Agora

This is a transcript of an interview with Naser Khader in the programme ‘Søndag’ from DR’s TV-Avisen, 21:15 April 2nd 2006. A link to the online programme is provided so you should be able to follow the conversation by looking at the transcript.
Link to programme.

Natasja Crone: Good evening and welcome, Naser Khader.

Naser Khader: Good evening.

Natasja Crone: What happened the first time you heard about this clip where Akkari made the remarks we are about to see?

Naser Khader: I would like to emphasise this: I didn’t have a nervous breakdown. I didn’t go into hiding. But I needed a time-out. And that’s not so much because of what the ridiculous Akkari says that’s the problem. It was what came before. I was contacted by the French journalist who produced the programme who told me that this group, they hate me with a vengeance, that my name is mentioned every five minutes, that they’re conducting a massive smear campaign against me, not only in Denmark, but also in the Islamic world.

Natsja Crone: So he just called you up?

Naser Khader: Yes, and then he told me, before the programme was aired. But also the build-up to the airing of the programme, the day before, the media almost went on berserk. That made my family very worried, so I needed to withdraw, take a time-out and consider my situation.
(more…)

The party we in Denmark call “De Radikale”, I refer to in this article as the Social Liberals, because that is the international equivalent. But it’s important to note that this party is also known to have a love affair with Classic Liberalism, apart from their fling with Socialism. “De Radikale” means “The Radicals” in the literal translation and they’ve been at the forefront of the fight against religious dogmas and ignorance since their conception. Unfortunately, they’ve usually also been at the forefront of the “stabbing Denmark in the back” crowd. Perhaps Naser Khader will give them some hair to go with their balls. Who knows…

This article appeared in Berlingske Tidende on Sunday, April 2nd, 2006. It’s a long interview with Naser Khader where he ouitlines his thoughts on the Danish Imams and their extremist organisations and how to counter them as a democratic Moslem.

“We are Facing an Incognizable Enemy from Within”
By Jesper Larsen

Much of Naser Khader’s time is currently spent in his office where newspapers are cluttered about and books line the walls from floor to ceiling. The literature is diverse - everything from the Koran and other holy books to Anne Vibeke-Holst and that sort of thing.

[Note: Anne Vibeke-Holst is a paperback writer. Mushy stuff.]

His bodyguards from the Police Intelligence Service are constantly within reach and follow him 24 hours a day. Recently an advertising distributor who was confused and semi-suspiciously going to and fro on the sidewalk, carrying ads for a new pizza place felt this. He was detained immediately.

“My family felt it. My wife Bente said that I sometimes repeated myself and talked nonsense. I am constantly tense. When we’re out of the house, I am almost paranoid and just want to get back home. But I know I have protection and that does make me feel safer. The thing is though, that I feel I am wearing manacles.”
(more…)

This is a feature article from Politiken which appeared this Saturday. The evening of that day, the Democratic Moslems organisation held their general annual meeting, which created quite a stir in Denmark. I will be posting some more articles about this subject. So far it seems that Naser Khader has managed to pull off a spectacular public relations coup for moderate, democratically minded Moslems in Denmark and I must say that I am pleased. If only he were a moderate Liberal instead of a right-wing Social Liberal…

Related posts:
A Prize Immigrant
Danish Imam Abu Laban knew about planned Martyr operation
Danish Imam Ahmed Akkari: Kill Naser Khader
Ahmed Akkari: Latest News

Danish Moslems: Arise and Protest

Feature article from Politiken, April 1st, 2006
By Ibrahim Ramadan

My religion is threatened in this country.

Not because I am a part of a Moslem minority in a Christian country. Not for lack of Mosques. And not by the Danish People’s Party and their stereotypical depiction of Moslems.

My religion is threatened by people who claim to belong to the same faith as I do. Threatened by organisations such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir and by people such as Ahmed Akkari, Abu Laban and Raed Hlayhel who all claim to work to spread the word of God. In reality, they’re working towards another goal entirely - to control what other Moslems should believe, think and do.

Some Moslems in Denmark have accepted the Danish Imams’ words and take strong exception to Naser Khader. They think he has sold out the Arab cultural heritage and that he’s shed Moslem values to become accepted by the Danes.

But what few Moslems in Denmark understand is that Naser Khader more than any other works to ensure that we qua Moslems are seen as assets and aren’t looked down upon as a problem in Denmark.
(more…)

The latest news about Imam Ahmed Akkari and his death threats against Naser Khader of the social liberals.
As I reported in this post, Imam Ahmed Akkari on tape recorded with a hidden camera by French Journalist Mohammed Sifaoui made a remark about killing Danish Social Liberal Member of Parliament Naser Khader. (more…)

Note from Agora: I know I’ve been away for some time. I just got thoroughly sick of thinking about the two little weasels Akkari and Laban. I’ll be returning to my regular schedule now.

This is a translation of an interview Mohammed Sifaoui did yesterday with Politiken. Sifaoui is the French Journalist who did a documentary exposing the Danish Imams Ahmed Akkari and Abu Laban as dangerous extremists:

French Journalist: Danish Imams are Extremists

The man behind the controversial French documentary thinks that Abu Laban and Ahmed Akkari are extremists disguised as moderates.
(more…)

BREAKING NEWS
This just in. One down. One being tackled as we speak. Imam Abu Laban of pig-eared fame apparently knew about a planned “Martyr action” on February 21st. Quoting from my transcript of previously unreleased footage from Mohammed Sifaoui, the journalist who broke the news of Imam Ahmed Akkari’s death threats against Naser Khader. Imam Abu Laban is speaking of a man who plans to execute a martyr operation in connection with the Battle of Khartoon:

{He’s doing everything to get contacts.}
{He’s contacted Amr Moussa and he means to wreak absolute havoc.}
{He wants to join the fray and turn it into a Martyr operation right now.}

Screenshot of Imam Abu Laban before entering the car where he spoke the words that already now spell the doom of his career as a spokesman for Moslems and a citizen of Denmark.

Danish Politicians are shocked.

Marianne Jelved of the Social Liberals:

I find it very unpleasant. Very unpleasant indeed. And I think that Abu Laban, if he wishes to remain in Denmark, ought to consider the rules here.

Helge Adam Møller of the Conservatives:

With 99 percent certainty it’s an act of terrorism to which we are referring. Because a martyr operation is to blow oneself and innocents sky high. Whether it’s in Denmark or someplace else, it’s equally serious. It’s innocents who are killed. He apparently knows something about that. If he hasn’t himself gone to the police, he incurs a colossal responsibility and he is in direct breach of Danish law.
[…]
With 99 percent certainty it’s an act of terrorism to which we are referring. Because a martyr operation is to blow oneself and innocents sky high. Whether it’s in Denmark or someplace else, it’s equally serious. It’s innocents who are killed. He apparently knows something about that. If he hasn’t himself gone to the police, he incurs a colossal responsibility and he is in direct breach of Danish law.

Pia Kjærsgaard of the Danish People’s Party:

I have come to think that all of these more or less festering persons from the Islamic Faith Community should be interrogated, all of them, by the police naturally, and that this matter must be thoroughly investigated because it sounds very scary. And that isn’t something we as politicians should let pass by. Therefore I will talk to the Justice Minister and inquire as to the reaction to this and get her to step in.

Direct link to News footage which is transcribed and translated below. Link to article that describes the news clip.

Note: I plan to post updates below this and just push the transcript lower and lower.
UPDATE 1 MARCH 25 00:52 CET
Photographs of Abu Laban:
Abu Laban at home
Abu Laban preaching. Subtitles say: “These people I call rats in holes.” From this article. The ‘rats’ are Naser Khader and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Abu Laban looking smug at a press conference
Abu Laban captured by Mohammed Sifaoui’s hidden camera at home
Abu Laban preaching again. Pointy fingers.

UPDATE 2 MARCH 25 01:07 CET
Gateway Pundit reminds me of his dossier on Abu Laban. Excerpts:

Entertained the “Blind Sheikh” behind the first World Trade Center attacks

Praised Osama Bin Laden after 9-11 Attacks

Preached he “Shed no tears” after 9-11 Attacks

Accused of giving Political support to Osama bin Laden’s network

Accused of giving Financial support to Osama bin Laden’s network

Joined with 225 Islamic Radicals to form Global Jihadist Group in 2003

Said that Theo van Gogh - “Had it coming!”

Called on his flock to Give Their Lives to Global Jihad for Palestinians

Met with Sheikh Qaradawi in Saudi Arabia who has legalized the murder of American soldiers in Iraq

Much more at Gateway Pundit

UPDATE 3 MARCH 25 01:42 CET
Killgore Trout remarks at LGF that he’s still a little unclear about what the quote means. Mohammed Sifaoui explains (from the transcript):

{I didn’t use that piece in my documentary because we assesed -}
{- that we didn’t have enough details to know of whom he was talking -}
{- and whether the operation was to take place in Denmark or somewhere else.}
{But I am convinced that he was speaking of someone -}
{- who was ready to execute a suicide operation.}

Amr Moussa is the Chairman of the Arab League.

—————–
Transcript of DR news programme where Abu Laban talks about his terror ties.

Everything in [] is to describe the general environment of the transcript.
Everything in {} mean I’m translating from the subtitles. Each pair of {}s is a full translation of each subtitle.

[In news studio]

NEWS ANCHOR: Good evening, this is the late TV-Avisen, which will also take a look at this evening’s EU meeting in Brussels.
First, new accusations by the French TV journalist who infiltrated the Danish Imam environment. One of hisrecordings with a hidden camera reveals that Imam Abu Laban speaks of a person who, quoting: “Wants to wreak absolute havoc and conduct a Martyr-operation.” Danish Police plans to question Imam Abu Laban about that as soon as he return from a conference of Imams in Bahrain.

[cut to recording of Danish Imams. Imam Abu Laban in picture.]
(more…)

Note: This first part is just a summary of the article attached to this post. When updates come in, I plan to add them and link to the original articles. The original article is nice to have for reference.

Imam Ahmed Akkari has issued death threats against Naser Khader of the Social Liberals. Naser Khader founded the organisation “Democratic Moslems” in February, as an organisation for moderate, Democracy-minded Moslems to join. See this article for biography and background on the enmity between Naser Khader and the Imams in Denmark.

Today Jyllands-Posten reports that Imam Ahmed Akkari was recorded on a hidden camera by journalist Mohamed Sifaoui of the French TV-Station France 2 which will show a documentary tonight detailing the doings of the Danish Imams. The documentary also reveals that the Danish Imams have been using the affair as a lever to go against their political opponents in Denmark.
Ahmed Akkari is quoted as saying:

If [Naser Khader] becomes the Minister of Foreigners or Integration, why don’t we send out two guys to blow up him and his ministry?

The Danish reaction to this has been consternation and revulsion.
Peter Skaarup of the Danish People’s Party:

It’s pure threats and it only goes to show how crazy these Imams have been acting. I will at once ask the Minister what punishment can be given for making such statements and whether it is a punishable offense,

Jens Rohde of the Liberals:

This is certainly very disturbing and it shows what we’re up against. That’s also why I am worried about what is happening at that conference in Bahrain which Ahmed Akkari is a delegate to

Ahmed Akkari denies:

I’ve never said anything like that about Naser Khader, but they are welcome to try and prove it

UPDATE 1
Politiken reports that Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen of the Social Liberals has reported Imam Ahmed Akkari to the police:

The police must investigate whether the French documentary checks out and whether things are as Jyllands-Posten says. If they are, that statement deserves the harshest condemnations.
[…]
I feel very sorry for my colleague and his family . It’s absolutely horrible that he has to live with threats of murder and must be guarded by the police.

The police say that an inquiry is under way:

From what we know so far, it is relevant to start an inquiry.
[…]
[whether it is punishable] depends on under what circumstances the statement was made. And whether they create real fear and discomfort. The fact that the threats are now being quoted in the media is also relevant.

The police in Berlingske Tidende:

We’re investigating whether there is grounds for prosecuting him for these threats. We need to find out what kind of documentation the journalists have and we need to talk with the persons involved.

Ahmed Akkari now calls it a “joke”:

If they think I have said that, then I must have been jesting.
[…]
You also need to understand, from the context, that I wasn’t being serious because I usually don’t say stuff like that - not even in jest. But sometimes things happen.

This blog would like to remind Ahmed Akkari of the time he beat a little boy till he bled. Was that just “one of those times”?

UPDATE 2
Naser Khader has recovered enough to give a statement to the news agency Ritzau. Ritzaus reports that he is still shaken by the statement but wants to see the documentary and hear what is said in Arabic before he issues a statement.

But this is in any case still very, very discomforting.

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has issued a statement:

I only know of the case from the media. But if things are the way they seem, I find reason to express horror that anyone could seriously consider saying that. It’s quite shocking shocking that an elected Danish politician is threatened like that. I assume the police will investigate what’s what in this case and then I count on them to deal with it.

The Vice President of Democratic Moslems, Fathi el-Abed says:

Words are powerful - we learned that from this crisis. I think it’s childish, shocking and reprehensible that he says something and then takes it back because the public gets wind of it.

This is the latest from the police. Per Larsen, Chief Inspector:

This seems to be serious. If the words that have been reported to have been said were said, this is a case of Threats on a Person’s Life. This needs to be thoroughly investigated.
[…]
With the reservation that we must know how the threats were made, it sounds like we might want to interrogate the people who are on their way home from Bahrain.

UPDATE 3
From the ten o’clock TV2 news programme.
Ahmed Akkari by telephone from Bahrain:

If I said that, I think the cirumstances must have been not very serious and only in jest ehh… and I of course clearly distance myself from any thing of this kind and also assure Naser that it isn’t anything I can vouch for.

Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller:

What I’ve seen from the newspapers doesn’t look very nice at all. And if he was joking, he’s got a very bad sense of humour.

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen:

I think that, in any case - even if one is only toying with the thought of terrorist attacks against elected representatives - it is a gravely serious matter, which one must distance oneself from to the greatest degree. Apart from that, I assume as a matter of course that the Police will make inquiries into this matter.

Peter Lautrup Larsen, TV2’s Resident Political Expert:

Of course [Ahmed Akkari’s remarks] have been noticed. That the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister feel that they must comment on this, shows that it is something the politicians view very gravely. Even if Ahmed Akkari says it’s just a joke. As the Foreign Minister said; it’s a very bad joke indeed then.

Peter Lautrup Larsen also says that the Prime Minister said off-camera that it’s funny how it’s seemingly okay to joke about something in one context [Ahmed Akkari’s remarks] and not in another context [the Muhammed Cartoons].

UPDATE 4
Hat tip: Uriasposten
The programme will be sent tonight 8.50 on France 2 in the series of programmes known as Envoye-Special (Trans: Special Correspondents). Link to the introduction to the programme here.
Translated:

Caricatures: Beneath the Anger
A report by Mohammed Sifaoui

Following the publication of the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed, the Moslem world ignited. Ransacked embassies, flag burnings and confrontations between police force and demonstrators caused the death of thirty people.

Following the violent reactions in many countries, several Danish newspapers spoke about manipulation. That is what a team of Special Correspondents wanted to investigate in Denmark.

At the source of the extensive media coverage in the Arab Muslim world: a group of imams. They’re Danish and it is they who gave international significance to what was at the beginning only a simple matter of the press.

The investigation very quickly will show that these Imams are actually islamists. They use the matter of the caricatures to settle a score with Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper which published the drawings. This daily newspaper on several occasions had criticized the goals and activities of these imams. To ignite the Islamic world, these clerics prepared and disseminated to a wide audience a file with accusations against Denmark which didn’t contain only the famous caricatures of Muhammed. It is this file which was sent with the assistance of certain ambassadors to the Moslem authorities of several Arab countries. The imams admit adding these vulgar photographs and insulting drawings which have no relation to the caricatures.

The journalists of the Envoye-Special gained the confidence of some of these imams. These “clerics” do not hide their views. They regard secular people as “enemies” and try to promote a radical Islam.

A report about Mohammed Sifaoui: Journalist penetrated Islamic extremist groups in Paris

UPDATE 5
Berlingske Tidende have been quick to get their correspondent in Paris on the case and have an interview with Mohamed Sifaoui here. Note that Ahmed Akkari is of Lebanese origins.
Translated the good bits:

Are the quotes by Jyllands-Posten correct?
They are entirely correct(…) He said it in Arabic and I had three different persons translate it. I speak Arabic myself, but to exercise due dilligence, I also had it translated by some Lebanese people to be sure.
Ahmed Akkari denies that he has ever been in a car with Sheikh Raed Hlayhel and a French journalist?
I think that the best answer is that you see him for yourself in the car with me filming him with a hidden camera.
In your opinion, was he serious when he said he would blow up Naser Khader?
I don’t know.
Did you ask if he was serious?
I didn’t ask. I didn’t even react. I was there as an observer, I didn’t want to react. I looked out the window while filming and pretended not to follow their conversation. I didn’t want to interrupt their conversation. Since they were talking, I was filming.
It was Akkari and Hlayhel who were talking?
Yes, I pretended not to be there. I didn’t encourage them with questions, nothing at all. I said nothing. I got into the car, they started talking and I was filming. I didn’t ask any questions at all.
How did you gain the trust of the Imams?
I won the trust of Abu Laban first and foremost… (…) Abu Laban was in the other car. He was being filmed by my colleague.

UPDATE 6
Screenshots from the documentary:
Abu Zakaria talking with Mohamed Sifaoui
Ahmed Akkari in the car
Sheikh Raed Hlayhel

Ahmed Akkari has issued a public apology. It’s funny that he has to defend himself with the words that were used to defend the cartoons. Funny in a hilarious way. Really hilarious. “In Denmark there is a tradition for humour, irony, sarcasm and jests…” I don’t believe him, by the way.
Translated from TV2:

No threat to Naser Khader
I have learned that a recording made with a hidden camera has caused much debate in the media in Denmark.

The recording was of a group of people talking and having a good time. The mood was loose and free, and jokes were made. In this mood and spirit I said what has now been understood as a threat against Naser Khader.

I would like to emphasise that my remark carried no serious intent and that Naser Khader of course need not feel threatened by me. It was said in jest only and looking back I see that it may have been a bit out of place and too rough on the edges.

In Denmark there is a tradition for humour, sarcasm, irony and jests and I have often heard jests of an equally jestful nature from many different parties. Not just Moslems.

Both I and other Moslems in Denmark have have always had the position on Naser Khader and his political career that when we feel we must oppose him we do so, but only with words. Unfortunately a cheerful mood can sometimes escalate and I deeply regret that this statement, which was made in jest only, has been taken seriously.

Who only sees jest as jest

And the serious as only serious…

The last part is part of a gruk (kind of a saying) by Piet Hein, which goes so in Danish: “Den som kun tager spøg for spøg, og alvor kun alvorligt, han og hun har faktisk fattet begge dele dårligt”
Translated: “Who only sees jest as jest, and the serious as only serious, he and she has understood both things poorly.”

So which is it? Jest or serious?

When we’re talking about people who supported the September 11 attacks, it is hard for mere mortals to tell the difference.

UPDATE 7
DR.DK has brought a list of statements by politicians about this case. Some of them are new.

Spokesman on Immigrant Politics, Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, Social Liberals:

Murder threats are not somthing to jest about and particularly not in the current situation. I can’t distance myself enough from those statements. Some things seem to indicate that he is a criminal or in any case insane.

Chairman of Conservatives’ parliament group, Helge Adam Møller:

We have long known that Ahmed Akkari speaks with a forked tongue, but that one of its forks is so poisonous is, after all, a surprise to me.

Coming up in next update: Translation of an article which describes the documentary.

UPDATE 8
Sorry, didn’t get that translation done. This interview came up. From Denmark’s Radio. Link.

Interviewer: Akkari, I would like to begin this with reading to you a quote: “If he becomes the Minister of Foreigners or Integration, why don’t we send out two guys to blow up him and his ministry?” who spoke those words?

Akkari: I don’t recall saying anything either in jest or in earnest. If it happened, it is regrettable and a very crude jest, which I immediately and at once want to express my regrets for and distance myself from.

Interviewer: What is it you find jesting about those words?

Akkari: Perhaps there isn’t anything funny about them. It’s more sarcastic and out of proportions in a light-hearted context… And it’s very unfortunate that something like that is taken seriously because there’s no intent there, at all.

Interviewer: But what might make you - in jest - threaten to murder a prominent Danish politician?

Akkari: Our tongues can, all of us, run to the right or to the left and I think that’s what happened in very simple circumstances where there’s been a slightly humourous situation… and talked a bit to the right or to the left about something funny.

Interviewer: Do we agree that it is serious to threaten a Danish politician with murder?

Akkari: I will write him a letter to insure him that it wasn’t the intent at all… and that I have eh… never wished nor do I wish… I take strong exception to anyone who would plan or think of something like that… Whether it’s in jest or in earnest, it’s totally reprehensible.

Interviewer: What’s your comment on having been reported to the police?

Akkari: Eeehh… I don’t think that anything… comes from that because it’s something that’s totally unserious and something that’s… I take exception to in the most direct way and I also assure Naser that it isn’t something he was meant by.

Interviewer: But if you’re saying that you’ve acted in an irresponsible manner here, how do you imagine Danish Moslems and the Danish population in general respecting you and taking you serious in the future as spokesman for Moslems in Denmark?

Akkari: One thing is what one usually says, another thing is that… anyone can err - we are human, have that as something we were built with that that error may happen so people will have to judge by the whole and not by such a single, unique rather unconcentrated situation in a car where there’s a lot of loose talk.

Interviewer: The last couple of days, I have several times asked you whether you could give me any guarantees that what you’re saying in front of the camera is the same as you’re saying in the nooks while talking to your Moslem brothers. What do you think of the fact that you, time upon time, have told me that you could guarentee that - you weren’t one to talk with a forked tongue, that you’re reliable, that you have but one message: Peace and reconciliation?

Akkari: Eeeh… All people joke about certain things eeeehh… which they usually don’t support… eeeh… or normally say - express that that is their position. I think that’s what happened - there’s come a serious, crude joke which is no more. I have rejected it and taken clear exception to it. It’s nothing I in any way have any intent of doing.

Interviewer: Do you think you can continue on as spokesman for the Islamic Faith Community of Denmark?

Akkari: I think the line is clear and there’s nothing to mix up with this. So.. eh, yes I don’t see that it’s a problem, what’s happened.

Interviewer: But isn’t it hard to have a serious, respected spokesman who goes around and, in jest, threatens to murder Danish politicians?

Akkari: No, because I have threatened to kill nobody and this has been a completely unacceptable situation.

Interviewer: But how do you explain that it happens, that you’re sitting in the company of another Imam and an undercover journalist crack that kind of joke. What makes you crack such a joke?

Akkari: I think it’s been a rather light-hearted situation where people have been talking right and left, and then one can sometimes overdo it in describing a catastrophe, or a problem. So I think that’s all that’s been the meaning of that.

Interviewer: Will there, in the future, be uncovered other quotes where you maybe have threatened other Danish politicians or said anything else, that might contravene your official position of peace and reconciliation?

Akkari: I think that all my official an unofficial positions are of the same cloth, but both you and everybody else can sometimes say and use some words which they normally don’t.. approve of or really mean in conditions of light-heartedness and… I don’t drink [alcohol] but others do and the things one say when there’s a light-hearted mood, that is what happens.

Interviewer: But have you made other, similar, remarks where you’ve threatened to kill other Danish politicians or doing something similarly radical?

Akkari: I couldn’t even remember the reference to that, before you mention it, so I don’t think I have said it, and if I have said that then I take exception to myself and those statements - if there’s something to it - where my tongue was faster than my brain in such a special situation.

Interviewer: How do you think the Danish people should view you after these statements - in jest - about killing a Danish politician?

Akkari: It’s not statements about killing a Danish politician. And I think the people have more reason and sense to understand these kinds of things than one would think.

Interviewer: So you’re certain that the Danish people will forgive what you call an innocent joke?

Akkari: That’s up to them, but I am sure that people see that this isn’t anything to be taken seriously at all.

[Camera changes, interviewer out of picture. Ahmed Akkari seen being interviewed]

Akkari: We have made satire and poked fun at many things and…

[Camera changes back]

Interviewer: Do you understand that it might be hard for Danes to accept that it’s not okay to make caricatures of Muhammed, but that it’s okay to threaten - in jest - to kill a Danish politician?

Akkari: That’s a wrong conclusian and comparison to make of this.

Interviewer: Isn’t it very natural? You’ve been very angry, very offended that your prophet has been offended, but now you’ve - in jest - threatened to kill a politician. How do you think Naser Khader feels today?

Akkari: I hope he feels only safe because we all know that stuff like this is ridiculous and not acceptable. Good.

[Camera moves, another journalist moves in]

Interviewer 2: You were confronted with your statement…

[time lapse in interview]

Akkari: … recorded it, then I must have said it, otherwise I wouldn’t remember it.

Interviewer 2: So you DID say it?

Akkari: If they can document it with a tape, it must have been said, I can’t say more than that.

[another journalist]

Interviewer 3: Do you doubt that you’ve said it? Because they write..

Akkari: Yes, I do. But I don’t have…

[time lapse again, original journalist back in the game]

Interviewer: How do you think your threats against Naser Khader affect the situation for Danish Moslems?

Akkari: I don’t think they have to affect anything, because if we have a public who understand things in proportions, nothing will happen, but if one is very narrow-minded, I do understand how…

Interviewer: But don’t you think you’ve hurt the cause of Moslems in Denmark by threatening to kill a Danish politician?

Akkari: No, I don’t think that will happen, because, as I have said, it’s something that’s.. a unique situation.

UPDATE 9
Naser Khader is considering resigning his mandate in the Danish parliament Folketinget. JP has published a report by Ritzau’s bureau quoting a statement made to TV2’s news programme by Naser Khader saying that he is considering leaving Danish politics following the death threat made by Ahmed Akkari. It says that the last few months have put him under intense pressure and he has had to accept protection by the Police Intelligence Service. According to TV2, Naser Khader has experienced very unpleasant episodes, i.a. confrontations with the Moslem extremist of Hizb-ut-Tahrir and other radical organisations. He has also received death threats by mail.

Therefore he has chosen to take a political time-out before announcing his decision.

Marianne Jelved, the leader of the Social Liberals says to DR about the news that she has had contact with Naser Khader and that:

He and his family are understandably very shaken. They need a bit of peace this weekend. We in the parliamentary group will give all possible support to Naser Khader and his family. I don’t hope that he does that, resigns from politics. It’s unbearable, but I respect that he needs a few days of peace.

Friend of Naser Khader, parliamentarian Morten Helveg Petersen of the Social Liberals says to Politiken:

Naser is the symbol of seperation between religion and politics and that is why this is bigger than just that forked-tongued guy Akkari. As a religious leader he has a responsibility to not create a situation and to not deceive. That responsibility he has failed totally and my fear is that it has an effect in places we don’t know well enough. That’s why there’s cause for concern.

UPDATE 10 MARCH 24 18:41 CET
Naser Khader has issued this statement on his website:

My Situation
March 24, 2006
There’s a lot of speculation about my situation right now. But let me make this clear: I have not gone under ground, nor did I have a nervous breakdown. I need to rest after having endured several months of stress, and I need to be with my family.

Thank you very much for the many mails I have received supporting me and and my family.

Regards,
Naser Khader.

Ekstra Bladet reports that Naser Khader has hired a crisis psychologist to help him. He says to Ekstra Bladet that:

I have said all along that I would overcome the threats, but I just can’t anymore. It’s just become too much.

This blog hopes that Naser Khader gets better. He’s a great man.

Sandmonkey had a post up with a link to the first 6 minutes of the programme yesterday. Before the post was deleted, I snatched the link.

DR.DK reports that Imam Ahmed Akkari is no longer the spokesman for the Islamic Faith Community. Board member of the Islamic Faith Community, Kasaem Said Ahmad:

Akkari cannot be our Spokesman after these remarks.

Akkari didn’t have much to say:

I have no comments to that.

Which is surprising. He usually comments on everything.

Board member and co-creator of the Democratic Moslems organisation, Fathi el-Abed Friday reported the Danish Imam Ahmed Akkari to the Danish police for his statements in the French programme. Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen of the Social Liberals has already done this, making that the second report the police received. These high-profile cases usually generate quite a number of reports in Denmark.

UPDATE 11 MARCH 25 00:01 CET
BREAKING NEWS
Imam Abu Laban of the same group as Imam Ahmed Akkari was caught on tape by Mohammed Sifaoui talking about a person who santed to execute a suicide operation. More here.

UPDATE 12 MARCH 25 00:14 CET
From Sandmonkey, the clip where Imam Ahmed Akkari goes all goofy, talks about killing a Danish Politician. Cracks me up he does. What a joker.

(more…)

Reading an article in Politiken, I stumbled across this little tidbit: Apparently our very own, the infamous pig-eared Imam Abu Laban is in the finals for the ‘Bad Democracy’ award for this month. The ‘Bad Democracy’ award is some leftist nonsense appealing to the socialists of this world, having been awarded to both George Bush, John Howard and Silvio Berlusconi, all of whom are upstanding men. But this month they actually included a real candidate - a man who has led the Danes on and fanned the flames of the Middle East, using purely democratic means. So far he has received around 50% of all votes, making him a clear winner so far. Please go there and vote for this slimy cretin.

UPDATE: DPP requests that all Danish Imam’s statements be recorded. See below.

In a not-so-surprising move by Arla foods of Denmark, those of whining fame when the Battle of Khartoon first set in, Arla has launched a new advertising campaign in the Arab world. That’s not too bad in and of itself. BUT. They’ve decided to go about it by printing this statement in Arab newspapers together with TV commercials:

Arla Foods Distancing itself from the Cartoons

Statement from Arla Foods

At Arla Foods we feel that it is our duty to bring to your attention our position on the unfortunate event which took place a few months ago. We are also addressing the conference for International Support for the Prophet to take place on March 22 and 23 2006 to explain our point of view.

Arla foods distances itself from the act of Jyllands-Posten in choosing to print caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed and we do not share the newspaper’s reasons for doing so.
(more…)

This is rich..
From this article in Jyllands-Posten today:

When we are talking about integration - the full meaning of the word, where Moslems feel welcome and respected in the community - then it is my estimate that it will take 12 years of hard work to get the EU member countries to accept the idea of showing respect to the symbols of Islam.

This is what it is really about:

Law and power pitched against faith and fury

Sir, In a Danish children’s rhyme, a blacksmith commits a crime. Alas, as no town can exist without a blacksmith, a pardon is instituted and a baker executed to fulfill the demand of the law. All children react by saying how wrong that is. But essentially John Pontifex’s letter (Feb 2) contains the same message. Some Islamic hooligans commit crimes in Kirkuk and Baghdad, and he blames a Danish newspaper editor.

The notion of individual guilt and punishment is even more fundamental to Western civilisation than freedom of expression. The protests against the cartoons are not only out of proportion, they are also directed at innocent people. While publishing the cartoons may have been an insensitive act, the reaction seems to confirm all the worst prejudices about Islam.

Surely, the time has come for Europeans to reassert basic values and demand a sensible reaction from the Muslim communities.

JENS FREDERIK HANSEN
Attorney-at-law
Copenhagen

Jyllands-Posten, Saturday, February 18, 2006

Egypt orchestrated prophet-campaign

The Egyptian government played a greater role than previously known.

A memorandum from the Egyptian government shows that it began putting pressure on the Danish government immediately following the refusal of PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen to meet with the 11 Moslem ambassadors, Politiken writes.

The Danish ambassador was summoned to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry four days after the Danish refusal.

According to the memorandum which Politiken has in its possession, a high-ranking Egyptian official demanded that the Danish government distance itself from the cartoons "by publicly condemning ridiculing Islam or the prophet." The Danish ambassador was also warned of "a possible escalation of the matter," says the memorandum.

Former Foreign Minister Niels Helveg-Petersen thinks this is a liability to the Danish government.

Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller did not wish to comment. The Spokesman on Foreign Affairs for the Liberals, Troels Lund Poulsen has no information about the Egyptian memorandum and refers to Per Stig Møller.

Jyllands-Posten, Friday, February 17, 2006

Lidl wants Danish eco-milk

The Lidl chain of supermarkets wants Danish ‘green’ butter and milk on its shelves.

"The deal is expected to gross millions of crowns. At least three figures," says Tim Ørting Jørgensen, divisional manager of Arla.

He won’t say how many litres are expected to be sold, but the mik will be delivered to more than half of Lidl’s 3500 stores in Germany.

This is the first major deal for Danish milk on the German market and marks a breakthrough for the Danish production of ecological dairy products which has been so extensive that 60 percent couldn’t be sold under eco brands but had to be used for other dairy products.

Comment: Boycot that, islamist pigs.

More: Hnn has the latest export numbers. Muslim boycot a drought over the ocean. Atlas Shrugs has the same story described a bit more.. Vividly.

Boomka is soliciting discriminating, racist cartoons about… Jews!

This reminds me of a jewish joke about jewish humor I once heard:

It’s the kristallnacht and everyone’s being herded onto cattle cars. An elderly Jewish man is strolling along to the cattle cars. A young SS officer sees him and hurries him on. "I will not hurry. It’s not as if there’s anything much to look forward to, is there?" "Hurry now," urges the soldier, "or I will stab you." "The elderly man looks at the SS officer, bangs him on the head, takes his dagger and says "watch this."  He then begins to shine dagger with his handkerchief, polishing it until it is a mirror to look at. He then casts a meaningful glance at the SS officer, gracefully lifts the dagger and stabs himself. "Wasn’t that the best stabbing you ever saw?" Asks the Jew as he falls to the ground.

Hat tip: Freakonomics blog

Jyllands-Posten, Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Imam apologized for assault on 11-year-old

By Erik Thomle and Martin Johansen

Teacher rescued the crying, bleeding boy after he had been kicked on Lykkeskolen in Århus.

When the 11-year old boy testified about Imam Ahmed Akkaris assault, his testimony differed from what he told the police.

He told the court how the angry Imam pulled his ears, knocked him to the ground and continued kicking him when he was down.

But the boy didn’t tell about how he twice was hit with fists, though the testimony of a teacher who witnessed the incident corroborated this. The teacher also told how she saw the helpless boy shielding himself while down. After the attack, his face was covered in blood.

Not for the faint of heart

The transcript of the proceedings are not for the faint of heart.

The verdict was jail for 40 days but it was made suspended because Akkari was a first-time offender, wrote the judge on March 22, 2001.

Despite the conviction, the Imam who is spokesman for the protesting Imams and organizations on the Muhammed issue, has had internships at public schools in Århus, has been a teacher at the Moslem Selam private school in Brabrand and tutored teenagers on how to be honorable Moslems in Denmark.

In the magazine Point of View, he wrote about a Moslem girl who wasn’t wearing a headscarf that she deserved being harassed and added that he would have helped her if she had worn a headscarf.

Ahmed Akkari’s younger sister who attended fourth grade on Lykkeskolen was wearing a headscarf November 3, 2000. Ahmed Akkari had been a subsitute teacher on the school and was studying to be a teacher on Århus Day- and Night-Teacher’s College, he explained to the court. He was at the school that day because he was supposed to go with the leader of the school Ahmad Moussa to Vejle.

Was defending his sister

While he was waiting, his sister came to him visibly distressed and red-faced. A class mate had pulled her hair and torn of her scarf, his statement to the court says.

The same boy had bothered his sister the year before, he added. The boy had kicked his sister, leaving a mark that took more than a week to disappear. Ahmed Akkari warned the boy then to never do that again.

Ahmed Akkari pled "not guilty" to assault but acknowledged that he grabbed the boy’s earlobes and pushed him to the ground. He denied having kicked or beaten the boy. He later went to the boy’s parents and apologized for the incident.

The 11-year old explained in detail how he was pulled by his ear, pushed to the ground and kicked in his hip area and his thigh.

When Prosecutor Birte Wirmfeldt read from the police report where the boy had reported that Ahmed Akkari hit him twice with his fists, the boy denied it. He had kind of been pushed over with a closed fist, he said.

He also told that he had neither hit Akkari’s sister or taken her scarf. But when he played ball with some friends he accidently hit her.

A Danish teacher witnessed the assault from a window in a classroom. She heard the boy crying out. He was on his knees and shielded his head with his hands. The Imam both kicked and hit the pupil. The teacher yelled at Akkari to stop and hurried to the boy who was sobbing helplessly. Blood was pouring down his face. The 11-year old boy ran home to his mother, the teacher told.

Banned and convicted

Immediately after the assault Ahmed Akkari told leader of the school Ahmad Moussa that he had "levered" the boy by his ears and pushed because he wanted to defend his sister. But he didn’t tell about kicking or hitting the boy, Moussa told.

In spite of this the Imam was banned from the grounds of Lykkeskolen.

Ahmed Akkari was convicted of violence by the penal code’s §244. The court based this on the boy having been kicked several times. The penalty was 40 days incarceration.

"For violence against an 11-year old an the sentence would not normally be suspended," wrote Judge Jørgen Mønsted in the final opinion. But it was a mitigating circumstance that Ahmed Akkari believed that the boy had pulled his sister’s scarf though he had already been warned not to do so a year before.

And since Ahmed Akkari had no prior record, "it is not absolutely necessary to carry out the sentence," opined the Judge and made the 40 days of incarceration into a suspended sentence.

This touch-and-go decision suspending his sentence made it possible for Ahmed Akkari to become a naturalised citizen last year.

Ahmed Akkari was born in 1978 i Lebanon and entered Denmark when he was 13. Therefore he was eligible to be a Danish Citizen. But the Danish naturalisation laws have a waiting period of 4 years from a suspended sentence before a foreigner can become a Danish citizen. And since the sentence was handed down in March of 2001, the earliest time Ahmed Akkari could achieve citizenship was in the spring of 2005. He was granted citizenship on the 14th of June 2005.

A full sentence would have meant that he would have had to wait till 2009 to achieve citizenship

A two year younger sister - not the one from this incident - achieved citizenship in April of 2002. She has no criminal record.

Kristeligt Dagblad, January 5, 2006

Letter to the editor

Denmark needs to open its eyes

Moslems will not stand for their prophet being ridiculed and criticised for no reason.

By Ahmed Akkari

If freedom of religion and freedom of speech are not balanced, society at large will suffer one of two possible fates:

If freedom of religion is accommodated to the detriment of freedom of speech, society will end in stagnation as in the Dark Ages of Europe. Or it may end as a harsh and barren communist utopia with no place for dynamicism, individual differences and creativity.

If freedom of speech takes over, letting freedom of religion be ignored, undermined, publicly ridiculed and mistreated, society will end up with no basis at all. Eller as a modern sociologist put it: "Like flying two thousand meters above the ground only to discover that there is no pilot."

Letting oneself get blinded by a value without weighing the consequences may be fatal. In the Dark Ages of Europe they were blinded by the value of belief and today the opposite is the problem. From one extremism to the other, Europe is careening wildly from side to side with her passengers.

The current matter of Moslems, Imams, cartoons of Muhammed - peace be upon him - and about humor and satire is about understanding that your freedom stops where other people’s freedom begins.

Everything else is irrevelant to the core of the issue. It’s not about delegations touring the world. Neither is it about so-called disinformation or a wish to arouse people’s ire against Denmark. All that is but muddying the waters.

The issue is that Denmark needs to open its eyes to world. To make Denmark understand, acknowledge and accept that it is still a part of the world at large.

Moslems can and will not tolerate that their role model and religious idol Muhammed - peace be upon him - is criticised obscenely and unneedlessly.

So far Moslems, their Imams og organizations have sought diplomatic, political and dialogue-based solutions to a completely ununderstandable provocation and disgrace. And let us hope that those holding the reins in Denmark can restore balance before the scales are tipped and another kind of solution is sought.

No! Of course that’s not a threat, which some might prematurely might interpret it to be, it’s only a reminder and a bit of advice.

Jyllands-Posten, Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Danish Imams’ pictures were misleadingly attributed

by Lars Nørgaard Pedersen

The Danish Imams didn’t differentiate between which pictures were published in Jyllands-Posten and which pictures they had added to 43 pages they toured the Middle East with.

Spokesman for the Danish Imams Ahmed Akkari repeatedly claimed that they had marked which pictures where the ones they added and which were published. Among the added ones was the much discussed pig photograph.

Professor Helle Lykke Nielsen from the centre for Mideast Studies at the University of Southern Denmark has studied the document and she concludes that no differentiation was made and that one is inclined to think that the extra photograps had been published in Danish newspapers.

"The claim Akkari makes that their own photographs which hadn’t been published were were seperate from the rest is flat wrong. No other interpretation of the document seems plausible than to conclude that the extra photographs had in fact been published. This knowing or unknowing manipulation seems very serious to me. Their photographs have undoubtedly been a contributing factor to the uproar."

Organizations mixed up

Her review of the document also reveals that the document has no definite author, that the number of organizations supporting it is not clear and that cartoons from the back of Weekendavisen are claimed to have been published on the front page.

Ahmed Akkari "does not wish to comment".

Jyllands-Posten, February 14, 2006

Moslem group ready to take some blame

By Lars Nørgaard Pedersen

Danish Moslems are now ready to assume part of the responsibility for the escalation of the cartoon issue.

Following harsh criticism, the group of Danish Moslems who spread the story of the cartoons in the Middle East, is now ready to assume a third of the responsibility for the final result of boycots, flagburnings and arson of Danish embassies which resulted from the publication of the 12 cartoons in Jyllands-Posten.

The spokesman for the Danish Moslem group, 28-year-old Ahmed Akkari who claims to represent 27 Moslem organizations tells Jyllands-Posten that he is ready to accept "a third of the blame" for the escalating conflict if Jyllands-Posten and the Danish Government accepts that the rest is theirs. Ahmed Akkari explains that this is an attempt to get into a dialogue.

"With this concrete action we are attempting to show that we bear part of the blame in order to achieve resolution to this crisis. We want to show that we aren’t running. In fact, we have been trying to do that for the last two weeks," says Ahmed Akkari.

By this, he refers to the attempts the group repeatedly has made to get into a dialogue, by inviting the Editor-in-Chief of Jyllands-Posten Carsten Juste to a debate, by suggesting they meet with Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and by writing a letter to Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller.

But Ahmed Akkari feels that the group is not being heard. "We constantly try to participate in news programs. But we don’t feel that we are able to get into a dialogue with anybody. Therefore, we invite them to come to us by constantly making suggestions," Ahmed Akkari says.

Jyllands-Posten would like to have known if this means that the Danish Imams admit that the tour the delegations made to the Middle East was what made the crisis erupt, if they are planning to make any other tours and if this is only an attempt to further profile themselves. But Ahmed Akkari is a busy man: "This is what you get."

The group of Danish Moslems has for over four months been trying to get Jyllands-Posten to apologize for the publication of the cartoons.

Update: See The Brussels Journal for commentary

This is a transcript of an interview with Ahmed Akkari on DR TVs newscast at 18:30 Wednesday, February 8, 2006.

The Interview lasts from 8:43 to 12:08 in the newscast.

Interviewer: "Akkari, would you try and explain why you toured the Middle East with a picture taken from a French pig-squaling contest as if it was a picture that had been published in Denmark?"

Akkari: "Ehh.. We actually didn’t do that. It is something alike to media manipulation from some Danish newspapers, what is presented with this picture, because that picture is not what was shown [to the OIC and Arab League] and not in the context in which it is being presented now."

Interviewer: "You know, we have pictures of your predecessor as spokesman for the Community of Islam in Cairo, showing the picture and saying that it is one of the worst pictures. We’ll try and see what he is saying in this clip from Cairo."

[Cuts to picture of people sitting in Cairo around a table, man passing round cartoons while commenting]

Man (In broken English): "This is one of the worst picture can anyone ever imagine. They imagine our prophet [Arabic unitelligible (blessing?)] Hands of a man, praying, and a face of a pig."

[Cuts to studio again]

Interviewer: "This was a clip from Cairo during your tour. I guess there’s not much to be mistaken about? ‘One of the worst pictures’. But that picture did not originate in Denmark?"

Akkari: "That picture is not a part of the cartoons published in Jyllands-Posten and everybody knows that."

Interviewer: "That wasn’t my question."

Akkari: "But that is the issue at stake here…"

[Interviewer interrupts]

Interviewer: "That picture was brought on the tour in the Middle East in the folder your predecessor has on the table in Cairo and is displayed for your coreligionists…"

[Akkari interrupts]

Akkari: "I think we should try and ask in Cairo and in the Middle East in general if it is that particular picture that is making people angry now. If it is so, I shall relent. If not — and I think not — then we have to realize that the issue at stake here is the twelve cartoons in Jyllands-Posten and not a stunt like that."

Interviewer: "Why did you bring that picture with you in your folder?"

Akkari: "To show the provocations one may suffer when publishing a reader’s letter in Jyllands-Posten. They were answers to provocations that hed been received…"

[Interviewer interrupts]

Interviewer: "But the picture that you showed your coreligionists in the Middle East hadn’t been published… made public in Denmark."

Akkari: "Nobody said that."

Interviewer: "Then why did it need to be shown as you say, and as it was said by your predecessor…"

[Akkari interrupts]

Akkari: "It was shown after a series of.. eh.. documents and the core of the matter is to view the folder as a part of a whole. What you just did was to take a few seconds from a conversation. It may easily have been manipulated and it is easy to misinterpret. And if the statements of Danish Experts haven’t been good enough to let us understand that this is manipulation then I can easily understand that some may try to make us take the blame so they.. kind of are not held responsible."

Interviewer: "Ahmed Akkari, you are going in circles, excuse me for being blunt. [Interviewer is audibly indignant] That picture was brought to the Middle East. It was shown as some of the worst pictures shown in Denmark. It comes from a pig-squealing contest in France. Is what you have shown in the Middle East truthful or is it a lie?"

Akkari: "But the questions you’re asking and the way things are presented right now isn’t truth either because you take it out of its context and you don’t inform people as to what the whole of the matter is about. Because what it is about.. it is to show what anonymous pictures Moslems have received as a provocation. I don’t think it is something anybody has claimed that Jyllands-Posten brought and everyone is welcome to go there and ask."

Interviewer: "What is your message to Danes who perhaps, right now, are thinking: ‘That man, he is lying’?"

Akkari: "I think they shouldn’t pass judgment yet because we did not intend to lie in any way. We only hope that all of us will take the responsibility assigned to us by our actions. If it is shown that something is not right, we will of course be willing to correct that, if it is that which has caused all of this anger. But let us try to investigate this together, we are eager to investigate what this is about and if it is that which has caused the angers, then I am going on LIVE tv in a minute to explain it. So let’s hope we can do that together."

Imam was forced to leave teaching job

By Erik Thomle, Pernilla Ammitzbøll and Martin Johansen

The spokesman of the traveling Imams was forced to resign from an internship in Lykkeskolen in Århus before he completed his education as a teacher. He overreacted to a student who was pulling a Moslem girl’s headscarf.

During a temporary assignment Imam Ahmed Akkari was forced to resign effective immediately on Lykkeskolen in Århus before he had completed his education to be a teacher.

Apparently he had acted violently towards a boy from the fourth grade.

The incident was reported to the police and Ahmed Akkari was restricted from entering the grounds of the Moslem community school. Sources connected to the school have confirmed this.

Ahmed Akkari did not wish to comment because he no longer speaks to reporters from Jyllands-Posten.

According to a co-worker the incident took place a Friday during the last recess.

The boy was playfully chasing a girl. At some point he got a hold of her headscarf which opened, exposing the girls’ hair.

Unallowable

"Ahmed Akkari was so incensed by this that he started mauling the student. He threw him to the ground and punched the student’s chest with his fist. It was completely impermissible behaviour," says the male teacher who does not want to have his name be known.

Not because he will not stand by his statement but because he is worried by the backlash which might result from the tense atmosphere surrounding the cartoon issue.

A female teacher saw the incident which left the faculty in turmoil about the actions of Ahmed Akkari.

"The atmosphere was very heated, with several teachers threatening to resign in protest if the incident was glossed over. The general feeling was that this was beyond the pale," says the teacher.

According to Århus Stiftstidende, Ahmed Akkari was reported to the police for the violent assault.

Selam Community School

In spite of the violent attack, he nevertheless succeded in making a career as a teacher.

In August 2003 he finished his education and was later hired by Selam Community School. He no longer works there, allegedly because Ahmed Akkari moved to Copenhagen.

An employee of Lykkeskolen relates that the teachers were uneasy when Ahmed Akkari shortly before Christmas again visited the school.

He has led the Friday prayers for the Arabic Cultural Organization which uses rooms in Lykkeskolen.

Ahmed Akkari is the spokesman of the Moslem organizations which has protested the Muhammed cartoons in Jyllands-Posten.

Spokesman for the Imams

He was also the spokesman of the Imams from Århus which last year affirmed that they respected the liberal Danish women’s policies to Mayor Louise Gade (Liberal Party).

Shortly after, an old article of Ahmed Akkari’s surfaced where he writes of a Moslem girl who is abused because she refuses to wear a headscarf. He was grieved by this.

"But considering the issue at stake, I think she deserved it," he continued and added that had she worn a scarf "he wouldn’t have been ogling her."

I translated this article before I got my blog and passed it around to some bloggers. It was republished everywhere. It is a translation of an article from Jyllands-Posten.

We are being pissed upon
by Per Nyholm

I think it was the long departed H.C. Hansen, one of last century’s great Danish statesmen who once - while the communists were demonstrating in front of Christiansborg [Ed: the seat of parliament] - threw his gaze across the palace square and remarked: "I will not be pissed upon."

Then he did what was necessary.

I feel that currently my beloved country is being pissed upon rather too much. Denmark has not been neglecting its duties on the international stage. We have supported poor people with acts and advice, we have worked for peace, we have sent soldiers, policemen and experts to all the far flung corners of the world. We have democracy, a state of law and a welfare state. Not all is perfect, but
we harbor no malice to our fellow man.

And yet Denmark is being pissed upon. The spokesman of the US State Department is pissing on Denmark, the British Secretary of Foreign Affairs is pissing on Denmark, the President of Afghanistan is pissing on Denmark, the Goverment of Iraq is pissing on Denmark, other Moslem regimes are pissing on Denmark. In Gaza, where Danes for years have provided humanitarian relief, crazed Imams
encourage people to cut off the hands and heads of the cartoonists who made the caricatures of Mohammed for the Jyllands-Posten newspaper.

Excuse my choice of words, but all this pissing is pissing me off.

What’s happening? I am not so much referring to the threats against Danish citizens and Danish commerce. Nor are the burnt down Embassies what occupies my mind. I am thinking of a word that keeps popping up whenever the Mohammed
cartoons are mentioned.

That word is BUT. A sneaky word. It’s used to deny or relativize what one has just said.

How many times lately have we not heard people of power, The Formers of Opinion and other people say that of course we have freedom of speech, BUT.

They have said it, all of them, from Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General to our own Bendt Bendtsen [ed: Danish Politician]. Once we had to be sensitive of the easily hurt feeling of the Nazis, then came the communists, now it is the Islamists. The reason I say ‘Islamists’ is that I don’t for a moment believe all the world’s Moslems are pissing on us. I think we are dealing with thugs, fools and misled people. Those are the ones we have to deal with, and then the chickenshit politicians.

The cartoons are no longer something the Jyllands-Posten can control. They have already been manipulated and misrepresented to the point that few know what’s going on and fewer know how to stop it. This affair is artifically keept buoyant in a sea of lies, suppressions of the truth, misconceptions, lunacy and hypocrisy, for which this newspaper bears no blame. The only thing the Jyllands-Posten did was that it with a pin-prick made a boil of nastiness explode. It would have happened sooner or later. That it happened more than four
months following the publication of the cartoons, raises a question of its own. Are we dealing with random events or with a staged clash of civilizations? One might hope for the former yet expect the latter.

That’s why I say: Freedom of Speech is Freedom of Speech is Freedom of Speech. There is no but.

Initially I was doubtful of the timeliness of publishing the cartoons. Later events have convinced me that it was both just and useful. That they are consistent with Danish law and Danish custom seem to me less important than this: that we now know that remote, primitive countries deem themselves justified in telling us what we can do. Unfortunately we also have to recognize that governments close to us agree with them in the name of expedience.

The just is in the offensive this newspaper has launched in the name of Freedom of Speech, the useful in our newly acquired knowledge. Welcome to a brave, new world, where even our Prime Minister - in spite of his laudable firmness - must gaze out upon a scorched political landscape. It’s true, as is custom, his friend in Washington, George Bush, condemns the torching of our embassies, but his Department of State allude to us being the guilty ones in this case. The suggestion that Danish troops might benefit the democratization is buried under the charred remains of our diplomatic representations in Beirut and Damascus.

Perhaps it’s time we started mopping up this mess. Perhaps Editor-in-Chief Carsten Juste ought to remove his apology which has gone stale sitting so long on the front page of our internet edition and which does not seem to interest madmen. Perhaps our government ought to announce to Mona Omar Attia, the strange Ambassador of Egypt, that she is persona non grata.

Perhaps it ought to be announced to the ambassadors that have been called home to fictive consultations in the Middle East that they may spare themselves the cost of the return ticket.

To the degree it is possible, The Lying Imams ought probably to be expelled. And then we ought to make an effort for the Moslems who in a difficult situation have proven themselves to be true Citizens.

We, for our part, have no wish to be a burden on the Arab governments. We will happily withdraw our soldiers, policemen and diplomats. If they think our money smells, we will stop our aid. Our trade must make do as well as it can. We promise to not bear a grudge and, in time, we will be glad to return, but we are through with the hypocrisy. We have better things to do than being pissed upon at our own expense.

Let’s disengage from the Middle East. This world holds other opportunities.

This article was first posted on Captain’s Quarters after I sent him my translation. This issue, though, seems to be stretching on for a bit, so I am going to start publishing the articles here.

This article is not available in the internet edition of Jyllands-Posten except by subscription. The pages can be viewed in low resolution by going here:
http://www.e-jp.dk/12-02-2006/demo/JP_02-01.html
and pressing the menu item "Indblik" on the left hand side.

JYLLANDS-POSTEN Sunday, February 12, 2005
THE TRAVELLING IMAMS

        They said they would send delegations on a tour of the world to convince Moslem countries to participate in a "defense" of the prophet Muhammed. Instead it turned into an attack. The Danes were described as "infidels", who would neither recognize Islam nor allow Mosques to be erected. Since, the battle cry "Death to Denmark" has sounded in many cities in the Middle East. Most of the persons who participated in the tour are Danish Citizens. Even so, they believe they did the right thing when they became The Travelling Imams.

THE MUHAMMED CRISIS
By Orla Borg and Lars Nørgaard Pedersen

    The evening of Novemer 18, 2005 was when they finally decided. All Danish channels were showing a smiling Anders Fogh Rasmussen opening the doors of Marienborg [ED:Downing Street No 10 in Denmark] to the Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
    To the Imams and other representatives of Moslem organizations, who for several weeks had been protesting the Muhammed cartoons in the Jyllands-Posten, it felt like a kick to the face:
    So, the Prime Minister welcomed her - this /woman/ who had written the manuscript for "Submission Part 1", a film highly critical of Islam.
    But the ambassadors of 11 Moslem countries who had asked so pleadingly to meet him regarding the caricatures of the prophet Muhammed, were not granted an audience.
    This was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
    The inflamed Danish Moslems who had organized in the network "Moslems for the Prophet in the Media" decided to enter phase two:
    The international phase with travelling delegations to the Middle East, since their first strategy - national actions within the borders of Denmark - had led them nowhere.
    Since October 2, 2005 - two days after the publication of the drawings - they had tried to make the Jyllands-Posten and the Danish government apologize for the drawings and ensure that there would be no repetitions.
    They had collected 17000 signatures. They had organized a demonstration numbering more than 3000 on Rådhuspladsen in Copenhagen. They had written to the Ministry of Culture from which they had not even received an answer. And lastly 11 ambassadors had co-authored a letter asking to meet the Prime Minister to discuss the matter.
    All in vain.

DEFENSE TURNED INTO AN ATTACK

    The 27 organizations called for an emergency meeting where it was decided to put together delegations who would "visit the Islamic World in order to inform them of the danger inherent in the situation and convince them to join in the defense and the support of our prophet," as the published mission statement of the delegations had it.
    But this defensive action evolved into an attack on Denmark - with the connivance of the diplomats of Moslem countries in Denmark.
    In the middle of November representatives of the Moslem organizations first met the Moslem ambassadors in Copenhagen.
    Mona Omar, the Ambassador of Egypt - who was later elected spokesman of the 11 ambassadors - in November received a handful of representatives of the Moslem organizations. They presented to her the plan of sending delegations to the Middle East.
    The embassy approved of the idea and arranged for them to meet in Cairo Muhammed Shaaban, an advisor to the Egyptian Foreign Minister, former Ambassador and a member of the board of the Danish-Egyptian institute for Dialogue in Cairo. The Egyptian embassy also helped with visas and provided contact to the League of Arab States in Cairo.
    Two main delegations were sent in the first round.
    The first delegation of five landed in Egypt on December 3, 2005 and returned December 11, 2005. The second delegation comprising four Danish Moslems travelled to Lebanon December 17, 2005 and returned to Denmark December 31, 2005. During that time, Imam Ahmed Akkari from the Lebanon delegation visited Syria to present t