Freedom of Speech PING!Campus cartoon showing planned: It prompts anger by Muslim groups
ASSOCIATED PRESS ^ | February 26, 2006 | By Gillian Flaccus
Posted on 02/26/2006 2:09:42 PM PST by DogByte6RER
Campus cartoon showing planned
It prompts anger by Muslim groups
By Gillian Flaccus ASSOCIATED PRESS
February 26, 2006
IRVINE – The cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked mass demonstrations across the Middle East and Europe are causing unrest on a smaller scale at the University of California Irvine, after a student group announced plans to “unveil” the drawings at a panel on Islamic extremism.
The panel, which is scheduled to take place on campus Tuesday, has prompted angry reaction from several Muslim groups, including the school's Muslim Student Union. Another group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, was invited to participate in the panel but is boycotting it, said spokeswoman Sabiha Kahn.
The debate surrounding the student panel follows incidents at other campuses, including Harvard University and the University of Illinois, where student newspapers published the Danish cartoons of the Muslim prophet with a bomb in his turban.
“To have a negative portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad is a slap in the face, and we have an obligation to defend our prophet against slurs on his reputation,” said Marya Bangee, a sophomore at UC Irvine and a member of the Muslim Student Union. “They're trying to draw a link between Islam and terrorism and that's what we've been trying all along to stop.”
Organizers say the panel is aimed at promoting dialogue about the cartoons, which have gone largely unpublished in the U.S. media for fear of offending Muslims.
The panel will also discuss Islamic extremism and provide examples of anti-Western, anti-Christian and anti-Semitic drawings that have appeared in some Middle Eastern newspapers, said Jesse Petrilla, founder of The United American Committee, an event organizer.
“How can you confront an issue when people don't even see what's going on and what the bottom line is? We really need to get it out on the table,” he said. “This is the freest nation in the world, and if we can't discuss things openly without being afraid, then we're losing sight of something important.”
Bangee said the Muslim Student Union has asked The College Republicans, which joined with The United American Committee to sponsor the event, to pull its affiliation. Without the student Republicans, the event couldn't go forward because The United American Committee is not a registered student group at UC Irvine.
The university has more than 2,000 Muslim-American students.
The Muslim Student Union has received hate mail related to the prophet drawings and has contacted campus police for additional security should the panel go forward, Bangee said.
A College Republicans representative didn't return calls for comment.
Bangee said Muslim students may hold a peaceful teach-in and protest next door to the event if they are unable to stop it.
The Muslim Student Union at UC Irvine last drew national attention in 2004 when more than two dozen students wore green stoles to their graduation. They said the stoles symbolized their faith, but others said the clothing represented allegiance to the militant group Hamas and was meant to intimidate Jewish students.
Thousands of Muslims worldwide have protested – sometimes violently – against the drawings of the Prophet Muhammad after they were published in a Danish newspaper in September. The drawings are offensive to Muslims because Islamic tradition bans any depiction of Muhammad.
CLICK HERE for the rest of that thread
The UAE has also boycotted the Danes because of the Muhammed cartoons.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/02/08/cartoon.protests/index.html
The cartoons have prompted boycotts of Danish goods throughout the Muslim world. In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, travel agents said travelers were not booking flights to Denmark or Norway.
Also in UAE, a university professor was fired after distributing copies of the cartoons to her students. The nation's minister of education, Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahan, said he ordered Clauda Keepoz's dismissal because "her behavior has nothing to do with the freedom of expression."
http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=5256
Protests against “blasphemous” cartoons mounts in Islamic nations
Jan. 31,2006
[snip] Burnt flags, political condemnation, and appeals for a boycott are involving even traditionally moderate Islamic nations, like Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. The Arab League and Organizations from the Islamic who announced their intention to appeal to the United Nations for a resolution blocking all forms of attacks against religious faiths.
But the wave of protest continues. “It’s cultural terrorism, not freedom of expression” intoned Mohammad al-Dhaheri, Minister for Justice and Islamic affairs of the United Arab Emirates.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0201/dailyUpdate.html
In an editorial, the Khaleej Times of the United Arab Emirates expressed dismay that the Danish government has not formally apologized for the episode.
"The prime minister [Danish] continues to defend the insensitive newspaper in the name of ‘media freedom’. All freedom including that of the media comes with responsibility. Mocking people’s deeply held religious beliefs and sentiments is no media freedom. It’s sheer and unpardonable callousness."