 Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten reprinted the Muhammad cartoons to illustrate a story about the attack on Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. Both Iran and Pakistan condemned the publication. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast: "Such acts are against the sanctity of religious values and are strongly condemned." "One cannot harm the religious sentiments of over one billion Muslims under the banner of freedom of speech," he said. "Such blasphemous acts will not contribute to the establishment of world peace. They will only make the Norwegian government liable before the international community for failing to prevent provocative behaviors that are in violation of human rights." The Pakistani Foreign Office also strongly condemned the reprinting of the cartoons, and urged Norway to take appropriate measures and ensure that the people who committed this blasphemous act were appropriately reprimanded. Aftenposten's chief editor, Hilde Haugsgjerd, says they did not get any direct responses from Muslim groups. They have got some reactions from individuals but nothing serious. Pakistani organization Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is on the UN's terror list, called on Muslims to protest. A small group of Islamists protested in Lahore last Friday, carrying a sign saying that "anyone who kills Kurt Westergaard will be hero of Islam" and calling to boycott all Norwegian products. Professor Tore Bjørgo of the Police University College in Oslo doesn't expect any violent responses. Aftenposten is just one of many newspapers who have reprinted the cartoons. Laila Bokhari of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs says that it all depends on how the news spreads and who will pick up on it and use it. Norwegian Parliamentarian Ulf Erik Knudsen (Progress Party) posted the cartoon on his Facebook page, leading to further rage in Pakistan, but later removed the image. At least 6 other newspapers in Belgium, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Portugal and Suriname published the cartoons following the attacks. Norwegian site Nettavisen published the cartoon for a short time before removing it. In Belgium, the ex-Muslim group "People Against Islam" announced a Muhammed cartoon contest on their site, saying they were inspired by Aftenposten. Meanwhile, more details are coming out about the US plot against Jyllands-Posten. The American-Canadian terrorists planned to blow up a truck outside the Jyllands-Posten offices. A Pakistani terror group put the two in touch with associates in European countries, who could supply them with money, weapons and manpower for the attack. Following the attack on Westergaard Danish authorities decided to provide him with additional security. The 30 agents needed for round-the-clock cover are expected to cost about 19.5 million kroner a year. Sources: PressTV, DAWN, Washington Times, Copenhagen Post 1, 2 (English), NRK, Nettavisen, VG, Aftenposten (Norwegian), Fyens Stiftstidende (Danish), Standaard (Dutch)
 Last year in an unprecedented event at CPAC, Geert Wilders met Joe Sixpack, and it was good. This year, Atlas does not disappoint. We are ratcheting it up a few notches. Robert Spencer and I are organizing a joint venture to educate, elucidate and scare the bejeezus outta ya. THIS IS A NOT A CPAC EVENT - THIS IS A GELLER-SPENCER EVENT. Jihad: The Political Third Rail
What they're not telling us about the war on America It's Friday, February 19th from 10 am until Noon. We are still firming our speakers up, but here is a list of the invited: Wafa Sultan [confirmed]
Doctor, author, “A God Who Hates" Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff [confirmed]
Criminal complaint filed for “hate speech” under Austrian law
Human Rights Activist Steve Coughlin [confirmed]
Leading Islamic Specialist at the Pentagon, who was fired by Islamic infiltrators Simon Deng
Former Slave in Sudan, leading human rights activist against jihad Lt. Colonel Allen West [confirmed]
Running for Congress, Future Leadership Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer Invited: Rifqa Bary [invited]
teenage apostate Kurt Westergaard [invited] Danish cartoonist targeted for death by axe-wielding Muslim Marriott Wardman Park Hotel 2660 Woodley Road, NW Washington, District Of Columbia 20008 10 am until Noon
The latest assassination attempt on Kurt Westergaard's life by an axe-wielding Muslim (in his home with his five year old granddaughter present) has thrown an axe a wrench into this ............ Rifqa Bary is a free American. She should be free to speak anywhere she wants. Should she not? Plan to be at CPAC this year, or at least in DC, and set aside Friday, February 19th from 10 am to noon. I need your help getting it off the ground. I will not be charging for attendance, but it costs. No one underwrites me. No one. Not a penny. All of these right wing organizations have donors, big donors, small donors .... and fund raising arms. They are, by their very nature, fund raising machines. Not Atlas. More details at Atlas. With thanks to Atlas
 Islam is a Religion of Peace -- or else. "Somali Faces Terror Charge for Cartoonist Attack," from AP, January 11 COPENHAGEN (AP) -- Prosecutors filed a preliminary charge of terrorism Monday against a Somali man accused of trying to kill a Danish cartoonist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. The man had faced a preliminary charge of attempted murder for breaking into Kurt Westergaard's home in Aarhus, in western Denmark, Jan. 1 armed with a knife and an ax. Prosecutor Marian Thomsen said investigators changed the preliminary charge to terrorism, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, after questioning the suspect over the weekend for the first time since his arrest. Westergaard, 74, locked himself in a safe room and was not injured. The suspect was shot by police in the hand and knee, but was not seriously injured and is being held in jail pending the outcome of the investigation.... The suspect claims he only wanted to scare Westergaard and has denied all the allegations except the weapons charge, according to his lawyer, Niels Christian Strauss. He only wanted to "scare" Westergaard by hacking through one door with an axe and working on another before he was stopped by police? He needs to work on his taqiyya technique. Thanks to JihadWatch 
 The 28 year old Somali who is suspected of the attempted murder of caricaturist Kurt Westergaard, (pictured), worked at a Danish Red Cross center.
Up to the day before the 28 year old Somali MMG went to Aarhus to attack caricaturist Kurt Westergaard he was on watch on a Danish Red Cross center, where he dealt with young unaccompanied immigrants.
The Danish Red Cross confirmed to Jyllands-Posten that MMG was working through a temp employment agency at three Danish Red Cross centers for children and youth.
These are the centers in Gribskov, Sjælsmark and Avnstrup, which house children and youth aged 15-17 who typically come to Denmark as unaccompanied refugees. The Somali worked in keeping the children and youth occupied with the various activities in the centers.
The head of the Danish Red Cross Asylum division, Jørgen Chemnitz, discovered Thursday that the Somali had been employed in the organization.
He says that the Red Cross made sure by the Mano Crew employment agency that he had no criminal record or any problems with a former sexual offense, so he could work with children.
Jørgen Chemnitz says they think they've guarded themselves by requesting the two certificates, and that nobody among the regular staff who had worked with the Somali has anything bad to say against him. Everybody describes him as helpful, friendly and accommodating. They've never seen anything which would indicate that the man did anything against the children and youth in the center. Additionally, they have a principle that a temporary worker can't work along with the children.
According to the Mano Crew agency, the 28 year old Somali worked 600 hours altogether, but they did not say how many of those were for the Red Cross.
Source: JP (Danish)
With thanks to Islam in Europe
 Update: According to MMG's lawyer, PET tried to recruit him three times, as a collaborator or informant, but he refused and told them that he couldn't help them with anything. (DA)
The Somali who tried to kill Kurt Westergaard this past Friday is Muhideen Jelle, according to the Kenyan media, or Muhudiin M. Geele. The Danish media now refer to him as MMG
I added another story below - MMG's ex-wife and sister claim that the Danish security service tried recruiting him after he came back from his Jihad trip to Somalia. What we don't know is whether they succeeded. It could certainly explain why he wasn't being followed.
Taking the two articles together - MMG went to Somalia in 2005. In 2006 PET tried to recruit him. By 2007 he was recruiting Danish Somalis to Jihad in Somalia. In 2008 he was collecting money in Sweden for Jihad. He then returned to Somalia. He was arrested in Kenya in 2009. The Kenyan authorities apparently didn't want to deal with a terrorism trial against him and so deported him back to Denmark.
Who is Abdi?
The 28 year old Somali with the short nickname who attacked Kurt Westergaard Friday with an axe in the cartoonist's home in Aarhus is a man with two faces: the good and the evil.
He's up for a long prison sentence for two attempted murders. He has experience as a fighter and sympathizes with the most brutal terrorists in East Africa.
But Abdi also has a past as a caring father to three children, of which the youngest is two and the oldest seven, and as a teenager he was a respected role model in Aalborg.
Three of the men who know Abdi's past in the north Jutland town best confirm this.
Ekstra Bladet spoke yesterday with Jens Larsen, head of a local club for immigrants, Nuuradiin Hussein, a social worker in Aalborg Municipality, who both had great expectations for Abdi, and Mohammed Abdulle, board member of the mosque in Danmarksgade.
They can almost not praise him enough. But Abdi didn't want to be a model for integration and Danish community support.
"Suddenly he evidently wanted revenge," says Mohammed Abdulle.
Abdi came to Denmark with a big sister in 1997. In Aalborg Øst they were united with their mother [who had come to Denmark in 1995]. Their father was dead.
Abdi quickly stood out in the New Danes group of 38 Somali boys who showed up in town as the jetsam of war and famine.
"He was calmer and quieter than the others - more mature. While several of the others rowdy and had smart jargon and tested the limits with threats and fights, Abdi kept himself in the background. He thought what the others were doing was stupid and honestly said who we should watch," remembers former youth counselor Nuuradiin Hussein, who today is a social worker for Aalborg Municipality.
The friendly, serious boy was a clear success. He distinguished himself with fluent Danish, good grades from technical school, and easily got a job in elderly nursing, cleaning or care for the elderly. For several years he was a homework tutor and mentor for young immigrant troublemakers in Aalborg.
"He was never in an A-class. Abdi didn't need that. He was very active," says Mohammed Abdulle, who is also spokesperson for the Somali Cultural Association.
But something went wrong. A seed sprouted and grew and smashed Abdi's marriage and opportunities in Denmark.
"It's a shame. He was really a great kid. Maybe the last young Somali people would suspect of going to ruin," says Jens Larsen, head of the municipal leisure club Fri-Stedet, which is mainly aimed at young immigrants.
But popular among other Somali boys, he wasn't.
"Nah. We was a little isolated. He wasn't good at 'scoring' with girls and playing football. The things which typically give status," explains Nuuradiin Hussein.
As an adolescent he married the person Somalis call 'the sweetest girl in Aarlborg'. A girl from a good, well-integrated family.
The wedding was a show of success. Abdi dropped out of his engagements as homework tutor and mentor. As the years passed he isolated himself more. Secretly he cultivated a more radical interpretation of Islam that the others in the mosque. His great computer know-how opened a new world on YouTube. In the same period he sported a goatee.
"We noticed that Abdi and another young Somali suddenly didn't want to greet women," says Nuuradiin Hussein.
The friend moved to years ago to London, a known incubator of Islamism. He hasn't shown himself in Aalborg since.
Ekstra Bladet learned that in 2007 Abdi was seen recruiting other Somalis in Aalborg's neighborhoods of apartment blocks to the war flaring up in Somalia. This however surprises Nuuradiin Hussein: "Abdi isn't a strong person. He doesn't have the assertiveness to win people over to an issue."
His harsh religious attitudes and wish to go to war were purportedly not his wife's cup of tea. The marriage creaked.
But consideration for the family had to give. While the bloody war was at its highest, Abdi traveled twice to his homeland. Ekstra Bladet learned that he got the rank of officer. After one of the trips he supposedly came back injured to Aalborg.
Nuuradin Hussein met him shortly afterward in the mosque at Danmarksgade.
"People only go to Somalia if they have pain in their life. I'm certain that this also holds for Abdi. He was unusually quiet. Most others who were in Somalia then, talked a lot. Abdi said nothing. He was really hard to read.
Last year Abdi finally broke up with his wife. They divorced and Abdi moved to Copenhagen, where he supported himself since as an IT programmer. Secretly, according to the Police Security Service, he cultivated his new contacts in al-Qaeda in Kenya and the brutal organization al-Shabaab.
As late as last summer he was in Kenya, where he was arrested. Officially because his travel papers weren't valid. Unofficially, because he was suspected of being an accomplice with East-African terror networks.
Abdi was put on a plane home in September, after which he settled down in the Copenhagen suburb of Hvidovre.
The ambitious terrorist sympathizer visited Aalborg since. In the mosque he enjoyed time with his children. Nice and friendly, the good Abdi.
The last months, before Abdi came to Grøndalsvej with an axe and a knife, he disappeared. Nobody suspected anything wrong. Certainly not in Aalborg.
"It was a shock for his family, and a hard blow for all Somalis," says club head Jens Larsen.
"I don't understand it. He should have continued his battle in Somalia, if he was so abnormal," says Nuuradiin.
"Who is he? I don't know. There must be something very wrong mentally with the man I knew," says Mohamed Hussein.
The family is hiding. Abdi's mother went to Sweden. He ex-wife left the apartment at Konvalvej with the couple's three children, and the sister of the country's most discussed immigrant, opens the door just a crack: "I don't want to talk about it. I don't have time." And she slams the door.
Source: Ekstra Bladet (Danish), h/t Uriasposten
Read more at Islam in Europe
 A group of liberal Muslims in Norway is calling on the Islamic Council of Norway to demonstrate in order to support Muhammed cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.(Pictured)"It wasn't a mistake that the caricatures of Muhammed were printed, and in any case it doesn't justify violence. Muslims have just a great interest in protecting freedom of expression as all others. Therefore Muslims should also support Kurt Westergaard," writer Shakil Rehman of the liberal Muslim network LIM (Equality, integration, multiculturalism) told Klassekampen. Rehman is looking for a response from the Islamic Council of Norway after the attack on Westergaard. He calls on the Islamic Council to arrange a demonstration to support freedom of speech. If the Islamic Council doesn't rise to the challenge, his network themselves will take the initiative. "I'm afraid they won't rise to the challenge, because they don't want to lose face in the Muslim world. But if they support freedom of speech, they should also be able to show that they mean it in practice," says Rehman. "Muhammed didn't want to be depicted because he didn't want to be worshipped like an idol. When Muslims think the prophet is insulted by being depicted, then they make him into precisely such an idol. Therefore there shouldn't be any problem to make a caricature of him. I will go so far to say that Muslim leaders are unqualified." Q: Maybe they respond most to the strong connotations of violence? A: He was also an army chief. That is one of his worse sides. We should be able to criticize that. Muslims shouldn't be so holy that we can't criticize him," says Rehman. Norweigan-Somali SV politician Hamsa Mohamed was against publishing the Muhammed caricatures in 2005, but now he's changed his mind. "For me it's completely fine now. I don't respond as vigorously as before. Afterward I saw that people responded unnecessarily vigorously from the Muslim side. Caricatures are drawn all over the world," says Mohammed, who sympathizes with Rehman's liberal view of Islam. "Many say that the Prophet himself had a lot of tolerance, but that it was his followers who did the opposite of what the Prophet stood for. I agree with the interpretations. Many Somalis I speak to are discussing this now, and think that the reaction to the caricatures was an over-reaction," says Mohamed. He would like to participate in a demonstration for freedom of speech, but he's skeptic about a demonstration with only supports urt Westergaard. He also thinks that it's important to correct the image created after the tragic incident in Aarhus. "What happened in Aarhus, made the possibly positive impression that we've succeeded in creating for Muslims change around in minutes. Even of people become more tolerant, and admit that we've overreacted, one person can destroy for all of us," says Mohamed. He's just come back from Christmas vacation in Hargeisa in Somalia. He met there many who were concerened about the rise of the Al-Shabab terror organization. He thinks it's important to prevent youth from being recruited by such extreme groups. "We can do that by preventing stigmatization. The media is also responsible here. When Somali youth experience stigmatization, there many can think of looking towards communities who think extreme things about the majority society, among them there are those who are violent," says Mohamed. In 2006 the Anti-racist Center and 43 other organization took the initiative for a big demonstration for freedom of speech and against threats and violence. This came in response to the riots following the publication of the Muhammed cartoons. The Islamic Council was invited, but decided not to participate. The head of the Anti-racist Center, Kari Helene Partapuoli, thinks such a demonstration is a good idea, but is skeptical about the liberal Muslims fronting it. Partapuoli says it's important to be careful. If liberal Muslims front the demonstration, what does that say about the other Muslims? It would be better if the initiative came from "Norwegian Muslims" or "Muslims in Norway". She thinks that one shouldn't demand of Norwegian Muslims to distance themselves from what one Muslim did in Denmark. Partapuoli says that it's reasonable to demand that society understand the difference between extremists and common Norwegian Muslims. A demonstration done in the right way might get the majority to understand this. General Secretary Shoaib Sultan of the Islamic Council of Norway says they will make a decision about the request for a demonstration for fredom of speech and against violence in the ordinary way, but that there are no plans to support anything.Sultan says that if the main slogan would be like in 2006 "Respect freedom of speech. No to violence and threats" then they support it. Sources: Klassekampen, VG (Norwegian)
 Hot on the heels of the axe attack on Motoonist Kurt Westergaard comes this. The Islamic supremacists are clearly feeling free to act as the wish to in Europe. "Somali threats against Swedish illustrator," from The Local, January 4 Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who sparked outrage with caricatures of the Muslim prophet Muhammad as a dog, has received threats via telephone from Somalia. Police in Helsingborg in southern Sweden are taking seriously the threats made against Vilks, which come just three days after Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard was subjected to an axe attack at his home in Denmark. The first of two phone calls to Vilks came on Monday morning. A subsequent check by the Swedish artist revealed that the call originated in Somalia, where the Islamic militant group al-Shabaab has gained increasing influence in the war torn country. Al-Shabaab is also believed to have ties to al-Qaeda. In the last month, al-Shabaab supporters who reportedly used to live in Denmark have killed at least 22 people, including three ministers, in a suicide bomb attack carried out in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. According to Vilks, the man who threatened him spoke Swedish. "The man, who spoke accented Swedish, asked me if I knew about what happened in Denmark and to the artist Kurt Westergaard. I said I certainly did," Vilks told the Helsingborgs Dagblad newspaper. "The man then explained that they were out after more and that they would soon come for me. I told them they were welcome," said Vilks.... Bravo. No one in the West should allow themselves to be intimidated. I have received so many death threats I have lost count of how many there have been. But I don't care. They can kill me, but I was going to die anyway. They can't make me bow. With thanks to JihadWatch
 Danish media say the man who attacked an artist who depicted the Prophet Muhammad in a cartoon has previously been arrested in Kenya. The Politiken newspaper reported Sunday that Danish intelligence knew the 28-year-old Somali man was held in Kenya in September for allegedly plotting an attack against US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper said he was later released due to lack of evidence.
But Denmark's ambassador to Kenya, Bo Jensen, told the news agency Ritzau the man was arrested in Kenya for incomplete travel documents.
He said Kenyan authorities never told the embassy he was suspected in any terror plot. Denmark's PET intelligence agency would not comment. The armed suspect was charged with attempted murder Saturday after breaking into artist Kurt Westergaard's home.
 AN axe-wielding Somali terrorist is behind a foiled attempt to break into the home of a Danish cartoonist whose depictions of Islam's Prophet Mohammed infuriated Muslims. The 28-year-old Somali national armed with an axe and a knife had terrorist intent and was close to the Somali Shebab movement and al-Qaeda, which was responsible for the 9/11 attacks in the United States, the internal security service PET said in a statement. Danish police shot and wounded the man who tried to enter Westergarrd’s home. He was shot in a knee and a hand but his life was not in danger, according to reports. He was expected to be charged with attempted murder of Westergaard and a police officer. It is understood the Somali man had a legal permit to be in Denmark. Kurt Westergaard, who has received several death threats since a Danish newspaper four years ago published his drawing featuring Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb, was at home in Viby near the western city of Aarhus guarded by police when the intruder tried to get in. Prosecutors said a Chicago-based men spent at least a year working with a Pakistan-based terrorist group to plan an attack. The security alarm was set off when the man tried to enter the house before being shot by the guards, the daily Politiken reported online. The intruder, wounded in the arm and leg, was hospitalised. It is unclear whether the Somali man managed to enter the home. “I locked myself in our safe room. He tried to smash the entrance door with an axe,'' Westergaard, 74, who was in the house with a five-year-old grandson, told Danish news agency Ritzau. PET said in a statement: “The attempted murder of cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is linked to terrorism. The person arrested ... has close links with the Somali terrorist organisation al-Shebab as well as with the heads of al-Qaeda in east Africa. “He is also suspected of being implicated in terrorist activities when he was in east Africa. The individual arrested has also been a member of a terrorist network implanted in Denmark that has been under surveillance by PET for a long time.'' Police had earlier reported there were three intruders before saying there was just one. Ritzau said a dozen police vehicles were at the scene while sappers were sent in to look for a bomb that might have been laid. Westergaard is one of 12 cartoonists whose drawings of the Muslim prophet were first published in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005, sparking controversy among Muslims worldwide. The 12 cartoons were considered offensive by many Muslims and their publication sparked violent protests worldwide in January and February 2006. Two men had already been arrested in 2006 for plotting Westergaard's murder. Demonstrators burned Danish flags in protests that culminated in February 2006 with the torching of Danish diplomatic offices in Damascus and Beirut and dozens of deaths in Nigeria, Libya and Pakistan. The Australian
 The Danish cartoonist, who has received several death threats since a Danish newspaper four years ago published his drawing featuring Mohammed wearing a turban in the shape of a bomb, was at home in Viby near the western city of Aarhus when the 27-year-old and two others tried to get in, daily Politiken reported online. Guards repulsed the three intruders as security alarms were set off, and the wounded man was hospitalised. Denmark's Ritzau news agency said a dozen police vehicles were at the scene while sappers were sent in to look for a bomb that might have been laid. Contacted by AFP, Jutland police confirmed an incident near the home of the 74-year-old cartoonist but refused to give details pending the release of a statement later. The 12 cartoons were considered offensive by many Muslims and their publication sparked violent protests worldwide in January and February 2006. Demonstrators burned Danish flags in protests that culminated in February 2006 with the torching of Danish diplomatic offices in Damascus and Beirut and dozens of deaths in Nigeria, Libya and Pakistan. The Australian
 A few pen strokes thrust Kurt Westergaard into the midst of an international crisis, exposing him to death threats and an alleged assassination plot. Terror charges brought against two Chicago men this week show the 74-year-old Dane remains a potential target for extremists, four years after he drew a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban. "I am an old man so I am not so afraid anymore," Westergaard said Tuesday in an interview with Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published his drawing in September 2005 along with 11 other cartoons of Muhammad. The drawings triggered an uproar a few months later when Danish and other Western embassies in several Muslim countries were torched by angry protesters who felt the cartoons had profoundly insulted Islam. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry. Westergaard has said it took him 45 minutes to make the drawing, considered by many Muslims to be the most offensive of the 12 cartoons. He has rejected calls to apologize to Muslims, saying poking fun at religious symbols is protected by Denmark's freedom of speech. The drawing was meant to illustrate that extremists draw "spiritual ammunition from Islam," but not criticize the religion as a whole, he told broadcaster DR in February 2008 after Danish police uncovered an alleged plot to kill him. "I realize that when issues of religion are involved emotions run high, and all religions have their symbols, which possess great importance," he said. "But when you live in a secularized society, it's clear that religion can't demand some sort of special status. ... "I have a problem with the fact that we have people from another culture who don't accept that we use religious elements in a drawing." The cartoon uproar forced Westergaard underground, living under the protection of Denmark's intelligence agency, PET. "For my wife and I, it's like a kind of dark depression has descended on us," he told DR. Read more here,,,, Source: FoxNews
 By Joshua Rhett Miller Muslims need to develop a sense of humor and an appreciation of satire — and they need to understand that they are not "free of being mocked or being offended," says the Danish caricaturist whose cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad incited rage throughout the Muslim world four years ago. Kurt Westergaard told roughly a dozen listeners Wednesday night that he will "always" be ready to defend an individual's right to religious freedom. "As the Danish tradition is for satire, we say you can speak freely, you can vote, you can speak out anytime, but there's only one thing you can't do — you can't be free of being mocked or being offended," Westergaard said. "That's the conditions in Denmark and so many countries." Westergaard spoke at a private residence in midtown Manhattan in conjunction with the Hudson New York Briefing Council. It was just his second appearance in the U.S. since the 2005 publication of his notorious cartoon, which depicted Muhammad wearing a turban resembling a lit bomb. In Islam, any depiction of Muhammad is forbidden and considered blasphemy. Westergaard's controversial cartoon was one of 12 that appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005 and led to widespread violent protests throughout the Middle East, Asia, Denmark and Africa. Read more here,,,, Source: FoxNews
by Grace Four years ago on September 30, 2005, Jyllands-Posten published twelve drawings of Islam’s prophet Muhammed. To demonstrate that prohibition of any depiction of the prophet, as stipulated by sharia law would not trump Denmark’s freedom of the press, twelve cartoonists had their entries published. Here they are: 
Muslims around the world rioted in response. At least one hundred deaths were reported. The Danish embassies in Syria, Lebanon and Iran were torched. European buildings were stormed and the Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, and German flags were desecrated in Gaza City.
Mahmoud al-Zahar of Hamas issued death threats. Critics of the cartoons described them as Islamophobic and racist, arguing they were blasphemous to Muslims and a manifestation of western imperialism. In 2008, slightly after two years of the initial publication, the cartoons were re-published. More riots ensued, complete with shouts of ” death to the cartoonist!”. Meanwhile, thousands of illustrations of Muhammed have appeared in books by and for Muslims. 
Persian or central Asian illustration showing Muhammed teaching.
| | | | Fourteenth-century Persian miniature
showing the Angel Gabriel speaking
to Muhammed.
| Muhammed at Medina, from an
Arab or central Asian medieval-era
manuscript. | The Prophet Muhammed in a Mosque. Turkish, 16th Century, painting on paper. The artist depicted Muhammed in very long sleeves so as to avoid showing his hands, though his neck and hints of his features are visible. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Newly born Muhammad in his mother’s arms being shown to his grandfather and citizens of Mecca. From Turkish book painting (date unknown). University of California, San Diego.
James Cohen, vice president of the Canadian desk, IFPS writes thoughtfully and succinctly on the declaration of September 30 as International Free Press Day: “To further advance the cause of freedom of the press, the International Free Press Society takes the occasion of this first International Free Press Day to salute Kurt Westergaard, and to call, once again, for the repeal all blasphemy and hate speech laws that currently inhibit and restrict vital exchange and debate”. Source: Vlad Tepes H/T: Gramfan
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Cartoons That Shook Yale [Nina Shea] On October 1, Yale University is scheduled to host Kurt Westergaard, the Danish cartoonist who drew the iconic caricature of Muhammad wearing a turban-bomb. The invitation to Westergaard is no doubt a response to the backlash that Yale and Yale University Press (YUP) have suffered for dropping the Danish cartoons from YUP’s new scholarly book The Cartoons That Shook the World.Yale cited a fear stoking Muslim violence as its reason for censoring the depictions of Muhammad. But the seriousness of that threat now is being thrown into question, given the on-campus speaking engagement of the most prominent of the cartoon “blasphemers.” It would appear that, in its decision to remove the cartoons from the book, Yale traded off freedom very lightly. None of the experts consulted by Yale were in favor of publishing the Muhammad cartoons, and none articulated a persuasive defense of freedom of speech in public statements explaining their rationale. When asked in an interview to describe the circumstances in which “concern about possible violence” should “be outweighed by the obligation to protect free speech,” even John Negroponte, former director of national intelligence and currently a senior fellow at Yale’s renowned Grand Strategy program, could give no real response beyond saying that it is a “judgment call.” Here is an insight into why the West is losing the contest of ideas with Islamic extremism.— Nina Shea is director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom. Source: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjAxZmM3YzhjNDM2ZTVmNTExMjJmYzU3MmZlYTM3Y2Q=
H/T: PosteDeVeille.ca
Those Bloody Danish Cartoons......! Thanks to Vlad for finding this documentary of a Dane who interviews principle players in the dreaded Mo-cartoon brouhaha. Make no mistake, this documentary is not an attempt to blame the Danes or exonerate Muslims, but an interesting window into the thoughts of those who became news due to their role in the crisis.I particularly enjoyed watching OIC's Ekemleddin Ihsanoglu's strong arm tactics in refusing to answer a question of whether he is in part to blame, as head of the OIC, for the fanning of flames of the conflict. Ihsanoglu responded in the very same way to a Tundra Tabloids' statement and subsequent question when he was in Helsinki last year. KGS NOTE: Observe how the documentary pulls no punches when it describes the events leading up to the riots that erupted around the world. Video/Documentary: http://en.sevenload.com/videos/KebMeB2-Bloody-Cartoons-avi Source: TundraTabloid.blogspot.com
COPENHAGEN - A Danish press freedom group said Wednesday it is selling copies of a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad that caused outrage across the Muslim World. Some 1,000 printed reproductions of a drawing depicting the prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban are being sold for $250 each, said Lars Hedegaard, chairman of the Danish Free Press Society. "All we are doing is starting a debate," Hedegaard said. "We are using our freedom of speech." Hedegaard said Danish artist Kurt Westergaard, who drew the cartoon in 2005, had given the society permission to produce the copies and sell them. Each numbered copy has been signed by Westergaard, Hedegaard said. "We have not, and are not, breaking any laws," Hedegaard told The Associated Press. Westergaard has been living under police protection since an alleged plot to murder him was discovered last year. Twelve cartoons depicting the prophet, including the one by Westergaard, were published in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in 2005. Read more ...Source: AP
 Kurt Westergaard said he was disappointed 'on behalf of freedom of speech'
if the BBC did not show his interviewBy Paul Revoir The BBC has been accused of appeasement of radical Islam by the artist behind one of the infamous cartoons of Mohammed. Kurt Westergaard claims the corporation's decision not to air a recent interview with him came because they are petrified of upsetting Muslims extremists. Westergaard was one of the 12 cartoonists commissioned by the Danish Jyllands-Posten newspaper in 2005 to produce caricatures of the Muslim prophet. Islamic tradition says no image of him should be produced or shown. Read more ...Source: Daily MailBBC
Latest recipient of the Yellow Rag Award
 Lars Hedegaard, President of the Free Press Society and free speech champion and Kurt Westergaard, cartoonist and free speech icon, are under renewed threat of death from pious Muslims and adherents to the religion of pieces. I know, they kill people, it's what they do. Learn these men's names, ladies and gentlemen. Commit them to memory. They fight for you. Their lives are in danger because they speak freely. If they and/or their cause go down,you are next. What will you be harassed, fined, arrested (or worse) for? What is in your mind, your words, your deed that is unacceptable to the Islamic overlords and multicultural brownshirts? Free speech is the line in the sand in this war. It is not ambiguous. This is not a gray area. Nuance? Not. Free speech is the end game. If we lose freedom of speech, all is lost. It is not lost on me that the brave warriors on the fight for the West should emerge from the only country in Europe that saved its Jews during the last holocaust. How fitting and predictable. The Institute for Counter-Terrorism has uncovered two websites known for their affiliation with al-Qaeda - al-Hesbah (the Front) and al-Hanein - are baying for Danish blood as a reaction to the just released book by Lars Hedegaard and Kurt Westergaard (of Danish cartoon fame). Read more ... Source: Atlas
 By Kathy Shaidle Nearly three years ago, a shocked Western world witnessed “a carefully orchestrated campaign of incitement” and intimidation that left embassies ablaze and innocent people dead – all ostensibly on account of some mediocre drawings of the Prophet Mohammed deemed offensive by Muslim leaders. The resulting debates about the limits of free speech have died down, but depictions of Mohammed continue to spark outrage around the world, mostly below the mass media’s radar. Last week, for example, the government of Indonesia denounced as “very inappropriate” two online drawings of the Prophet Mohammed. Many Muslims believe it is forbidden to depict Mohammed under any circumstances, let alone in “sexual situations,” as these cartoons reportedly do. The country’s communications minister asked the website to remove the drawings or face being shut down by its internet service provider. Now comes a report from a Jordanian news service of “New Danish Anti-Islamic Drawings to be Published Soon,” in a book of political satire co-authored by Kurt Westergaard. Westergaard drew the most notorious of the original “Mohammed cartoons”: a bearded man wearing a bomb instead of a turban. Read more ...Source: FrontPage Magazine
Kurt Westergaard has illustrated a new book and includes a picture reminiscent of his contribution to the Jyllands-Posten Mohammed cartoon series The man who was nearly killed for drawing a picture of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban plans...
The man who was nearly killed for drawing a picture of Mohammed with a bomb in his turban plans to release another set of provocative cartoons as part of a new book from historian Lars Hedegaard.
Kurt Westergaard will contribute 26 illustrations to the new book, ‘Groft Sagt’ (Roughly Speaking), a collection of Hedegaard’s sardonic contributions to the Berlingkse Tidende newspaper column of the same name.
One of the cartoons features former Foreign Minister Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, who took a stance against the original Mohammed cartoons, calling them a caricature of Denmark’s ‘cherished freedom of expression’.
In the new drawing, Ellemann-Jensen is pictured kneeling with an inkwell that reads ‘freedom of expression’. A black-bearded man with a bomb in his turban is peeking out from the inkwell.
Hedegaard told The Copenhagen Post that there was ‘no intention to depict the so-called prophet’, but that it is always possible for someone to interpret drawings in different ways. He was pleased with the Westergaard’s input and is not expecting any backlash.
Westergaard said that he has never been against Islam as a religion, but he takes issue with terrorists using a variation of Islam as their own ‘religious dynamite’. The 73-year-old remains unbothered by the potential furore his new drawings could cause, despite the need for him to remain under the protection of domestic security and intelligence agency PET.
Westergaard, who was given free reign to illustrate the writings he thought appropriate in the new book, returned home this summer after nine months in hiding. He had been living in police safe-houses after a plot to murder him for drawing one of the Mohammed cartoons in 2005 was uncovered.
The Supreme Court is currently handling the case of the two Tunisian men charged with the plot. One has left the country voluntarily and the other is facing an administrative deportation. Source: The Copenhagen Post
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