The cartoon controversy (Jan 4v1)

The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after editorial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30, 2005. Danish Muslim organizations staged protests in response. As the controversy has grown, some or all of the cartoons have been reprinted in newspapers in more than fifty other countries, leading to violent protests, particularly in the Islamic world. I think this “ cartoon controversy ” is just a small thing that made the Islamic people go wild. As you can see: everywhere in the world people fight about it, but it actually happened in Denmark. So it ’ s not countries bound I think. Critics claim that the cartoons are culturally insulting, Islamophobic, blasphemous, and intended to humiliate a marginalized Danish minority. Supporters of the cartoons claim they illustrate an important issue and their publication exercises the right of free speech. They also claim that there are similar cartoons about other religions, arguing that Islam and its followers have not been targeted in a discriminatory way. The Islamic ’ s just aren ’ t used to read news like this: in their native country, the government can say like: We print this, this and this, but not that, because that puts our religion, our country in the wrong spotlight. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has described the controversy as Denmark's worst international crisis since World War II; That makes sense to me: Denmark isn ’ t in the news that often – A “ crisis ” like this is very unexpected, and shocks me deeply. Here what ’ s been happening, and I ’ m not even talking about money and economy.
- Andrea Santoro, an Italian Catholic priest, was killed on February 5, 2006 in Trabzon, Turkey. A 16 year-old high school student was arrested two days later carrying a 9mm pistol. The student told police he had been influenced by the cartoons.
- At least four protestors were killed in Afghanistan, in Mihtarlam and an US air base in Bagram. One boy was trampled to death in Bossaso, Somalia when the crowd stampeded as police fired in the air to disperse them. On February 5th, 2006 one protestor died at the blazing Danish Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon
- On February 6th, 2006 one demonstrator involved in the torching of the Danish consulate in Beirut, Lebanon was found dead on a staircase. One protestor was shot to death in Laghman Province Afghanistan.
- Four people were killed and 22 injured on February 7, 2006 in an attack on a NATO base in Maymana, Afghanistan.
- On February 13, 2006, two people were killed in Lahore, Pakistan. The next day two were killed in Peshawar, Pakistan; and another in Lahore.
- On February 15, 2006, three people were killed by local police forces in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan during widespread demonstrations in the city.
- On February 17, 2006, eleven people died during protests in Libya
- On February 18, 2006, sixteen people were killed in northern Nigeria as demonstrators protested the cartoons by storming and burning Christian churches and businesses. The majority of the casualties were believed to be Christians, a minority group in Northern Nigeria.
- As of February 24, 2006, around 146 people have been killed in religious riots in Nigeria, touched off by attacks against Christians in the predominately Muslim North.
- As of March 2, 2006, the total number of deaths (not counting riots in Nigeria) is at least 139 people.