p2pnet - rss feed: New Mohammed image controversy
p2pnet news | Freedom:- A group of Muslims are still trying to force the Wikipedia to take down images of the prophet Mohammed, adding almost 18,000 new names to an online petition by 8:51 AM Pacific today for a total of 133,427.
“In Islam picture of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and other Humans are not allowed,” says the petition.
One of the images has the face veiled but, that’s still “offensive to Muslims” and, “I request all brothers and sisters to sign this petitions so we can tell Wikipedia to respect the religion and remove the illustrations … specially this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Maome.jpgsays,” it declares.
Says Firas Saadeh on the petition site, “Please remove the images of the Prophet Muhammad(PBUH). I understand that these were placed as informational images and for historical content. However, I respectfully request that they are removed as they are offensive to the Muslim religion and world.”
And, “Islam prohibits any and all kinds of depiction or illustration of all prophets as they serve no purpose,” posts Fahad Khan in the US. “Please remove all pictures in their entirety from this article and all other articles on wikipedia. In place of the picture, the name would do just as well. Please respect our religion as we all should respect each others’ religions. I thank you for your prompt action.”
But Wikipedia continues to hold firm, stating unequivocally:
“Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that strives to represent all topics from a neutral point of view, and therefore Wikipedia is not censored for the benefit of any particular group. So long as they are relevant to the article and do not violate any of Wikipedia’s existing policies, nor the law of the U.S. state of Florida, where most of Wikipedia’s servers are hosted, no content or images will be removed from Wikipedia because people find them objectionable or offensive.”
However, the owner of an art gallery in Norway wasn’t so resolute.
“An Oslo gallery has banned Swedish artist Lars Vilks (right) from exhibiting water-colour caricatures of the Muslim prophet Muhammad,” says The Local, going on:
“The owner of the gallery, Randi Thommessen, explained that she did not want to risk the exhibition stirring up a fuss in the mass media. The private Lautom Contemporary gallery in Oslo offered the artist the chance to exhibit work on another theme but Vilks refused, reports the Swedish newspaper Helsinborgs Dagblad.”
Says the Wikipedia:
The Lars Vilks Muhaad drawings controversy began in July 2007 with a series of drawings by Swedish artist Lars Vilks which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog (a form of street installation in Sweden). Several art galleries in Sweden declined to show the drawings, citing security concerns and fear of violence. The controversy gained international attention after the Örebro-based regional newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published one of the drawings on August 18 to illustrate an editorial on self-censorship and freedom of religion. While several other leading Swedish newspapers had published the drawings already, this particular publication led to protests from Muslims in Sweden as well as official condemnations from several foreign governments including Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Jordan, as well as by the inter-governmental Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
“There have been a lot of threats - a number of death threats by phone, email and as comments on my blog,” Vilks said last year, posts the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism., going on:
On Friday 7 September, about 550 people partook in a demonstration organized by “the Association of the Palestinian People” in Uppsala (north of Stockholm) against the local newspaper, Uppsala Nya Tidning (UNT), which has also published Vilks’ drawing. Fayek Saleh, the chairmen of the Association, claimed that the publication insulted Muslims, and asked for an apology from the newspaper.8 One of the speakers at the demonstration, a representative for the leftist group KPMLr, attacked the political editor of UNT, Håkan Holmberg, for offending Muslims. The speaker mentioned that Holmberg ought to be hanged in the same way as Julius Streicher – the propaganda minister of Hitler and editor-in-chief of Der Stürmer.9
One week later, on the first Friday of Ramadan (14 September), al-Qaeda in Iraq announced on an Islamic website - using the name of its (mythical or real) leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi – that a reward of $100,000 would be offered to the person who assassinates Vilks and that an additional $50,000 would be paid if the artist is “slaughtered like a lamb”. Al-Qaeda also promised $50,000 for the killing of the editor-in-chief of Nerikes Allehanda, Ulf Johansson.10.
However, the leaders of the main Islamic institutions condemned the death threat, says the institute.
Also See:
prophet Mohammed - Muslims demand removal of Wikipedia Mohammed pix, February 8, 2008
The Local - Vilks Muhammad paintings banned in Oslo, February 10, 2008
International Institute for Counter-Terrorism - Swedish “Mohammed Dog” Stirs up Muslim Rage, November 10, 2007
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February 11th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
“In Islam picture of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and other Humans are not allowed,”
This is not true they pulled this from their ass.
These bigot don’t owe Muhammad iand don’t owe Islam Muhammad is not copyrighed!
Internet is world wide and is for the world not just for a minority of bigots!
For those that feel offended by this don’t use internet then and stay in a cave like Ben Laden!
February 11th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Reminiscent of the Solomon Rushdie jihad. It’s unfortunate religious intolerance can and will seek to curtail expressions including other freedoms. When religions are intolerant, they will ultimately resort to intimidation to silence those they percieve to be critical of their politics and beliefs.
Note, I said religion and not faith. Religions are the pinning of the underlying politics to control and suppress. Faith, on the other hand, endures all.
February 11th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
“Faith, on the other hand, endures all.”
It does, no matter what the faith.
February 11th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
This (intolerance from many muslims) is parallel with $cientology and should be Anon’s next target.
February 11th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
All groups who elevate religion above logic are pathetic, be they muslims or scientologist. I have a wonderful idea. How about the muslims take a brief moratorium on public outrage and indignation and try to do something productive? I mean they don’t have any intellectual accomplishments in the past millenium and contribute nothing to the world beyond oil and terrorism.
February 11th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
Well said
February 12th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Those that are intollerant are unsecured in their faith.
February 12th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Isn’t God too big for only one religion?
February 13th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
“Isn’t God too big for only one religion?”
God is probably too big for even only one specie or one place in the universe.
(No! I am not a cult member!)
February 20th, 2008 at 3:37 am
I think that Muslims have the right to be offended but the problem lays in their way of expression, why we are not being sasrcastic about Jews when they talk about the holochost?
also i would like to draw all of your attention that if any one of us christians saw a mockery of Jesus the christ will he or wont he be offended.
All of us beleivers get offended if a religious figure of ours is beeing mocked at, but the way of our expression deffers.
And by the way Freedom of speach and act ends when it tresspasses or is a cause of hurt to other people in the community.