Cartoon war continues, expands to Japan
Posted on May 22, 2008
Filed Under Islam, Multiculturalism, News, Religion
While the Western world got pretty much over it and moved on, some in the Middle East continue to beat the “we’re very offended” drums and call for boycott of Danish and Dutch products, following the brawl over publishing cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Muhammad in Danish newspapers, and short movie “Fitna” produced by the Dutch MP Geert Wilders, demonstrating the parallel between the quotes from the Quran and the acts of terrorism perpetrated by Muslims.
A group of Jordanian political parties and media syndicates will launch a major campaign calling for the boycott of Danish and Dutch products in a delayed reaction to February’s reprinting of offensive cartoons by Danish newspapers.
One of the Jordanian protest leaders, Zakaria Al-Sheikh, told Saudi daily Arab News, Dutch products have been added to a list of blacklisted Danish goods after Dutch MP Geert Wilders released an anti-Islam film on the Internet in March.
The campaign organisers had decided to delay the launch to give ample time for local agencies of Danish and Dutch products to sell the already imported goods, he added.
Oh, how nice and considering of them. As far as I know, they are the only ones, in the Muslim world, who are still at it.
Once these guys in Jordan and in other regional countries run out of targets to protest against over the “insult of Islam”, here is a new one for them - Japan!
May 22 (Bloomberg) — A Japanese cartoon depicting a character reading the Koran while ordering the execution of the animation’s hero and friends sparked protests on Islamic Web sites, Kyodo News reported today.
The scene from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, adapted from a comic strip published from 1987 to 2003, generated angry responses on more than 300 Arab and Islamic Internet forums, with many accusing Japan of insulting the Koran, Kyodo said.
The scene depicts Muslims as terrorists, Kyodo cited Sheikh Abdul Hamid Attrash, chairman of the Fatwa Committee at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University, as saying. An unidentified official at Shueisha Inc., a Japanese publisher involved in the cartoon’s movie version, told Kyodo the Koran’s use was “a simple mistake” stemming from employees’ inability to read Arabic.
Cartoons of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb in his turban were published in 2005 in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, prompting protests in Muslim communities worldwide and consumer boycotts of Danish products.
Well…Gomen Nasai if they got offended, Arigato for their complaint, and Sayonara - see you at the new frenzy demonstrations and stampedes, tearing the Japanese flag and burning some Japanese celeb effigies.
