There have been ten people killed because of the publication of some cartoons. How ridiculous is that?

I refer, of course, to the furor that has resulted because the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons of the prophet Mohammed.

Here is a link to those 12 cartoon images:

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/sarticle.php?id=12146

Why would such cartoons lead to a controversy? There are several reasons: Islamic tradition, in general, forbids any depictions of the prophet Mohammed; these cartoons are satirical in nature and Muslims have found that to be dis-respectful towards their religion; as everyone knows, relations between the western world and the Islamic world were already strained.

These cartoons were first printed on September 30th. Islamic organizations began to protest and on October 14th a group of 3,500 protesters staged a demonstration outside of the Jyllands-Posten’s office in Copenhagen.

The Prime Minister of Denmark, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, refused to meet with foreign ambassadors in regards to this controversy on the grounds that he would not limit the freedom of the press. That turned out to be a move for which the Danish Prime Minister was to receive a good deal of criticism. In December of ’05 the Council of Europe complained that the Danish government had been mistaken in invoking the freedom of the press as grounds for not acting on the matter of the controversial cartoons. The Arab League also took issue with the Danish Prime minister for not having taken any action on the matter.

Throughout November and December of ’05 this controversy spread throughout the Muslim world. Islamic leaders from Denmark traveled to the Middle East to raise awareness of, and outrage at, the publication of the cartoons of Mohammed. In December, strikes began in Pakistan as a response to the cartoons.

The situation escalated. As the cartoons began to appear in more newspapers in Europe, such as the Norwegian paper Magazinet and the Belgian paper The Brussels Journal, more Islamic governments began to protest. In late January of this year the government of Saudi Arabia issued its public condemnation of the cartoons. Shortly after that both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait began a boycott of Danish products. Saudi Arabia proceeded to recall its ambassador from Denmark. Libya closed its embassy in Denmark soon after that. The flag of Denmark was soon burned in some West Bank cities and the Palentinian Islamic Jihad movement ordered all Danes, Norwegians and Swedes to leave the Gaza strip.

All of that sounds like the behavoir of nations that are at war. But no; it was, rather, the behaviour of nations that are in disagreement over some cartoons.

More escalation followed. The Cartoons continued to get reprinted in papers all over Europe in such countries as France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary and Spain. The American paper, The New York Sun, printed two of the cartoons on February 2cd. Before long the cartoons were popping up in papers all over the world, even in New Zealand. More Islamic governments, such as those in Syria and Oman, lodged their protest against the cartoons. On February 3rd, hundreds of Muslim protesters in London marched on the Danish embassy. Other Danish embassies spread out over the Muslim world suffered attacks. On February 4th the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus were set on fire. The Danish consulate in Beirut was torched a day later.

And soon there were people dying. 5 people died on February 6th in Afghanistan at demonstrations held in protest of the cartoons. A teenage boy died on the same day at protests held in Somalia. On February 7th, four more demonstrators were killed in Afghanistan.

The USA has more or less taken a stand in support of Denmark and President Bush phoned the Danish Prime Minister to confirm that support.

More protests, involving tens of thousands of Muslims, are spreading all over the world from Africa to Finland.

As the world grows “smaller� our cultural and religious differences are brought more and more into the open with deadly consequences.

The position of the Danish government, one that is apparently supported by the USA government, is to support freedom of the press. The position of the Islamic world is for their religious and cultural traditions to be respected. Both parties are more or less expecting or insisting that their values be respected at the expense of opposing values.

How can such a situation find a solution?