Norway Muhammad Cartoon Protests Draw 2,500

OSLO — About 2,500 people marched through downtown Oslo in a protest Friday against a Norwegian newspaper that printed a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.

The demonstrators chanted "God is great" in Arabic and waved placards calling for a boycott of the Dagbladet daily.

On Feb. 3, the newspaper published a photograph showing a man in front of a computer screen with a depiction of Muhammad as a pig. The picture accompanied an article that said users were posting offensive material about Muslims and Jews on the Facebook page of Norway's security police.

Dagbladet's acting editor-in-chief, Lars Helle, told The Associated Press that he doesn't regret printing the offending image and that he welcomed Friday's protest.

"It was a test for Norwegian society – whether this would be a peaceful protest or not," Helle said.

He said Dagbladet has not received any direct threats since it published the caricature. A hacker attack originating from Turkey brought down the newspaper's Web site for two hours Wednesday evening, but Helle said it's unclear whether that attack was connected to the caricature.

Protesters said they wanted to show Norwegian media how hurtful such images are to Muslims. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

"We have done nothing to anybody. We want to live here in peace. Norway is our home. Our children live here. Why should they (Norwegian media) hurt us like this?" said Naradim Muhammad, a 43-year-old school teacher who helped organize the demonstration.

The demonstration was peaceful, except for a firecracker that was apparently thrown by a protester onto a restaurant patio. It caused burn damage to a patio sofa, but nobody was injured. After the blast, organizers ordered the crowd to disperse, encouraging them to go home or to a local mosque to pray.

Police spokesman Joern-Kristian Joergensen said the protest concluded without further incident. However, Oslo police, who maintained a low profile during the demonstration to avoid confrontation, would remain on alert throughout the evening, he said.

Angry protests swept across Muslim countries in 2006 after a Danish newspaper printed 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. That newspaper said it was challenging a perceived self-censorship among artists afraid to offend Islam.

Comments

[Rickyrab]

01:50 PM on 03/02/2010

A decent protest, but they're STILL harping on about Jyllands Posten? That issue has come and gone. Let's move on to other things, ok?

[stephenlight]

09:12 AM on 02/16/2010

They are living in a Western country with Freedom of Speech. If they can't bear to witness these insults, they should move to a country where their sensitivities will not be so sorely tested. Norway would miss them.....not at all.

[Macready]

08:41 AM on 02/16/2010

the cartoon was insensitive . . . I wonder what would happen if they substituted Mohammed with Moses . . . Moses and the pig . . now there is another cartoon . . . I wonder what the reaction would be

[loutreverte]

05:32 AM on 02/17/2010

On the serious side, a few Jewish organisations might condemn it. End of story.

On the funny side, John Stewart might mock it on the Daily Show, the way he recently did Hamas cartoons that described Jews as drinking Palestinian blood.

If you can cite any example of a Jew or Christian murdering an artist for blasphemy/defamation of religion in the last two centuries I welcome it.

[Rickyrab]

01:54 PM on 03/02/2010

I'm not sure what would happen if someone cartooned Moses and the pig. From what I can tell, Jews are more worried about swastikas, Jew-bashing, anti-Semitic polices, Jewish stereotypes, that sort of present-day here and now stuff. Bashing a prophet long dead? Perhaps the Orthodox Jews would get upset, but the Reform Jews might find some humor in it, depending on who did the cartooning. (i.e., an Arab or Muslim or Nazi cartoonist producing it would lead to it being called antisemitic, but if a liberal Jew did it, I wouldn't know what would happen.)

[squiems]

01:50 PM on 03/02/2010

far more offensive cartoons about jews are found in the arab press on a monthly basis.

http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/
maybe you should look at the history of this issue.

[WorkhelpWorkhelp]

02:09 AM on 02/16/2010

I saw that watermelon cartoon and the hair stood up on my neck. I was really pis*sed off and disappointed. You know what I did, out in public, to show my extreme upsetedness.....? (new word,eh?)

-
Nothing.

[Jolimont]

02:05 AM on 02/16/2010

It's not every day you hear "Muslim" and "peaceful demonstration" in the same sentence, so that's good. Lighten up on the irrational beliefs would be better, but we have a way to go for that, and not just with Muslims.

[drfalafel]

06:26 PM on 02/15/2010

If I read this correctly, people are protesting an article on offensive postings in Facebook. Talking of blaming the messenger..

[deluxebrand]

04:49 PM on 02/15/2010

i always said two things:

1. Religion is mankinds biggest folly
2. Fundamentalists/extremists (Muslim, Christian. Jew et. al.) are the shallow end of the genepool

[ETSpoon]

03:23 PM on 02/15/2010

Muslims, when are you going to grow up. It's only a cartoon. It doesn't talk or walk. It won't burn you if you touch it.

And, please, saying this as an atheist, until you Muslims began this nonsense I was willing to live and let live.

This kind of foolishness, whether it comes from Muslim, Jewish or Christian fundamentalist extremists, just adds evidence to my contention that monotheism is humanity's worst invention ever. Worse than the nuclear bomb.

[SuperMoncho]

10:51 AM on 02/15/2010

So sensitive. They don't tolerate anyone but everyone has to tolerate their nonsense.

[ZenJu]

06:54 AM on 02/15/2010

Bull. Let's see Islamic protests against repression of women. Let's see Islamic protests against repression and mistreatment of homosexuals. Let's see Islamic protests against anti-Semitism. How about Islamic protests against violence and "suicide bombing"? Islamic protests against the six decades of mistreatment of Palestinian refugees by many Arab states, who could have resettled them long ago? Let's see THAT kind of protest, shall we? Or is Islam only going to be offended by....cartoons?

[Oblongato]

07:57 AM on 02/15/2010

Ah, you mean perhaps protests such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali's screenplay for Theo Van Gogh's movie Submission. (Though perhaps this is no longer an Islamic protest, since she has renounced Islam and is an atheist.)

The problem is that such protests carry with them the risk of violent reprisals by radical Muslims - one need only look at the amount of security that is necessary to keep Ms. Ali alive.

That makes Ms. Ali's work all the more admirable, but I can certainly understand why like-minded Muslims would want to avoid calling attention to themselves.

[RTIII]

10:34 AM on 02/16/2010

Weak.

You're an apologist; Muslims should be rooting out the violent extremists among them, and standing up vocally, too. There is _NO_ excuse.
.

[RTIII]

10:32 AM on 02/16/2010

I can't speak for Europe, but here in teh USA, Muslims have protested some of hte things you propose they protest about. However, our main stream media doesn't report it, just as they either don't report at all or dramatically under-report the sizes of protests here about things like the "bailout" (sellout) a little over a year ago. Right-wing people, like Roger Ailes (sp?) run nearly all of our major media here in the US and they have an agenda.
.

[Oblongato]

05:20 AM on 02/15/2010

Certainly Muslims in Norway have a right to protest. And certainly a non-violent protest is preferable to past protests that have included violence and calls for violence.

However, if Muslim protesters really want to send the message that they accept and support the society they are living in, they should not protest free speech.

The fear of Islam and Muslims in the west stems not, in my view, from racism or religious bigotry, it is the fear of having change imposed on one's society. Muslim protesters make it quite clear that they want to change things. And fear of the changes they are calling for is justifiable: many Muslims apparently hold law of the Koran above the law of the land in which they are living and their protests are clearly an effort to bring the laws of the country into harmony with the law of the Koran. Those who do not want to live in accordance with the laws of the Koran are therefore quite rational in their opposition to any move in that direction.

Those Muslims who are inclined to protest should consider that in a pluralistic society, it is essential to develop the ability to tolerate speech that one finds offensive. If they can find it in themselves to be tolerant, they will also find themselves less feared and better accepted by their society.

[deluxebrand]

04:52 PM on 02/15/2010

and in europe the more they protest like this the more they are marginalized as a group

[RTIII]

10:35 AM on 02/16/2010

Great post. I was about to write something similar, but you beat me to it!
.

[separatingwheatfromchaff]

11:00 PM on 02/14/2010

INFIDEL.....What does that word encompass in the Muslim mind?What does that make a westerner feel like to be called an infidel? I personally resent someone else making a value judgment about me or my country based upon the belief that somehow we're in league with the devil and the Muslim world and it's religion should hold sway in all decisions..., just because their Koran says so.I'm sorry to say that attitude is prevalent in almost all,if not all, Islamic nation/states and we in the west have no desire to allow such a belief system to flower here.Therein lies the rub,the more we hear what they want from us,the more we resent them interfering in our lives.Until the Muslim world decides we can all live and let live,there will be no peace.How can peace possibly happen as long as their Koran refers to us as infidels and the simple act of renouncing ones religion can carry a death penalty in many Muslim countries?Our core principles don't seem to be able to mesh on so many levels.I know I'll get a lot of negative feedback on this, but...........that's my thoughts on this.

[scranton301]

10:09 PM on 02/14/2010

Freedom of speech is something some religions don't tolerate, Islam happens to be one of them. Why are these Muslims living in western societies with middle eastern values? They have the right to protest as they did and they were very respectful in the protest, at least they responded better than the 2006 incident involving the Danish news paper.

[oldguru]

11:09 AM on 02/15/2010

Does anyone remember the hyperventilating of the "Christians" when piss Christ was on show in NY?

[EqualMeansEqual]

01:31 PM on 02/15/2010

I seem to remember the artist getting stapped to death like Van Gohn.....

Oh wait that did not happen.....

[deluxebrand]

04:53 PM on 02/15/2010

or remember the uproar when a New York artist made a sculpture of Jesus out of chocolate.

[HumanityEqualsLaw]

12:43 PM on 02/14/2010

Every day in Western (and Islamic) societies there are things published that offend people, sometimes a lot of people. That´s the way it is for everyone. In Western societies you can make a counter-argument, protest peacefully or just accept that not everyone shares your beliefs and ignore it. What you can not do is to demand that other people share your beliefs or else.. If there are rules in a religion, they apply in that religion and only in that religion. There are about 7 billion points of view to the world and most are dramatically different from yours, it would be a good start for Muslims to realize that. Why do they care what we infidels think or publish anyway?

[davidwayneosedach]

11:56 AM on 02/14/2010

It's their country. We have no say (and should have no say) of what they do there.