As a danish citizen, i feel obliged to respond to the parent post.
First of all, there is no "hetz" against muslims in Denmark. This is simply a false statement. There is a lot of debate and criticism of the behavior of some foreigners in Denmark, but calling it a "hetz" is completely out of proportion.
It is also completely false that the cartoons were published to express contempt. The cartoons were published in response to a very concrete case. A writer was creating a children's book about islam and Muhammed had difficulties getting an illustrator to do the drawings, since the illustrators feared repercussions from islamic extremists. Thus, Jyllands Posten decided to publish the cartoons as a comment on the self-censorship that is generally practiced in the west.
Saying that the danish prime minister should apologize for the fact that we have free speech in Denmark is simply absurd. Even if there were anything to apologise for, media is independent in Denmark, and it is obviously not the responsibility of the prime minister what is written in the press. Therefore it is obvious that he cannot apologize.
For your information, freedom of speech is neither nonsence of crap. Freedom of speech is exacly the right to say whatever you want to say without having to fear a violent response.
It is certainly not the west that lacks maturity in this case. People in the west are generally able to handle insults and provocations in a mature way. The behavior seen in the Middle East over these cartoons is what is immature. Its a frickin' cartoon. If you cannot handle the fact that someone draws a cartoon of a person that died hundreds of years ago, you are simply not mature enough to live in a free country.
Claiming that Denmark is festering in xenophobia is also completely ridiculus. Of course there are racists in Denmark, like everywhere else, but it is obviously a small minority of danes that are xenophobic. But there IS an increasing awareness of the fact that certain extreme muslims poses a threat to our free society. Moderate muslim foreigners, such as the politician Naser Khader and others, receives widespread respect. It is generally only the extreme moslems the danes are against.
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As a danish citizen, i feel obliged to respond to the parent post. First of all, there is no "hetz" against muslims in Denmark. This is simply a false statement. There is a lot of debate and criticism of the behavior of some foreigners in Denmark, but calling it a "hetz" is completely out of proportion. It is also completely false that the cartoons were published to express contempt. The cartoons were published in response to a very concrete case. A writer was creating a children's book about islam and Muhammed had difficulties getting an illustrator to do the drawings, since the illustrators feared repercussions from islamic extremists. Thus, Jyllands Posten decided to publish the cartoons as a comment on the self-censorship that is generally practiced in the west. Saying that the danish prime minister should apologize for the fact that we have free speech in Denmark is simply absurd. Even if there were anything to apologise for, media is independent in Denmark, and it is obviously not the responsibility of the prime minister what is written in the press. Therefore it is obvious that he cannot apologize. For your information, freedom of speech is neither nonsence of crap. Freedom of speech is exacly the right to say whatever you want to say without having to fear a violent response. It is certainly not the west that lacks maturity in this case. People in the west are generally able to handle insults and provocations in a mature way. The behavior seen in the Middle East over these cartoons is what is immature. Its a frickin' cartoon. If you cannot handle the fact that someone draws a cartoon of a person that died hundreds of years ago, you are simply not mature enough to live in a free country. Claiming that Denmark is festering in xenophobia is also completely ridiculus. Of course there are racists in Denmark, like everywhere else, but it is obviously a small minority of danes that are xenophobic. But there IS an increasing awareness of the fact that certain extreme muslims poses a threat to our free society. Moderate muslim foreigners, such as the politician Naser Khader and others, receives widespread respect. It is generally only the extreme moslems the danes are against.