HURRICANE KARIKATURE
Europe has its own "Hurricane Katrina"
The "storm in a tea cup" spreads: New York Times reports that several European papers have published the pictures: In support of the Danish position, newspapers in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland reprinted some of the cartoons on Wednesday. A small Norwegian evangelical magazine, Magazinet, also published the cartoons last month. Although there is sometimes safety in numbers, don't they know how many Islamic militants there are out there?
AP News reports that a Jordanian newspaper ran the cartoons yesterday (Thursday), and the editor has already been sacked:
AMMAN (AP)--A Jordanian newspaper took the bold step Thursday of publishing the Danish caricatures of Prophet Muhammad that have outraged Muslims, resulting in the dismissal of the weekly's chief editor and a stern government threat of legal action. Jihad al-Momani, chief editor of the Arabic Shihan, told The Associated Press that he reprinted the cartoons to show readers "the extent of the Danish offense." But a Shihan editorial - signed by al-Momani and entitled "Muslims of the world, be reasonable" - also questioned what sparked the Muslim uproar now, months after the cartoons were first published in September. Hours later, Shihan's owner - the Arab Publishers Company - fired al-Momani for the reprints,saying the editor caused a "shock to the firm and those responsible for it," the official Petranews agency reported. It said the firm withdrew the weekly's edition from the market and opened an investigation to determine if other staff were involved. A spokesman for the Arab Publishers Company confirmed Petra's report. He said al-Momani's"termination is conclusive." He refused to provide other details and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Al-Momani declined comment, but said he may issue a written statement later. His editorial pointed out that the Danish paper, Jyllands-Posten, had apologized, "but for some reason, nobody in the Muslim world wants to hear the apology." "Who offends Islam more? A foreigner who endeavors to draw the Prophet as described by hisfollowers in the world, or a Muslim armed with an explosive belt who commits suicide in a wedding party in Amman or anywhere else," the editorial said, referring to one of the triple Amman hotel bombings carried out by al-Qaida bombers last November. Government spokesman Nasser Judeh said Shihan committed a "big mistake" by reprinting some of the drawings. "The government strongly denounces this issue, which it considers extremely harmful, and demands an immediate apology from the newspaper for this flagrant mistake," Judeh said. He said the state is reviewing "all options, especially legal action" against Shihan.
The storm spilleth over into the saucer. In fact, with the story now front page news I look forward to pages on it in the Sunday broadsheets.
The "storm in a tea cup" spreads: New York Times reports that several European papers have published the pictures: In support of the Danish position, newspapers in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland reprinted some of the cartoons on Wednesday. A small Norwegian evangelical magazine, Magazinet, also published the cartoons last month. Although there is sometimes safety in numbers, don't they know how many Islamic militants there are out there?
AP News reports that a Jordanian newspaper ran the cartoons yesterday (Thursday), and the editor has already been sacked:
AMMAN (AP)--A Jordanian newspaper took the bold step Thursday of publishing the Danish caricatures of Prophet Muhammad that have outraged Muslims, resulting in the dismissal of the weekly's chief editor and a stern government threat of legal action. Jihad al-Momani, chief editor of the Arabic Shihan, told The Associated Press that he reprinted the cartoons to show readers "the extent of the Danish offense." But a Shihan editorial - signed by al-Momani and entitled "Muslims of the world, be reasonable" - also questioned what sparked the Muslim uproar now, months after the cartoons were first published in September. Hours later, Shihan's owner - the Arab Publishers Company - fired al-Momani for the reprints,saying the editor caused a "shock to the firm and those responsible for it," the official Petranews agency reported. It said the firm withdrew the weekly's edition from the market and opened an investigation to determine if other staff were involved. A spokesman for the Arab Publishers Company confirmed Petra's report. He said al-Momani's"termination is conclusive." He refused to provide other details and spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Al-Momani declined comment, but said he may issue a written statement later. His editorial pointed out that the Danish paper, Jyllands-Posten, had apologized, "but for some reason, nobody in the Muslim world wants to hear the apology." "Who offends Islam more? A foreigner who endeavors to draw the Prophet as described by hisfollowers in the world, or a Muslim armed with an explosive belt who commits suicide in a wedding party in Amman or anywhere else," the editorial said, referring to one of the triple Amman hotel bombings carried out by al-Qaida bombers last November. Government spokesman Nasser Judeh said Shihan committed a "big mistake" by reprinting some of the drawings. "The government strongly denounces this issue, which it considers extremely harmful, and demands an immediate apology from the newspaper for this flagrant mistake," Judeh said. He said the state is reviewing "all options, especially legal action" against Shihan.
The storm spilleth over into the saucer. In fact, with the story now front page news I look forward to pages on it in the Sunday broadsheets.
posted by Jambutty at 7:55 am
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