imports $280m (£160m) worth of goods from Denmark each year. That works out at about 0.3% of Denmark's total exports.

Denmark's embassies in Damascus, Syria, and Beirut, Lebanon were set on fire by protesters at the weekend.

Earlier on Monday protesters attacked the Austrian embassy in Tehran, breaking windows and starting small fires. Austria is the current president of the European Union.

Tehran has already recalled its ambassador to Denmark and has also summoned the ambassadors of Denmark, Norway and Austria to express its anger.

The offending cartoons first appeared in a Danish newspaper last September.

Last week the row escalated after a number of European newspapers republished the pictures, saying they were defending freedom of expression.

0.3% of exports is hardly a staggering figure, though.

[Master of Ossus]

More bullshit.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan police shot dead four people protesting on Tuesday against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that have unleashed waves of rage and soul-searching across the Muslim world and Europe.

Tens of thousands of Muslims demonstrated in the Middle East, Asia and Africa over the drawings, first published in Denmark, then Norway and then several other European countries. Some Muslim leaders urged restraint.

In Iran, locked in a nuclear stand-off with the West, a crowd pelted the Danish embassy with petrol bombs and stones for a second day. Protesters hurled a petrol bomb and broke windows at Norway's mission.

The 12 cartoonists whose work touched off the firestorm were reported to be in hiding, frightened, and under police guard. Iran's best-selling newspaper launched a competition to find the best Holocaust cartoon.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller called his Iranian counterpart "and demanded in clear terms that Iran does all it can to protect the embassy and Danish lives", a spokesman said. Tehran has cut trade ties with Denmark.

Afghan crowds attacked a base of NATO Norwegian troops with guns and grenades and police opened fire, bringing the death toll in protests against the cartoons to nine.

F-16 warplanes flew overhead in a show of force while the Norwegians fired tear gas, rubber bullets and warning shots, managing to restore order by early evening.

After rioters set Danish missions ablaze in Syria and Lebanon at the weekend, the European Union presidency issued a strongly-worded warning to 19 countries across the Middle East that they were obliged to protect EU missions.

Iran's ambassador to Vienna said an attack on Austria's embassy in Tehran on Monday was directed at "the EU presidency" rather than Austria itself, current holder of the presidency.

FANNING FLAMES

Accusing "radicals, extremists and fanatics" of fanning the flames of Muslim wrath to "push forward their own agenda", Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen repeated a call for dialogue with offended Muslims.

U.S. President George W. Bush called him to express support and solidarity, Rasmussen said. The White House said both leaders "reiterated the importance of tolerance and respect for religions of all faith and freedom of the press".

Depicting the Prophet is prohibited by Islam. Moderate Muslims, while condemning the cartoons, have expressed fears radicals are hijacking debate over the boundary between media freedom and religious respect.

Militants in Iraq have called for the seizure and killing of Danes and the boycott of Danish goods over the cartoons, one of which depicts Mohammad wearing a turban resembling a bomb with a burning fuse.

In London, protesters have brandished placards demanding the beheading of those who insulted Islam. One dressed as a suicide bomber but later apologized.

Copies of a British student paper which reproduced one of the cartoons were hastily shredded and the editor suspended from a student union. A French court however refused to order the confiscation of a magazine which planned to print the images.

"ALLIANCE OF CIVILISATIONS"

Echoing calls for calm by leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "I urge all who have authority or influence in different communities ... to engage in dialogue and build a true alliance of civilizations, founded on mutual respect."

Further protests erupted on Tuesday in Pakistan, Egypt, Yemen, Djibouti, Gaza and Azerbaijan.

At least 10,000 people marched in the Bangladeshi capital and tens of thousands turned out in Niger's capital Niamey to vent their anger. State assembly members in mostly Muslim Kano, northern Nigeria, burned Danish flags.

Croatia became the latest country where a newspaper printed the drawings. The cartoons have appeared in Australia, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Fiji, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, United States, Ukraine and Yemen.

Iran, which has withdrawn its ambassador from Denmark, said the cartoons "launched an anti-Islamic and Islamophobic current which will be answered".

A radical Muslim group in Belgium put on its Web site a cartoon of Adolf Hitler in bed with Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who wrote a wartime diary of hiding from Nazi persecution.

Saudi Arabia's Okaz newspaper rejected violence:

"Violence, spreading chaos and destroying facilities ... only distorts Islam's image, especially after our enemies have tried to label us with so many accusations," it said.

Some Danish Muslims agreed. "Fire and stones are taking things too far," said Copenhagen barber Farzan Khatami.

Denmark's Jyllands-Posten daily has apologized for the cartoons, first published last September. The Danish government has refused to do so, saying it is the paper's responsibility.

[Pezzoni]

It's nice to see a University stand up for free speech

This has also been posted elsewhere, But I'm pretty damn sure that if I was attempting to run an educational institution, I wouldn't want a load of raving fundies rioting on my doorstep.
There's freedom of the press, and attempting to not cause a massive gangfuck (although that shouldn't be happening in the first place).

[Pezzoni]

Dear god, it gets better (worse?)

http://www.neandernews.com/?p=54%20

[InnocentBystander]

Pig-Squealing Championship... Is that like a big sport in france or something?

[Ubiquitous]

Dear god, it gets better (worse?)

http://www.neandernews.com/?p=54%20

Doesn't surprise me. Religious fundies don't usually care whether something is true or not - any excuse real or fake is good enough for nice protest mit flag burning.

[Surlethe]

Echoing calls for calm by leaders, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "I urge all who have authority or influence in different communities ... to engage in dialogue and build a true alliance of civilizations, founded on mutual respect."

Calls for peace and love are all good, but in circumstances like this, where the values are diametrically opposed, it's utterly pointless, and it diminishes the value of his voice even further. Sometimes I feel, at times like this, the argumentum ad baculum isn't so fallacious after all; not that I'm advocating invasion, but if the Secretary General wanted my attention, he'd stand up and say, "Islam. Shut the fuck up. The world doesn't need you trying to stomp all over one of the basic human freedoms, and the free nations are not going to tolerate your continued childish tantrums."

[nightmare]

"Insult to Islamic values and Muslims' sanctity in the West has become a main challenge facing Islamic nations now. It is vital to seriously confront this challenge," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

The hell?? At last check, "Islamophobia" (its definition alone is up for contention) is less prevalent than others in "Western" (US, Europe, Australia, etc.) nations... likewise, how is it the main and overriding challenge?[/quote]

Iran is trying to assume the lead of the islamic world, and particularly the arabian world. This is one step toward that goal.

[fgalkin]

The hell did Austria do?

They hold the Presidency of the EU.

Which automatacally makes them responsible for the actions of an editor of a newspaper 1km south of Cowfuck, Denmark, that no one can remember the name of for more than five minutes, and never heard of at all untill last week.
Reveiled the middle eastern fundi mind is.

It's the largest paper in Denmark.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[Sarevok]

Letters published in my local newspaper condemning the cartoons

I just sent a letter.

While the vile cartoons insulting our prophet (pbuh) are a cause for much anger we should be careful not to overreact. The Danish government or any other European government has no control of the offending newspapers. They are private companies. We should not punish an entire nation for actions of one privately owned newspaper which they, under their law can have little control over. Doing so tarnishes the muslim cause by angering neutral minded Europeans and helps the bigots who hate Islam.

[Xisiqomelir]

Sarevok, I really doubt the cartoonists "hate Islam".