From: Andrew Johnson
Date: 2006-02-09 23:34:57
…which countries was it that we want to invade. Um…. Iran? Yeah! Syria – Yeah! news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/… What about Egypt then? That’s an Arab Muslim country isn’t it? www.worldnetdaily.co… Hmm – not sure…. How can we get public support though. Got it! What about a Media Psy-Op – they’ve worked before – so they can work again! Sort it out using the backroom boys will you. Just dump a box of Danish flags on the street at the appropriate time. What a wheeze that would be!! Up front we can have Hannerty & Co in the USA – it should be a pushover! Beeb will do us proud in the UK! (Both stories below) BBC – Story: Iran and Syria ‘incited violence’ The US secretary of state has accused Iran and Syria of fuelling anti-Western sentiment, in a row over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad. Condoleezza Rice said both countries had used the opportunity to incite violence and exploit Muslim anger. The accusation came after Western embassies came under attack in Iran, Syria and Lebanon. Meanwhile the Danish government severed ties with local clerics, saying they had stirred up anti-Danish feeling. Radical Danish imams made two visits to the Middle East in December and January to complain about the 12 cartoons to political and religious leaders. The cartoons, first published in a Danish newspaper in September, show the Muslim Prophet Muhammad in a variety of humorous or satirical situations. They include images of the Prophet carrying a lit bomb on his head and brandishing a sword. But one of the clerics, Ahmed Akari, told the BBC the imams carried three extra caricatures of Muhammad that were far more inflammatory than the original 12, and were believed to have been drawn by extremists as part of a hatemail campaign. Mr Akari said the imams had added them to their dossier to demonstrate the kind of attitudes that Muslims were facing in Denmark. He insisted they were not intended to aggravate reaction in the Middle East. Protests against the cartoons have continued, with four killed in an Afghan demonstration. The deaths – at a protest by about 400 people in the town of Qalat – bring to 12 the number of people killed in Afghan protests over the cartoons in recent days. Afghanistan’s top council of Muslim clerics has called for an end to several days of demonstrations. In other developments: French magazine Charlie Hebdo becomes the latest to print the cartoons Hackers attack hundreds of Danish websites, posting pro-Islamic messages condemning publication of the images Several hundred people march on the Italian embassy in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, but are blocked by police International observers leave their mission in the West Bank town of Hebron, following an attack by hundreds of Palestinian protesters. ‘Sentiments inflamed’ Speaking at a joint news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Ms Rice said some countries were behaving responsibly with regard to the row but that others “have also used this opportunity to incite violence.” CARTOON ROW 30 Sept 2005: Danish paper publishes cartoons 20 Oct: Muslim ambassadors complain to Danish PM 10 Jan 2006: Norwegian publication reprints cartoons 30 Jan: Gunmen raid EU’s Gaza office demanding apology 1 Feb: Papers in France, Germany, Italy and Spain reprint cartoons 4 Feb: Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus attacked 5 Feb: Protesters set alight Danish embassy in Beirut 6-7 Feb: At least eight killed in protests in Afghanistan “I don’t have any doubt that … Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiments and to use this to their own purposes. And the world ought to call them on it,” she said. On Wednesday, about 200 Iranian demonstrators attacked the UK embassy in Tehran, but were prevented by police from forcing entry to the building. The Danish and Norwegian embassies in Iran have also been attacked, while those in Beirut and Damascus were set on fire at the weekend. There have also been violent clashes across the Muslim world since the end of January when some European newspapers republished the cartoons. Arab and Muslim ambassadors complained to the Danish government about the cartoons last October – calling for Muslim feelings to be respected – but were told that there was nothing the government could do. In a separate statement, US President George W Bush urged governments to prevent attacks on diplomatic missions. “I call upon the governments around the world to stop the violence, to be respectful, to protect property, protect the lives of innocent diplomats who are serving their countries overseas,” he said. French President Jacques Chirac, however, focused on the European media, condemning decisions to republish the cartoons as an “overt provocation”. Story from BBC NEWS:news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr… Worldnet Story: www.worldnetdaily.co… Thursday, February 9, 2006 MEDIA MATTERSArab paper published cartoons 4 months agoNo outrage when Egyptian publication headlined drawings on Ramadan cover Posted: February 9, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Muhammad cartoon on Egypt’s al-Fagr newspaper cover in October 2005 (courtesy: Freedom for Egyptians) While Muslims across the world have rioted in the past week against countries whose newspapers have published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, there was no uproar when the same caricatures were prominently displayed in an Arab newspaper four months ago. The images originating in Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten in September were reportedly featured on the cover and inside pages of Egypt’s al-Fagr (the Dawn) in October, during the holy month of Ramadan. According to the Freedom for Egyptians blog, al-Fagr included the cartoons on the front cover and page 17 of its edition dated Oct. 17. The headline, when translated, is said to read: “Continued Boldness. Mocking the Prophet and his wife by Caricature.” Muhammad cartoons on page 17 of Egypt’s al-Fagr newspaper in October 2005 (courtesy: Egyptian Sandmonkey blog) “The Egyptian paper criticized the bad taste of the cartoons but it did not incite hatred protests,” notes the blog. “It would have been better that this [current] holy war against Denmark be launched during the holy month of Ramadan as many Muslims believe that Jihad during Ramadan would have been more worthy. This irrelevant outrage timing is but a sign that this violent response to the cartoons is politically motivated by Muslim extremists in Europe and the so-called secular governments of the Middle East. I want also to mention that despite the fact that all editors who tried to reprint the cartoons in the Middle East nowadays were arrested, the Egyptian editors went unharmed.” To date, at least 10 people have been killed in Afghanistan alone from Muslim riots in connection with the cartoons, though protests have been taking place in many countries throughout Europe and the Mideast. Some 4,000 angry Muslims took to the streets of the Egyptian capital of Cairo this week, though there were no protests when al-Fagr published the images during Ramadan in October. Interestingly, an Associated Press story in the Khaleej Times of the United Arab Emirates reports al-Fagr reprinted copies of the cartoons this week, but published only “the upper half of some of the controversial cartoons, omitting any facial representations. Adel Hamoudah, editor of al-Fagr, said he took copies of the cartoons from the Internet for the Tuesday edition and published them as a means of emphasizing their ‘impudence.’ He did not explain, however, why he chose only to print the upper half of the caricatures.” It’s not clear if the paper even mentioned it previously published the entire images on its cover and interior in October. “This tells me one thing, at least, and that is the Egyptians who get this newspaper and who took to the streets are either incredibly stupid, hypocritical, or both,” said an anonymous poster on FFE’s blog. “They are stupid because they believe what they’re told by the Arab press in the previous week without checking for the facts. They are hypocritical if they protested the second time they saw the cartoons and not protested when it was first printed. Here, I’m going to go out on a limb and say ‘both.'” Meanwhile in the U.S., the AP, the largest news-gathering organization in the world, is being attacked by a California newspaper editor over the wire service’s refusal to distribute the cartoons of Muhammad. “But what is incredible is that the Associated Press, which distributes news stories and photos from across the globe, has decided that you shouldn’t see it,” writes editor Don Holland of the Daily Press in Victorville, Calif. “What is offensive is that AP fancies itself to be the guardian of good taste for thousands of American newspapers rather than letting individual newspapers make that decision.
