The Reality of the Situation

Hey friends,

There has been so much noise about the way the Muslims are reacting towards the cartoon controversy. Much has been made of the violent Muslims in the media. I wish these Muslims would not resort to such tactics. Even the ones who are holding peaceful demonstartions are carrying placards and banners with phrases like "massacre those who insult Islam" and "Slay those who insult Islam." Why must we apply our own code of punishment on someone who is not even a Muslim, let alone living in a different country than ours?

However, let me mention here the double standards the Danish media has. Arab News reporter Tarek Mishkhas has written an article 'Something Is Rotten in the State of Denmark,' in which he exposes the hypocrisy that exists in the Danish media. The reality of the situation is that there is a LAW in Denmark which does not allow for such kind of freedom of expression so why the double standards when it comes to Islam?

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The Danish constitution says:

"The law prohibits publicly disseminated statements, which threaten, insult, or degrade persons based on their religion."

And this law was used by the Danish government to condemn "anti-Semitic" activities and investigate them, as mentioned in the human rights report made by the US Department of State regarding Denmark in 2004:

"From January through June, there were five incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism, primarily graffiti, and one incident of an anti-Semitic mailing, which the government condemned and investigated."

Why a different stand when it comes to Islam? Of course there is nothing new in this. In April last year the queen of Denmark was quoted by the Telegraph newspaper as saying that we (Denmark) "should show our opposition to Islam".

She said: "We are being challenged by Islam these years - globally as well as locally. It is a challenge we have to take seriously. We have let this issue float about for too long because we are tolerant and lazy.

"We have to show our opposition to Islam and we have to, at times, run the risk of having unflattering labels placed on us because there are some things for which we should display no tolerance."

These countries that boast about freedom of speech and freedom of press are the same countries that make it illegal and punishable by prison for anyone to question the holocaust or brandish Nazi symbols in public.

In France a university professor was sacked because he made a research questioning the magnitude of the Holocaust. In Germany one risks going to jail if one denies the Holocaust or brandishes Nazi symbols in public.

In fact the Italian interior minister confirmed on Thursday that legal action is being taken against 11 football fans for brandishing Nazi symbols during a Serie A game. The 11 face prison sentences of between three months and one year.

There are many examples to show that freedom of press in Europe stops when it comes to some historical facts that two can differ upon, but when it is about insulting Islam then it is freedom of speech.

No freedom is absolute; a person's freedom ends when it encroaches into another person's freedom.

Muslim governments should ask the United Nations to pass a law against insulting any religion. We should use all our resources and powers - economical and political - to make this happen.
If we stay silent now then we will never be able to raise our heads.
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Such hypocrisy exists in their own backyards and they are the ones accusing us of double standards. There has to be a fine line drawn between free speech, satire and insult as these lins have been blurry for now.

Mansur