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Militant Islam Monitor > Satire > Deja Vu all over again: Iran protests over Swedish Muhammed cartoon - Update: Sweden expresses "regret" Deja Vu all over again: Iran protests over Swedish Muhammed cartoon - Update: Sweden expresses "regret"August 27, 2007 Iran protests over Swedish Muhammad cartoonPublished: 27th August 2007 18:17 CET http://www.thelocal.se/8305/20070827/ Iran summoned a Swedish diplomat to its foreign ministry on Monday to protest against a cartoon in a Swedish newspaper depicting the head of Prophet Muhammad on a dog's body, Sweden's foreign ministry said. "Gunilla von Bahr, Sweden's charge d'affaires, was summoned to the Iranian foreign ministry today where she received a protest from the Iranian government," foreign ministry spokeswoman Anna Björkander told AFP. The Iranian government told Von Bahr the cartoon was "offensive to Prophet Muhammad," Björkander said, refusing to disclose any further details of the meeting. The cartoon was drawn by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, whose series of drawings of the prophet as a dog have sparked a controversy in Sweden. Several art galleries refused to display the sketches amid fears of angry reactions from Muslims. The Örebro local newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published one of the drawings on August 18 to illustrate an editorial on self-censorship and freedom of religion. "The editorial was critical of the fact that so many had turned down Vilks's drawings for fear of the reactions they would provoke," Nerikes Allehanda's chief editor Ulf Johansson told AFP. On Saturday, a week after the publication, a group of about 60 Muslims held a demonstration outside the newspaper's office to protest against the publication of the sketch. The publication of 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark's biggest daily Jyllands-Posten in September 2005 led to violent demonstrations throughout the Muslim world in January and February 2006. ---------------------- MIM: Interview with the artist http://sydsvenskan.se/nojen/article261159.ece Svart på vitt om Lars Vilks Lars Vilks har under ett långt konstnärsliv satt i system att göra folk förbannade – nu senast genom att teckna profeten Muhammed som rondellhund. Substans eller pladder? Döm själva. Läs/Se mer • Iransk protest mot MuhammedteckningDet började med en vanlig utställning. Tema: hund. Lars Vilks bjöds, som en av många konstnärer, in för att måla eller teckna något till en utställning i värmländska Tällerud. Då tecknade Lars Vilks profeten Muhammed – som rondellhund. Och sedan var fan lös. Lars Vilks småler när han säger det. Vi befinner oss i hans vardagsrum – eller vardagsrum förresten, en rumsbeteckning känns irrelevant. Här, i det hyrda huset strax utanför Nyhamnsläge i nordvästra Skåne, dras inga skarpa linjer mellan arbete och fritid. De tre rondellhundarna hängdes aldrig upp i Tällerud, och som en direkt följd av det fick Sverige en egen Jyllands-Posten-debatt. Rätt eller fel att göra karikatyr av Muhammed? Rätt eller fel att visa dem? Rätt eller fel att avstå från att visa dem, av rädsla för hot och våld? Du har en viss vana vid att hudflängas. Hur känner du när du får läsa att du är dum i huvudet? Så du blir inte det minsta ledsen? Varför ville du teckna profeten Muhammed som en hund? Du kan knappast vara omedveten om att hundar ofta betraktas som smutsiga djur bland konservativa muslimer. På din beskrivning låter det som en sökt provokation. Vilket egenvärde har en sådan provokation? Vilka är dina skäl att göra detta i så fall? Jag antar att du får en del vänner du inte vill ha. Känner du dig hotad eller jagad? Hur ser du på bilden av dig själv som mediemanipulatör? Du får ganska salta omdömen från konstvärlden. När Ingmarie Froman i tisdags i Svenska Dagbladet tyckte att du borde rita en "judesugga", så gjorde du det samma dag, och publicerade den på www.vilks.net. Det är en snabb debatt. Finns det faror med din internetsnabbhet? Att ha den där direkta publiceringskanalen? Hur ser en arbetsdag ut för dig? Och om du är ledig? Är det det roligaste du vet? Du bygger skulpturer och tecknar. Målar du något numera? Gör du det? Hur försörjer du dig? Jag brukar alltid erbjuda den som intervjuas att läsa texten före publicering. Detta har hänt 20 juli: Teckningarna stoppas av museet dagen före vernissage. 25 juli: Lars Vilks meddelar att han i stället vill visa teckningarna i samband med en utställning i Bohuslän.
22 augusti: Vilks publicerar en judisk nidteckning. 23 augusti: Debatten eskalerar, och Sveriges sekulära muslimer tar tillbaka erbjudandet att ställa ut Vilks verk och anordna en debatt.
More Cartoon Offenses: Sweden & Opus http://reason.com/blog/show/122189.html Michael C. Moynihan | August 27, 2007, 5:43pm Via Drudge, the Washington Post, according to "sources" at the paper, killed a Berkeley Breathed cartoon for fear of offending Muslims. From Fox: The Washington Post and several other newspapers around the country did not run Sunday's installment of Berkeley Breathed's "Opus," in which the spiritual fad-seeking character Lola Granola appears in a headscarf and explains to her boyfriend, Steve, why she wants to become a radical Islamist. But over in Sweden, where no mainstream newspapers dared run the Jyllands-Posten cartoons (and many of whom tongue-lashed those who did), another cartoon controversy is raging. The top story at Aftonbladet.se, website of Sweden's largest-selling tabloid, says the country's chargé d'affaires to Tehren, Gunilla von Bahr, was called into a meeting to discuss a cartoon of Mohammad that recently ran in the (local) Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda. The Iranians were, apparently, offended by the Örebro daily, and desired Swedish government intervention. When artist and art historian Lars Vilks, the man behind the beautiful "Nimis" sculpture in Skåne, couldn't find a gallery to display his series of ink drawings, which includes a representation of Mohammad as a dog, the paper published them in support. Sound familiar? The Iranian goverment, on a summer break from hanging gay men, has taken action, warning the Swedish government that the cartoon is "insulting to the prophet Mohammad." A Foreign Ministry spokesman was having none of it: "The Iranian government can protest whatever they want. But the Swedish Foreign Ministry and government have no reason to comment on this protest," the official told TT, the country's largest newswire. A few English stories on the Vilks controversy here and here. None of them mention that a moderate Muslim group in Sweden offered to exhibit the drawings—that is until Vilks published this anti-Semitic drawing of a hook-nosed sow, gobbling up Palestinians. Caption: "Modern Jew sow, swollen by capitalism, on his way out to tear apart (att böka sönder) some peaceful villages. (In the style of Cézanne)" Vilks Mohammad cartoon here. ------------------------- MIM: Dhimmitude as usual in exchange for the usual "call for restraint": 8/31/07 "Sweden's government said it regretted any hurt but could not apologise as it was not responsible for the drawing and could not prevent its publication. " "A Swedish Islamic centre has planned a demonstration outside the paper's offices in the town of Orebro, the AP news agency says. An umbrella body representing 57 Muslim nations, the Organisation of Islamic Conference, condemned the latest cartoon and urged the Swedish government to punish those responsible. The chairman of the body also urged Muslims to remain calm and exercise restraint. " ---------------------------------------------------------------------- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6972093.stm
Sweden's embassy in Pakistan has expressed regret over the publication of a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a Swedish newspaper. Pakistan had complained about the cartoon, which depicted the head of the Prophet on the body of a dog. Sweden's government said it regretted any hurt but could not apologise as it was not responsible for the drawing and could not prevent its publication. Other cartoons depicting the Prophet sparked worldwide protests last year. Thousands of Muslims took to the streets in several countries in early 2006 in protest at the drawings, which were initially published by a Danish daily and later reproduced elsewhere. Muslims regard any visual representation of the Prophet as blasphemous. Many Muslims also regard the dog as an impure animal. Press freedom The new drawing depicting the Prophet's head on the body of a dog was published in the Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda on Sunday. The cartoon's creator, Lars Vilks, told the Associated Press news agency the drawing was art. "I'm not against Islam. Everybody knows that," he is quoted as saying. The publication prompted the Iranian government to complain to Swedish diplomats earlier this week. The Pakistani foreign ministry delivered its complaint to a Swedish diplomat in Islamabad on Thursday. A Swedish foreign ministry spokeswoman said the government had "expressed regret that the publication of the cartoons had hurt the feelings of Muslims". "We can't apologise for the cartoons because we did not publish them," spokeswoman Sofia Karlberg told the BBC News website. Ms Karlberg said the government could not influence the publication of such cartoons because of rules concerning media freedom in the country. Restraint urged The Pakistani foreign ministry expressed sorrow at what it described as a growing tendency "among some Europeans to mix the freedom of expression with an outright and deliberate insult to 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide". "Such acts deeply undermine the efforts of those who seek to promote respect and understanding among religions and civilisations," a foreign ministry statement said. According to the Pakistani statement, the Swedish diplomat had said his government "fully shared the views of the Muslim community and termed the publication as unfortunate". The Swedish foreign ministry told the BBC News website it could not confirm its diplomat in Islamabad had made these remarks. A Swedish Islamic centre has planned a demonstration outside the paper's offices in the town of Orebro, the AP news agency says. An umbrella body representing 57 Muslim nations, the Organisation of Islamic Conference, condemned the latest cartoon and urged the Swedish government to punish those responsible. The chairman of the body also urged Muslims to remain calm and exercise restraint. Was the Swedish government right to express regret about the publication of the cartoon? Should it have gone further and apologised or should it have stayed out of the debate? Send us your comments using the form below: ------------------------------------------ MIM: Being a Muslim means never having to say youre sorry. European body wants campaigns and dialogue to counter racist cartoons An umbrella of Muslim organisations in Europe is urging dialogue and more know-Islam campaigns.
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