Danish Muslims Won't Be Provoked

"Against the background of the problems earlier, we have to be careful," said Abu Laban. (IOL)

"Against the background of the problems earlier, we have to address the issue astutely," Ahmed Abu-Laban, a Copenhagen imam who helped organize a trip to Egypt and Lebanon last year to rally support among Muslim leaders for protests against drawings that lampooned the prophet, told IslamOnline.net Sunday, October 8, in an interview.

Danish state TV on Friday, October 6, aired amateur video footage showing a number of members of the youth wing of the DPP at a summer camp in August, drinking, singing and engaging in a competition to draw humiliating images of the Prophet.

The charge-free daily Nyhed Avisen also published the amateurish drawings on Saturday.

In September last year Danish daily Jyllands-Posten published cartoons, including one showing the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, proving Muslim condemnation from all the world over and sparking protests early this year in which more than 50 people died in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

In statements to Reuters, Abu-Laban said he regretted Danish TV's decision to air the footage saying it raised ethical questions.

"We've been working very hard to resolve the problems since the conflict earlier this year," he said.

"This time it's a different situation. Of course it's deplorable, but we all know the attitude the DPP have toward Muslims and Islam and these pictures were never intended for publication," Abu Laban said.

Action

A library photo of angry marches protesting Danish cartoons last year.

Qassem Said, spokesman for the Danish Islamic Community, said the "irresponsible" act is an internal matter.

"We don't want it to be an explosive issue," Said told IslamOnline.net Saturday.

Said, whose group is an umbrella body grouping 27 Muslim organizations in Denmark, noted that representatives of Islamic organizations in the country will meet Sunday with Nyhed Avisen editor-in-chief David Trads.

"The paper at issue was only seeking fame by publishing such cartoons," he said, adding that the Sunday meeting would focus on means of heading off a repeat.

Abu Laban, in statements to IOL, said Muslim leaders in Denmark will invite a number of scholars soon to have a first-hand experience on the publishing dilemma.

"We consider inviting the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and other scholars to open a dialogue," he said.

Following the cartoons crisis last year, a galaxy of Muslim scholars established an international organization and a fund for defending Prophet Muhammad against defamatory attacks in the West.

The cartoons have prompted Muslim minorities in many Western countries to champion local campaigns to raise awareness of the merits and characteristics of the Prophet.

IslamOnline.net launched on March 21 a multi-lingual website to acquaint non-Muslims with the prophet.

Too Stupid

Yildiz Akdogan, spokeswoman for Democratic Muslims, a pro-integration group formed in the aftermath of the protests against the cartoons in February, said she was glad other parties had condemned the actions.

"I think the events are too stupid and too absurd to provoke demonstrations or other actions from Muslims," she said.

"Of course it's not a good thing and definitely does not make building bridges any easier, but I hope it won't have any lasting effect."

The youth wings of other parties, including the ruling Liberal party, criticized the DPP and said they would protest by not attending any political events where members of the Danish Peoples' Party were present.

Kenneth Kristensen, a senior member of the DPP's youth movement, criticized the events, but stopped short of apologizing. The party was not available to comment on Saturday.

The DPP rose to prominence in a 2001 election on a platform that combines emphasis on increased spending on schools and care for the elderly with a strong anti-immigrant stance.

It has been accused of racism, but has been a political ally of the centre-right coalition led by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen since 2001.