The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) has called on the summit meeting of the Islamic Conference in December to drop from its agenda an item concerning caricatures of Mohammed that were published in a Danish newspaper.
The WAN board, meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, defended the right of Jyllands-Posten to exercise its rights to freedom of expression by publishing the cartoons, which caused an uproar in Muslim communities in Denmark and elsewhere.
In a resolution, the WAN board defended the right of Jyllands-Posten to exercise its rights to freedom of expression with regard to Islam or any other religion, particularly when the religion is an essential element of the global political debate.
Jyllands-Posten had invited cartoonists to submit drawings of the prophet Mohammed after an author complained that nobody dared illustrate his book on Mohammed. The newspaper published 12 cartoons in September, calling them a test of whether fear of Islamic retribution had begun to limit freedom of expression in Denmark.
The cartoons caused an uproar in Muslim communities in Denmark and abroad. Eleven ambassadors from Islamic countries wrote a letter to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmusssen in October to say they were offended by the caricatures and demanded an official apology from the newspaper. Rasmussen replied, "Freedom of expression is the very foundation of Danish democracy ... (and) the Danish government has no means of influencing the press."
The WAN board deplored the pressure Arab governments have put on the Danish government to force the newspaper to apologise for the caricatures, and it commended Prime Minister Rasmussen for defending freedom of expression and for his refusal to try to influence the newspaper.
An Egyptian diplomat said earlier this month that the issue would be on the agenda for the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit meeting in Mecca in December.
"While WAN respects all religious sensibilities, including those promoted by Islamic governments, it calls on the Islamic Conference to drop the item on the caricatures, if it is indeed on the agenda. It also deplores the lack of understanding by Arab governments that the separation of government and the press is a foundation of freedom of expression. An intergovernmental meeting is an inappropriate forum for discussing the content of newspapers," the resolution said.
"This issue goes back to Salman Rushdie. It's about freedom of speech and Islam," Flemming Rose, the cultural editor of the newspaper, told the Christian Science Monitor. Rose feels a culture of fear and self-censorship has taken hold across Europe since Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered for criticizing traditional Islam's treatment of women.
As accusations of racism and discrimination fly amid the ongoing unrest in France, the monitor reported, European countries are being pushed to pinpoint the causes of � and solution to � the social exclusion of their significant Muslim populations. A key ingredient to the dialogue, Rose says, is making room for a frank discussion of the compatibility of democratic principles such as free speech, and traditional Islam. "Some Muslims are asking for an apology pointing to a lack of respect," Rose was quoted as saying. "They're not asking for respect; they're asking for subordination � for us as non-Muslims to follow Muslim taboos in the public domain."
But then the newspaper has also found allies among Danish Muslims. "People have a right to say what they want without being killed," said Nasim Rahnama, the 20-year-old Iranian woman who started a petition in support of the newspaper. "These Islamic groups have to be stopped. I just can't sit down and do nothing." Rahnama has been collecting signatures from Danish Muslims who support the paper's stance but says that she would have got many more if it weren't for people's fear that Islamic groups would find out.
Swiss-born, British philosopher Tariq Ramadan told the Copenhagen Post that Jyllands-Posten had every right to print the cartoons, but that did not mean the decision was an intelligent one. He said the decision to print the cartoons had been wrong, as it prevented reciprocal respect between the two population groups.
"Muslims in the West have to understand that they should not overreact on situations like this, where a Danish newspaper decides to run caricatures of the prophet Mohammed. Muslims need to learn that it's a part of the culture in this part of the world to use humour, satire, and irony in relation with religion,' said Ramadan, who teaches Islamic studies at the University of Oxford and forms a part of British PM Tony Blair's Task Force on better integration.
"My advice to Muslims would be: It doesn't mean that you need to accept it with all your heart. But let your mind form a critical opinion about it. I don't think 3000 Muslims should have walked in a demonstration through Copenhagen's streets. I think they should have quietly sent letters to the editor protesting the printing of the articles, and let that be it."
