|
|
Souria's Social Room
Started by Mogtareb at 02-05-2006 04:01 AM. Topic has 3 replies.
  
|
|
Sort Posts:
|
|
|
|
 02-05-2006, 04:01 AM
|
Mogtareb
Joined on 11-22-2005
Posts 798
|
European-Arab Cartoon War Escalates.... Time magazine
|
|
|
|
|
|
Web Exclusive| World
European-Arab Cartoon War Escalates
Opportunist publishers and opportunist politicians make hay from a growing clash over caricatures of Islam's Prophet By JAMES GRAFF/PARIS
Posted Thursday, Feb. 02, 2006
It's politically incorrect, and also inaccurate, to use the loaded phrase "clash of civilizations" to describe big stuff like the war in Iraq or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the burgeoning international conflict over a series of cartoons in a provincial Danish newspaper caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad seems to fit the term with depressing accuracy. It's a case of the hard-fought right to free expression banging up against Muslims' conviction that states ought to punish anyone who insults the Prophet. And so far, all the protagonists appear ready to ride their principles to Armageddon.
When they first appeared last September, the images—one of which shows Muhammad's turban transformed into a bomb—caused only a minor kerfuffle. Finding any artistic representation of the Prophet inappropriate, and that some of these images conveyed disrespect against him and against Islam as a religion, Arab ambassadors in Copenhagen quickly demanded meetings last autumn with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. He demurred, making the bulletproof argument that government doesn't control the free press. But it has broken out with new and somewhat mysterious force since a Norwegian periodical reprinted the cartoons on January 10. Arab Ambassadors were recalled from Denmark, protest marches were under way in Kuwait and Damascus, and armed gunmen shut down the office of the European Union in Gaza City. Boycotts of Danish products spread throughout the Middle East, and death threats were issued against journalists.
A number of European papers, including Germany's Die Welt, Spain's El Periodico, the Netherlands' de Volkskrant and Italy's La Stampa, then responded by republishing the drawings in support of the principle of free expression. "I don't really understand the fuss," Die Welt editor Roger Köppel, who ran one on his front page today, told German television. "Arabic television has shown beheadings and staged bestial rituals involving Jewish rabbis. We're seeing double standards at work here, and it's the job of journalists to expose them." Larry Kilman, communications director of the World Association of Newspapers, says the "overreaction in the Middle East is disturbing."
The principled stand of at least one of the papers looked a little suspicious: France-Soir, a once noble French daily that has been slowly dying as its circulation figures have collapsed, got more attention than it has for years by republishing all the cartoons. But after the paper's current owner, Egyptian financier Raymond Lakah, fired the editor—who had reportedly argued against publishing the drawings in editorial meetings—France Soir's future seemed more precarious than ever.
The hypocrisy on the other side of the debate was even thicker. Syria called on the Danish government "to take the necessary measures to punish the culprits," piously arguing that "the dialogue of civilizations is based on mutual respect." Tell that to the Lebanese, whom the Syrians have treated as vassals for the past quarter century. Dalil Boubakeur, the chairman of the state-sponsored French Council for the Muslim Religion, was on the ramparts two years ago arguing for the principles of secularism that undergirds France's 2004 law against the wearing of veils or other religious symbols in schools. But when asked about the threats directed at Europeans in the Gaza strip as the result of the cartoons, he said, "He who sows the wind reaps a tempest." Meanwhile, Western governments were left with no options much better than to straddle the dilemma the way Denmark did: by regretting the hurt caused by something they didn't do, while pointing out that they have no means or desire to punish journalists who did. But the dispute seems to have acquired a life of its own. Nestle, for example, took out ads in the Middle East early this week pointing out that its products are Swiss, not Danish. But by Thursday two Swiss papers had published the drawings, too.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1155844,00.html
|
|
|
|
|
Report
|
|
|
|
|
02-05-2006, 04:06 AM
|
Mogtareb
Joined on 11-22-2005
Posts 798
|
syria in the NEW YORK TIMES
|
|
|
|
|
|
Embassies in Syria Are Burned in Furor Over Prophet Cartoon
Demonstrators set fire to the Danish embassy in Damascus on Saturday.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 5, 2006
DAMASCUS, Syria, Feb. 4 (AP) — Thousands of Syrians enraged by caricatures of Islam's revered prophet torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus on Saturday — the most violent in days of furious protests by Muslims in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
In Gaza, Palestinians marched through the streets, storming European buildings and burning German and Danish flags. Protesters smashed the windows of the German cultural center and threw stones at the European Commission building, the police said.
Iraqis rallying by the hundreds demanded an apology from the European Union, and the leader of the Palestinian group Hamas called the cartoons "an unforgivable insult" that merited punishment by death.
Pakistan summoned the envoys of nine Western countries in protest, and even Europeans took to the streets in Denmark and Britain to voice their anger.
At the heart of the protest: 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad first published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten in September and reprinted in European media in the past week. One depicted the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. The paper said it had asked cartoonists to draw the pictures because the media was practicing self-censorship when it came to Muslim issues.
The drawings have touched a raw nerve in part because Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.
In a statement on Saturday afternoon, the White House condemned the attacks on the embassies, saying, "We stand in solidarity with Denmark and our European allies in opposition to the outrageous acts in Syria today."
Denmark's prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, has said repeatedly that he cannot apologize for his country's free press. But other European leaders tried Saturday to calm the storm.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said she understood Muslims were hurt — though that did not justify violence. "Freedom of the press is one of the great assets as a component of democracy, but we also have the value and asset of freedom of religion," Mrs. Merkel told an international security conference in Munich.
The Vatican deplored the violence but said certain provocative forms of criticism were unacceptable. "The right to freedom of thought and expression cannot entail the right to offend the religious sentiment of believers," the Vatican said in its first statement on the controversy.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of Britain, who has criticized European media for reprinting the caricatures, said there was no justification for the violence in Damascus.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/international/middleeast/05cartoon.html
|
|
|
|
|
Report
|
|
|
|
|
02-05-2006, 04:13 AM
|
Mogtareb
Joined on 11-22-2005
Posts 798
|
|
|
|
Syrians Torch Embassies Over Caricatures
By ALBERT AJI The Associated Press
Saturday, February 4, 2006; 8:06 PM
DAMASCUS, Syria -- Thousands of Syrians enraged by caricatures of Islam's revered prophet torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus on Saturday _ the most violent in days of furious protests by Muslims in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
|
var technorati = new Technorati() ;
technorati.setProperty('url','http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/04/AR2006020400313_Technorati.html') ;
technorati.article = new item('Syrians Torch Embassies Over Caricatures','http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/04/AR2006020400313.html','DAMASCUS, Syria -- Thousands of Syrians enraged by caricatures of Islam\'s revered prophet torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus on Saturday _ the most violent in days of furious protests by Muslims in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.','ALBERT AJI') ;
document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );
|
At the heart of the protest: 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad first published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten in September and reprinted in European media in the past week. One depicted the prophet wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse. The paper said it had asked cartoonists to draw the pictures because the media was practicing self-censorship when it came to Muslim issues.
The drawings have touched a raw nerve in part because Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.
Aggravating the affront, Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said repeatedly he cannot apologize for his country's free press. But other European leaders tried Saturday to calm the storm.
Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said she understood Muslims were hurt _ though that did not justify violence.
"Freedom of the press is one of the great assets as a component of democracy, but we also have the value and asset of freedom of religion," Merkel told an international security conference in Munich, Germany.
The Vatican deplored the violence but said certain provocative forms of criticism were unacceptable.
"The right to freedom of thought and expression ... cannot entail the right to offend the religious sentiment of believers," the Vatican said in its first statement on the controversy.
The United States called the burnings "inexcusable" and blamed the Syrian government for security failures.
Syria must act decisively to protect all foreign embassies and citizens in Damascus from attack," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said in a statement. "We will hold Syria responsible for such violent demonstrations since they do not take place in that country without government knowledge and support."
But Denmark and Norway did not wait for more violence.
|
var technorati = new Technorati() ;
technorati.setProperty('url','http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/04/AR2006020400313_Technorati.html') ;
technorati.article = new item('Syrians Torch Embassies Over Caricatures','http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/04/AR2006020400313.html','DAMASCUS, Syria -- Thousands of Syrians enraged by caricatures of Islam\'s revered prophet torched the Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus on Saturday _ the most violent in days of furious protests by Muslims in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.','ALBERT AJI') ;
document.write( technorati.getDisplaySidebar() );
|
With their Damascus embassies up in flames, the foreign ministries advised their citizens to leave Syria without delay.
"It's horrible and totally unacceptable," Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said on Danish public television Saturday.
No diplomats were injured in the Syrian violence, officials said. But Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds _ whose country, along with Chile, has an embassy in the same building _ said she would lodge a formal protest over the lack of security.
In Santiago, the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Chilean Embassy in Damascus was also torched but nobody was injured.
The demonstrations in Damascus began peacefully with protesters gathering outside the building housing the Danish Embassy. But they began throwing stones and eventually broke through police barricades. Some scrambled up concrete barriers protecting the embassy, climbed into the building and set a fire.
"With our blood and souls we defend you, O Prophet of God!" the demonstrators chanted. Some removed the Danish flag and replaced it with a green flag printed with the words: "There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God."
Demonstrators moved onto the Norwegian Embassy about 4 miles away, also setting fire to it before being dispersed by police using tear gas and water cannons. Hundreds of police and troops barricaded the road leading to the French Embassy, but protesters were able to break through briefly before fleeing from the force of water cannons.
Amid the furor, Syria's Grand Mufti urged calm, noting the demonstration had started in a "nice and disciplined way," but then turned violent because of "some members who do not understand the language of dialogue."
"We never expressed our anger in such a way, and we believe that dialogue should be done through guidance and teaching, not through killing, harming and burning," Sheik Ahmed Badr-Eddine Hassoun said in remarks carried by state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, or SANA.
Anger swelled in Europe, too. Young Muslims clashed briefly with police in Copenhagen, the Danish capital, and some 700 people rallied outside the Danish Embassy in London.
___
Associated Press writer Ibrahim Barzak in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, contributed to this report.
|
|
|
|
|
Report
|
|
|
|
|
10-04-2009, 11:18 PM
|
soukrat
Joined on 11-20-2005
germany
Posts 15,431
|
Re: European-Arab Cartoon War Escalates.... Time magazine
|
|
|
|
|
|
Syrian Visits Washington as Part of Regional Détente
function getSharePasskey() { return 'ex=1412395200&en=037a490093cfd0cf&ei=5124';}
function getShareURL() {
return encodeURIComponent('http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/world/middleeast/04syria.html');
}
function getShareHeadline() {
return encodeURIComponent('Syrian Visits Washington as Part of Regional Détente');
}
function getShareDescription() {
return encodeURIComponent('Obama administration officials met with the Syrian deputy foreign minister in an effort to draw Syria away from its main ally in the region, Iran.');
}
function getShareKeywords() {
return encodeURIComponent('United States International Relations,Syria,Iran');
}
function getShareSection() {
return encodeURIComponent('world');
}
function getShareSectionDisplay() {
return encodeURIComponent('International / Middle East');
}
function getShareSubSection() {
return encodeURIComponent('middleeast');
}
function getShareByline() {
return encodeURIComponent('By MARK LANDLER');
}
function getSharePubdate() {
return encodeURIComponent('October 4, 2009');
}
Published: October 3, 2009
WASHINGTON — While the Obama administration pursued its high-stakes diplomatic gambit with Iran last week in Switzerland, it was quietly working on another fraught relationship, welcoming to Washington the highest-ranking official from Syria to visit in five years. “We
came with a spirit of constructive engagement,” the official, Deputy
Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad, said in an interview on Thursday at
the Syrian Embassy in Washington. “We know we differ on issues, but the
dialogue has started.” Mr. Mekdad praised President Obama
for his readiness to plunge into the Middle East thicket, and for what
he said was a more balanced approach to the region than that of
President George W. Bush, whom he accused of encouraging extremist elements with his unstinting support of Israel. “We
think the tarnished image of the United States under President Bush is
now getting better,” he said. “President Obama believes in dialogue for
solving international problems, which we welcome.” Since shortly
after taking office, Mr. Obama has sought to thaw relations with Syria,
long chilled by its support for Islamic militant groups and American
suspicions of its involvement in the 2005 assassination of the Lebanese
political leader Rafik Hariri. In June, the United States
decided to return an ambassador there after a four-year hiatus. The
administration sent its Middle East envoy, George J. Mitchell,
to Damascus twice last summer. In July, the administration loosened
some economic sanctions against Syria, but it still classifies it as
one of four state sponsors of terrorism, along with Iran, Cuba and
Sudan. Mr. Obama’s goal is to draw Syria away from its main ally
in the region, Iran, and to diminish its support for the militant
groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Mr.
Mekdad’s talks with administration officials in Washington last week
did not produce any specific breakthroughs, according to an American
official. Still, both sides said the talks were more candid than
previous encounters. Mr. Mekdad met with Jacob J. Lew,
a deputy secretary of state; Jeffrey D. Feltman, an assistant secretary
of state; and Daniel Shapiro, a senior director at the National Security Council. The
détente underscores the important role the administration believes that
Syria — a neighbor of Iraq, a friend of Iran, and an antagonist of
Israel — could play in the Middle East. The timing of Mr. Mekdad’s
visit the same week as the Iran talks was noteworthy, analysts said,
because it could keep both countries, which have close but complicated
ties, off balance. “The Iranians are nervous that the Syrians are
going to make a deal with the U.S., just as the Syrians are nervous
that the Iranians are going to have their own deal,” said Martin S. Indyk, the director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution and a longtime Middle East negotiator. The
administration, Mr. Indyk said, has set in motion three mutually
reinforcing initiatives in the region: the overtures to Iran and Syria,
and a renewed effort to break the deadlock between Israelis and
Palestinians. The negotiations with Israel and the Palestinians are going slowly, but the efforts to reach out to Iran and Syria have picked up momentum. Syria,
Mr. Mekdad said, would welcome direct negotiations with Israel,
brokered by the United States or Europe. But the Israeli prime
minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has not evinced any interest in that. These
days, Syria’s greatest tensions are with Iraq, which has accused it of
complicity in two huge truck bombings in Baghdad last August. Mr.
Mekdad said the Iraqis produced no “concrete evidence” of Syrian
involvement, and he noted that the Syrian police had jailed more than
2,000 people for illegally crossing its border with Iraq. Experts noted that the United States had been notably silent about Iraq’s allegation. “There
is a vital interest for Iraq to cooperate with Syria,” Mr. Mekdad said.
“We are committed to helping Iraq become more secure. We want to get
past this episode today, before tomorrow.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/world/middleeast/04syria.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=syria&st=cse
http://bsam.4t.com/
|
|
|
|
|
Report
|
|
|
|
|
Souriaty Club » English Discuss... » Souria's Social... » European-Arab Cartoon War Escalates.... Time magazine
|
|
|
|
Write in Arabic 
Email This Page
Help!