Let's boycott Danish goods

In September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten was insensitive and stupid enough to publish a series of 12 caricatures which showed the Prophet Muhammad as a stereotypical Islamic terrorist. In one cartoon, the prophet appeared to have a bomb in his turban.

Pictorial depictions of the Prophet Muhammad are forbidden in Islam.

The Jyllands-Posten reported that two illustrators who produced the cartoons had received death threats. The daily published the series of caricatures, after a writer complained that nobody dared illustrate his book about Muhammad.

Instead of issuing an abject and unconditional apology, the newspaper has remained belligerent. It gave a weak apology for "wounding the sensitivities of Muslims," but said it was testing the boundaries of expression about Islam. At the same time Jyllands-Posten maintained its right to print what it likes.

"We must quietly point out here that the drawings illustrated an article on the self-censorship which rules large parts of the Western world," the paper said. "Our right to say, write, photograph and draw what we want to within the framework of the law exists and must endure - unconditionally!"

The ambassadors of 10 Muslim countries (including a number of Arab countries, Pakistan, Iran, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Indonesia) sent a joint letter of complaint to the Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, asking him to take a stance on the issue.

Rasmussen refused to intervene and responded by merely stating that Denmark had a free and independent press. He said he could not tell newspapers what to print - or what not to. In his New Year's speech, Mr Rasmussen fell just short of an apology speaking of responsibility in exercising freedoms of speech.

Unsurprisingly, neither semi-apologies seem to have been accepted in a Muslim world which sees any depiction of the prophet as blasphemous.

There are now fears that the incident could affect Danish businesses. The Danish company Arla Foods, one of Europe's largest dairy producers, has placed advertisements in Middle Eastern newspapers to try to stop a boycott of Danish produce in Muslim countries.

Arla Foods said earlier in the week that its customers in Saudi Arabia appeared to have stopped selling its dairy produce and had begun a boycott of Danish goods. Finn Hansen, a divisional director with Arla, on Thursday said "We fear that we will be hit by a wave of consumer anger." He added that there had been calls for boycotting Danish products in Friday prayers and on Saudi television and in newspapers.

"We are certainly afraid this will spread across Saudi Arabia and affect our business," he said.

There were street protests both in Denmark and in Muslim countries following the publication of the cartoons.

The Confederation of Danish Industries has now appealed to Jyllands-Posten to print an apology for having commissioned the drawings.

Saudi Arabia has recalled its ambassador to Denmark "for consultations in light of the Danish government's lack of attention to insulting the Prophet Muhammad by its newspapers."

Copyright 2003-2006 Azlan Adnan Legal Notice