TORONTO, February 13, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Representatives of the religious communities in Canada will come together to discuss respect of all religions in view of the insulting cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) published by several European and Canadian newspapers.

"The Muslim Council of Calgary will be holding a World Religion Panel Discussion on the 18th of February… to address the danger of defaming religious figures and educate the public about the importance of respecting people's faith," activist Alaa Elsayed told IslamOnline.net on Monday, February 13.

He said the panel brings together a Jewish rabbi, a Catholic priest and a Buddhist monk to discuss the issue.

The move comes after a Jewish newspaper reprinted the insulting cartoons, first published by Denmark's mass-circulation Jyllands-Posten last September.

On February 9, Jewish Free Press reprinted three of the drawings, considered blasphemous under Islam.

But the Jewish Council of Calgary immediately slammed the move, dissociating itself from the newspaper and denying any type of support to such hateful publication.

The CIC has appealed to Muslims in Canada and worldwide to exercise self-restraint and avoid harming Muslim relations with followers of other faiths.

"To allow self-serving opportunists anywhere in the world to negatively influence our response to these cartoons is to give away our powers of reason and understanding; it is nothing short of admitting defeat," the council said.

"Instead, let us focus on issues of professional ethics and address those in the media who make the editorial decisions."

The 12 drawings, including portrayals of the Prophet wearing a time-bomb shaped turban and showing him as a knife-wielding nomad flanked by shrouded women, have caused an outcry in the Muslim world.

Canadian Muslims have filed a police complaint against the Jewish newspaper for republishing the blasphemous caricatures.

"We lodged an official complaint investigating hate crime, and we will meet with the prosecutor on Monday," Elsayed told IOL.

The Muslim activist said a complaint would also be filed against another Jewish newspaper, Western Standard, for reprinting the cartoons.

Ezra Levant, Western Standard publisher, defiantly told the Calgary Sun he would not apologize for the publication.

"My staff and I have nothing to apologize about and our readers should know what the whole fuss is about," he argued.

He had earlier described the anti-Prophet cartons as "innocuous", criticizing the federal government for issuing a statement he considered too sympathetic to Canadian Muslims.

Newspapers which have published the cartoons claim they were exercising their right to free speech.

Hundreds of Canadian Muslims took to the streets of Toronto and Montreal on Saturday, February 11, to peacefully protest the drawings.

More than 300 Muslims gathered near Montreal's McGill University while 250 others marched in front of the Danish consulate in Toronto.

A cohort of 100 Muslim and Western dignitaries, under Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Saudi ambassador to the US, and Lord Carey, former archbishop of Canterbury, will be working on defusing the cartoon crisis and promoting reconciliation between the Muslim world and the West.

Muslim dignitaries and organizations have called for the enactment of an international law banning the publication of any insults to religious symbols and values.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League, the Muslim world's two main political bodies, are seeking a UN resolution, backed by possible sanctions, to protect religions following the publication of provocative cartoons.