In response to the Prophet Mohammad cartoons, this newspaper has decided to run a picture of the queen, Margrethe II, as a belly-dancer. Apparently it's supposed to make us laugh and Danes to get angry. I'm just laughing at their poor attempt.
This is Ironic, ridiculous, idiotic, laughable, nonsensical, …
I was told that this is an Egyptian newspaper. Well, I doubt if anyone ever heard of it. I googled for Almultaka (the newspaper name), Almultaqa, Almoltaka, Almoltaqa, etc… with and without 'Al', without any luck. Well, I can claim that no luck is a good luck in this case, as this shows how famous this newspaper is, it was never mentioned anywhere ever.
{ 27 } Comments
Lol!
They still can't get it!
The Queen will most probably laugh at it and the Danes as well!
And I think she might get one as well!
This is so depressing!It's like those who barely can read or are half educated run the media,education,almost everything!
The respond? Husni Mubarak doing some belly dancing? :D I would love to see that as well as Egyptions would so
A bit lame. As if the Prophet(PBUH) and this lady on equal grounds.
I guess the problem is that Europeans just dont understand that there are things that are worth protecting from slander, besides freedom of speech, of course.
With freedom of speech comes responsibility. The Europeans need to wake up and see that Muslims and Islam are now being defamed in the way that Jews were some time ago. Different group of peoples, same genisus. Freedom of speech here is being used as a think veil to okay and justify the stereotyping and the hatred of an entire group.
In some European countries doing this to some groups of people is a crime that will land you in prison. Sadly, not all people's or religions enjoy the same protections.
I am all for freedom of speech as long as it applies to everyone, ie, there are no protected groups, and that it is used with responsibility instead of trying to inspire hate.
That really is amazing.
By which I mean, of course, amazingly weak.
good grief…it's so cheesy..can someone pls give them a crash course on how to do it right with subtlety!
I simply do not understand this distinction. I really do agree that freedom of speech should be used with a certain amount of responsibility, but freedom in my opinion means that we have to put up with idiots that do not folow this code of ethics that we hope and pray for. I think it's pretty simple. Either people are allowed to say what they mean or they are not. Now dont get me wrong here! I agree that there are certain things we do not normaly make jokes about (holocaust for one), and I agree that in most of Western Europe there is a tendency towards striking out against the muslims. But there are people that makes jokes about the holocaust as well, that ridicule our own government and our royal family.
What I am trying to say is that we in Denmark have freedom of speech. We may not like what some idiots publish, but we have to defend their right of doing so. We cannot tell neo-nazis to stop making jokes about the holocaust, or in this case the prophet, as it is their right (even if we despise them for doing so), just as we cant tell the medias to stop making cartoons depicting the prophet.
All in all, as I cant apologize for our freedom of speech I can apologize for all acts of human stupidity and narrowmindedness which in my opinion transcends all differences of culture or religion, and which in my book is behind this conflict on both sides.
anti-Semitic cartoons contest!
http://www.boomka.org/
i put it to u..it's not that u cant apologise..u wont apologise because of your pride! Period.
blackfeline,
It seems unrealsitic to expect one to apologise for their own freedom.
Beyond that I might suggest that it's a bit odd.
Perhaps the fact that you would expect such a thing reveals the vastness of the chasim between cultures.
And yes, few free people would make such an apology for reasons having to do with pride, among other things.
You see, pride comes as a result of elevated self-worth and a measure of importance being placed on the individual. Rioteers filling the streets with violent and choreographed "protest" might know rage and anger, but not pride.
Dogmatic, facist cultures (for example) would know little of such pride.
Perhaps you can understand one's unwillingness to make such a concession in cases such as these.
What is really strange about this depcting of the danish queen is that she has never said what she is accused of saying. Her intention was that western society should do more to reach out to muslims, to give them better possibilities, and make shure they wouldn't shut themselves out of the community. But somehow along the way through the middle-eastern medias her words were mistranslated to give the impression that westerners should opposse the muslim community!?! A perfect example of how the media, interested in conflict and thus higher ratings, manipulates and creates this chasim that Ali speaks of above. The medias have a huge role to play in this case.
But please do make more of these cartoons of the danish queen. I for one can see nothing wrong in them as she has nothing to do with the way I live my life. And making these cartoons, if that is what makes extremists more at ease, is a perfect retaliation. Violence is not.
yes, abu sinan, with freedom of speech comes responsibility. The Muslims living in the free societies of the West, who enjoy our freedoms, must accept the attendant responsibilites. For example, when others offend you by their speech, you must act responsibly by NOT inciting murder, riot and arson. Muslims are not a "protected group" from this responsibility. As for irresponsible speech, that's what's protected. People are free to say offensive, stupid or false statements. Is that really so hard to understand?
I have just watched an american movie that has recently been released on video in Denmark: "Crash". A movie dealing with good people as well as bad or maybe none of these two. I think the conclusion of the movie is that people are human by nature and capable of both aspects when either cornered or met with love. I think this cartoon-case, right here right now, is a perfect example of the movies morale as I saw it. Throughout the movie I just had the urge to scream: please talk to each other – please… Well thats what we do here, we talk. I dont know if it helps anything right now though. Actually im leaning towards the position that it propably doesn't. Some people roar at each other with no real interest of listening, which is, by the way, pretty hard to do when shouting, and the rest makes valid points.
The problem is here that the ones that really ought to listen either have their arms raised against the sky in a blasphemic rage (muslim extremists)or have their heads up their self-rightious asses (western idealists with no concern for reality).
These people do not listen to the points of view presented by opposing debaters. It's as simple as that. Now why we perhaps ought to continue the debate anyway is that in due time, some of these extremists on both sides may just sit down and reread this lengthy debate (not my comments though, I would warn you against these as I dont know anything about anything). And sometimes, only a small portion of times, these people might agree that some of their own staments were pretty far fetched and that some opposing comments were not really so.
Right now people are angry on both sides, some really angry – but it's only human. It's neither good nor bad, just human nature.
A Dane #6
I was surprised to read your comments about Western Europeans striking out against Muslums. I think you have nothing to apologize about, in fact, you should be proud. You openly invited folks from a totally different culture, who looked different, dressed differently, and act differently to come into you country. You then gave them the opportunity to join your people in one of the most prosperous and peaceful societies this world has ever seen. Many of them have done so. But a percentage of your invited guest are not happy with your country you feel a need to apologize? If I invite someone into my home and they then ask that I change the 'rules' of my home, I will quickly ask them to leave. I am confident you would do the same. Why is your country different? Perhaps the reason that there is a rising amount of anti-muslum sentiment in Europe is that people are realizing at a percentage(not all!) of the muslums have no intention of adapting to your culture. On the contrary, they want to change your culture to fit their beliefs. In my mind that justifies a certain level of hostility.
wylie,
tsk tsk tsk…pathetic…u can have another bed fella..he's thomas, the dane (somewhere around this blog)…i swear both of u could be twins..in previous life perhaps? arrogant…red necked..shooting all over the place and..xenophobic…lol
Thank you for your reply Blackfeline. Your cunning skills of looking across oceans and mountains and almost through time and coming to the conclusion that only one person in Denmark feels the way this Thomas character does is mighty impressive. But im sorry I have to disappoint you. My name is Tobias. Pretty close to Thomas but not quite Thomas.
But now I think it's time you turn of your parents computer and go get some rest. It's not ardent to expose your frail little tottler-mind to these grownup-issues. It might be a good idea to wet your passifier in a few drops of rom to help you sleep and not to dream to much of the evil of the west.
Yup, we are all xenophobic, all of us. The whole world is. Except for you, you are sheer perfection and extremely open minded.
Take care now.
A Dane
You have had the joy of trying to engage Blackfeline in intellengent conversation. Been there, done that. It will not work. I hope you are correct that he is an adolescent playing on his parents computer, but I fear not.
It seems to drive him crazy that westerners like you and me do not care what he thinks or says about us. It is obvious from the anger in his post that he is equally bothered that he can not demand our respect.
Were we just talking about an individual, I would think nothing of it. I fear that he is representative of many(not all!) Muslums. There seems to be a totally different mindset between many of them and us. You and I are amazed that they are not satisfied with having the right to practice their relegion as they please. Many of them are equally amazed that we do not think all that much about insulting religious icons, even our own. I pray(yes, I am a believer) that there is a peaceful resolution to this impasse. I fear that there is not, short of one group or the other radically changing their fundamental values, and I know I am not willing to change mine. I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter. Perhaps you have a veiwpoint I have not thought of.
Hm have to disappoint you on that one Wylie…sorry
As I stated before I lost my temper with the tottler and got on a small detour, I do think that a lot of statements, now including my own i'm sorry to say, are made in moments of irrational anger.
Actually this way of communicating over the internet is a pretty frustrating experience for me, over and over again. A lot of positive results in reaching out across cultures can be recked by one irrationel "debater". And there is no real way of knowing if this debater is just throwing punches to uphold the conflict, how old he is, his education etc. So one has to read several of his statements before one can get an indication of the person behind the statement and his or hers… qualifications… so to speak.
Now in regards to your most positive response Wylie, although we agree on many points, I dont agree that Blackfeline is representative of a lot of muslims (percentage-wise anyway). Taking into account that there is around 1,3 billion muslims in the world I would say that it is an infinitely small fraction of muslims that actually feels so angry about this that they consort to violence or riots.
Sadly it is the ones that shouts the most that are heard first, but it is the ones that whisper in ones ear that we remember. So my solution to this problem is letting time take it's toll.People can't stay angry forever.
Personally I am shocked by the image the danes have gotten and on so short a span of time and all of it because of a cartoon. But my world view has definately changed, even if just a little. I have become aware of the fact that we do not in the west live in a glass bubble, and that obviously people in foreign cultures have different world-views. I have always thought that people living in dictatorships or junta states must be dreaming of moving to countries where they are free and have democratic rights. But this is not neccesarily the truth. Maybe this concept is alltogether frightening for one that doesn't have a full understanding of it as we do not have full understandings of living in a theocracy.
You say in your post that westerners like you and me do not care what people like black feline thinks of us. I say let's try to care a little more. Maybe not how this frustrated individual thinks, but let's try to reach commongrounds with more of the moderate muslims for example.
There is one group I will never want to reach out to and that is the radical muslims. In Denmark we have some of those. People who have propably fled their homeland as they were too radical for even those countries. These people then go to Denmark with no intention of understanding their new "home" but with great initiative when it comes to reahing out for the benefits of this country. They leach and they leach and we let them, because we are too eager to please. Well I say, no more of this.
The good thing about this whole conflict is that finally the moderate muslims in Denmark have come out of their shells and have started talking against radicalism and instead pro- democracy.
My solution then to your question is that we have to be able to listen better to voices of reason in the middle east and we have to stop listening to what radicals say in western media.
Now for my question to any muslim that might still be interested in this here debate and it is not meant in any way to provoke:
why is there no one (maybe there are and it's just not shown in the danish media, in this case disregard) raging against the fact that people have gotten killed over these cartoons. In Pakistan yesterday, an 8 year old boy was killed in riots over these?
Why is it so hard to muster muslims to protest against terrorists taking Islam as hostage and portraying it so very violently, but so easy to muster muslims to reach out against a country that does so very much to help muslims in need?
A Dane,
Thanks for your reply. You have given me some ideas to think about, and have pointed out the difficulties of communicating in writing. It is always a challenge to communicate across cultures, even it that is only the different cultures of Denmark and the US, which by world standards are not that far apart. You also make me realize the danger of making statements with sound like a generalization, when there is no chance for your listener to ask for clarification. I should clarify what I mean by extremist. I am not just refering to those who are prepared to commit violent acts. I agree that number is very small. Instead I am refering to those who while not prepared to commit violence, silently share the goals of those who do. In my opinion, that number is much larger. Perhaps not a majority, but not miniscule. I believe this is the fact which answers the last questions you asked of muslum readers. I fear they do not actively protest the acts you referred to because they in some way share the goals. I do not read many post from muslums who say that the cartoons in question are offensive and tasteless, but strongly support the right of them to be published. Instead, I read many post which say that violence can not be sanctioned, but freedom of speech should be limited as to not offend, and that the state should be used to that end.
I realize that even in the west there are different standards of freedom of speech. In some European countries it is illegal to commit hate speech. That is not the case here. In this country, those advocating the use of the state to limit offensive speech are normally considered extreme. Perhaps we have different concepts of extreme, both of which can be defended with sound reasoning. But thanks for your well resoned reply.
Good…we found the 3 Stooges..lol.amusing themselves.
I'm afraid that this just shows that huge gap between world-views that leads to these confrontations. I'm Danish and am not for a moment insulted by a picture of our queen like that. I think we're just taught in our country, that the joke is on whoever makes stupid and inappropriate jokes. If I see really offensive material I just think to myself, that an idiot made it. And then I move on with my day (I don't the picture here offensive at all). But at the same time I absolutely respect that other people have another way of viewing things.
By the way a certain mr. Akkari who is a kind of spokesman for a muslim Imam in Denmark, said in a live tv-show that the Danes wouldn't themselves like if anyone made offensive drawings of the queen or the primeminister (or Jesus). But reality is, that we don't really care what people say – that's peoples own problem. Let them be idiots and even tell them that they are – but don't resort to violence – that's a lot more stupid! As a last comment – I do find some of the Mohammed-drawings stupid and insulting.
Dear Egypt are you now satisfied?
Today we can read in the Danish newspapers that the Egyptian government already in October 2005 has been very active in spreading lies against Denmark. They copied and distributed the book from the Danish imams containing the fake drawings which have never been published in Denmark. Furthermore they spread the nonsense that the Muslim religion was not acknowledged in Denmark, that the Muslims were forbidden to have a mosque and a burial place. The fact is that 19 different Muslim movements are acknowledged and that we have several mosques and burial places. The only thing is that until now the Muslims have not collected enough money for a new and better mosque.
Confronted with this the Egyptian ambassador yesterday has left Copenhagen and we will have to do without her….
Until now:
- demonstrators in Pakistan ask for a World War 3
- demonstrators in Pakistan want the drawers handed out for punishment (they will probably not survive), and they have offered a reward
- several people have died
- embassies have been burned
- people have claimed that all Danes should die
- a lot of Danish flags have been burned
- innocent Danish companies have been boycotted
- our Prime Minister has been symbolically shot and burned several times
- the world has become more unstable
And this is just because of cartoons for which the newspaper long time ago have apologized. I wonder if the Egyptian government now is satisfied.
I went to Egypt last year and had a marvellous trip while sailing on the Nile and admiring Tut Ank Amon’s remains in Cairo. Now Danes are no longer safe or welcome in Egypt but I hope that other people from the western countries dare to visit the country. Because to Egypt tourism is crucial to their economy. I can only wish you a good trip…
By the way: the Americans saved the Abu Simbel temple from being flooded by Lake Nasser. The Italians saved The Filae Temple by moving it to a new and higher island, the Polish have rebuilt the temple of Hatshepsut, the Frenchman Champollion decoded the hieroglyphs, the British excavated Tut Ank Amon’s and so on. So I hope that at least people from these countries will be welcome in Egypt.
Best Regards
Dear Dane,
Thank you for your intelligent and well-thought out words about this conflict.
I am a muslim myself and I want to assure you that we know your country and the majority of your people are very tolerant and understanding of other cultures.
I have great respect for you and others like you who don't agree with the publishing of the cartoons, but do agree with the rights and freedoms of all.
I hope you realize that the reason for the rage of muslims around the world is the fault of their ignorant leaders. People in Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, and other similar places, are all run by extremists who don't fully understand Islam.
They ignore all the parts of our religion that promote peace and tolerance for everyone. They ignore the fact that in Islam, even those who may not subscribe to Islam should be treated with respect. We are taught that even if we don't subscribe to another's religion, we don't have the right to judge them or look down on them because, as humans, we are all guilty of sins and none of us is perfect.
They hate the West in general, and they use any excuse they can to promote that hatred among their populations.
That is why they blame your entire country for the cartoons, when instead they should realize that the particular newspaper who ran the cartoons is independantly run and is not controlled by the government.
It is obvious that you are a good person. I hope that you are not mislead into thinking that our religion is a violent one, even though it may be difficult to do so considering the violent protests around the world.
I hope that the violent protests will subside soon and cooler heads will prevail. Thanks to people such as yourself who strive for understanding, I'm hopeful that it will happen.
That shows how little respect the muslims have for their so called holy prophet. I mean, if they think that the Queen is as holy as him. What do Danes care. There's nothing insulting in having your head on a pretty belly dancer body,lol…do they really think it's the same thing? Do they know what they actually are saying about their own prophet by comparing a normal human with a prophet? I guess they are as always just trying to find a reason to fight and look for enemies!
Dear, you're all bothering us day after day with an ideal world that never existed and will never either. When we point out what's happening in the muslim countries, you say "oh, no, I'm not talking of Iran Afghanistant or Egypt or, or…, I'm talking about Islamic principles"….
Open your eyes
An remember this : (49:11)
O you who believe, let not a people ridicule other people, for they may be better than they. Nor shall any women ridicule other women, for they may be better than they. Nor shall you mock one another, or call each other names. Evil indeed is the reversion to wickedness after attaining faith. And anyone who does not repent, then these are the transgressors
I think because there's a silent controvercy going on with the present dutch/french/russian/saxe royals.
about recent case no. EU D6997
http://www.freewebs.com/valdemarshdatter2/aliasmargrethemopezat.htm/
Isn't it wrong to consider all Danes are Islamophobic basing on the recent happenings? but dont u feel strange when the whole muslim world and the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon Him) get the blame for the actions of a few muslms?????
As far as I'm concerned base on my personal opinion and all my life has been with Muslim entegration. Denmark of Hesse, Schlewig and Holstein of Navare are bloody Muslim and Denmark was once a muslim country for hundred years. All Alimudin this world has given birth are all Danish. If a certain pretending Alimudin claimed and not a Danish, by the description itself obviously fake. And That Current beloved Minister of Foreign Affairs of Yours of Denmark is a seventy five percent "Muklo".
Chancellor of Germany Count Otto von Bismarck childhood days are spent in Bayongbong Jolo not until the island has been strucked with storm that My whole royal family evacuated in Zamboanga as Duke of Windsor Winter place vacation.
Royals maybe on war against one onother,but when they meet together in their secret place we are in merryment of reunion.
Enes Conje Alias Mrs Margaret Mopezat is a commoner and was never been a member of Armada family Sovereignty. An illigal puppet of Consulate of America currently engage on State Counterfeiting and genocide terrorism.
If you just hear from this blundie people talk of past history are commoners. Ignorant of what is a real muslim, prejudicial to all both Christian and muslims. Contented by their critical small brain of 90percent Ignorance, Often times blundered who's fingers in rattled and fickled accidentally pointed to muslims.
But still muslims are still to be blamed accountable. All I can say, I think muslims should start a mission compaign of educating christians. I know it is against your law to forcefully convert christians to muslim for I was never been converted of all my education from my muslim causins and grandfathers. But atleast you should be accountable for the teenage christians of a muslim piece of education.
Why I was never converted? I just can't dress like you…But atleast my heart is a muslim…
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Dancing Queen!
In an act of vengeance, an Egyptian newspaper, al Multaka al Dawly, pasted the head of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark on a belly dancer’s body. Headlines read: “We *exclusively* present the first indecent photos of the Danish Queen.”
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