i'm sure many of you have heard about the prophet mohammad caricature debacle. the danish cartoon has caused social unrest amongst muslims all over the world, especially in the middle east where this has given way to senseless violence and killings of innocents.
many will agree that they cartoon should never have been published. unfortunately, they had no way of knowing the repercussions that they would soon have to face and at the point of publication, nothing could have been said or done to stop the newspaper from releasing the caricature and to go against their belief of 'freedom of press'.
as a result, there was an initial backlash - which was to be expected - of mild protest and a demand of an apology, which was rightly given. all was very diplomatic until radicals in the region of the first few publications brought it over to the middle east, with the whole thing probably blown out of proportions.
the muslims in turn feel that their faith has been trampled upon and that they are not gaining the respect from west. nonetheless, those who are responding violently to the cartoons are really going overboard. one muslim government representative said, 'prophet mohammad would not want to be represented for this way'. newspapers report that many are reacting in this manner because this was the 'straw that broke their backs'. many are so replete with anger over their staus quo that this one unfortunate event was all that was needed to spark the violence. even so, embassies attacked and destroyed, flags burnt, the taleban putting a price (of 100kg of gold) over the artist's head and over the head's of innocents (5kg of gold over danish, german and norwegian soldiers)... its too much.
it just goes to show how ignorant some of the developed countries are and how they take things, like the freedom of press, for granted. just because a country enjoys this form of liberation and can say or do or print whatever they wish doesnt mean that it will be globally accepted; and with the world shrinking by the minute since the start of globalisation, news spreads fast. sure, the people over at the danish newpaper would never, in their wildest most craziest dreams, have expected the backlash to be so catastrophic, but i'm sure something along the lines definitely crossed their minds and practicing restraint at the cost of freedom of press would, without a doubt, have been a better option.
freedom of press between countries cannot exist in a world where not every country has embraced this form of liberation. especially in such times where racial issues are still touchy topics in certain parts of the world, and will probably be for a really long time.
many will agree that they cartoon should never have been published. unfortunately, they had no way of knowing the repercussions that they would soon have to face and at the point of publication, nothing could have been said or done to stop the newspaper from releasing the caricature and to go against their belief of 'freedom of press'.
as a result, there was an initial backlash - which was to be expected - of mild protest and a demand of an apology, which was rightly given. all was very diplomatic until radicals in the region of the first few publications brought it over to the middle east, with the whole thing probably blown out of proportions.
the muslims in turn feel that their faith has been trampled upon and that they are not gaining the respect from west. nonetheless, those who are responding violently to the cartoons are really going overboard. one muslim government representative said, 'prophet mohammad would not want to be represented for this way'. newspapers report that many are reacting in this manner because this was the 'straw that broke their backs'. many are so replete with anger over their staus quo that this one unfortunate event was all that was needed to spark the violence. even so, embassies attacked and destroyed, flags burnt, the taleban putting a price (of 100kg of gold) over the artist's head and over the head's of innocents (5kg of gold over danish, german and norwegian soldiers)... its too much.
it just goes to show how ignorant some of the developed countries are and how they take things, like the freedom of press, for granted. just because a country enjoys this form of liberation and can say or do or print whatever they wish doesnt mean that it will be globally accepted; and with the world shrinking by the minute since the start of globalisation, news spreads fast. sure, the people over at the danish newpaper would never, in their wildest most craziest dreams, have expected the backlash to be so catastrophic, but i'm sure something along the lines definitely crossed their minds and practicing restraint at the cost of freedom of press would, without a doubt, have been a better option.
freedom of press between countries cannot exist in a world where not every country has embraced this form of liberation. especially in such times where racial issues are still touchy topics in certain parts of the world, and will probably be for a really long time.
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