Readers in the Mail & Guardian Online‘s discussion forums have been sharply divided in the past week regarding the world’s reactions to the controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that first appeared in a Danish newspaper last year.
The caricatures, which were first published on the Danish Jyllands-Posten website and then reprinted in a number of European newspapers, have resulted in a major uproar in the Middle East, violent and sometimes deadly protests in several countries and a boycott of Danish goods.
Some M&G Online forum users feel newspapers shouldn’t be prevented from publishing the cartoons, citing freedom of expression; others say the timing was wrong, considering the myriad troubles in the Middle East; and some feel that more sensitivity is necessary when dealing with religion.
The M&G is the only South African newspaper to have printed one of the cartoons, and M&G editor Ferial Haffajee has since received abusive letters and SMSs.
M&G Online forum user Dzel commented: ”The issue is not whether the [Danish] newspaper was morally right to publish the cartoons (no, it wasn’t), but whether it should be legally prevented from or punished for publishing them (no, it shouldn’t).”
Another user, Xavier, reacted to the boycott of Danish products and said: ”They are doing an economical boycott to Danish products … How many Danish people are going to die now?
”Keep in mind that England never did a boycott [of] Irish products. Not even in the [worst] days of IRA [Irish Republic Army] attacks. Sales of Guinness were never affected. So this is a good example to compare attitudes,” he said.
Contributor Panda Dryad said: ”Personally I think this issue is being used by a bunch of fundamentalists to gain leverage in Europe. If they can start to dictate what gets published in newspapers, what’s to stop them demanding more concessions, like newspapers not accepting ads from Israeli companies?”
”Why will someone run a cartoon like that one at this time when the Middle East is boiling with anger and frustration?” asked another user, Masantase.
In South Africa, the Sunday Times was banned from publishing the cartoons after a Muslim pressure group, Jamiat-ul Ulama, was granted a court interdict last weekend.
The Muslim group sought an interdict against Johncom Media and Independent Newspapers, among others, and said the cartoons were ”deeply offensive”.
A statement from the South African National Editors’ Forum this week said it believed the interdict was ”alarming” and amounted to pre-publication censorship.
According to Haffajee, some pressure groups have threatened to march on the M&G‘s offices in Johannesburg.
Safiyyah Ally, a Muslim writer, published an article on Altmuslim.com on Wednesday last week, saying: ”I’m quite troubled over the cartoon controversy in Denmark, not because of the cartoons themselves, which I agree are offensive, but rather because of the absurd overreaction of Muslims worldwide. We haven’t learned from the [Salman] Rushdie affair — this is yet another instance where we’ve gone out of our way to make ourselves look stupid.”
Ally went on to say that although the publication of the cartoons in Denmark and Norway may be in ”bad taste” and could be ”insensitive”, the Danish newspaper that published them had a point.
”Freedom of expression allows individuals to express themselves in ways that may upset or offend others. Yes, that freedom is to be balanced with freedom of religion, but even so, adherents of any faith cannot expect that they will never be offended. That is the price we pay for the freedoms we enjoy.
”Some may claim this is a good time to bring out those old blasphemy laws, but I disagree. In fact, I would argue there are no justifiable grounds for blasphemy laws in liberal democracies,” he wrote.
Forum contributor Werfbobbejaan reacted to Ally’s article and said: ”At least there is a Muslim, Mr Yusuf, who is appalled by the all the misbehaviour and hoo-hah about the Danish cartoons of the prophet Muhammad!”
Another contributor, Rumble, commented: ”I ask: Is it not about time that we stopped being so scared and openly challenge a religion that is intolerant and archaic in its approach to any other religions or people that question their ideals, or are other religions just going to allow themselves to be pushed around and not allowed to practise or preach their philosophy freely?”
However, contributor Dzel defended the reactions of Muslims and said the ”cartoons are an attack on a religious figure, not a mere mortal like you and I”.
”I don’t need to point out how many deaths have been committed in the name of religion dating back to [before Christ] times, till today.
”I do not condone murder in the name of religion, I am merely making a point that people across all religions are very sensitive when it comes to their respective religions and the reactions we are seeing are predictable at the very least,” he said.
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