World: Violence Over Cartoons Continues Despite Calls For Calm

Protesters in Jakarta on 8 February (epa) More people were reported killed and wounded in fresh violence today in Afghanistan during protests over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The Organization of the Islamic Conference, the United Nations, and the European Union have issued a joint call for dialogue to defuse Muslim anger over the caricatures. But tensions continue to flare in countries with large Muslim populations.

PRAGUE, 8 February (RFE/RL) – Protests over the controversial cartoons show no signs of abating, with the worst violence once again erupting in Afghanistan today.

Afghan authorities say at least four people were killed and nine injured in Qalat, capital of the southern Zabul Province. Afghan army and Interior Ministry officials say the casualties came after security forces opened fire to control a crowd of stone-throwing protesters, killing four and wounding several.


More protests also took place in the capital Kabul, with demonstrators chanting: "Death to the enemies of the religion! Death to the enemies of Islam!"

One demonstrator questioned freedom of speech, as it is interpreted in the West. "What kind of freedom is that? In the West, insulting religious sanctities is considered freedom, but in reality, freedom should not be something that would allow the questioning of the religion and beliefs of Muslim people," Nur Mohammad said.

In the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, students burned Danish flags outside the Danish Embassy. One of the protest leaders called for all Danes to be expelled from the country. "When someone from a certain country insults our religion, the citizens from that country living in Indonesia must leave and close their embassy in Indonesia," he said.

In the West Bank, meanwhile, hundreds of stone-throwing demonstrators attacked an international observer mission in the city of Hebron. Sixty members of the mission were inside at the time, according to a spokeswoman for the Temporary International Presence. The observers have been in Hebron for a decade, helping to keep the peace between the city's Jewish and Palestinian residents.

No one was hurt after Palestinian police reinforcements were called in to restore order.

Clash Of Cultures By Cartoon

Despite a joint appeal by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the United Nations, and the European Union,there could be an escalation in tensions.

Iran's largest newspaper on 7 February upped the ante by announcing a competition for what it called "Holocaust cartoons." The daily "Hamshahri," which is run by Tehran’s municipal government, said it wanted to see whether freedom of expression extended to mocking the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews lost their lives during World War II. The newspaper invited foreign cartoonists to enter the contest.

That elicited an angry reaction from State Department spokesman Sean McCormack in Washington, who said, "Any attempt to mock or to in any way denigrate the horror that was the Holocaust is simply outrageous."

In Germany, Paul Spiegel, president of the Central Council of Jews, expressed revulsion at the Iranian move. But he also strongly criticized the publication of the cratoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, saying that they were not morally or ethically justifiable.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview aired today with Spanish television, had much the same reaction. He called on the media to be far more circumspect in what it chooses to publish.

"Any provocation in this area is absolutely unacceptable. One should think 100 times before publishing anything, doing anything or drawing anything," Putin said.

Product Of The 'Rage Machine'

But in the Western media, there is a growing feeling that the crisis has gotten out of hand, as extremist groups use the cartoon controversy to fight their own proxy wars.

In an editorial published in "The Wall Street Journal" today, writer Amir Taheri asks, "How representative of Islam are all those demonstrators?" Taheri says the "rage machine" has been set in motion by political groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and others who seek to gain political capital out of fueling anti-Western riots.

Palestinians attacking the mission in Hebron on 8 February (epa)

Taheri says Islamic ethics are based on "limits and proportions," which means that the answer to an offensive cartoon, "is not the burning of embassies or the kidnapping of people designated as the enemy."

He says Muslims should not blame all Westerners for the drawings. And likewise, he notes, "those horrified by the spectacle of rent-a-mob sackings of embassies in the name of Islam should not blame all Muslims for what is an outburst of fascist energy."

In the Czech Republic today, foreign students at the country's two leading technical universities were being urged not to attend classes after an anonymous caller threatened their lives on 7 February. The Czech Republic's leading newspaper, "Mlada fronta Dnes," was one of the European dailies that reprinted the cartoons.

As the world prepares for the Winter Olympics, which begin on 10 February in Turin, Italy, there is now discussion about whether Denmark's athletes should receive special protection. Denmark's table tennis association canceled its participation in a tournament in Kuwait and Qatar later this month, citing security concerns.