Posted on 02/15/2006 11:33:18 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Muslim students are upset by the Badger Herald newspaper's decision to reprint one of the notorious cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad.
Muslim students at UW-Madison have met with campus officials, are planning a campus forum on Tuesday, and are considering whether to stage protests.
The cartoons, originally published in a right-wing Danish newspaper in September, have sparked worldwide demonstrations, including violent clashes with police in countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. Most American newspapers have decided against printing the cartoons.
But after a University of Illinois newspaper was criticized for republishing the cartoons, the editorial board at the Badger Herald decided to stand in solidarity with that newspaper, said Mac VerStandig, the newspaper's editor-in-chief.
The Badger Herald printed the cartoon, which shows the image of the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb as his turban, on its editorial page in Monday's edition. It was accompanied by an editorial that stated "the cartoons in question are clearly newsworthy and it is our firm belief that the media ought not be a gatekeeper guided by prude censorship, but rather a vehicle of facilitation in the grand marketplace of ideas."
VerStandig said the image is clearly offensive, but it didn't make sense that publications were reporting on the protests and violence that the cartoon sparked, but were not showing their readers the actual cartoons.
"There's the old cliche, images speak louder than words," VerStandig said. "It's the most difficult decision I've made since becoming editor of the paper, but one I stand behind."
Muslim students on campus were outraged after seeing the cartoon on Monday, said Babar Basir, president of the Muslim Students' Association at UW-Madison. Many were also upset last week when the Badger Herald published an original cartoon that incorporated the controversial image.
"They just wanted to test the limits," Basir said. "You don't see the consequences of something like this unless you walk in Muslim shoes."
The Muslim Student Association met with Interim Dean of Students Lori Berquam on Tuesday, who passed along her thoughts to Chancellor John Wiley, who was out of town. Wiley sent out a long response to the publication of the cartoon late Tuesday. In his response, Wiley acknowledged the controversial choices the editors made and the "indignation and revulsion" that has followed, but declined to take the paper to task.
Passionate letters to the editor poured into the Badger Herald, with many of them displayed on the newspaper's Web site.
There are two events being organized in response to the publication. The Dean of Students office is organizing a forum for Tuesday to discuss the cartoon, including an expert on Islam, a journalism professor and representatives of the Muslim Students Association and the Badger Herald. It will be at 7 p.m. in Room 272 Bascom Hall.
The association is also sponsoring an art exhibit about the life of the Prophet Muhammad on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Memorial Union.
As for public demonstrations, "We're still thinking about everything, let's see how it goes," Basir said. "A lot of this is just due to ignorance. We'll just try to combat this ignorance with education, just to explain to people what Islam is about, and let them see for themselves."
James Baughman, director of the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said if it were up to him, he wouldn't have run the cartoon because it is offensive to a lot of people. But he said it does serve a purpose in sparking a civic debate.
"I thought they showed a lot of guts running it," Baughman said. "The Herald has, for a long time, been a real champion of free speech. For a lot of people, this is an acid test."
James Danky, a UW journalism school lecturer, said the editorial that accompanied the cartoon was eloquent and well thought-out. But he said the students didn't need to reprint the cartoon to make that point, and noted it was widely available on the Internet if people wanted to find it.
"Student journalists are exactly that," he said, emphasizing that they are students. "They're young and less experienced and passionate and do many interesting things. But it doesn't mean they don't make mistakes."
Scooped ya! :)
BADGER! BADGER! BADGER! BADGER! MUSHROOM!............
Don't make these people mad by insulting their child molsting, murdering psycho leader of the religion of peace.
I want it on THE billboard on Sunset Strip!!
The only "forum" Muslims are interested is how to best shut people up through intimidation & lawsuits, how to blow things up, etc.
Wisconsin Crusaders ? Who knew ?
Maybe these Professional Muslim Students shouldn't have a look at F.R. They'd become apoplectic!
Does this mean that when the wife & I come up to visit the VA Hospital on the 28th we need to come armed?
Send the islamics to the European blogs on the subject. It'll drive them right out of their minds (not that they have far to go).
""They just wanted to test the limits," Basir said. "You don't see the consequences of something like this unless you walk in Muslim shoes."'
Ahhhh.....what limits?!?
Limits imposed by who? Moslems? On who? Americans and Westerners?
Ding, ding, ding ... we have a winner.
These pictures need to be as prevalent here as pictures of Mao were in China ... maybe then they'll get the point.
--at least they still aren't doing as much damage as the "students" do on Halloween---
Wow. Considering how liberal and PC the University of Wisconsin is (remember Donna Shalayla (sp?) was President there), this is very surprising to me. I would have thought they would have cowered to not offending anyone. Good for them...
The hidden story in this controversy is that MSM newspapers have in the past published lots of cartoons depicting the Islamic Prophet Mohammed. See, for example, the Chicago Tribune of 11-1-1990. They want this kept secret for fear of a reaction, and for fear their hypocrisy will be further exposed.
Was this the cartoon with moohammed wearing a bomb, or the one with moohammed sporting a pancake on his head?
One of his cartoon strips featured a violent and drunken film-noir detective named Nick Lush. Each adventure would end with a gory finale with intestines spilling and blood flying, much to the consternation of many.
After the fall of the Shah in Iran, he started a strip called "Holy War Funnies". I remember one in which Ayatollah Khomeini was having a meeting and proposed a motion, asked for a show of hands of those who opposed it. When the other members attempted to raise their hands, they had all been amputated for some infraction of some Muslim law, so the Ayatollah announced that his motion had passed. That one really got people bent out of shape. Remember, this was 1979-ish, and political correctness was just a dream in some commie/liberal's mind. Despite calls to discontinue the strip, he kept with it, and the paper supported him (as did the students)
After Carter's Keystone Kops-styled rescue attempt, the cartoonist brought back his drunken detective with "Nick Lush: Assignment Tehran", in which Nick freed the hostages while blowing large holes in lots of Iranian terrorists.
Ah, those were the days when we could make fun of ignorant terrorist jihadis with impunity....
The real question here is...where were these Muslim students when the twin towers and the Pentagon were destroyed? Did they protest that? If not, then tell 'em to go straight to hell and leave. Bullies can't have it both ways and if they don't like it, tough. It is their religion that created this mess, and like a lot of folks, I don't really care if they stay mad as it just makes it easier to really pi$$ 'em off!
The world's most violent belief system has yet another chance to prove it's violence.
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