On October 6, Danish television broadcasted a video showing young members of the far-right Danish People?s Party (DPP) socializing at a summer camp and engaging in a contest to draw mocking pictures of the Prophet Mohammad, including one where he is portrayed as a camel with beers as humps. The latest scorn has sparked yet another angry Muslim uproar against the small country, which has barely recovered from the row earlier this year, where many were killed in violent demonstrations in the Middle East, Asia and Africa .
The escalation of the cartoon incident earlier this year has undeniably put Denmark high on extremists target list and some experts affirm that the cartoons have put Denmark in greater danger than their participation in Iraq. Thus, Danish government officials have been quick to respond to this incident, learning from the previous backlash, and are actively trying to shun widespread rallies from occurring again.
Past Repercussions
Earlier this year, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen received a hail of criticism for refusing to meet with Muslim representatives when the greatest harm could still have been prevented. Diplomatic relations suffered considerably as most Muslim countries forcefully condemned the cartoons, calling for protests and withdrawing their ambassadors from Denmark. Likewise, many official Danish representatives were evacuated from Muslim countries in midst of extremely volatile conditions. More than 50 people throughout the Muslim world were killed during violent protests around Danish embassies.
The economic effects also set the Danes back quite significantly and they are still feeling the aftermath of that as Danish products were extensively boycotted in the Muslim world. Recent figures from Danish Industry (DI) show that the export of Danish products to Muslim countries has fallen 35% while other European products are seeing an 10% increase in their export to the same countries (source).
New Escalations
This time around and despite of comprehensive efforts to mitigate the situation, the anger at the new video has still caused some significant protests to break out. Danish official representatives have already been evacuated from several Muslim countries in anticipation of violent reactions. In Tehran protesters attacked the Danish embassy with stones and petrol bombs. Riot police were put in place to guard the compound and fire trucks were called to the site to extinguish a fire set by the protesters. Denmark released a warning to all its citizens against traveling to the Middle East, as the threat of an attack against Danes is now significantly higher. One militant Islamic group in Gaza threatened to seek revenge on all Danes in the region for the mocking of their prophet.
Muslim leaders have also widely condemned Denmark for the broadcasting of the video. In Iran , 232 MPs delivered an official complaint to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pressuring the government to act. Lebanon?s top Shi?ite Muslim cleric, Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein said, ?This nonchalance towards the continued insults against Islam could set the stage for negative responses due to inflamed emotions.? The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), composed by 57 Muslim member states, also condemned the cartoons stating that Europe no longer followed its own values of tolerance.
Different Approach
As the Danish leadership clearly has realized, inaction could cause surprisingly devastating ramifications. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has this time acted preemptively by immediately denouncing last week?s video. He called the footage ?tasteless? and ?unacceptable? and he affirmed that the youths? actions illustrated in the video did not by any means represent the Danish people or perception of Muslims. In contrast to last year?s refusal to meet with Muslim representatives in Copenhagen, the Danish government this time also called for a meeting to discuss and clarify the issue, led by the second highest foreign ministry official.
These measurements seem to have suppressed a significant escalation so far. Although we have seen new protests and some seemingly isolated threats, this latest episode has remained comparatively calm. The responses by Muslim leaders around the world was that of disapproval, but at the same time there were many calls by the same people for Muslims to exercise restraint and to refrain from acts of violence. Just as the Danish government has come to appreciate the value of direct action in the form of lucid communication, many Muslim leaders seem to also have come to terms with the counter-productiveness of violent outbursts.
