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Anger intensifies in Europe over cartoons ~
Japan Herald ^ | Thursday 9th February, 2006 | staff

Posted on 02/09/2006 11:46:14 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach

Embassies set ablaze, goods boycotted, citizens warned not to travel to certain volatile regions for fear of their safety, this time the target is Europe, where more than a dozen newspapers have reprinted controversial cartoons of the Muslim prophet, Muhammad.

Middle East and North Africa specialist at the International Study and Research Center in Paris, Luis Martinez, says it is a troubling sign for Europe. He says, until now, Europe has been able to convince Arab societies in particular to forget certain historical facts, such as the Christian Crusades and European colonization of their countries. Europe now has a more peaceful image as a soft power in the Arab world, which has functioned more or less successfully.

But that appears to be changing. In the past two weeks, angry protesters have torched and attacked European embassies and staged angry demonstrations in the Middle East, Asia, and parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Much of their ire has been directed at Denmark, where a newspaper first printed the cartoons last September.

Several Middle Eastern countries have recalled their ambassadors from Denmark to protest the drawings.

A Middle East expert at the Royal Institute of International Relations in London, Richard Whitman, says many of the protests target Europe as a whole.


'It does not matter, perhaps, if people in your country did not reproduce the cartoons. It looks as if Europeans collectively are being hit hard. And the response is going to have to be a collective one. All governments are going to have to decide how they want to respond to such strident public opposition in third countries,' he said.

European leaders have joined pleas for calm by religious and other international figures. Many have balanced support for free speech with calls for the media and others to respect religious sensitivities.

The newspaper that published the cartoons originally, apologized, but Muslim anger against the cartoons does not appear to be dying down.

Some experts like Antoine Basbous, the director of the Paris Observatory of Arab Countries, believe that Muslim anger could leave a lasting diplomatic impact, particularly when it comes to Europe's ties with North Africa and the Middle East.

He says that, at the moment, relations between Europe and the Arab world are under control. But that may change, he says. And what he calls 'regimes in difficulty', notably Syria and Iran, may try to use anger on the Muslim streets to suit their own, political purposes.

Publicly, European officials argue the cartoons are unlikely to erode their ties with the Muslim world.


European Commission spokeswoman Emma Udwin notes these bonds are long standing.

'Our efforts to bridge across the Mediterranean, to deepen our links with the Islamic world are not something new, they are not something recent. They are something which stretches back over more than a decade. And our partnership is well known and well understood in Islamic countries, not only in the Middle East, but in Indonesia, Afghanistan. We have Islamic partners all over the world who know us as a major donor, as a major investor, as a major trade partner,' she said.

Those ties include a Europe-Mediterranean partnership between the European Union and Middle Eastern and North African countries. Europe is also the Palestinian Authority's biggest source of foreign funds and North Africa's largest trade partner.

But Europe's relationship with the Middle East is changing, and not just because of the cartoons.

Just a few years ago, Europe split bitterly over the war in Iraq, with a number of countries joining in protesting the U.S.-led conflict. Now, the European Union has joined the United States in calling for sanctions against Iran because of its nuclear program.

Washington and Brussels also have sharply criticized Syria for meddling in Lebanon, and expressed misgivings over Hamas' recent victory in the Palestinian elections.


The Royal Institute's Whitman suggests the cartoons push Europe and the United States closer in other ways.

'I do wonder whether the long-term consequence will actually be not to reverse the hostility the U.S. faces, but for Europeans to be bracketed much more closely with the United States in a kind of demonology of 'nasty forces' impacting on Islam. The United Kingdom already feels this of course, because it is already much more closely associated with the U.S. in the war on terror and the war in Iraq. And I do wonder now whether the honeymoon period for Europe's relationship with the Islamic world is now going to be over,' he said.

The biggest impact from the cartoons on Europe has been economic.

There have been scattered boycotts of European, and particularly, Danish products. Iran has severed its trade ties with Denmark, and Iraq has refused to accept Danish transportation funds or give contracts to Danish companies.

Some analysts question whether there will be more severe, long-term harm to economic relations between Europe and the Muslim world.

But some experts doubt the cartoons will leave much long-term impact when it comes to Europe's relationship with Islamic countries. That includes University of Copenhagen International Relations Professor Fabrizio Tassinari.


'I honestly do not think this specific issue has to do with the European policy on, for instance, the Israeli-Arab conflict or generally speaking the policy of a number of European countries toward Arab-Muslim countries,' he said. 'It has to do with how to deal with issues of freedom of speech and freedom of press, and how to do that in a multi-cultural society,'

Many European countries hope Tassinari's predictions prove correct, but that still leaves them with the dilemma of how to calm the anger in the Muslim world.br>


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: cartoonrage; incident; india; infidel; iran; islam; israel; isreal; malaysia; muslim; protests
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1 posted on 02/09/2006 11:46:16 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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The Crusades? Sorry, but Islam brought on the Crusades.


2 posted on 02/09/2006 11:48:22 PM PST by oolatec
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To: oolatec

They should put those things on Cartoon Network.....and how about Crazy Frog versus Muhammed?


3 posted on 02/09/2006 11:49:10 PM PST by BurbankKarl
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

FTB. "T" stands for "the" or "them".


4 posted on 02/09/2006 11:49:28 PM PST by GSlob
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Forget the Christian Crusades and the colonization of THEIR land, huh?

But out of curiosity, how did that land become theirs in the first place? What, they just convinced everyone to become a Muslim in those lands, right?

I'm really tired of the Crusades being represented the way they are. As if it were wholly a Christian aggression campaign.

If we in Christian nations destroyed 10,000 mosques in an area probably no larger than Texas, we'd probably be hearing from our Muslim buddies, too.


5 posted on 02/09/2006 11:50:04 PM PST by CheyennePress
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To: BurbankKarl

One thing that I've learned by this is that Islam is a joke.


6 posted on 02/09/2006 11:50:10 PM PST by Loud Mime (Republicans protect Americans from terrorists, Democrats protect terrorists from Americans)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

What utter rot. Truly stupid writing. The VICTIMS are responsible for being the subject of violence? The Muslims are the ones that should be worried. They are showing their TRUE face to the EU and it is SCARING Europe. The Muzzies are eliminating the EU's neutrality and driving it onto the US's side.


7 posted on 02/09/2006 11:51:55 PM PST by MNJohnnie ("Vote Democrat-We are the party of reactionary inertia".)
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To: MNJohnnie

Iran really, really wants those nukes,....Europe should be very afraid!!!


8 posted on 02/09/2006 11:53:49 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach (History is soon Forgotten,)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

bttt


9 posted on 02/09/2006 11:57:42 PM PST by nopardons
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To: Loud Mime

Dude, Islam may be a joke [and a bad one at that] but it's a dangerous one. The basic difference between the Islam world and the West is simply this: We [Democrats/PC police/liberal media/Greenie weinies, etc]want to talk to them and make them feel fuzzy and warm. Give them warm milk and tuck them in bed. "they" [Islamofascist's]want to kill us. There isn't talking to a radical fascist Muslim, in his eye's you and I are not human, not worth spiting on never mind talking to.We're an avenue to an ends .. spill my blood and get 72 vestal virgins. Turn it all into a parking lot for the 1 billion drivers in India.


10 posted on 02/09/2006 11:57:52 PM PST by pediatricsman
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

And this:

Leh: Curfew imposed as Buddhists, Muslims clash (KASHMIR, India)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1575228/posts?page=22


Muslims are at war with everyone.


11 posted on 02/09/2006 11:58:38 PM PST by CarrotAndStick (The articles posted by me needn't necessarily reflect my opinion.)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach
'It does not matter, perhaps, if people in your country did not reproduce the cartoons.

They think europeans are soft. Destroy all mosques in europe deport ALL muslims.

12 posted on 02/09/2006 11:59:41 PM PST by kimosabe31
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Europe collapsing, Islam spreading, the Red Dragon arming, the Bear being the Bear,

...and the Eagle muzzled and tied down. What a world!


13 posted on 02/09/2006 11:59:55 PM PST by Falcon28
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To: Falcon28

Yep ... keep your powder dry falcon, keep it dry.


14 posted on 02/10/2006 12:02:05 AM PST by pediatricsman
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To: pediatricsman

80 million Americans own 250 million guns. yup.


15 posted on 02/10/2006 12:03:36 AM PST by Falcon28
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To: Falcon28

I just hope that most of those 80 Million know how to use them!


16 posted on 02/10/2006 12:04:44 AM PST by pediatricsman
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To: MNJohnnie
The Muzzies are eliminating the EU's neutrality and driving it onto the US's side.

There never was any "neutrality." from Europe, the land that wiped the Jews off the face of Eurasia.

Europe was firmly pro muslim, but this may drive them into a neutral stance.

17 posted on 02/10/2006 12:11:05 AM PST by bill1952 ("All that we do is done with an eye towards something else.")
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

It seems that Europe is so troubled if they'll loose their ties with the Muslim world... what if they will loose it, will Europe plunge into difficulties?


18 posted on 02/10/2006 12:13:21 AM PST by Filipino (Submission to Islam is submission to slavery. Ask the muslims!)
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To: kimosabe31
They think europeans are soft. Destroy all mosques in europe deport ALL muslims.

Go go go...Move it.. move it!

Europe should not allow the Muslims to reach even 50% of its total population..

19 posted on 02/10/2006 12:19:38 AM PST by Filipino (Submission to Islam is submission to slavery. Ask the muslims!)
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To: pediatricsman; Falcon28
80 million Americans own 250 million guns. yup.

The problem is that about 240 million of the guns are in Texas.

What's that joke about "we ain't played cowboys and muslims yet"?

20 posted on 02/10/2006 12:20:29 AM PST by Stegall Tx (I probably should go back to work one of these days....)
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