Mohammad vs. the Holocaust
Iran is sponsoring a competition for Holocaust cartoons in retaliation for Mohammad cartoons, one of which depicted him with a bomb in his turban, which first ran in Denmark last September.
Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper at the heart of the cartoon controversy, has staunchly defended its decision to run the images, which included depictions of the prophet Mohammed with a bomb. In all, the paper published twelve cartoonsm, which were the result of a “competition” held by the editor. He invited all Danish cartoonists to think about how they would portray the Prophet Muhammad, and only twelve came back and he published those twelve.
On Monday, the Guardian of London revealed the newspaper refused to run drawings lampooning Jesus Christ. In April 2003, a Danish illustrator submitted a series of cartoons dealing with the resurrection of Christ. He received an email back from the paper’s editor which said:
“I don’t think our readers will enjoy the drawings. As a matter of fact, I think that they will provoke an outcry. Therefore, I will not use them.”
So far 13 people have been killed in cartoon-related violence, and the Taliban has contended 100 people have enlisted as suicide bombers in direct correlation to the Mohammad cartoons.
In Belgium, a radical Muslim group based in Antwerp has begun publishing cartoons on its Web site, such as Hitler in bed with Anne Frank; Hitler says: “put this in your diary, Anne.” The group said the cartoons were intended to challenge European taboos and highlight inconsistency in the European approach to freedom of speech.
“If it is the time to break taboos and cross all the red lines, we certainly do not want to stay behind,” the Arab European League said on its Web site.
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