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Muhammad cartoonist head-butted during lecture in Sweden

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With every violent protest they start against every person who doesn't hold their beliefs, the religion of Islam moves closer and closer to being the world's biggest pariah.

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Not as funny as when the guy threw his shoes at G.W. Bush. -But now it seems we have "head-butt" terrorists.

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Oh yeah, Islam is really tolerant eh? They're not violent eh? They have a live and let live policy eh?

If this happened in oh lets say UAE I could understand, but this is a group of religious fanatics in Stolkholm telling the Sweeds how they're supposed to treat Islam with gloves of glorious magnificence above even their own personal rights.

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This just exposes yet another religion to the world about what they really believe in. Unfortunately for Islam, most of the other world religions went on crazy killing sprees hundreds of years ago before the internet and worldwide commerce.

This is why it's all the more funny when Muslims talk about the Crusades. At least the Christians don't do them anymore. At least..

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I use to be a tolerant guy, but I can't stand Islam.

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Oh yeah, Islam is really tolerant eh? They're not violent eh? They have a live and let live policy eh?

The guys in Dearborn are among the hardest working, cool headed, and decent people I've had the pleasure to meet. Judging a group by the worst of them does nobody justice. I don't believe Islam is inherently violent, it just has a disproportionate amount of zealots.

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Seems freedom of expression is alive and well in Scandinavia. If your religion can't even handle silly pictures by a Mr.Nobody, then you need to find a better one.

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Judging a group by the worst of them does nobody justice. I don't believe Islam is inherently violent, it just has a disproportionate amount of zealots.

That's just the problem. The majority of non-fanatical muslims don't express their condemnation against their more violent and intolerant bretheren. They remain conspicuously silent.

These "few" extremists, which I don't think are so few, create a very negative image to the rest of the world about their supposedly tolerant religion. Muslims speak up if you don't condone this type of close-mindedness.

Otherwise, be prepared to be seen as not being able to co-exist in Western countries by others where freedom of expression and discourse (including pictures/drawings) are fundamental rights.

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This shouldn't surprise. Europe no longer respects free speech. The Muslim population knows it and knows the largely left-leaning powers that be will not prosecute zealotry such as this. I predict that in the end it is the artist who will have to face the courts. Immigrant Mohammedans have be added to the 'victim' class, and that means the political class can draw up new laws (to 'protect' Muslims) and give to authorities more incentive to invade the privacy of ordinary native Swedes, to censor politically inconvenient news and art, and of course to add even more taxes.

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Free speech? I think the bigger issue with these guys is free thinking

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Oh yeah, Islam is really tolerant eh? They're not violent eh? They have a live and let live policy eh?

Yeah, but he only had his glasses broken. Several years back in France, at the age of 60, Robert Faurisson got a real big beating, suffering a broken jaw and severe head injuries. The attackers were not Muslims, though.

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The de facto repeal of free speech (among other customs of civil European society) is the Faustian bargain Europe's elites made with an immigrant population. Ordinary Europeans like the artist in the article are waking up - - have been forced to wake up - - but it's too late.

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artist who angered Muslims by depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a dog

He should have stuck to something safer. Like depicting a dog as the Prophet Mohammed. No rule against that.

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Sad but funny !!! cartoonist is expressing his freedom. He should do so but he should hire more body guards.

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most religious jokes can be viewed as insulting anyway. it will be hard for those want live in a freespeech society, but can not take joke as a joke.

i have seen a direct insulting message to Christianity by ancient Islamist and muslim today still worship it. but so far no call for its destruction by modern christian today.

come on muslim in Sweden, be a bit open. you can not seek understanding by violence, condemn, and murder. try to understand the vaule of the new home first, and the local will offer you back the understand you deserve. if you can not teach yourself to adapt to the new home, then it is not point being there.

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The more stories I read like this, the less I understand about this religion. If Islam is peaceful, where do the crazy ones get their ideas? I suppose it really is no different from any other group that has the black sheep who have to ruin things for everyone else, but honestly, what planet are these extremists from? Who told them that it was okay to threaten/murder/bomb your fellow man just because he believes differently? Is it in the Koran or not? Is it just tradition? What?

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A video of the aftermath of the incident is here:

http://pajamasmedia.com/zombie/2010/05/11/fatwa-headbutt-swedish-roundabout-dog-mohammed-cartoonist-lars-vilks-attacked/

Note the crazed mentality of the Muslim mob following the attack. They love violence.

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I'm sorry, but I'm calling a wolf a wolf even if some folks want to call the wolf a sheep. Islam may claim to be peaceful, and those that believe in words and not actions are quick to jump on that bandwagon, but to be honest, Islam is very very intolerant.

Let me know when there are more Islamic charities, and Islamic organizations that provide assistance to those in non Islamic countries and governments... and hopefully not tied in with the extremist fundy ideology.

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HonestDictator: "Oh yeah, Islam is really tolerant eh? They're not violent eh? They have a live and let live policy eh?"

I would alter your rhetorical questions to be less general and say SOME Islam adherents are not tolerant, are violent, etc. Heck, even you yourself in the next sentence in your comment use 'FANATICS' to speak of SOME.

Anyway, this is not at all limited to Islam, and not applicable to all Muslims and/or followers of Islam; the incident in question was carried out, as have similar incidents/threats in the past, but overzealous nutbags who resort to very radical acts to stifle/oppress/assault others. There are radical movements in other religions as well who are as bad, or commit murder over a lack of similar beliefs, etc.

There are nuts in all religions, and nuts will do crazy things that go beyond reason and comprehension for those of us who are rational.

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a nut head in vatican offered $100,000 bounty on his head too?

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I'm with you on this one, honestdictator. Good thing not too many of these dudes are living in Japan.

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There is nothing rational or noble about defending and apologizing for Mohammedan intolerance. The Muslim perpetrators of this hate crime (which is what it is) are emboldened by the tactical relativism of "multi-culturalists" on the left and the suicidal fascination this new foreign barbarism holds for so many of them. "Tolerance," in this case, is decadence and perfidy dressed up as virtue.

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Heh, you're a paragon of tolerance old friend!

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Smith look at it this way,there is a difference between hating a religious belief and not agreeing with their followers and hating people. I don't like Islam, I don't have a problem with muslims depending on what kind of person they are. Just like athiests don't like religion period, but don't hate on the believers.

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bdiego - funny you mentioned the crusades. Thousands upon thousands or European "Christians" marched off to save the Holy Land from the Muslims, supposedly "righteous" intent, I guess. One problem though, they didn't do any logistical planning. Thousands starved to death along the way. Thousands more ended up roasting and eating those who died. Talk about misguided values.

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kokorocloud:

It is in the Koran and in the Haddiths, and all through islamic history. This intimidation is in fact nothing new, it exists throughout the islamic world. You try to criticize or discuss islam anywhere, and you get the same result. The sad thing is that, blinded by political correctness, the West is caving now.

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This is from London: http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/graphics/protest9.jpg

Alas, Sweden is not far behind. Welcome to the new Europe.

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just this past week, a cross was stolen, a cross which was in honor of some WWI vet. Have any of you heard of it? Was there any violence?

as an athiest, I can say, of all the CURRENT religions left, which should be obsolete, I only see Islamist going nuts over things such as cartoons.

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Alas, Sweden is not far behind. Welcome to the new Europe.

America is already there:

http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/WestboroBaptistCNN.jpg

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That's just the problem. The majority of non-fanatical muslims don't express their condemnation against their more violent and intolerant bretheren. They remain conspicuously silent.

Many have, I've said it before, the Muslims in Dearborn are vehemently against radicals. They've hosted summits, staged demonstrations, had speeches, people just don't pay attention to them because they don't fit into the mainstream idea of what Muslims are. Instead we focus on the crazies and malcontents in Europe and the Middle East.

http://www.freep.com/article/20091228/NEWS02/912280316/Protest-planned-to-tell-world--Islam-is-peaceful

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the religion of peace strikes again....

There are plenty of muslims who are peaceful, but that's not what the koran teaches.

There may be muslims in Dearborn who protest, but they are a minority who have lost the battle for control of islamic dogma.

The fanatics are running amok. islam is going to have to reform itself or be labeled as pariah by civilized society. So far it's not going well, is it?

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There are plenty of muslims who are peaceful, but that's not what the koran teaches.

So you say.

There may be muslims in Dearborn who protest, but they are a minority who have lost the battle for control of islamic dogma.

But they're there, condemning the actions of terrorists, voicing their disgust. Exactly what people say they aren't doing. These people read the same book and come to a different, nonviolent, conclusion about what it means.

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There are radical movements in other religions as well who are as bad, or commit murder over a lack of similar beliefs, etc.

Yeah I guess if you count Nazism as a religion. With the world of liberal thinking in trying to ignore the problem and say it's only a few and not all muslims and staying silent with most muslims who don't want to anger the zealots, We are only setting ourselves up to be just like the growth of Nazism in Germany in the 1930s. One day they will outnumber us and all because we remained silent. Come on someone give me that Churchill quote.

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Why aren't the peaceful mainstream Muslims and their religious leaders speaking out more about this crap? Their continued silence tells me much.

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Why aren't the peaceful mainstream Muslims and their religious leaders speaking out more about this crap? Their continued silence tells me much.

These "few" extremists, which I don't think are so few, create a very negative image to the rest of the world about their supposedly tolerant religion. Muslims speak up if you don't condone this type of close-mindedness.

Exactly. I'm a Christian, but I don't get all butt-hurt over someone making fun of Jesus (which happens all the time). It's like most Muslims seem to be stuck in the stone age with all the public hangings and fanatical mobs. To me, the religion seems to be hypocritical because none of the 'good' Muslims speak out about how not all of them are violent freaks. I've completely lost respect for the religion of Islam.

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All religion is utter nonsense - but I'm sure everyone agrees that Islam seems to attract the stupidist and most violent people in the world, for some reason. Heck - I'd outlaw it completely if it was constitutional!

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Wiwaneko exactly, I mean I can't count how many times simpsons, south park, and even little cartoons on the internet have dipicted God, Jesus, Bhudda, even Shiva doing things that are most obviously offensive. Islam takes the cake when they don't keep it local, but expect everyone in the world to treat them special.

Lest people forget it was Islamic nations that tried to put up the "Anti-blaspemy "law" to the UN. They've already passed it in some of their own countries and lets just say if your religious or non-religious beliefs are different than their own they will find some trumped up "blaspemy" charge to make sure you're not happy.

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Here's some interesting subjects to look into. Enjoy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_and_the_United_Nations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_Declaration_of_Human_Rights_in_Islam

I'm seeing a wolf trying hard to eat the herd of sheep by dressing in sheeps clothing. Remember these were set in motion well before 9/11 and the "western" Islamophobia.

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Muslims generally carry out their religious obligations in their life. Pray 5 times a day, fasting during ramadhan, pay zakat, pilgrim to mecca and most importantly confess that Theres no god except Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.

Muslims therefore has a connection to prophet Muhammad and keep him dear in their heart. That is why when prophet Muhammad is insulted, muslims feel insulted as well.

Can you imagine if your dear mom or dad's NAME was associated with a picture which is not her's, presented in half human half dog? what would you do to protect the person you love?

would you first come to the the culprit's talk calmly just to hear the insult for yourself? and after you have heard the insult with your own ear, will you not be angry?

I believe, Islam IS a religion of peace. Just dont hurt the human's heart.

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Muslims therefore has a connection to prophet Muhammad and keep him dear in their heart. That is why when prophet Muhammad is insulted, muslims feel insulted as well.

Looks like we have one of them on here, fellow JT'ers! Better watch what we say - he may trace our handles and get revenge if he disagrees with our opinion!

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"after al-Qaida in Iraq put a $100,000 bounty on his head"

He must have been doing something right.

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sveinnyves, the issue is not how dear muslims feel towards their own ideology. The issue is their choice to have violent reactions when they feel they are being insulted. Keep in mind "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

If my mother was insulted or an unflattering picture was drawn of her, of course I'd be angry, but it does NOT give me the right to inflict physical harm or threaten the life of another person because I'm upset about it. Muslims need to understand this period.

Mohammed is not God and should not be treated with such reverence that he's become an intellectual golden idol that muslims are pretty much bowing down to in their minds before God when they keep up this ideology.

Progressive muslims understand that change is needed and many specific aspects of Islam will have to be revised to survive in the modern world and dealing with various global societies. Sure muslims may be taught to believe the Qu'ran is perfect, but it is a fact that it is not perfect no matter how much they want to believe it is. Just because a few people say the sky is actually red when its blue doesn't make it true... this goes for ALL religious beliefs.

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The funny thing is that if Mohammad were alive today, he would be on a no-fly list.

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Thinking that muslims placing Muhammad above god is a pure example how shallow some people actually know about Islam, because muslims see him as a messenger but never above god. Muslim revered god so high that it is incomparable to Muhammad's. He is respected for teaching Islam and honour. Probably reading a proper book with unbiased views on the topic, with open mind instead of jumping to self righteous verdict from reading newspapers would enrich everyones understanding.

Why there are so many countries in this world and why all would go great lengths to protect their interests even resorting to war?. Such patriotism or national pride is a form of unity which like Islam, the feelings of muslims are interconnected. The difference with other believers of other religion is that most muslims are not just 'muslim in name' but try to live up to the teachings all the time. Freedom of speech should have limitations and be civilized instead of calling names or depicting insulting pictures. If china's president says 'obama, you are a dog', wouldnt the average american citizens considers it disrespectul? i bet some will organize demonstrations all over america, and america will demand the chinese president to apologize and if not america will 'make' china regret for disrespecting the country by diplomatic sanctions etc. Isnt that 'action' against 'freedom of speech'? why not just let the opinion of the chinese president be? after all, it is his freedom of speech (IF).

If muhammad is still alive today, there will be no terrorists, world will be very peaceful and planes fly too low for him in the sky. Read a book.

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It is a great contradiction of Islam - the kindest and most hospitable people in the world are Muslims and also some of the greatest fabatics are muslim.

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Sveinnyvies, Islam is not united as you say or there wouldn't be muslims killing muslims now would there? Also there is progressive muslim ideology vs. fundamentalist muslim ideology. Some muslims are peaceful and some are not. Unfortunately there is a large enough percentage of non-peaceful fundamentalist muslims that are going to make every thing you say moot in many many countries because of their fanatical actions, and reactions and your resistance to understanding that what they are doing is affecting non-muslims perception of islam.

And I'm sorry but my opinion is that muslims do put Mohammed ahead of God because it is my opinion. Prostating oneself towards Mecca is pretty contradictory since one is not supposed to bow towards anything or anyone but God.

2nd freedom of speech has nothing to do with patriotism nor national pride, it has to do with constitutional (for the US) and the most basic of HUMAN RIGHTS.

I repeat, just because someone is offendended by words, ideas, or drawings does not give ANYONE (including muslims) the right to threaten someone with physical harm or death which is what a lot of fanatical muslims have been doing. If the chinese president did say such things yes it would be considered disrespectful, And yes maybe some would organize peaceful demonstrations if they feel offended by it, but they still would not be right if they took actions to physically harm the chinese president or anyone else because of it. In my country we have white supremacists that still walk around in "protest" of anyone who is not caucasian. They have the right to say or draw whatever they want as long as they are not physically harming someone. It disgusts me to no end, but I do not have to right to take my fist and hit them even though I want to.

Just because you don't like freedom of speech when someone says something you don't agree with does not give you the right to threaten someone with physical harm or physically attack the person that did it. which is exactly what these "peaceful" muslims in the article did. Saying there should be limitations on free speech is especially ridiculous because it is just words, statements, or ideas that can not be controlled. I can't tell you to stop believing in what you say nor can I stop you from saying it. You also can not stop me from believing in what I say, nor can you stop me from saying it. That is what freedom of speech is about, is freedom of thought, freedom of opinion, and freedom of speech. There is no Freedom to assault or kill others There is a saying, "You are in charge of YOUR actions". If someone says something you don't like on purpose you always have a choice of how you will react. 1: You can speak your opposing opinion, 2:Ignore them, or 3: you can step on their toes for revenge. These muslims in the article chose the 3rd choice which they do NOT have the right to do. They took physical action against someone. If you think that they were right in what they did, then you are exusing them from the responsibilty of controlling their own actions which is completely inexusable.

Protection of religious ideology is not justifiable under any circumstance because one can not prove their religious belief is fact. Just because muslims want their personal religious beliefs to be respected by everyone even non-muslims does not mean they have the right to make others respect their religious beliefs. The progressive muslims understand this, the extremists do not.

@LoveUSA, I agree with you that it is annoying. But please realise the fact that you also have the right to tell anyone knocking on your door saying,"Jesus loves you" that you could give a crap less about their religious beliefs. Let me know when you say that to a christian evangalist or missionary "I hate Jesus and I hate you" and you get beaten up or killed for saying that. Oh thats never happened now has it?

Also you need to read up on history, jihad was not started because of the christian crusades. Islam was not completely spread through peaceful means in the early days once Mohammed built an army of followers, and later on others started fighting for expansion of territory and resources. Jihad was just a tagged on name for those expiditionary raids.

Christianity may not be better than Islam, but christians are not forcing you to obey their ideas. You can criticize, insult, and reject christian ideology without fear of a violent reaction, but you can't say whatever or believe whatever you want with Islam. The passing of the UN "Defamation of religion" resolution is going to make sure you will not be able to say, write or draw anything that could be considered offensive to religious ideology. Take a close look at the main promoters and creators of that resolution.

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More interesting reading. Interview with the awsome Wafa Sultan.

http://www.examiner.com/x-17009-Freethought-Examiner~y2009m11d2-Wafa-Sultans-message-to-America

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Terrorism should be not tolerated, i believe we all agree on this. However you can see how people can jump to conclusions and misunderstood so easily. Early in my post 'feelings of muslims are interconnected' implies the hurt due to insult, but how every 1 billion muslim will react will be a different case. I think Islam teaches peace and co-existance but the 'human nature' is a different story. It is basic science, when u get angry do you feel cold? that is because adrenaline is running through your veins. What is its purpose? to talk back? or to prepare for physical fight? this is what i said as human nature. Again i saw how very little understanding of islam is among some people as an example, mecca has been designated as common source of direction to bow to god and only for the purpose of direction. Of course jihad was not started because of the crusades, because it is not necessarily associated with war to protect honor but it has also been used to activities such as teaching, learning etc in the name of Allah. One thing overseen is that freedom of speech does affect everything. Why would a mother tell her son what are bad and what are good things to say? Why is the mother controlling his so called freedom of speech? Because there is a concensus in the human society to speak well and respect others. Ofcourse people have mouth to speak what they want but there are consequences good or bad. You do have control, which is self control. For the sake of peace, people should condemn insulting intentions and should not cooperate in spreading it. It sounds like utopian dream but its not impossible. If one can control oneself from physically attack another human being, why not selfcontrol things to say which requires less energy. My point is dont abuse freedom of speech which will trigger a chain reaction. If you dont respect, you cant co-exist, period. Without any humanely good reasons to disrepect, everybody should have the right to be respected and you dont need this to be written in the constitution or written in the 'human rights'. Everbody in the right mind would know why a child should respect her/his or her mother because the mother has the right to be respected for various reasons. I detest terrorism or physical violence but how can u have peace if u dont realize the importance of respect surrounding the freedom of speech.

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Because freedom of speech isn't about respect, its about the right to have an opinion whether it is good or bad about something and the unassailable right to speak that opinion whether it is good or bad in other's eyes.

Yes, in many cases it would be nice if everyone respected everyone but they don't. The amount of respect or disrespect is an individual choice, not a societal choice and is not meant to be forced on as such. So the concern of whether a person is considered respectful or not will reflect a person's individuality by their speech and of course reactions.

Check out ex-muslims and apostacy. It has been the only religion in the modern age to state it is ok to murder, and harm muslims that want to make their own individual choice to believe in something else that is not Islam. It is a strong example of a religious society attempting to literally force restrictions on individual choice by showing extremely negative reactions on a constant basis. Also there are many examples of Islam in the modern age not showing respect for simple basic human rights and basic human choices.

As for peace, people can always have peace even if they disagree with each other. As I said, people are responsible for their own reactions. Just because we disagree doesnt mean one has the right to react by shooting someone with a gun, issuing death threats, and inflicting harm on others which has happened and continues to happen from Islamic extremists and fundamentalists.

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He had it coming. Being an artist does not mean you can insult other people. Peace and respect should be the first and second parameters for whatever one does. The same for the South Park writters.

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@ LostinNagoyaSo you're justifying a violent reaction to a person's opinion?

If you tell someone you don't like the color of their hair does that give them the right to put their fist in your mouth because they "feel" offended? Remember that words, statements, and pictures never justify a violent physical reaction.

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