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{{Short description|2005 controversy surrounding the depiction of Muhammad}}
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons controversy}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
[[File:Jyllands-Posten-pg3-article-in-Sept-30-2005-edition-of-KulturWeekend-entitled-Muhammeds-ansigt.png|thumb|260px|The controversial cartoons of Muhammad, as they were first published in {{Lang|da|[[Jyllands-Posten]]}} in September 2005. <!--[http://blog.newspaperindex.com/2005/12/10/un-to-investigate-jyllands-posten-racism/ Larger] older blurry English translated images link--> The headline, {{lang|da|Muhammeds ansigt}}, means "The face of Muhammad".]]
{{Muhammad cartoons}}
The '''{{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} Muhammad cartoons controversy''' (or '''Muhammad cartoons crisis''', {{langx|da|Muhammed-krisen}})<ref>{{cite journal |last=Henkel |first=Heiko |title=Fundamentally Danish? The Muhammad Cartoon Crisis as Transitional Drama |journal=Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-knowledge |date=Fall 2010 |volume=VIII |series=2 |url=http://www.okcir.com/Articles%20VIII%202/Henkel-FM.pdf |access-date=25 November 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194639/http://www.okcir.com/Articles%20VIII%202/Henkel-FM.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref> began after the Danish newspaper {{Lang|da|[[Jyllands-Posten]]}} published twelve editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005 depicting  [[Muhammad]], the founder of [[Islam]], in what it said was a response to the debate over [[criticism of Islam]] and [[self-censorship]]. [[Islam in Denmark|Muslim groups in Denmark]] complained, sparking protests around the world, including violence and riots in some [[Muslim world|Muslim countries]].<ref>Jensen, Tim (2006). "The Muhammad Cartoon Crisis. The tip of an Iceberg." ''Japanese Religions''. 31(2):173–85. {{ISSN|0448-8954}}.</ref>

Islam has a strong tradition of [[Aniconism in Islam|aniconism]], and it is considered [[Islam and blasphemy|blasphemous]] by the majority of Muslims to visually depict Muhammad. This, compounded with a sense that the cartoons insulted Muhammad and Islam, offended many Muslims. Danish Muslim organisations  petitioned the embassies of countries and the Danish government to take action and filed a judicial complaint against the newspaper, which was dismissed in January 2006.
After the Danish government refused to meet with diplomatic representatives of the Muslim countries and—per legal principle and in accordance with the Danish legal system—would not intervene in the case, a number of Danish [[imam]]s headed by Ahmed Akkari met  in late 2005 to submit the [[Akkari-Laban dossier]]. The dossier presented the twelve {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} cartoons and other depictions of Muhammad, some real and some fake, including one where they claimed he was portrayed as a pig, seen as [[Religious restrictions on the consumption of pork|forbidden and unclean]] in Islam. This last image was proven to be an [[Associated Press]] photograph of a contestant in a pig-squealing contest. When challenged, the delegation's press spokesman admitted the goal  had been to stir up controversy.<ref name="DW article - free speech and Muhammad cartoons">{{cite web |title=Free speech at issue 10 years after Muhammad cartoons controversy |url=https://www.dw.com/en/free-speech-at-issue-10-years-after-muhammad-cartoons-controversy/a-18747856 |website=DW |access-date=7 November 2019}}</ref><ref name=responsibilities /><ref name="hansen&hundevadt" />{{Rp|80–4}}

The issue received prominent media attention in some Muslim-majority countries, leading to protests across the world in late January and early February 2006. Some escalated into violence, resulting in more than 250 reported deaths, attacks on Danish and other European diplomatic missions, attacks on churches and Christians, and a boycott of Denmark. Some groups responded to the intense pro-aniconist protests by endorsing the Danish policies, launching "Buy Danish" campaigns and other displays of support for freedom of expression. The cartoons were reprinted in certain newspapers around the world, while other media outlets declined to reproduce the images.

Danish prime minister [[Anders Fogh Rasmussen]] described the controversy as Denmark's worst international relations incident since the [[Denmark in World War II|Second World War]]. The incident came at a time of heightened political and social tensions between [[Islam by country|Muslim majority countries]] and [[Western world|Western countries]], following several, high-profile [[Islamic terrorism|radical Islamic terrorist attacks]] in the West{{mdash}}including the [[September 11 attacks]]{{mdash}}and Western military interventions in Muslim countries, such as [[American occupation of Iraq|Iraq]] and [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]]. The relationship between Muslims in Denmark and broader society was similarly at a low point, and the conflict came to symbolize the discrepancies and idiosyncrasies between the Islamic community and the rest of society. In the years since, jihadist terrorist plots claiming to be in retaliation for the cartoons have been planned{{mdash}}and some executed{{mdash}}against targets affiliated with {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} and its employees, Denmark, or newspapers that published the cartoons and other caricatures of [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|Islamic prophets]], most notably the [[Charlie Hebdo shooting|''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting]] in 2015.

Supporters said that the publication of the cartoons was a legitimate exercise in [[Freedom of speech|free speech]]: regardless of the content of the expression, it was important to openly discuss Islam without fear of terror, also stating that the cartoons made important points about critical issues. The Danish tradition of relatively high tolerance for freedom of speech became the focus of some attention. The controversy ignited a debate about the limits of freedom of expression in all societies, [[religious tolerance]] and the relationship of Muslim minorities with their broader societies in the West, and relations between the [[Islamic world]] in general and [[Western world|the West]].

Notably, a few days after the original publishing, {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} published several depictions of Muhammad, all legitimately bought in Muslim countries. This, however, drew little attention.

== Timeline ==
{{Main|Timeline of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy}}

=== Debate about self-censorship ===
On 16 September 2005, Danish news service [[Ritzau]] published an article discussing the difficulty encountered by the writer [[Kåre Bluitgen]], who was initially unable to find an illustrator prepared to work on his children's book ''The Qur'an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad'' ({{Langx|da|Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv}}).<ref name=hansen&hundevadt>{{cite book |last1=Hansen |first1=John |title=Provoen og Profeten: Muhammed Krisen bag kulisserne |trans-title=The Provo and the Prophet Muhammed: The crisis behind the scenes |year=2006 |publisher=Jyllands-Postens Forlag |location=Copenhagen |isbn=978-87-7692-092-0 |first2=Kim |last2=Hundevadt |language=da}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bluitgen |first=Kåre |author-link=Kåre Bluitgen |title=Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv |trans-title=The KQur'an and the life of the Prophet Muhammad |year=2006 |publisher=Høst & Søn/Tøkk |isbn=978-87-638-0049-5 |page=268 |url=http://www.digibutik.dk/?ID=250&GroupID=250&ProductID=PROD1179&pgid=GROUP249&qq=8D7SR65SK7TUB%2048D9LG6B%20L7T |others=Anonymous illustrator |language=da |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118123641/http://www.digibutik.dk/?ID=250&GroupID=250&ProductID=PROD1179&pgid=GROUP249&qq=8D7SR65SK7TUB%2048D9LG6B%20L7T |archive-date=18 January 2015}}</ref> Three artists declined Bluitgen's proposal out of fear of reprisals.

One artist agreed to assist anonymously; he said that he was afraid for his and his family's safety.<ref name="hansen&hundevadt" />{{Rp|13}} According to Bluitgen, one artist declined due to the murder in Amsterdam of the film director [[Theo van Gogh (film director)|Theo van Gogh]] the year before; another cited the attack in October 2004 on a lecturer at the {{ill|Carsten Niebuhr Institute|da|Carsten Niebuhr Afdelingen}} at the [[University of Copenhagen]]; he was assaulted by five assailants who opposed his reading of the Qur'an to non-Muslims during a lecture.<ref name="dybangst" /><ref>{{cite news |date=9 October 2004 |title=Overfaldet efter Koran-læsning |trans-title=Attacked after Qur'an reading |publisher=TV 2 |url=http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php?id=1424089 |language=da |access-date=16 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029202822/http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php?id=1424089 |archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref> The story gained some traction, and the major Danish newspapers reported the story the following day.<ref name="dybangst">{{cite news |date=17 September 2005 |title=Dyb angst for kritik af islam |trans-title=Profound anxiety about criticism of Islam |newspaper=Politiken |url=http://politiken.dk/kultur/boger/ECE123660/dyb-angst-for-kritik-af-islam/ |access-date=19 March 2013 |language=da |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195043/http://politiken.dk/kultur/boger/ECE123660/dyb-angst-for-kritik-af-islam/ |archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref>

The supposed refusals from these first three artists to participate was seen as evidence of self-censorship out of fear of violence from [[Islamist]]s, which led to much debate in Denmark.<ref name="dybangst" /><ref name="whyipub">{{cite news |date=19 February 2006 |title=Why I Published Those Cartoons |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/17/AR2006021702499.html |first=Flemming |last=Rose |author-link=Flemming Rose |access-date=16 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025130553/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/17/AR2006021702499.html |archive-date=25 October 2012}}</ref> The Danish newspaper ''[[Politiken]]'' stated on 12 February 2006, that they had asked Bluitgen to put them in touch with the artists, so the claim that none of them dared to work with him could be proved. The author refused, and nobody has ever been able to confirm whether the incident was accurately described.<ref>Politiken 12. Februar 2006 "''Muhammedsag: Ikke ligefrem en genistreg''"</ref>

=== Publication ===

At an editorial meeting of {{Lang|da|[[Jyllands-Posten]]}} ('The [[Jutland]] Post', Denmark's largest daily newspaper) on 19 September, reporter Stig Olesen put forward the idea of asking the members of the newspaper illustrators union if they would be willing to draw Muhammad.<ref name="hansen&hundevadt" />{{Rp|14}} This would be an experiment to see the degree to which professional illustrators felt threatened. [[Flemming Rose]], culture editor, was interested in the idea and wrote to the 42 members of the union asking them to draw their interpretations of Muhammad.<ref name="whyipub" /><ref name="hansen&hundevadt" />{{Rp|15}}

15 illustrators responded to the letter. Three declined to participate: one did not know how to contribute to what he called a vague project, one thought the project was stupid and badly paid, and one said he was afraid.<ref name="hansen&hundevadt" />{{Rp|17}} Twelve drawings had been submitted{{mdash}}three from newspaper employees and two which did not directly show Muhammad.<ref name="hansen&hundevadt" />{{Rp|17}} The editors thought that some of the illustrators who had not responded were employed by other newspapers and were thus contractually prohibited from working for {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}}. In the end, editor-in-chief [[Carsten Juste]] decided that given its inconclusive results, the story was better suited as an opinion piece rather than a news story, and it was decided to publish it in the culture section, under the direction of editor Flemming Rose.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

[[Peter Hervik]], a professor of [[migration studies|Migration Studies]], has since written that the results of this experiment disproved the idea that self-censorship was a serious problem in Denmark because the overwhelming majority of cartoonists had either responded positively or refused for contractual or philosophical reasons.<ref name=IMER /> Carsten Juste has said that the survey "lacked validity and the story fell short of sound journalistic basis."<ref name=IMER /> Hervik said that this, along with the fact that the most controversial cartoons were drawn by the newspaper's staff cartoonists, demonstrates that the newspaper's "desire to provoke and insult Danish Muslims exceeded the wish to test the self-censorship of Danish cartoonists."<ref name=IMER />

Rose wrote the editorial which accompanied the cartoons in which he argued there had been several recent cases of self-censorship, weighing freedom of speech against the fear of confronting issues about Islam, so he thought it was legitimate news story. Among the incidents he cited were: the translators of a book critical of Islam did not want their names published; the [[Tate gallery]] in London withdrew an installation by the avant-garde artist [[John Latham (artist)|John Latham]] depicting the Quran, Bible and Talmud torn to pieces, and comedian [[Frank Hvam]] said in an interview with {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} that he would hypothetically dare to urinate on the Bible on television, but not on the Quran. Rose also mentioned the case of a Danish imam who had met with Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and "called on the prime minister to interfere with the press in order to get more positive coverage of Islam."<ref name="whyipub" />

On 30 September 2005, {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} published an article entitled "{{Langx|da|Muhammeds ansigt|label=none}}" ('The face of Muhammad') incorporating the cartoons.<ref name="muhammeds_ansigt">{{cite news |first=Flemming |last=Rose |author-link=Flemming Rose |date=29 September 2005 |title=Muhammeds ansigt |trans-title=Muhammad's face |newspaper=Jyllands-Posten |url=http://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE4769352/muhammeds-ansigt/ |language=da |access-date=18 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225235648/http://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE4769352/muhammeds-ansigt/ |archive-date=25 February 2015}}</ref> The article consisted of the 12 cartoons and an explanatory text, in which Rose wrote:

{{quote|Modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings. It is incompatible with contemporary democracy and freedom of speech, where one must be ready to put up with insults, mockery and ridicule. It is certainly not always attractive and nice to look at, and it does not mean that religious feelings should be made fun of at any price, but that is of minor importance in the present context.&nbsp;... we are on our way to a slippery slope where no-one can tell how the self-censorship will end. That is why {{Lang|da|Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten}} has invited members of the Danish editorial cartoonists union to draw Muhammad as they see him.|3=|source=}}

Later, Rose explained his intent further in ''[[The Washington Post]]'': "The cartoonists treated Islam the same way they treat Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions. And by treating Muslims in Denmark as equals they made a point: We are integrating you into the Danish tradition of satire because you are part of our society, not strangers. The cartoons are including, rather than excluding, Muslims."<ref name="whyipub" /> The publication of the cartoons was also accompanied by an editorial titled "{{Langx|da|Truslen fra mørket|label=none}}" ('The Threat from the Darkness') condemning Islamic spiritual leaders "who feel entitled to interpret the prophet's word, and cannot abide the insult that comes from being the object of intelligent satire."<ref name=IMER /> In October 2005, ''Politiken'', another leading Danish newspaper, published its own poll of thirty-one of the forty-three members of the Danish cartoonist association. Twenty-three said they would be willing to draw Muhammad. One had doubts, one would not be willing because of fear of possible reprisals, and six artists would not be willing because they respected the Muslim ban on depicting Muhammad.<ref>{{cite news |title=Profetens ansigt: Ingen selvcensur blandt tegnere |trans-title=The prophet's face: No Self-Censorship among illustrators |newspaper=Politiken |date=20 October 2005 |page=Section 2, page 3 |language=da}}</ref>

=== Description of the cartoons ===

The 12 cartoons were drawn by 12 professional cartoonists in Denmark. Four of the cartoons have Danish texts, one deliberately evades the issue and depicts a school child in Denmark named Muhammad rather than the [[Prophets in Islam|Islamic prophet]], one is based on a Danish cultural expression, and one includes a Danish politician.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

=== Response ===

The immediate responses to the publication varied, including some newspaper sellers refusing to distribute that day's paper.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lHUIuy2Y5AQC&q=Klausen,+Jytte+The+Cartoons |title=The Cartoons That Shook the World |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624082203/https://books.google.com/books?id=lHUIuy2Y5AQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Klausen,+Jytte+The+Cartoons&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5bGHUq6oMIrNtAbj_oHQCg&ved=0CD0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=September%2030%2C%202005&f=false |archive-date=24 June 2016|isbn=978-0300155068 |last1=Klausen |first1=Jytte |author-link=Jytte Klausen |year=2009 |publisher=Yale University Press }}</ref> In the following days, the cartoons received significant attention in other Danish press outlets. According to [[Jytte Klausen]], "most people groaned that the newspaper was at it again, bashing Muslims. The instinct was to split the blame."<ref name="Klausen, 2009. p. 17">Klausen, 2009. p. 17.</ref> ''[[Berlingske|Berlingske-Tidende]]'' criticised the 'gag', but also said that Islam should be openly criticised. ''Politiken'' attacked Rose's account of growing self-censorship; it also surveyed Danish cartoonists and said that self-censorship was not generally perceived as a problem.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|17}} On 4 October, a local teenager telephoned the newspaper offices threatening to kill the cartoonists, but he was arrested after his mother turned him in.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|185}}

Shortly after the publication, a group of Islamic leaders formed a protest group. [[Raed Hlayhel]] called a meeting to discuss their strategy, which took place in Copenhagen a few days after the cartoons appeared.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|185}} The Islamic Faith Community and four mosques from around the country were represented. The meeting established 19 "action points" to try to influence public opinion about the cartoons. [[Ahmed Akkari]] from a mosque in [[Aarhus]] was designated the group's spokesman. The group planned a variety of political activities, including launching a legal complaint against the newspaper, writing letters to media outlets inside and outside Denmark, contacting politicians and diplomatic representatives, organising a protest in Copenhagen, and mobilising Danish Muslims through text messages and mosques.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|86}} A one-day strike and sleep-in were planned, but never took place.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|86}} A peaceful protest, which attracted about 3,500 demonstrators, was held in Copenhagen on 14 October 2005.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|186}}

Having received petitions from Danish imams, eleven ambassadors from Muslim-majority countries{{mdash}}Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Libya, Morocco{{mdash}}and the Head of the Palestinian General Delegation<ref name=IMER /> asked for a meeting with Danish Prime Minister [[Anders Fogh Rasmussen]] on 12 October 2005. They wanted to discuss what they perceived as an "on-going smearing campaign in Danish public circles and media against Islam and Muslims."<ref name="IMER" />{{Rp|59}} In a letter, the ambassadors mentioned the issue of the Muhammad cartoons, a recent indictment against [[Radio Holger]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Denmark targets extremist media |date=17 August 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4159220.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |first=Thomas |last=Buch-Andersen |access-date=16 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055144/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4159220.stm |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> and statements by MP [[Louise Frevert]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Ordene på Louise Freverts hjemmeside |trans-title=The words from Louise Frevert's website |date=30 September 2005 |language=da |url=http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/baggrund/article.php?id=2946997 |publisher=[[TV2 (Denmark)|TV2]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051211101846/http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/baggrund/article.php?id=2946997 |archive-date=11 December 2005 |access-date=16 September 2013}}</ref> and the Minister of Culture [[Brian Mikkelsen]].<ref name=IMER /><ref>{{cite news |title=Mikkelsen blæser til ny kulturkamp |date=25 September 2005 |url=http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php?id=2923885 |publisher=TV2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060215173141/http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php?id=2923885 |archive-date=15 February 2006 |language=da |access-date=16 September 2013}}</ref> It concluded:<ref>{{cite web|title=Letter from 11 ambassadors|url=http://www.rogerbuch.dk/jpabrev.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013004346/http://www.rogerbuch.dk/jpabrev.pdf|archive-date=13 October 2012|access-date=10 December 2012}}</ref>

{{quote|We deplore these statements and publications and urge Your Excellency's government to take all those responsible to task under law of the land in the interest of inter-faith harmony, better integration and Denmark's overall relations with the Muslim world.|Letter from 11 ambassadors||source=}}

The government answered with a letter without addressing the request for a meeting:<ref>{{cite web|title=Official response to ambassadors from A.F.Rasmussen|url=http://gfx-master.tv2.dk/images/Nyhederne/Pdf/side3.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219083657/http://gfx-master.tv2.dk/images/Nyhederne/Pdf/side3.pdf|archive-date=19 February 2006|access-date=16 September 2013}}</ref>

{{quote|The freedom of expression has a wide scope and the Danish government has no means of influencing the press. However, Danish legislation prohibits acts or expressions of blasphemous or discriminatory nature. The offended party may bring such acts or expressions to court, and it is for the courts to decide in individual cases.|A. F. Rasmussen|Official response to ambassadors|source=}}

The refusal to meet the ambassadors was later prominently criticised by the Danish political opposition, twenty-two Danish ex-ambassadors and the Prime Minister's fellow party member, former Minister of Foreign Affairs [[Uffe Ellemann-Jensen]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davidsen-Nielsen |first1=Hans |author1-link=:da:Hans Davidsen-Nielsen |title=Danske ambassadører leverer skarp kritik af Fogh |trans-title=Danish ambassadors deliver sharp criticism of Fogh |url=http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE132427/danske-ambassadoerer-leverer-skarp-kritik-af-fogh/ |access-date=19 September 2013 |newspaper=Politiken |date=19 December 2005 |language=da |last2=Surrugue |first2=Stéphanie |last3=Parker Astrup |first3=Tanja |last4=Emborg |first4=Rasmus |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055618/http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE132427/danske-ambassadoerer-leverer-skarp-kritik-af-fogh/ |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> Hervik wrote:<ref name="IMER" />{{Rp|85}}

<blockquote>While it is certainly true that the prime minister did not have a legal right to intervene in the editorial process, he could have publicly (as an enactment of free speech) dissociated himself from the publication, from the content of the cartoons, from Rose's explanatory text, from {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}}{{'}}s editorial of the same day, and from the general association of Islam with terrorism. Rasmussen did none of those. Instead, he used his interview [on 30 October 2005] to endorse {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten's}} position and the act of publishing the cartoons.</blockquote>

The [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] (OIC) and [[Arab League]] also wrote a joint letter to the Prime Minister expressing alarm about the cartoons and other recent incidents and insults committed by Danish politicians.<ref name="Klausen186">Klausen, 2009. p. 186.</ref> The Muslim countries continued to work diplomatically to try to have the issue{{mdash}}and the other issues mentioned in their initial letter{{mdash}}addressed by the Danish government.<ref name="Diplomatic">Klausen, 2009. "The Diplomatic Protest against the Cartoons." pp.&nbsp;63–83.</ref> Turkey and Egypt were particularly active.<ref name="Diplomatic" /> Turkish Prime Minister [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] visited Copenhagen in November in an encounter which the Turkish press described as a crisis.<ref name="Klausen, 2009. p. 67">Klausen, 2009. p. 67.</ref> Erdogan clashed with Rasmussen over the cartoons as well as [[Roj TV]]{{mdash}}a television station affiliated with the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]]{{mdash}}being allowed to broadcast from Denmark. After trying to engage the Danish government diplomatically, Egyptian foreign minister [[Ahmed Aboul Gheit]] and the secretaries-general of the OIC and the Arab League sent letters to the [[OSCE]], [[OECD]], and [[High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy|EU foreign policy coordinator]] complaining about Danish inaction.<ref name="Klausen, 2009. p. 67" />

=== Judicial investigation of ''Jyllands-Posten'' (October 2005 – January 2006) ===
On 27 October 2005, representatives of the Muslim organisations which had complained about the cartoons in early October filed a complaint with the Danish police claiming that {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} had committed an offence under sections 140 and 266b of the [[Danish Criminal Code]], precipitating an investigation by the public prosecutor:<ref name="danish_response_to_un_jan">{{cite news |url=http://www.um.dk/NR/rdonlyres/00D9E6F7-32DC-4C5A-8E24-F0C96E813C06/0/060123final.pdf |title=Official Response by the Danish Government to the UN Special Rapporteurs |publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark |date=24 January 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060218054430/http://www.um.dk/NR/rdonlyres/00D9E6F7-32DC-4C5A-8E24-F0C96E813C06/0/060123final.pdf |archive-date=18 February 2006 |language=da |access-date=22 September 2013}}</ref>
* Section 140<ref name="par140">{{cite news|title=§&nbsp;140 of the Danish criminal code|language=da|publisher=Juraportalen Themis|url=http://www.themis.dk/synopsis/docs/Lovsamling/Straffeloven_kap_15.html|url-status=live|access-date=16 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053248/http://www.themis.dk/synopsis/docs/Lovsamling/Straffeloven_kap_15.html|archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> (aka the blasphemy law), prohibits disturbing public order by publicly ridiculing or insulting the dogmas of worship of any lawfully existing religious community in Denmark. Only one case, a 1938 case involving an anti-Semitic group, has ever resulted in a sentence. The most recent case was in 1971 when a programme director of [[Danmarks Radio]] was accused in a case involving a song about the Christian god,<ref>{{cite web |last=Gehlert |first=Jon Bøge |title=Blasfemi i Danmark |trans-title=Blasphemy in Denmark |url=http://www.etik.dk/artikel/481019:Religion-og-etik--Blasfemi-i-Danmark |publisher=Etik.dk |access-date=13 January 2013 |language=da |date=5 October 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055811/http://www.etik.dk/artikel/481019:Religion-og-etik--Blasfemi-i-Danmark |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> but was found not guilty.<ref name="Glemte">{{cite news|url=http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Politik/2006/02/16/130153.htm|title=Den glemte paragraf|last=Märcher Dalgas|first=Betina|date=16 February 2006|work=DR.dk|access-date=16 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309145432/http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Politik/2006/02/16/130153.htm|archive-date=9 March 2012|url-status=live|publisher=[[Danmarks Radio]]|language=da|trans-title=The forgotten section}}</ref>
* Section 266b<ref name="par266b">{{cite news |title=§&nbsp;266b of the Danish criminal code |publisher=Juraportalen Themis |url=http://www.themis.dk/synopsis/docs/Lovsamling/Straffeloven_kap_27.html |language=da |access-date=16 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718121945/http://www.themis.dk/synopsis/docs/Lovsamling/Straffeloven_kap_27.html |archive-date=18 July 2013}}</ref> criminalises insult, threat or degradation of [[natural person]]s, by publicly and with malice attacking their race, colour of skin, national or ethnic roots, faith or sexual orientation.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

On 6 January 2006, the Regional Public Prosecutor in [[Viborg, Denmark|Viborg]] discontinued the investigation as he found no basis for concluding that the cartoons constituted a criminal offence because the publication concerned a subject of public interest and Danish [[case law]] extends editorial freedom to journalists regarding subjects of public interest. He stated that in assessing what constitutes an offence, the right to freedom of speech must be taken into consideration, and said that freedom of speech must be exercised with the necessary respect for other human rights, including the right to protection against discrimination, insult and degradation.<ref name="danish_response_to_un_jan" /> In a new hearing resulting from a complaint about the original decision, the Director of Public Prosecutors in Denmark agreed with the previous ruling.<ref name=rigsadvokat />

=== Danish Imams tour the Middle East ===
{{Main|Akkari-Laban dossier}}
 [[File:Pig person.jpg|thumb|right|This picture of a [[La Pourcailhade|French pig-squealing contestant]] was unrelated to the Muhammed drawings, but was included in the imams' dossier. Original caption included in the dossier: ''"Her er det rigtige billede af Muhammed"'', meaning "Here is the real image of Muhammad."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2006/02/07/234208.htm |publisher=DR.dk |title=Billede fra grisefestival i imamers mappe |trans-title=Picture from pig contest in imam's folder |date=7 February 2006 |access-date=22 September 2013 |language=da |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927173525/http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2006/02/07/234208.htm |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref>]]

In December, after communications with the Danish government and the newspaper, the "Committee for Prophet Honouring" decided to gain support and leverage outside of Denmark by meeting directly with religious and political leaders in the Middle East. They created a 43-page dossier, commonly known as the [[Akkari-Laban dossier|''Akkari-Laban'' dossier]] ({{langx|ar|ملف عكّاري لبن}}; after two leading imams), containing the cartoons and supporting materials for their meetings.<ref name=clash>{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,398624,00.html |date=1 February 2006 |title=Alienated Danish Muslims Sought Help from Arabs |newspaper=Spiegel Online International |access-date=6 December 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307221716/http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,398624,00.html |archive-date=7 March 2012|last1=Staff |first1=Spiegel }}</ref>

The dossier,<ref>[http://www.biblen.info/Ressourcer/5679.pdf The dossier (PDF in arabic)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223335/http://www.biblen.info/Ressourcer/5679.pdf|date=3 March 2016}} (page visited on 7 January 2015).</ref> finalised for the group's trip to Lebanon in mid-December, contained the following:<ref name=Thomsen>{{cite book |last=Thomsen |first=Per Bech |title=Muhammed-krisen – Hvad skete der, hvad har vi lært? |year=2006 |publisher=People's Press |location=Copenhagen |isbn=978-87-7055-002-4 |pages=96–97}}</ref>
* An introduction describing the situation of Muslims in Denmark (from the point of view represented by the imams), the country itself, background on the cartoons, and the group's action plan;
* Clippings of the articles and editorials from 30 September 2005 that accompanied the cartoons and a copy of the page with cartoons translated into Arabic;
* An 11-point declaration by Raed Hlayhel against alleged Western double standards about free speech; he wrote that Islam and Muhammed are ridiculed and insulted under the guise of free speech while parallel insults would be unacceptable;
* 11 of the 12 cartoons from the paper itself blown up to A4 size and translated. The cartoon with Muhammad and the sword was not shown here, only in the overview page;
* Copies of letters and the group's press releases;
* Arabic translation of the {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} editorial of 12 October discussing the early controversy and refusing to apologise;
* 10 satirical cartoons from another Danish newspaper, ''[[Weekendavisen]]'', published in November 2005 in response to the {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} controversy, which Kasem Ahmad, spokesman for ''[[Islamisk Trossamfund]]'', called "even more offensive" than the original 12 cartoons despite being intended as satire. He said that they were part of a broader campaign to denigrate Muslims and were gratuitously provocative;<ref>{{cite news |last=Sand |first=Thomas |title=Trossamfund angriber Muhammed-satire i Weekendavisen |trans-title=Trossamfund attacks Muhammad satire in Weekendavisen |url=http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2006/01/04/161736.htm |access-date=6 December 2012 |publisher=DR.dk |date=4 January 2006 |language=da |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121127043600/http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2006/01/04/161736.htm |archive-date=27 November 2012}}</ref>
* Three additional pictures that the dossier's authors alleged were sent to Muslims in Denmark, said to be indicative of the "hate they feel subjected to in Denmark"'<ref name=clash />
* Some clippings from Egyptian newspapers discussing the group's first visit to Egypt.<ref name=Thomsen />

The dossier also contained "falsehood about alleged maltreatment of Muslims in Denmark" and the "tendentious lie that {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} was a government-run newspaper".<ref>[[Richard Dawkins]], ''[[The God Delusion]]'', 2006, page 46.</ref>

The imams said that the three additional images were sent anonymously by mail to Muslims who were participating in an online debate on {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}}{{'}}s website,<ref>{{cite news |title=Sådan gik chatten – Bjerager og Akkari |trans-title=This is how the chat went – Bjerager and Akkari |publisher=TV2 |date=8 March 2006 |url=http://politik.tv2.dk/article.php/3617652.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220185434/http://politik.tv2.dk/article.php/3617652.html |archive-date=20 February 2006 |language=da |access-date=17 September 2013}} See question asked by ''xaria'' and answered by Akkari</ref> and were apparently included to illustrate the perceived atmosphere of Islamophobia in which they lived.<ref>{{cite news |title=What the Muhammad cartoons portray |work=BBC News |date=9 February 2006 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4693292.stm |first=Martin |last=Asser |access-date=22 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922134552/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4693292.stm |archive-date=22 September 2013}}</ref> On 1 February, [[BBC World]] incorrectly reported that one of the images had been published in {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}}.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Kristoffer |last1=Pinholt |first2=Lars |last2=Nørgaard Pedersen |title=Imam viste falske billeder |newspaper=Jyllands-Posten |date=30 January 2006 |url=http://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE3830095/imam-viste-falske-billeder/ |language=da |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927210716/http://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE3830095/imam-viste-falske-billeder/ |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref> This image was later found to be a wire-service photograph of a contestant at [[La Pourcailhade|a French pig-squealing contest in the Trie-sur-Baise's annual festival]].<ref name="responsibilities">{{cite news|last=Reynolds|first=Paul|date=6 February 2006|title=A clash of rights and responsibilities|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4686536.stm|url-status=live|access-date=22 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615150915/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4686536.stm|archive-date=15 June 2009}}</ref><ref>[[Associated Press]]. "[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8959820 Duo hogs top prize in pig-squealing contest: Father-son team oinks way to victory in French cult competition] " NBC News, 15 August 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2009.</ref> One of the other two additional images (a photograph) portrayed a Muslim being mounted by a dog while praying, and the other (a cartoon) portrayed Muhammad as a demonic paedophile.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

Experts{{mdash}}including Helle Lykke Nielsen{{mdash}}who have examined the dossier said that it was broadly accurate from a technical point of view but contained a few falsehoods and could easily have misled people not familiar with Danish society, an assessment which the imams have since agreed to.<ref name="hansen&hundevadt" />{{Rp|80–4}} Some mistakes were that Islam is not officially recognised as a religion in Denmark (it is); that the cartoons are the result of a contest; and that [[Anders Fogh Rasmussen]] in his role as Prime Minister gave a medal to [[Ayaan Hirsi Ali]] (he gave one in his capacity as party leader of the [[Venstre (Denmark)|Liberal Party]]).

The imams also claimed to speak on behalf of 28 organisations, many of which later denied any connection to them.<ref name="hansen&hundevadt" />{{Rp|81}} Additions such as the "pig" photograph may have polarised the situation (the association of a person and a pig is considered very insulting in Islamic culture), as they were confused for the cartoons published in the newspaper.<ref name="responsibilities" /> Muslims who met with the group later said Akkari's delegation had given them the impression that Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen somehow controlled or owned {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}}.<ref name="clash" />

Delegations of imams circulated the dossier on visits to Egypt, Syria and Lebanon in early December 2005, presenting their case to many influential religious and political leaders and asking for support.<ref name="clash" /> The group was given high level access on these trips through their contacts in the Egyptian and Lebanese embassies.<ref>Klausen, 2009.</ref> The dossier was distributed informally on 7–8 December 2005 at a summit of the [[Organisation of the Islamic Conference]] (OIC) in [[Mecca]], with many heads of state in attendance. The OIC issued a condemnation of the cartoons: "[We express our] concern at rising hatred against Islam and Muslims and condemned the recent incident of desecration of the image of the Holy Prophet Mohamed." The communique also attacked the practice of "using the freedom of expression as a pretext for defaming religions."<ref name="news.independent.co.uk">{{cite news |title=How a meeting of leaders in Mecca set off the cartoon wars around the world |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=10 February 2006 |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article344482.ece |first1=Daniel |last1=Howden |first2=David |last2=Hardaker |first3=Stephen |last3=Castle |access-date=7 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708204534/http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article344482.ece |archive-date=8 July 2008 }}</ref> Eventually an official communiqué was issued requesting that the [[United Nations]] adopt a binding resolution banning contempt of religious beliefs and providing for sanctions to be imposed on contravening countries or institutions.<ref name="UN resolution">{{cite news |date=29 January 2006 |title=Muslims seek UN resolution over Danish prophet cartoons |publisher=Islam Online |url=http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2006-01/30/article01.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060323080322/http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2006-01/30/article01.shtml |archive-date=23 March 2006 |access-date=16 September 2013}}</ref> The attention of the OIC is said to have led to media coverage which brought the issue to public attention in many Muslim countries.<ref name="news.independent.co.uk" />

=== International protests ===
{{further|International reactions to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy#Violent protests}}

Protests against the cartoons were held around the world in late January and February 2006.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,399177,00.html |title=Arson and Death Threats as Muhammad Caricature Controversy Escalates |date=4 February 2006 |newspaper=Spiegel Online International |access-date=26 April 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502165608/http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,399177,00.html |archive-date=2 May 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/04/syria.cartoon/ |title=Embassies torched in cartoon fury |date=5 February 2006 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=26 April 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206083120/http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/02/04/syria.cartoon/ |archive-date=6 February 2007}}</ref> Many of these turned violent, resulting in at least 200 deaths globally, according to the ''New York Times''.<ref name=NYTSummary>{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Patricia |title=Danish Cartoon Controversy |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/danish_cartoon_controversy/index.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=15 October 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203172241/http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/danish_cartoon_controversy/index.html |archive-date=3 February 2013}}</ref>

Large demonstrations were held in many majority-Muslim countries, and almost every country with significant Muslim minorities, including:
* Nigeria,<ref name="Quit">{{cite news |last=Fisher |first=Ian |author-link=Ian Fisher (journalist) |title=Italian Quits Over Cartoons; 15 Die in Nigeria |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/international/europe/19cartoon.html?ref=danishcartooncontroversy |access-date=21 March 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=19 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107223657/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/19/international/europe/19cartoon.html?ref=danishcartooncontroversy |archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref>
* Canada,<ref>{{cite news |title=Muslims protest in Toronto, Montreal against controversial cartoons |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/muslims-protest-in-toronto-montreal-against-controversial-cartoons-1.607131 |publisher=CBC News |date=11 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060226161238/http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/02/11/cartoon-demos060211.html |archive-date=26 February 2006 |url-status=live |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref>
* India,<ref name="India">{{cite news |last1=Shadid |first1=Anthony |author1-link=Anthony Shadid |title=Anatomy of the Cartoon Protest Movement |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502865.html |access-date=21 March 2013 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=16 February 2006 |first2=Kevin |last2=Sullivan |author2-link=Kevin Sullivan (journalist) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921063646/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502865.html |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref>
* United States,<ref name="India" />
* United Kingdom (see: [[2006 Islamist demonstration outside the Embassy of Denmark in London]]),<ref name="Quit" />
* Australia,<ref>{{cite news |title=Australian Muslims stage demonstration over cartoons |url=http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/24-02-2006/76435-australian-0/ |access-date=21 March 2013 |newspaper=Pravda.ru |date=24 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054728/http://english.pravda.ru/news/world/24-02-2006/76435-australian-0/ |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref>
* New Zealand,<ref>{{cite news |last=Zwartz |first=Barney |title=Cartoon rage spreads to New Zealand |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/02/05/1139074108606.html |access-date=21 March 2013 |newspaper=The Age |date=6 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102033540/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/02/05/1139074108606.html |archive-date=2 November 2012}}</ref>
* Kenya,<ref>{{cite news |last=Bilefsky |first=Dan |author-link=Dan Bilefsky |title=Danish Cartoon Editor on Indefinite Leave |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/international/europe/11denmark.html |access-date=21 March 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=11 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514105044/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/11/international/europe/11denmark.html |archive-date=14 May 2013}}</ref> and
* throughout [[continental Europe]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Manifestations contre les caricatures en Europe |url=http://lci.tf1.fr/monde/2006-02/manifestations-contre-caricatures-europe-4899281.html |access-date=21 March 2013 |publisher=[[TF1]] |date=11 February 2006 |language=fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514003529/http://lci.tf1.fr/monde/2006-02/manifestations-contre-caricatures-europe-4899281.html |archive-date=14 May 2013}}</ref>

In many instances, demonstrations against the cartoons became intertwined with those about other local political grievances.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|106–9}} Muslims in the north of Nigeria used protests to attack local Christians as part of an ongoing battle for influence, radical Sunnis used protests against governments in the Middle East, and authoritarian governments used them to bolster their religious and nationalist credentials in internal disputes; these associated political motives explain the intensity of some of the demonstrations.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|106–9}}

Several Western embassies were attacked;<ref>{{cite news |title=Iran and Syria 'incited violence' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4694876.stm |access-date=16 October 2012 |work=BBC News |date=8 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928073817/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4694876.stm |archive-date=28 September 2013}}</ref> the Danish and Austrian embassies in Lebanon and the Norwegian and Danish representations in Syria were severely damaged.<ref>{{cite news |title=Muslim cartoon fury claims lives |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4684652.stm |access-date=16 October 2012 |work=BBC News |date=6 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806045037/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4684652.stm |archive-date=6 August 2012}}</ref> Christians and Christian churches were also targets of violent retribution in some places.<ref>{{cite news |title=16 die in cartoon protests in Nigeria |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/02/18/cartoon.roundup/index.html |access-date=15 October 2012 |publisher=CNN |date=19 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624234831/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/02/18/cartoon.roundup/index.html |archive-date=24 June 2012}}</ref> [[United States Secretary of State|U.S. Secretary of State]] [[Condoleezza Rice]] accused Iran and Syria of organising many of the protests in Iran, Syria, and Lebanon.<ref>{{cite news |last=Scott |first=Benjamin |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rice-iran-syria-behind-cartoon-riots/ |title=Rice: Iran, Syria Behind Cartoon Riots |publisher=CBS |date=8 February 2006 |access-date=22 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001004845/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/08/world/main1298998.shtml |archive-date=1 October 2009}}</ref> However, [[Hezbollah]], ally of Syria and Iran in Lebanon, has condemned the attack on the Danish Embassy.<ref name="nationbuilder">{{cite web |url=http://cjpme.nationbuilder.com/fs_184 |title=Hezbollah |access-date=2016-02-06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206175622/http://cjpme.nationbuilder.com/fs_184 |archive-date=6 February 2016}}</ref> Several death threats were made against the cartoonists and the newspaper,<ref>{{cite news |last=Heflik |first=Roman |title='It Was Worth It': Editor Reflects on Denmark's Cartoon Jihad |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/it-was-worth-it-editor-reflects-on-denmark-s-cartoon-jihad-a-398717.html |access-date=22 September 2013 |newspaper=The Spiegel Online International |date=2 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926121221/http://www.spiegel.de/international/it-was-worth-it-editor-reflects-on-denmark-s-cartoon-jihad-a-398717.html |archive-date=26 September 2013}}</ref> resulting in the cartoonists going into hiding.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2024306,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214090009/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article726508.ece |archive-date=14 February 2007 |newspaper=The Times |title=Danish cartoonists fear for their lives |date=4 February 2006 |first=Anthony |last=Browne |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref> Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen called it Denmark's worst international relations incident since the [[Denmark in World War II|Second World War]].<ref>{{cite news |date=15 February 2006 |title=70,000 gather for violent Pakistan cartoons protest |work=The Times |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25689-2041723,00.html |first=Greg |last=Hurst |archive-date=4 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604022541/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article731005.ece |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref>

Peaceful counter-demonstrations in support of the cartoons, Denmark, and freedom of speech were also held.<ref>{{cite news |title=Danish Embassy rally attracts diverse group |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=WT&p_theme=wt&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=1100A4D6ED3662F8&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |access-date=15 October 2012 |newspaper=[[The Washington Times]] |date=25 February 2006}}</ref> Three national ministers lost their jobs amid the controversy: [[Roberto Calderoli]] in Italy for his support of the cartoons, [[Laila Freivalds]] in Sweden for her role in shutting down a website displaying the cartoons,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21470789.htm |title=Swedish foreign minister resigns over cartoons |agency=Reuters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060322184626/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21470789.htm |archive-date=22 March 2006 |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref> and the Libyan [[Interior minister|Interior Minister]] after a riot in [[Benghazi]] in response to Calderoli's comments, which led to the deaths of at least 10 people.<ref>{{cite news |date=21 March 2006 |title=Libya suspends minister over riot |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4727810.stm |access-date=16 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090112014836/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4727810.stm |archive-date=12 January 2009}}</ref>

In India, [[Yaqub Qureishi|Haji Yaqub Qureishi]], a minister in the [[Uttar Pradesh]] state government, announced a cash reward for anyone who beheaded "the Danish cartoonist" who caricatured Mohammad. Subsequently, a case was filed against him in the [[Lucknow]] district court and eminent Muslim scholars in India were split between those supporting punishment for the cartoonists and those calling for the minister's sacking.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://web.international.ucla.edu/institute/article/39537 |title=Court nod sought for case against Yaqoob |newspaper=The Times of India|publisher=UCLA International Institute |date=21 February 2006 |access-date=29 May 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807123718/http://web.international.ucla.edu/institute/article/39537 |archive-date=7 August 2016}}</ref> As of 2011, legal action was ongoing.<ref>{{cite news |date=3 February 2011 |title=Police seeks permission to prosecute Haji Yaqub |url=http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/UP-police-seeks-permission-to-prosecute-haji-yaqub-1815062.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301172916/http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/UP-police-seeks-permission-to-prosecute-haji-yaqub-1815062.html |archive-date=1 March 2011 |access-date=17 October 2012 |newspaper=dailybhaskar.com}}</ref>

==== Boycott ====
[[File:Supportdenmark1.jpg|thumb|300px|right|An example of one of the banners being posted across the web to encourage support for Danish goods]]

A consumer boycott was organised in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSCOL27877220080214 |title=Pakistani students torch Danish flag over cartoon |work=Reuters |date=14 February 2008 |access-date=22 March 2010 |first=Faisal |last=Aziz |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224202349/http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSCOL27877220080214 |archive-date=24 December 2008}}</ref> and other Middle Eastern countries against Denmark.<ref>{{cite news |first=Bernhard |last=Zand |date=10 February 2006 |title=The Inciters and the Incited |newspaper=Spiegel Online International |others=Translated from the German original by Christopher Sultan |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/the-cartoon-wars-the-inciters-and-the-incited-a-400519.html |access-date=23 March 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202171812/http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/the-cartoon-wars-the-inciters-and-the-incited-a-400519.html |archive-date=2 February 2014}}</ref> On 5 March 2006, [[Ayman al-Zawahiri]] of [[Al-Qaeda]] urged all Muslims to boycott not only Denmark, but also Norway, France, Germany and all others that have "insulted the Prophet Mohammed" by printing cartoons depicting him.<ref>{{cite news |date=2006-03-05 |title=Al Qaeda tape urges boycotts over cartoons |publisher=ABC |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1584198.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081009195230/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200603/s1584198.htm |archive-date=9 October 2008 |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref> Consumer goods companies were the most vulnerable to the boycott; among companies heavily affected were [[Arla Foods]], [[Novo Nordisk]], and [[Danisco]]. Arla, Denmark's biggest exporter to the Middle East, lost 10 million [[Danish krone|kroner]] ({{US$|1.6 million|link=yes}}, {{€|1.3 million|link=yes}}) per day in the initial weeks of the boycott.<ref>{{cite news |last=Allagui |first=Slim |title=Danish business feels the pain of cartoon boycotts |url=http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/business/?id=15795 |newspaper=Middle East Online |date=20 February 2006 |archive-date=17 July 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060717193324/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/business/?id=15795 |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref> [[Scandinavia]]n tourism to [[Egypt]] fell by between 20 and 30% in the first two months of 2006.<ref>{{cite news |title=Egypten til danske turister: Kom tilbage |trans-title=Egypt to Danish tourists: Come back |url=http://politiken.dk/udland/article139684.ece |access-date=17 October 2012 |newspaper=Politiken |date=9 March 2006 |language=da |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208225128/http://politiken.dk/udland/article139684.ece |archive-date=8 February 2013}}</ref>

On 9 September 2006, ''[[BBC News]]'' reported that the Muslim boycott of Danish goods had reduced Denmark's total exports by 15.5% between February and June. This was attributed to an approximated 50% decline in exports to the Middle East. The BBC said, "The cost to Danish businesses was around 134 million euros ($170m), when compared with the same period last year, the statistics showed."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5329642.stm |title=Cartoons row hits Danish exports |work=BBC News |date=9 September 2006 |access-date=9 September 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004180422/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5329642.stm |archive-date=4 October 2006}}</ref> However, ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper in the UK said, "While Danish milk products were dumped in the Middle East, fervent right-wing Americans started buying [[Bang & Olufsen]] stereos and [[Lego]]. In the first quarter of this year Denmark's exports to the US soared 17%."<ref>{{cite news |first=Luke |last=Harding |author-link=Luke Harding |url=https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,,1884323,00.html |title=How one of the biggest rows of modern times helped Danish exports to prosper |newspaper=The Guardian |date=30 September 2006 |access-date=22 March 2010}}</ref> Overall the boycott did not have a significant effect on the Danish economy.<ref name="After" />

=== Response to protests and reprintings ===
{{Further|List of newspapers that reprinted Jyllands-Posten's Muhammad cartoons}}

In response to the initial protests from Muslim groups, {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} published an open letter to the citizens of Saudi Arabia on its website, in Danish and in Arabic, apologising for any offence the drawings may have caused but defending the right of the newspaper to publish them.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lund |first=Michael |title=Jyllands-Posten til Saudi-Arabien: Vi beklager |trans-title=Jyllands-Posten to Saudi Arabia: We apologize |url=http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE136037/jyllands-posten-til-saudi-arabien-vi-beklager/ |access-date=19 September 2013 |newspaper=Politiken |date=28 January 2006 |language=da |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053601/http://politiken.dk/indland/ECE136037/jyllands-posten-til-saudi-arabien-vi-beklager/ |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> A second open letter "to the honourable Fellow Citizens of the Muslim World", dated 8 February 2006, had a Danish version,<ref>[http://www.nordvux.net/page/305/kronologiovermuhammedaff%C3%A6ren.htm Ærede medborgere i den muslimske verden:] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723230916/http://www.nordvux.net/page/305/kronologiovermuhammedaff%C3%A6ren.htm |date=23 July 2011 }}, Danish text from Jyllands-Posten of 30 January 2006. Now on website of ''Nordiskt Nätverk för Vuxnas Lärande''. Retrieved 7 January 2010.</ref> an Arabic version, and an English version:<ref>{{cite news |last=Juste |first=Carsten |author-link=Carsten Juste |date=8 February 2006 |title=Honourable Fellow Citizens of the Muslim World |newspaper=Jyllands-Posten |url=http://jyllands-posten.dk/international/ECE4771289/honourable-fellow-citizens-of-the-muslim-world/ |url-status=live |access-date=17 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053239/http://jyllands-posten.dk/international/ECE4771289/honourable-fellow-citizens-of-the-muslim-world/ |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref>

{{quote|Serious misunderstandings in respect of some drawings of the Prophet Mohammed have led to much anger&nbsp;... Please allow me to correct these misunderstandings. On 30 September last year, {{Lang|da|Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten}} published 12 different cartoonists' idea of what the Prophet Mohammed might have looked like&nbsp;... In our opinion, the 12 drawings were sober. They were not intended to be offensive, nor were they at variance with Danish law, but they have indisputably offended many Muslims for which we apologise.|title=|source=}}

Six of the cartoons were first reprinted by the Egyptian newspaper ''[[El Fagr (Egyptian weekly newspaper)|El Fagr]]'' on 17 October 2005,<ref>{{cite news |date=10 February 2005 |title=Danes Blame Imams for Satire Escalation, Survey Says (Update1) |publisher=Bloomberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=a8hEmi2ja5cg&refer=europe |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626180149/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=a8hEmi2ja5cg&refer=europe |archive-date=26 June 2009}}</ref> along with an article strongly denouncing them, but this did not provoke any condemnations or other reactions from religious or government authorities. Between October 2005 and early January 2006, examples of the cartoons were reprinted in major European newspapers from the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, Romania, and Switzerland. After the beginning of major international protests, they were re-published around the globe, but primarily in continental Europe. The cartoons were not reprinted in any major newspapers in Canada,<ref name="National Post">{{cite web |url=http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=bd2a1182-255c-4cb4-a7ef-f725bb5a9d41 |title=Editors weigh free press, respect for religious views |newspaper=National Post |date=4 February 2006 |access-date=22 March 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100912171317/http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=bd2a1182-255c-4cb4-a7ef-f725bb5a9d41 |archive-date=12 September 2010 }}</ref> the United Kingdom,<ref>{{cite news |date=6 February 2006 |title=US, British media tread carefully in cartoon furor |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0206/dailyUpdate.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081226115915/http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0206/dailyUpdate.html |archive-date=26 December 2008 |access-date=17 September 2013 |last=Bright |first=Arthur}}</ref> or many in the United States<ref>{{cite news |date=4 February 2006 |title=A media dilemma: The rest of a story |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer|url=http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/13788640.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061216032407/http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/13788640.htm |archive-date=16 December 2006 |access-date=17 September 2013 |first=Andrew |last=Maykuth}}</ref> where articles covered the story without including them.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

Reasons for the decision not to publish the cartoons widely in the United States{{mdash}}despite that country's permissive free speech laws{{mdash}}included increased religious sensitivity, higher integration of Muslims into mainstream society, and a desire to be tactful considering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.<ref name=rytkonen>{{cite book |last=Rytkonen |first=Helle |title=Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2007 |year=2007 |publisher=Danish Institute for International Studies |page=99 |chapter-url=http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/Books2007/Yearbook2007/yearbook07_hole.pdf#page=99 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6IasIAN2f?url=http://www.diis.dk/graphics/Publications/Books2007/Yearbook2007/yearbook07_hole.pdf#page%3D99 |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 August 2013 |chapter=Drawing the Line: The Cartoons Controversy in Denmark and the US |editor=Nanna Hvidt & Hans Mouritzen |access-date=10 June 2013 |oclc=473198795}}</ref>

Numerous [[List of newspapers that reprinted Jyllands-Posten's Muhammad cartoons#Newspapers closed, editors fired or arrested|newspapers were closed and editors dismissed, censured, or arrested]] for their decision or intention to re-publish the cartoons. In some countries, including South Africa,<ref>{{cite web |title=A censorship order in South Africa; attacks reported in Beirut Jailing of Jordanian editors for prophet cartoons draws alarm |url=http://cpj.org/2006/02/a-censorship-order-in-south-africa-attacks-reporte.php |publisher=[[Committee to Protect Journalists]] |access-date=10 April 2013 |date=6 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130309034554/https://cpj.org/2006/02/a-censorship-order-in-south-africa-attacks-reporte.php |archive-date=9 March 2013}}</ref> publication of the cartoons was banned by government or court orders.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

The OIC denounced calls for the death of the Danish cartoonists. The OIC's Secretary General [[Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu|Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu]] said at the height of crisis that the violent protests were "un-Islamic" and appealed for calm. He also denounced calls for a boycott of Danish goods.<ref>{{cite news |title=OIC denounces cartoons violence |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4736854.stm |access-date=19 September 2013 |date=21 February 2006 |work=BBC News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921061752/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4736854.stm |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> Twelve high-profile writers, among them [[Salman Rushdie]], signed a letter called "Manifesto: Together Facing the New Totalitarianism" which was published in a number of newspapers. It said that the violence sparked by the publication of cartoons satirising Muhammad "shows the need to fight for secular values and freedom."<ref>{{cite news |title=Writers issue cartoon row warning |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4763520.stm |access-date=19 February 2014 |work=BBC News |date=1 March 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227065436/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4763520.stm |archive-date=27 February 2014}}</ref>

=== Later developments ===
{{See also|Timeline of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy}}

Numerous violent plots related to the cartoons have been discovered in the years since the main protests in early 2006. These have primarily targeted editor Flemming Rose,<ref>{{cite news |last=Reimann |first=Anna |title=Interview with Jyllands-Posten Editor: 'I Don't Fear for My Life' |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/spiegel-online-interview-with-jyllands-posten-editor-i-don-t-fear-for-my-life-a-534859.html |access-date=22 September 2013 |newspaper=Spiegel Online International |date=12 February 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927094946/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/spiegel-online-interview-with-jyllands-posten-editor-i-don-t-fear-for-my-life-a-534859.html |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref> cartoonist [[Kurt Westergaard]], the property or employees of {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} and other newspapers that printed the cartoons,<ref>{{cite news |first1=Matthias |last1=Gebauer |last2=Musharbash |first2=Yassin |url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,414669,00.html |title=Selbstmord nach versuchtem Angriff auf Chefredakteur der "Welt" |newspaper=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=5 May 2006 |access-date=16 September 2013 |language=de |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225003221/http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,414669,00.html |archive-date=25 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Yale Criticized for Nixing Muslim Cartoons in Book |date=8 September 2009 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-09-09-yale-muslim-cartoons_N.htm |newspaper=USA Today |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010044047/http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-09-09-yale-muslim-cartoons_N.htm |archive-date=10 October 2011 |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and representatives of the Danish state.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/krigogkatastrofer/article1072352.ece |title=Taleban truer Danmark |trans-title=Taliban threatens Denmark |newspaper=[[Ekstra Bladet]] |date=20 October 2008 |access-date=25 October 2008 |first=Knud |last=Brix |language=da |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081023022127/http://ekstrabladet.dk/nyheder/krigogkatastrofer/article1072352.ece |archive-date=23 October 2008}}</ref> Westergaard was the subject of several attacks or planned attacks and lived under special police protection until his death in 2021. On 1 January 2010, police used firearms to stop a would-be assassin in Westergaard's home.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7242258.stm |title=Danish Muhammad cartoon reprinted |work=BBC News |date=14 February 2008 |access-date=22 March 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412221927/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7242258.stm |archive-date=12 April 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8437433.stm |title=Danish police shoot intruder at cartoonist's home |work=BBC News |date=2 January 2010 |access-date=1 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100121084833/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8437433.stm |archive-date=21 January 2010}}</ref> In February 2011, the attacker, a 29-year-old Somali man, was sentenced to nine years in prison.{{efn| 1 = For details of various incidents see: [[2006 German train bombing plot]], [[2008 Danish embassy bombing in Islamabad]], [[Hotel Jørgensen explosion]], and [[2010 Copenhagen terror plot]].}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12366076 |title=Denmark cartoon trial: Kurt Westergaard attacker jailed |work=BBC News |date=4 February 2011 |access-date=14 July 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203031349/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12366076 |archive-date=3 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Police Arrest 'Militant Islamists' Planning Attack in Denmark |first=Christian |last=Wienberg |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-29/five-people-arrested-in-denmark-sweden-under-suspicion-of-terrorist-plot.html |publisher=[[Bloomberg Television|Bloomberg]] |date=29 December 2010 |access-date=23 March 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104084807/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-29/five-people-arrested-in-denmark-sweden-under-suspicion-of-terrorist-plot.html |archive-date=4 November 2012}}</ref> In 2010, three men based in Norway were arrested on suspicion that they were planning a terror attack against {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} or Kurt Westergaard; two of the men were convicted.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Øyvind |last1=Bye Skille |first2=Olav |last2=Døvik |date=5 May 2013 |url=http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/norge/1.11055697 |title=Nederlag for terrorplanleggere i Høyesterett |publisher=[[NRK]] |access-date=17 September 2013 |language=no}}</ref> In the United States, [[David Headley]] and [[Tahawwur Hussain Rana]] were convicted of planning terrorism against {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} and were sentenced in 2013.<ref>{{cite news |first=Annie |last=Sweeney |author-link=Anne Sweeney |date=17 January 2013 |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-former-chicago-businessman-gets-14-years-in-terror-case-20130117,0,4483915.story |title=Former Chicago businessman gets 14 years in terror case |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |access-date=2 June 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313081019/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-former-chicago-businessman-gets-14-years-in-terror-case-20130117,0,4483915.story |archive-date=13 March 2013}}</ref>

[[Naser Khader]], a Muslim Danish MP, founded an organisation called [[Democratic Muslims in Denmark]] in response to the controversy. He was worried that what he believed to be Islamists were seen to speak for all Muslims in Denmark. He said that there is still a sharp division within the Danish Muslim community between Islamists and moderates, and that Denmark had become a target for Islamists. He said that some good came from the crisis because "the cartoon crisis made clear that Muslims are not united and that there is a real difference between the Islamists and people like myself. Danes were shown that talk of 'the Muslims' was too monolithic." He also said that the crisis served as a wake-up call about radical Islam to European countries.<ref name=Pipesinterview>{{cite journal |last=Pipes |first=Daniel |author-link=Daniel Pipes |title=Naser Khader and Flemming Rose: Reflections on the Danish Cartoon Controversy |journal=[[Middle East Quarterly]] |date=Fall 2007 |volume=XIV |issue=4 |pages=59–66 |url=http://www.meforum.org/1758/naser-khader-and-flemming-rose-reflections-on |access-date=18 October 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920205949/http://www.meforum.org/1758/naser-khader-and-flemming-rose-reflections-on |archive-date=20 September 2012}}</ref>

In 2009, when Brandeis University professor [[Jytte Klausen]] wanted to publish a book about the controversy titled ''[[The Cartoons that Shook the World]]'', Yale University Press refused to publish the cartoons and other representations of Muhammad out of fear for the safety of its staff.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Patricia |title=Yale Press Bans Images of Muhammad in New Book |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/books/13book.html |access-date=29 November 2012 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=12 August 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113102303/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/books/13book.html |archive-date=13 November 2012}}</ref> In response, another company published ''[[Muhammad: The "Banned" Images]]'' in what it called "a 'picture book'{{mdash}}or errata to the bowdlerized version of Klausen's book."<ref>{{cite press release |title=Danish Cartoons Illustrated in New Book of Images of Muhammad – Just as FBI Arrests Two for Conspiring to Kill the Cartoons' Publisher |date=9 November 2009 |publisher=Voltaire Press |url=http://www.emailwire.com/release/29470-Danish-Cartoons-Illustrated-in-New-Book-of-Images-of-Muhammad--Just-as-FBI-Arrests-Two-for-Conspiring-to-Kill-the-Cartoons-Publisher-.html |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023060600/http://www.emailwire.com/release/29470-Danish-Cartoons-Illustrated-in-New-Book-of-Images-of-Muhammad--Just-as-FBI-Arrests-Two-for-Conspiring-to-Kill-the-Cartoons-Publisher-.html |archive-date=23 October 2013}}</ref> Five years to the day after the cartoons were first published in {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}}, they were republished in Denmark in Rose's book ''Tyranny of Silence.''<ref>{{cite news |last=Gray |first=Melissa |title=New book reprints controversial Muhammad cartoons |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/30/denmark.muhammad.book/index.html?section=cnn_latest |access-date=3 October 2012 |publisher=CNN |date=30 September 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402192812/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/30/denmark.muhammad.book/index.html?section=cnn_latest |archive-date=2 April 2015}}</ref> When the book's international edition was published in the United States in 2014 it did not include the cartoons.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cavna |first1=Michael |author1-link=Michael Cavna |title=New 'Tyranny of Silence' book: Danish 'Cartoon Crisis' editor weighs what he'd change – and what he would not |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2014/11/14/new-tyranny-of-silence-book-danish-cartoon-crisis-editor-weighs-what-hed-change-and-what-he-would-not/ |access-date=28 February 2015 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=14 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150115154527/http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/comic-riffs/wp/2014/11/14/new-tyranny-of-silence-book-danish-cartoon-crisis-editor-weighs-what-hed-change-and-what-he-would-not/ |archive-date=15 January 2015}}</ref>

Around 2007 the international [[counter-jihad|counter-jihad movement]] began to appear as a reaction partly influenced by the {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} cartoon crisis.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Coi8BAAAQBAJ&dq=jyllands-posten+Counter-jihad&pg=PA62|title=In the Tracks of Breivik: Far Right Networks in Northern and Eastern Europe|page=62|first1=Mats|last1=Deland|first2=Michael|last2=Minkenberg|first3=Christin|last3=Mays|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|year=2014|isbn=9783643905420}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDBOEAAAQBAJ&dq=jyllands-posten+Counter-jihad&pg=PA24|page=24|title=After Charlie Hebdo: Terror, Racism and Free Speech|first1=Gavan|last1=Titley|first2=Des|last2=Freedman|first3=Gholam|last3=Khiabany|author3-link=Gholam Khiabany|first4=Aurélien|last4=Mondon|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2017|isbn=9781783609406}}</ref>

=== Regrets ===

In 2013, [[The Islamic Society in Denmark]] stated that they regretted their visit to Lebanon and Egypt in 2006 to show the caricatures because the consequences had been much more serious than they expected.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 February 2013 |url=http://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE5198054/islamisk-trossamfund-fortryder-omstridt-rundrejse/ |title=Islamisk trossamfund fortryder omstridt rundrejse |trans-title=Islamic faith community regrets controversial tour |newspaper=Jyllands-Posten |access-date=2 June 2013 |language=da |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408062134/http://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE5198054/islamisk-trossamfund-fortryder-omstridt-rundrejse/ |archive-date=8 April 2015}}</ref> In August 2013, [[Ahmed Akkari]] expressed his regret for his role in the Imams' tour of the Middle East, stating: "I want to be clear today about the trip: It was totally wrong. At that time, I was so fascinated with this logical force in the Islamic mindset that I could not see the greater picture. I was convinced it was a fight for my faith, Islam." Still a practising Muslim, he said that printing the cartoons was okay and that he personally apologised to the cartoonist Westergaard. Westergaard responded by saying, "I met a man who has converted from being an Islamist to become a [[Humanism|humanist]] who understands the values of our society. To me, he is really sincere, convincing and strong in his views." A spokesman for the Islamic Society of Denmark said, "It is still not OK to publish drawings of Muhammad. We have not changed our position."<ref>{{cite news |title=Ahmad Akkari, Danish Muslim: I was wrong to damn Muhammad cartoons |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/09/ahmad-akkari-islam-danish-cartoons-muhammad |access-date=10 March 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=9 August 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140626082552/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/09/ahmad-akkari-islam-danish-cartoons-muhammad |archive-date=26 June 2014}}</ref>

==== ''Charlie Hebdo'' controversies and attacks ====
{{Main|Charlie Hebdo shooting}}
The French satirical weekly newspaper ''[[Charlie Hebdo]]'' was taken to court for publishing the cartoons; it was acquitted of charges that it incited hatred.<ref name="Leveque">{{cite news |last=Leveque |first=Thierry |title=French court clears weekly in Mohammad cartoon row |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/industry-france-cartoons-trial-dc-idUSL2212067120070322 |access-date=10 June 2013 |work=Reuters |date=22 March 2007 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055305/http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/03/22/industry-france-cartoons-trial-dc-idUSL2212067120070322 |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> The incident marked the beginning of a number of violent incidents related to the cartoons of Muhammad at the newspaper over the following decade.

On 2 November 2011, ''Charlie Hebdo'' [[Charlie Hebdo#2011–present|was firebombed]] right before its 3 November issue was due; the issue was called ''[[Charia Hebdo]]'' and satirically featured [[Muhammad]] as guest-editor.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/charlie-hebdo-editor-in-chief-on-muhammad-cartoons-a-856891.html |title='Charlie Hebdo' Editor in Chief: 'A Drawing Has Never Killed Anyone' |work=Der Spiegel |author=Stefan Simons |date=20 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107231404/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/charlie-hebdo-editor-in-chief-on-muhammad-cartoons-a-856891.html |archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref><ref>Anaëlle Grondin (7 January 2015) [http://www.20minutes.fr/medias/1511895-20150107-charlie-hebdo-charb-directeur-publication-journal-satirique-assassine «Charlie Hebdo»: Charb, le directeur de la publication du journal satirique, a été assassiné] {{in lang|fr}} ''[[20 minutes (France)|20 Minutes]]''.</ref> The editor, [[Charb|Stéphane Charbonnier]], known as Charb, and two co-workers at ''Charlie Hebdo'' subsequently received police protection.<ref>[http://www.liberation.fr/medias/2011/11/03/trois-charlie-sous-protection-policiere_772318 Trois «Charlie» sous protection policière] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119040405/http://www.liberation.fr/medias/2011/11/03/trois-charlie-sous-protection-policiere_772318 |date=19 January 2015 }} {{in lang|fr}} ''Libération''. 3 November 2011.</ref> Charb was placed on a hit list by [[Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula]] along with Kurt Westergaard, [[Lars Vilks]], [[Carsten Juste]] and [[Flemming Rose]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thewire.com/global/2013/03/al-qaeda-most-wanted-list/62673/ |title=Look Who's on Al Qaeda's Most-Wanted List |author=Dashiell Bennet |date=1 March 2013 |work=The Wire |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108025940/http://www.thewire.com/global/2013/03/al-qaeda-most-wanted-list/62673/ |archive-date=8 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/3657246/paris-charlie-hebdo-shooting/ |title=Paris Police Say 12 Dead After Shooting at Charlie Hebdo |quote=Witnesses said that the gunmen had called out the names of individual from the magazine. French media report that Charb, the Charlie Hebdo cartoonist who was on al Qaeda most wanted list in 2013, was seriously injured. |author=Conal Urquhart |magazine=Time (magazine) |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107234226/http://time.com/3657246/paris-charlie-hebdo-shooting/ |archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11330505/Murdered-Charlie-Hebdo-cartoonist-was-on-al-Qaeda-wanted-list.html |title=Murdered Charlie Hebdo cartoonist was on al Qaeda wanted list |author=Victoria Ward |work=The Telegraph |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107235743/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11330505/Murdered-Charlie-Hebdo-cartoonist-was-on-al-Qaeda-wanted-list.html |archive-date=7 January 2015|date=2015-01-07 }}</ref> after editing an edition of ''Charlie Hebdo'' that satirised Muhammad.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-15550350 |title=French satirical paper Charlie Hebdo attacked in Paris |date=2 November 2011 |work=BBC News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111042815/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-15550350 |archive-date=11 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theage.com.au/world/charlie-hebdo-editor-stephane-charbonnier-crossed-off-chilling-alqaeda-hitlist-20150108-12k97z.html |title=Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier crossed off chilling al-Qaeda hitlist |author=Lucy Cormack |date=8 January 2015 |work=The Age |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111014923/http://www.theage.com.au/world/charlie-hebdo-editor-stephane-charbonnier-crossed-off-chilling-alqaeda-hitlist-20150108-12k97z.html |archive-date=11 January 2015}}</ref>

On 7 January 2015, two masked gunmen opened fire on ''Charlie Hebdo''{{'}}s staff and police officers as vengeance for its continued caricatures of Muhammad,<ref name=all>{{cite web |url=http://www.lessentiel.lu/fr/news/france/story/22976860 |title=Les deux hommes criaient 'Allah akbar' en tirant |work=L'essentiel Online |date=7 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107150652/http://www.lessentiel.lu/fr/news/france/story/22976860 |archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref> killing 12 people, including Charb, and wounding 11 others.<ref name=kim>Kim Willsher et al (7 January 2015) [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/07/paris-terror-attack-huge-manhunt-under-way Paris terror attack: huge manhunt under way after gunmen kill 12] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307120511/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/07/paris-terror-attack-huge-manhunt-under-way |date=7 March 2017 }} ''[[The Guardian]]''</ref><ref name="guardian">{{cite web |first=Kim |last=Willsher |title=Satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo attacked by gunmen |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/07/satirical-french-magazine-charlie-hebdo-attacked-by-gunmen |website=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 January 2015 |access-date=7 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107123000/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/07/satirical-french-magazine-charlie-hebdo-attacked-by-gunmen |archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref> {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} did not re-print the ''Charlie Hebdo'' cartoons in the wake of the attack, with the new editor-in-chief citing security concerns.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sillesen |first1=Lene Bech |title=Why a Danish newspaper won't publish the Charlie Hebdo cartoons |url=https://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/jyllands_posten_charlie_hebdo.php |access-date=10 January 2015 |magazine=[[Columbia Journalism Review]] |date=8 January 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150111042921/https://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/jyllands_posten_charlie_hebdo.php |archive-date=11 January 2015}}</ref>

In February 2015, in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris, a gunman opened fire on attendants and police officers at a meeting discussing freedom of speech with the Swedish cartoonist [[Lars Vilks]] among the panelists, and later attacked a synagogue killing two people in Copenhagen in the [[2015 Copenhagen shootings]].

== Background, opinions and issues ==
{{See also|Opinions on the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy|International reactions to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy}}

=== Danish journalistic tradition ===
{{See also|Freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Denmark}}

Freedom of speech was guaranteed in law by the Danish Constitution of 1849, as it is today by The [[Constitution of Denmark|Constitutional Act of Denmark]] of 5 June 1953.<ref>{{cite web |last=Jayasinghe |first=Anita May |title=The Constitutional Act of Denmark |url=http://www.thedanishparliament.dk/Democracy/The_Constitutional_Act_of_Denmark.aspx |publisher=Folketinget |access-date=29 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120170200/http://www.thedanishparliament.dk/Democracy/The_Constitutional_Act_of_Denmark.aspx |archive-date=20 November 2012}}</ref> Danish freedom of expression is quite far-reaching{{mdash}}even by Western European standards{{mdash}}although it is subject to some legal restrictions dealing with libel, hate speech, blasphemy and defamation.<ref name=mediadem>{{cite book |title=Case Study Report: Does media policy promote media freedom and independence? The case of Denmark |year=2011 |publisher=Mediadem |page=9 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1336130 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615214200/http://www.academia.edu/1336130/Does_media_policy_pomote_media_freedom_and_independence_The_case_of_Denmark |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 June 2013 |work=European Media Policies Revisited: Valuing and Reclaiming Free and Independent Media in Contemporary Democratic Systems |first1=Rasmus |last1=Helles |first2=Henrik |last2=Søndergaard |first3=Ida |last3=Toft |access-date=9 June 2013 }}</ref> The country's comparatively lenient attitude toward freedom of expression has provoked official protests from several foreign governments, for example Germany, Turkey and Russia for allowing controversial organisations to use Denmark as a base for their operations.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2369083.stm |title=Chechen rebels seek talks with Moscow |work=BBC News |date=28 October 2002 |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922070358/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2369083.stm |archive-date=22 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Roj TV on the agenda during Turkish PM's visit |url=http://cphpost.dk/international/roj-tv-agenda-during-turkish-pms-visit |access-date=8 June 2013 |newspaper=The Copenhagen Post |date=21 March 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130706000108/http://cphpost.dk/international/roj-tv-agenda-during-turkish-pms-visit |archive-date=6 July 2013}}</ref> [[Reporters Without Borders]] ranked Denmark at the top of its Worldwide Press Freedom Index for 2005.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2005,549.html |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |title=Press Freedom Index 2005 |access-date=9 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927194159/http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2005,549.html |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref> [[List of newspapers in Denmark|Danish newspapers]] are privately owned and independent of government.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scandasia.com/the-nordic-region-tops-world-press-freedom-index-asia-falls-behind/|title=The Nordic Region tops World Press Freedom Index, Asia falls behind|first=Mette|last=Larsen|date=20 April 2021|website=Scandasia}}</ref>

At the time, section 140 of the [[Danish Penal Code]] criminalized mocking or insulting legal religions and faiths.<ref>See [https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=2135 Law Proclamation no. 909 of the 27th of September 2005] § 140 which was in force at the time the drawings were published.</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Danes overwhelmingly support their own blasphemy law |url=http://cphpost.dk/news/national/danes-overwhelmingly-support-their-own-blasphemy-law |access-date=4 October 2012 |newspaper=The Copenhagen Post |date=21 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927141547/http://cphpost.dk//news/national/danes-overwhelmingly-support-their-own-blasphemy-law |archive-date=27 September 2012}}</ref> No-one had at that time been charged under section 140 since 1971 and no-one had been convicted since 1938,<ref name="Glemte" /> even though there have been several convictions since then - notably Danish politicians [[Mogens Camre]] and [[Rasmus Paludan]], but also {{ill|Fadi Abdullatif|da}}, spokesman for the Islamic organization of [[Hizb ut-Tahrir]]. A [[#Judicial investigation of Jyllands-Posten (October 2005 – January 2006)|complaint was filed]] against {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} under this section of the law, but the Regional Public Prosecutor declined to file charges, stating "that in assessing what constitutes an offence under both section 140 and section 266 b [discussed below] of the Danish Criminal Code, the right to freedom of expression must be taken into consideration"; he found that no criminal offence had taken place in this case.<ref name="rigsadvokat" /> Section 140 was repealed in 2017.<ref>[https://www.retsinformation.dk/Forms/R0710.aspx?id=191845 Law no. 675 of the 8th of August 2017] § 1</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Forbrydelser og andre strafbare forhold|trans-title=Crimes and other punishable matters|publisher=Gjellerup|year=2018|isbn=9788713050833|editor-last=Vestergaard|editor-first=Jørn|edition=3rd|location=[[Copenhagen]]|pages=84|oclc=1047702689}}</ref>

However, the Director of Public Prosecutions said, "there is, therefore, no free and unrestricted right to express opinions about religious subjects. It is thus not a correct description of existing law when the article in {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} states that it is incompatible with the right to freedom of expression to demand special consideration for religious feelings and that one has to be ready to put up with 'scorn, mockery and ridicule'."<ref name="rigsadvokat">{{cite web |last=Fode |first=Henning |author-link=Henning Fode |title=Decision on Possible criminal proceedings in the case of Jyllands-Posten's Article "The Face of Muhammed" |url=http://www.rigsadvokaten.dk/ref.aspx?id=890 |publisher=Rigsadvokaten |date=15 March 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012212424/http://www.rigsadvokaten.dk/ref.aspx?id=890 |archive-date=12 October 2012 |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref> Utterances intended for public dissemination<ref>{{cite web |last=Snyder |first=Ann |title=Danish Supreme Court Acquits Hedegaard |url=http://www.legal-project.org/blog/2012/04/danish-supreme-court-acquits-hedegaard |work=The Legal Project |publisher=Middle East Forum |access-date=9 June 2013 |date=21 April 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512064048/http://www.legal-project.org/blog/2012/04/danish-supreme-court-acquits-hedegaard |archive-date=12 May 2013}}</ref> deemed hateful based on 'race, colour, national or ethnic origin, belief or sexual orientation' can be penalised under section 266 b of the criminal code.<ref>Helles, Søndergaard & Toft 2011. p. 12</ref> Some people have been convicted under this provision, mostly for speech directed at Muslims.<ref>Helles, Søndergaard & Toft 2011. p. 45</ref>

==== ''Jyllands-Posten'' ====

While {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} has published satirical cartoons depicting Christian figures,<ref name=Reynolds>{{cite news |last=Reynolds |first=Paul |title=Cartoons: Divisions and inconsistencies |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4708216.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=3 October 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121004230456/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4708216.stm |archive-date=4 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filtrat.dk/sandbox/images/uploads/Hvem20sagde20hvad.jpg |title=Drawing from Jyllands-Posten |publisher=Filtrat.dk |access-date=22 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325024926/http://www.filtrat.dk/sandbox/images/uploads/Hvem20sagde20hvad.jpg |archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref> it rejected unsolicited cartoons in 2003 which depicted Jesus on the grounds that they were offensive,<ref name=guardoffe /><ref name=Reynolds /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zieler.dk/images.asp?fnavn=1opstandelsesspalte%202004.jpg&mappe=m-images&home=m-index.asp |title=Zieler, Resurrection |publisher=Zieler.dk |access-date=22 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719133205/http://www.zieler.dk/images.asp?fnavn=1opstandelsesspalte+2004.jpg&mappe=m-images&home=m-index.asp |archive-date=19 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> opening it to accusations of a double standard.<ref name=guardoffe>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/feb/06/pressandpublishing.politics|title=Danish paper rejected Jesus cartoons |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=6 February 2006 |first=Gwladys |last=Fouché |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref> In February 2006, {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} refused to publish [[Iran Holocaust Cartoons Contest|Holocaust cartoons]], which included cartoons that mocked or denied the Holocaust, offered by an Iranian newspaper which had held a contest.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=204162006 |title=Danish paper refuses Holocaust cartoons, ''The Scotsman'', ''9 February 2006'' |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]] |date=9 February 2006 |access-date=22 March 2010 |first=Ethan |last=Mcnern}}</ref> Six of the less controversial images were later published by ''[[Dagbladet Information]]'', after the editors consulted the main rabbi in Copenhagen,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5327852.stm |title=Paper reprints Holocaust cartoons |work=BBC News |date=8 September 2006 |access-date=8 September 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070126234826/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5327852.stm |archive-date=26 January 2007}}</ref> and three cartoons were later reprinted in {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jyllands-posten.dk/kultur/ECE3345701/holocaust-konkurrence-flopper/ |title=Holocaust-konkurrence flopper |trans-title=Holocaust contest flops |newspaper=Jyllands-Posten |date=15 September 2006 |access-date=18 September 2013 |language=da |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060135/http://jyllands-posten.dk/kultur/ECE3345701/holocaust-konkurrence-flopper/ |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> After the competition had finished, {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} also reprinted the winning and runner-up cartoons.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.jyllands-posten.dk/protected/premium/kultur/ECE3849562/iran-varsler-endnu-flere-holocaust-konkurrencer/ |title=Iran varsler endnu flere Holocaust-konkurrencer |newspaper=Jyllands-Posten |date=3 November 2006 |access-date=5 November 2006 |language=da |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054449/http://www.jyllands-posten.dk/protected/premium/kultur/ECE3849562/iran-varsler-endnu-flere-holocaust-konkurrencer/ |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref>

{{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} has been described as conservative and it was supportive of the then-ruling party [[Venstre (Denmark)|Venstre]]. It frequently reported on the activities of imams it considered radical, including Raed Hlayhel and Ahmed Akkari.<ref name=After>{{cite journal |last1=Ammitzbøll |first1=Pernille |first2=Lorenzo |last2=Vidino |author2-link=Lorenzo G. Vidino |title=After the Danish Cartoon Controversy |journal=[[Middle East Quarterly]] |date=Winter 2007 |pages=3–11 |url=http://www.meforum.org/1437/after-the-danish-cartoon-controversy |access-date=18 October 2012 |volume=XIV |issue=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929070816/http://www.meforum.org/1437/after-the-danish-cartoon-controversy |archive-date=29 September 2012}}</ref> Peter Hervik has argued that anti-Islamic positions and discourse dominated {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten's}} editorial leadership from at least 2001 until the cartoon crisis.<ref name=IMER>{{cite journal |last=Hervik |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Hervik |title=The Danish Muhammad Cartoon Conflict |journal=Current Themes in IMER Research |year=2012 |volume=13 |url=https://mau.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1404786/FULLTEXT01.pdf |access-date=22 December 2024 |issn=1652-4616 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025134848/http://mah.se/upload/Forskningscentrum/MIM/CT/CT%2013.pdf |archive-date=25 October 2012}}</ref>

=== Islamic tradition ===

==== Aniconism ====
{{Main|Aniconism in Islam|Depictions of Muhammad}}
[[File:Mohammed kaaba 1315.jpg|160px|thumb|left|Muhammad rededicating the [[Kaaba]] [[Black Stone]], found in the [[Jami' al-tawarikh]] by [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|Rashid Al-Din]], at the [[University of Edinburgh]] library; {{circa|1315}}]]

The [[Qur'an]] condemns idolatry, and various ''[[hadith]]s'' also forbid depictions of living beings. This has led major [[Ulama|Islamic scholars]] and [[Madhhab|legal schools]] to prohibit figurative representation; this is known as [[aniconism]]. However, since Islam has many centres of religious authority, opinion and tradition about this is not uniform. For mainstream Islamic scholars, all pictorial representations of [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|Prophets]] are prohibited.<ref name="Esposito">{{cite book |last=Esposito |first=John L. |author-link=John Esposito |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xnN6wvw8zVQC&pg=PA15 |title=What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-979413-3 |pages=14–15 |quote="Islam, like Judaism and Christianity, strictly prohibits idolatry.. the hadith do prohibit images of any living being. As a result, many Muslims today argue that the visual depiction of the Prophet (and other prophets such as Moses and Jesus), whether positive or negative, should not be allowed. Muslims have treated the prohibitions against images in various ways throughout history" |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506193700/https://books.google.com/books?id=xnN6wvw8zVQC&pg=PA15 |archive-date=6 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> In popular practice today there is no general injunction against pictorial representation of people outside of religious contexts.<ref>Klausen 2009. p.&nbsp;139–140.</ref> Generally, images of Muhammad have been prohibited throughout history. In practice, images of Muhammad have been made on many occasions, generally in a restricted and socially regulated way; for example, they are often stylised or do not show Muhammad's face.<ref>{{cite book |title=Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-151027-4 |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9JafXLrLiwYC&pg=PT105 |last=Brown |first=Jonathan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502081332/https://books.google.com/books?id=9JafXLrLiwYC&pg=PT105 |archive-date=2 May 2016}}</ref> Within Muslim communities, views about pictorial representations have varied: [[Shi'a Islam]] has been generally tolerant of pictorial representations of human figures while [[Sunni Islam]] generally forbids any pictorial representation of living beings, albeit with some variation in practice outside a religious context.<ref>{{cite book |title=Voices of Islam |year=2007 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |isbn=978-0-275-98732-9 |page=29 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RNTAHx95RqQC&pg=PA29 |first=Titus |last=Burckhardt |editor=Vincent J. Cornell |chapter=The Question of Images}}</ref> Some contemporary interpretations of Islam, such as those followed by adherents of [[Wahhabism]], are [[Iconoclasm#Muslim iconoclasm|iconoclastic]]. The movement strongly upholds ''[[Tawhid]]'' (monotheism), advocate direct return to Scriptures in rejection of ''[[Taqlid]]'' and view various practices associated with grave veneration as idolatry. Based on these principles, its followers designated themselves as ''[[Muwahhidun]]'' (Unitarians) and destroyed tombs and shrines of ''[[Awliyaa]]'' (saints) in regions under their rule. These ideas have influenced contemporary movements such as the [[Taliban]], known for its aniconist views that condemn all forms of pictorial representations and advocate the destruction of idols; most notably the [[Buddhas of Bamiyan#Destruction|2001 Destruction of Bamiyan statues]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=L. Esposito |first=John |title=What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam: Second Edition |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-979413-3 |location=New York |pages=15, 54–55 |chapter=Faith}}</ref>

==== Insulting Muhammad ====
In Muslim societies, insulting Muhammad is considered one of the gravest of all crimes. According to Ana Belen Soage of the [[University of Granada]], "The Islamic sharî'a has traditionally considered blasphemy punishable by death, although modern Muslim thinkers such as [[Mohammad Hashim Kamali]] maintain that, given that the Quran does not prescribe a punishment, determining a penalty is left to the judicial authorities of the day."<ref name=Soage>{{cite journal |last=Soage |first=Ana Belen |title=The Danish Caricatures Seen from the Arab World |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |year=2006 |volume=7 |series=3 |pages=363–369 |doi=10.1080/14690760600819523 |issue=3|doi-access=free  | issn = 1469-0764 }}</ref> In the Quran itself, "God often instructs Muhammad to be patient to those who insult him and, according to historical records, no action was taken against them during his years in Mecca."<ref name=Soage /> Many Muslims said their anti-cartoon stance is against insulting pictures and not so much as against pictures in general. According to the BBC, "It is the satirical intent of the cartoonists and the association of the Prophet with terrorism, that is so offensive to the vast majority of Muslims."<ref>{{cite news |first=Magdi |last=Abdelhadi |author-link=Magdi Abdelhadi |title=Cartoon row highlights deep divisions |date=4 February 2006 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4678220.stm |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013075147/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4678220.stm |archive-date=13 October 2013}}</ref> This link played into a widespread perception among Muslims across the world that many in the West are hostile towards Islam and Muslims.<ref>{{cite news |title=Q&A: Depicting the Prophet Muhammad |date=2 February 2006 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4674864.stm |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130916054629/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4674864.stm |archive-date=16 September 2013}}</ref>

=== Political issues ===
{{further|Opinions on the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy}}
The cartoon controversy became one of the highest profile world events in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |title=The stories that mattered to you |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6217451.stm |access-date=16 March 2013 |date=31 December 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722071426/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6217451.stm |archive-date=22 July 2012}}</ref> It attracted a great deal of coverage and commentary, mostly focusing on the situation of Muslims living in the West, the relationship between the Western world and Islamic world, and issues surrounding freedom of speech, secularism, and self-censorship.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

==== Situation of Muslim minority in Denmark ====
{{Main|Islam in Denmark}}

Approximately 350,000 non-Western immigrants lived in Denmark in 2006, representing about 7% of the country's population.<ref>Hervik 2011, p. 22</ref> According to figures reported by the BBC,{{efn| 1 = Other sources show some variation on these figures. For example, the 2010 Report on International Religious Freedom – Denmark gives a figure of about 200,000. See: [http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,USDOS,,DNK,,4cf2d0a2c,0.html A report at the UNHCR website]}} about 270,000 of these were Muslim (ca. 5% of the population).<ref name=bbcountryguide>{{cite news |title=Muslims in Europe: Country guide |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4385768.stm |access-date=13 November 2012 |work=BBC News |date=23 December 2005 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929213440/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4385768.stm |archive-date=29 September 2009}}</ref> In the 1970s Muslims arrived from Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco and Yugoslavia to work. In the 1980s and 90s most Muslim arrivals were refugees and asylum seekers from Iran, Iraq, Somalia and Bosnia.<ref name=bbcountryguide /> Muslims are the second-largest religious group in Denmark behind [[Lutheran]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=2010 Report on International Religious Freedom – Denmark |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,USDOS,,DNK,,4cf2d0a2c,0.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416010245/http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,USDOS,,DNK,,4cf2d0a2c,0.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 April 2013 |publisher=United States Department of State |access-date=13 November 2012 |date=17 November 2010}}</ref>

Peter Hervik said that the cartoon controversy should be seen in the context of an increasingly politicised media environment in Denmark since the 1990s, increasingly negative coverage of Islam and the Muslim minority in Denmark, anti-Muslim rhetoric from the governing political parties, and government policies such as restrictions on immigration and the abolishment of the Board for Ethnic Equality in 2002.<ref name=Hervik>{{cite book |last=Hervik |first=Peter |title=The Annoying Difference: The Emergence of Danish Neonationalism, Neoracism, and Populism in the Post-1989 World |year=2011 |publisher=Berghahn Books |isbn=978-0-85745-100-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BivtnsLX5FgC}}</ref> Hervik said these themes are often ignored in international coverage of the issue and that they render conclusions that {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} and the Danish government were innocent victims in a dispute over freedom of speech inaccurate.<ref name=Hervik /> Against this background, Danish Muslims were particularly offended by the cartoons because they reinforced the idea that Danes stigmatize all Muslims as terrorists and do not respect their religious beliefs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Müller |first1=Marion G. |last2=Özcan |first2=Esra |title=The Political Iconography of Muhammad Cartoons: Understanding Cultural Conflict and Political Action |journal=PS: Political Science and Politics |date=April 2007 |volume=40 |issue=2 |series=2 |doi=10.1017/S104909650707045X |s2cid=154279278 |at=290}}</ref>

Heiko Henkel of British academic journal ''[[Radical Philosophy]]'' wrote:

{{quote|the solicitation and publication of the 'Muhammad cartoons' was part of a long and carefully orchestrated campaign by the conservative {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} (also known in Denmark as Jyllands-Pesten – the plague from Jutland), in which it backed the centre-right Venstre party of Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen in its successful bid for power in 2001. Central to Venstreʼs campaign, aside from its neoliberal economic agenda, was the promise to tackle the problem of foreigners who refused to 'integrate' into Danish society.<ref name=Henkel>{{cite journal |date=May–June 2006 |title='The journalists of Jyllands-Posten are a bunch of reactionary provocateurs' The Danish cartoon controversy and the self-image of Europe |journal=Radical Philosophy |first=Heiko |last=Henkel |url=http://www.radicalphilosophy.com/commentary/%E2%80%98the-journalists-of-jyllands-posten-are-a-bunch-of-reactionary-provocateurs%E2%80%99 |pages=2–7 |issue=137 |access-date=18 September 2013}}</ref>}}

Kiku Day, writing in ''[[The Guardian]]'' said, "We were a liberal and tolerant people until the 1990s, when we suddenly awoke to find that for the first time in our history we had a significant minority group living among us. Confronted with the terrifying novelty of being a multicultural country, Denmark took a step not merely to the right but to the far right."<ref>{{cite news |date=15 February 2006 |title=Denmark's new values |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/comment/story/0,,1709754,00.html |access-date=7 May 2010 |first=Kiku |last=Day}}</ref> Professor Anders Linde-Laursen wrote that while the controversy "should be understood as an expression of a growing Islamophobic tendency in Danish society," this is just the latest manifestation of a long-standing and particularly deep conflict between traditionalists and agents of modernity in Denmark, and should not be seen as a major departure for Danish society.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Linde-Laursen |first=Anders |title=Is something rotten in the state of Denmark? The Muhammad cartoons and Danish political culture |journal=Contemporary Islam |date=December 2007 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=265–274 |doi=10.1007/s11562-007-0022-y|s2cid=144105560 }}</ref>

Danish Muslim politician Naser Khader said, "Muslims are no more discriminated against in Denmark than they are elsewhere in Europe&nbsp;... Generally, Danes give you a fair shake. They accept Muslims if you declare that you are loyal to this society, to democracy. If you say that you are one of them, they will accept you. If you have reservations, they will worry."<ref name=Pipesinterview /> His concern has centred on the power of "Islamism" or fundamentalist political Islam in Denmark's Muslim community, which he has tried to fight, especially in the wake of the controversy, by forming an association of democratic, moderate Muslims.<ref name=Pipesinterview />

==== Relationship between the West and Muslims ====
{{Main|Islam in Europe|Multiculturalism}}

The incident occurred at a time of unusually strained relations between parts of the Muslim world and the West. This was a result of several things combined, decades of Muslim immigration to Europe, recent political struggles, violent incidents such as September 11 and a string of Islamist terrorist attacks and Western interventions in Muslim countries.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cowell |first=Alan |author-link=Alan Cowell |title=West Beginning to See Islamic Protests as Sign of Deep Gulf |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/international/europe/08islam.html?ref=danishcartooncontroversy&pagewanted=all |access-date=21 March 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=8 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107223659/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/08/international/europe/08islam.html?ref=danishcartooncontroversy&pagewanted=all |archive-date=7 January 2015}}</ref> The cartoons were, however, also used as a tool by different political interests in a wide variety of local and international situations, Muslim and otherwise. Some debate surrounded the relationship between Islamic minorities and their broader societies, and the legal and moral limits that the press should observe when commenting on that minority or any religious minority group.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}}

===== Cartoons as a political tool in the West =====

Some commentators see the publications of the cartoons as part of a deliberate effort to show Muslims and Islam in a bad light, thus influencing public opinion in the West in aid of various political projects.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 March 2006 |title=Islam and globanalisation |newspaper=Al-Ahram |url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/787/cu4.htm |last=Dabashi |first=Hamid |author-link=Hamid Dabashi |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625133913/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2006/787/cu4.htm |archive-date=25 June 2013}}</ref> Journalist Andrew Mueller wrote, "I am concerned that the ridiculous, disproportionate reaction to some unfunny sketches in an obscure Scandinavian newspaper may confirm that&nbsp;... Islam and the West are fundamentally irreconcilable".<ref>Cited in {{cite book |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |title=The God Delusion |publisher=Mariner Books |page=[https://archive.org/details/goddelusion00dawk_0/page/26 26] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-618-91824-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/goddelusion00dawk_0/page/26 }}</ref> Different groups used the cartoon for different political purposes; Heiko Henkel wrote:<ref name=Henkel />

{{quote|the critique of 'Muslim fundamentalism' has become a cornerstone in the definition of European identities. As well as replacing anti-communism as the rallying point for a broad 'democratic consensus' (and, in this shift, remaking this consensus), the critique of Islamic fundamentalism has also become a conduit for imagining Europe as a moral community beyond the nation. It has emerged as a banner under which the most diverse sectors of society can unite in the name of 'European' values.}}

Notably, though, political cartoons do not just target Islam. Any subject can be treated, and the political cartoon culture found in many media often give a poignant comment for current events—comparable to a court jester, pointing out uncomfortable or un-tellable truths in a comic fashion <ref>{{cite book | url=https://oxfordre.com/communication/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228613-e-213 | isbn=978-0-19-022861-3 | doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.213 | chapter=Political Cartoons | title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication | year=2019 | last1=García | first1=Zazil Reyes }}</ref>

===== Use by Islamists and Middle-Eastern governments =====
Some commentators believed that the controversy was used by Islamists competing for influence<ref>{{cite news |first=Olivier |last=Guitta |date=20 February 2006 |title=The Cartoon Jihad-The Muslim Brotherhood's project for dominating the West |newspaper=Weekly Standard |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/704xewyj.asp?pg=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060225125042/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/704xewyj.asp?pg=1 |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 February 2006 |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref> both in Europe<ref>{{cite news |first=Nelly |last=Van Doorn-Harder |date=23 February 2006 |title=Behind the cartoon war: radical clerics competing for followers |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0223/p09s01-coop.html |access-date=18 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054247/http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0223/p09s01-coop.html |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> and the Islamic world.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 March 2006 |title=Islamic Activism Sweeps Saudi Arabia |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |first=Faiza |last=Saleh Ambah |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032202305.html |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921063615/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/22/AR2006032202305.html |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref> Jytte Klausen wrote that the Muslim reaction to the cartoons was not a spontaneous, emotional reaction arising out of the clash of Western and Islamic civilisations. "Rather it was orchestrated, first by those with vested interests in elections in Denmark and Egypt, and later by Islamic extremists seeking to destabilise governments in Pakistan, Lebanon, Libya, and Nigeria."<ref>{{cite book |last=Klausen |first=Jytte |author-link=Jytte Klausen |title=The Cartoons That Shook the World |url=http://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=9780300124729 |isbn=978-0-300-12472-9 |publisher=Yale University Press |access-date=4 December 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207031910/http://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=9780300124729 |archive-date=7 February 2013|year=2009 }}</ref> Other regimes in the Middle East have been accused of taking advantage of the controversy and adding to it to demonstrate their Islamic credentials, distracting from their domestic situations by setting up an external enemy,<ref>{{cite news |date=8 February 2006 |title=Cartoons Tap into Deep-Seated Grievances |newspaper=Forbes |author=Oxford Analytica |url=https://www.forbes.com/2006/02/27/middle-east-cartoons_cx_0227oxford.html |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054944/http://www.forbes.com/2006/02/27/middle-east-cartoons_cx_0227oxford.html |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=9 February 2006 |title=Opportunists Make Use of Cartoon Protests |newspaper=The Washington Times |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/08/AR2006020802296_pf.html |first=Griff |last=Witte |access-date=7 May 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020023329/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/08/AR2006020802296_pf.html |archive-date=20 October 2012}}</ref> and according to ''The Wall Street Journal'', "[using] the cartoons&nbsp;... as a way of showing that the expansion of freedom and democracy in their countries would lead inevitably to the denigration of Islam."<ref>{{cite news |date=11 February 2006 |title=Clash of Civilization |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/hottopic/?id=110007956 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060301130245/http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/hottopic/?id=110007956 |archive-date=1 March 2006 |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref>

Among others,<ref>{{cite news |date=2 March 2006 |title=Qatari University Lecturer Ali Muhi Al-din Al-Qardaghi: Muhammad Cartoon Is a Jewish Attempt to Divert European Hatred from Jews to Muslims |publisher=Al-Jazeera/MemriTV |url=http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1030 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060305021321/http://memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1030 |archive-date=5 March 2006 |access-date=17 September 2013}}</ref> Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah [[Ali Khamenei]] blamed a [[Zionist conspiracy theories in the Arab world|Zionist conspiracy]] for the row over the cartoons.<ref>{{cite news |date=7 February 2006 |title=Cartoons 'part of Zionist plot' |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/cartoonprotests/story/0,,1704174,00.html |access-date=7 May 2010}}</ref> Palestinian Christian diplomat [[Afif Safieh]], then the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]]'s envoy to Washington, alleged the [[Likud]] party concocted the distribution of Muhammad caricatures worldwide in a bid to create a clash between the West and the Muslim world.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 February 2006 |title=PA: Likud behind Muhammad cartoons |publisher=Y Net News |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3215284,00.html |access-date=17 September 2013 |first=Yitzhak |last=Benhorin |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921065553/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3215284,00.html |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref>

===== Racism and ignorance =====

One controversy that arose around the cartoons was the question of whether they were racist.<ref name="Modood Hansen Bleich OLeary 2006 pp. 7–16">{{cite journal |last1=Modood |first1=Tariq |author1-link=Tariq Modood |last2=Hansen |first2=Randall |author2-link=Randall Hansen |last3=Bleich |first3=Erik |last4=O'Leary |first4=Brendan |author4-link=Brendan O'Leary |last5=Carens |first5=Joseph H. |author5-link=Joseph Carens |url=http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/danish_cartoon_affair.pdf#page=5&zoom=auto,-106,203 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809113815/http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/danish_cartoon_affair.pdf#page=5&zoom=auto,-106,203 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-08-09 |title=The Danish Cartoon Affair: Free Speech, Racism, Islamism, and Integration |at=The Danish Cartoon Controversy: A Defence of Liberal Freedom |journal=International Migration |volume=44 |issue=5 |year=2006 |issn=0020-7985 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2435.2006.00386.x|citeseerx=10.1.1.869.1234 }}</ref> The [[United Nations Commission on Human Rights]] (UNCHR) [[United Nations Special Rapporteur|Special Rapporteur]] "on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance", [[Doudou Diène]], saw xenophobia and racism in Europe as the root of the controversy, and partly criticised the government of Denmark for inaction after the publication of the cartoons.<ref>{{cite web |date=13 February 2006 |title=Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance on the situation of Muslim and Arab peoples in various parts of the world (E/CN.4/2006/17) |first=Doudou |last=Diène |publisher=UNCHR |url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/sessions/62/listdocs.htm |quote=Politically and from the standpoint of the morality of international relations, the Danish Government, against the backdrop of an alarming resurgence of defamation of religions, especially Islamophobia but also anti-Semitism and Christianophobia, failed to show the commitment and vigilance that it normally displays in combating religious intolerance and incitement to religious hatred and promoting religious harmony. |access-date=18 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927190308/http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/sessions/62/listdocs.htm |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref>

However, Aurel Sari has since said that the special rapporteur's interpretation was wrong and that "neither the decision to commission images depicting the Prophet in defiance of Islamic tradition, nor the actual content of the individual cartoons can be regarded as racist within the meaning of the relevant international human rights instruments" although "some of the more controversial pictures may nevertheless be judged 'gratuitously offensive' to the religious beliefs of Muslims in accordance with the applicable case-law of the European Court of Human Rights." This means that the Danish authorities probably could have prohibited the drawings' dissemination if they had chosen to.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sari |first=Aurel |title=The Danish Cartoons Row: Re-Drawing the Limits of the Right to Freedom of Expression? |journal=Finnish Yearbook of International Law |year=2006 |volume=16 |pages=365–398 |ssrn=1317702}}</ref> [[Randall Hansen]] said that the cartoons were clearly anti-Islamic, but that this should not be confused with racism because a religion is a system of ideas not an inherent identity.<ref name="Modood Hansen Bleich OLeary 2006 pp. 7–16" /> [[Tariq Modood]] said that the cartoons were essentially racist because Muslims are in practice treated as a group based on their religion, and that the cartoons were intended to represent all of Islam and all Muslims in a negative way, not just Muhammad.<ref name="Modood Hansen Bleich OLeary 2006 pp. 1–7">{{cite journal |last1=Modood |first1=Tariq |last2=Hansen |first2=Randall |author2-link=Randall Hansen |last3=Bleich |first3=Erik |last4=O'Leary |first4=Brendan |author4-link=Brendan O'Leary |last5=Carens |first5=Joseph H. |author5-link=Joseph Carens |url=http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/danish_cartoon_affair.pdf#page=2&zoom=auto,-106,643 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809113815/http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/danish_cartoon_affair.pdf#page=2&zoom=auto,-106,643 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-08-09 |title=The Danish Cartoon Affair: Free Speech, Racism, Islamism, and Integration |at=The Liberal Dilemma: Integration or Vilification? |journal=International Migration |volume=44 |issue=5 |year=2006 |issn=0020-7985 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2435.2006.00386.x|citeseerx=10.1.1.869.1234 }}</ref> Erik Bleich said that while the cartoons did essentialise Islam in a potentially racist way, they ranged from offensive to pro-Muslim so labelling them as a group was problematic.<ref name="Modood Hansen Bleich OLeary 2006 pp. 17–22">{{cite journal |last1=Modood |first1=Tariq |author1-link=Tariq Modood |last2=Hansen |first2=Randall |author2-link=Randall Hansen |last3=Bleich |first3=Erik |last4=O'Leary |first4=Brendan |author4-link=Brendan O'Leary |last5=Carens |first5=Joseph H. |author5-link=Joseph Carens |url=http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/danish_cartoon_affair.pdf#page=15&zoom=auto,-106,652 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809113815/http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/danish_cartoon_affair.pdf#page=15&zoom=auto,-106,652 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-08-09 |title=The Danish Cartoon Affair: Free Speech, Racism, Islamism, and Integration |at=On Democratic Integration and Free Speech: Response to Tariq Modood and Randall Hansen |journal=International Migration |volume=44 |issue=5 |year=2006 |issn=0020-7985 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2435.2006.00386.x|citeseerx=10.1.1.869.1234 }}</ref> ''[[The Economist]]'' said Muslims were not targeted in a discriminatory way, since unflattering cartoons about other religions or their leaders are frequently printed.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 February 2006 |title=The limits to free speech – Cartoon wars |newspaper=The Economist |url=http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5494602 |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170205063803/http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5494602 |archive-date=5 February 2017}}</ref> For [[Noam Chomsky]], the cartoons were inspired by a spirit of "ordinary racism under cover of freedom of expression" and that they must be seen in the context of Jyllands-Posten agenda of incitement against immigrants in Denmark.<ref>{{cite report |date=June 2006 |title=A View from the West —Noam Chomsky interviewed by Torgeir Norling |url=http://www.chomsky.info/interviews/200606--.htm |publisher=Noam Chomky official website |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702152807/http://chomsky.info/interviews/200606--.htm |archive-date=2 July 2014}}</ref>

On 26 February 2006, the cartoonist [[Kurt Westergaard]] who drew the "bomb in turban" cartoon{{mdash}}the most controversial of the 12{{mdash}}said:

{{Quote|There are interpretations of [the drawing] that are incorrect. The general impression among Muslims is that it is about Islam as a whole. It is not. It is about certain fundamentalist aspects, that of course are not shared by everyone. But the fuel for the terrorists' acts stem from interpretations of Islam&nbsp;... if parts of a religion develop in a totalitarian and aggressive direction, then I think you have to protest. We did so under the other 'isms'.<ref>{{cite news |first=Jannik |last=Brinch |date=26 February 2006 |title=Bombens Ophavsmand |url=http://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE3831814/bombens-ophavsmand/ |newspaper=Jyllands-Posten |quote=Det er den almindelige opfattelse blandt muslimer, at den går på islam som helhed. Det gør den ikke. Den går på nogle bestemte fundamentalistiske træk, som selvfølgelig ikke deles af alle. Men brændstoffet i terroristernes handlinger kommer fra fortolkninger af islam&nbsp;... men hvis dele af en religion udarter sig i totalitær og aggressiv retning, så synes jeg, man skal protestere. Det gjorde vi under de andre ismer. |language=da |access-date=18 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526143922/http://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE3831814/bombens-ophavsmand/ |archive-date=26 May 2015}}</ref>}}

[[File:Page-1-of-El-Fagr.org-egyptian-newspaper-Oct-17-2005.jpg|125px|thumb|right|''[[El Fagr (Egyptian weekly newspaper)|El Fagr]]'s'' 17 October 2005 headline page]]

Some Muslims saw the cartoons as a sign of lack of education about Islam in Denmark and in the West. Egyptian preacher and television star [[Amr Khaled]] urged his followers to take action to remedy supposed Western ignorance, saying, "It is our duty to the prophet of God to make his message known&nbsp;... Do not say that this is the task of the ''ulema'' (religious scholars){{mdash}}it is the task of all of us."<ref name=Soage /> Ana Soage said, "the targeting of a religious symbol like Muhammad, the only prophet that Muslims do not share with Jews and Christians, was perceived as the last in a long list of humiliations and assaults: it is probably not a coincidence that the more violent demonstrations were held in countries like Syria, Iran and Libya, whose relations with the West are tense."<ref name=Soage /> [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]], a prominent Islamic theologian, called for a day of anger from Muslims in response to the cartoons. He supported calls for a UN resolution that "categorically prohibits affronts to prophets{{mdash}}to the prophets of the Lord and His messengers, to His holy books, and to the religious holy places". He also castigated governments around the world for inaction on the issue, saying, "Your silence over such crimes, which offend the Prophet of Islam and insult his great nation, is what begets violence, generates terrorism, and makes the terrorists say: Our governments are doing nothing, and we must avenge our Prophet ourselves. This is what creates terrorism and begets violence."<ref>{{cite web |title=Special Dispatch No.1089: Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi Responds to Cartoons of Prophet Muhammad: Whoever is Angered and Does Not Rage in Anger is a Jackass – We are Not a Nation of Jackasses |url=http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1604.htm |work=Jihad & Terrorism Studies Project |publisher=[[MEMRI]] |access-date=16 November 2012 |date=9 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130109150258/http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1604.htm |archive-date=9 January 2013}}</ref>

===== Double standards =====

Ehsan Ahrari of ''[[Asia Times Online|Asia Times]]'' accused some European countries of double standards in adopting [[Laws against Holocaust denial|laws that outlaw Holocaust denial]] but still defended the concept of freedom of speech in this case.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ahrari |first=Ehsan |title=Cartoons and the clash of 'freedoms' |url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HB04Aa01.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205055136/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HB04Aa01.html |url-status=unfit |archive-date=5 February 2006 |date=4 February 2006 |access-date=23 August 2013 |newspaper=[[Asia Times Online]] |publisher=Asia Times Online Ltd.}}</ref> Other scholars also criticized the practice as a double standard.<ref>Singer, Peter. "Free speech, Muhammad, and the holocaust." (2006).</ref><ref>[[Michael Bazyler|Bazyler, Michael J.]] "Holocaust denial laws and other legislation criminalizing promotion of Nazism." a lecture at Yad Vashem. http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/insights/pdf/bazyler.pdf (2006).</ref> Anti-holocaust or genocide denial laws were in place in Austria, Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Israel, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, and Romania in 2005. However, Denmark has no such laws and there was{{mdash}}and still is{{mdash}}no EU-wide law against holocaust denial.<ref>{{cite news |title=EU agrees new racial hatred law |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6573005.stm |access-date=3 October 2012 |date=19 April 2007 |quote=The agreement makes it an offence to condone or grossly trivialise crimes of genocide – but only if the effect is incitement to violence or hatred. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918041539/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6573005.stm |archive-date=18 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=19 April 2007 |title=EU adopts measure outlawing Holocaust denial |newspaper=The International Herald Tribune |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/19/news/eu.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423222809/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/19/news/eu.php |archive-date=23 April 2007 |first=Dan |last=Bilefsky |author-link=Dan Bilefsky |access-date=18 September 2013}}</ref> Randall Hansen said that laws against holocaust denial were not directly comparable with restrictions on social satire, so could not be considered a double standard unless one believed in an absolute right to freedom of speech, and that those who do would doubtless oppose holocaust denial laws.<ref name="Modood Hansen Bleich OLeary 2006 pp. 7–16" />{{rp|13}} Columnist [[Charles Krauthammer]] wrote that there was a double standard in many protesters' demands for religious sensitivity in this case, but not in others. He asked, "Have any of these 'moderates' ever protested the grotesque caricatures of Christians and, most especially, Jews that are broadcast throughout the Middle East on a daily basis?"<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/09/AR2006020901434.html |first=Charles |last=Krauthammer |author-link=Charles Krauthammer |title=Curse of the Moderates |date=10 February 2006 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=23 August 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729143550/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/09/AR2006020901434.html |archive-date=29 July 2013}}</ref>
<!--UNUSED REFERENCE: <ref>{{cite news |first=Alan |last=Cowell |author-link=Alan Cowell |last2=Bilefsky |first2=Dan |author2-link=Dan Bilefsky |title=More European Papers Print Cartoons of Muhammad, Fueling Dispute With Muslims |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/02/international/europe/02danish.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&en=aa04c7a02c730240&ex=1139547600;&;amp |access-date=8 June 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=2 February 2006 |first3=Judy |last3=Dempsey |author3-link=Judy Dempsey |page=2}}</ref> -->

===== Relationship between the liberal West and Islam =====
[[Francis Fukuyama]] wrote in the online magazine ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' that "while beginning with a commendable European desire to assert basic liberal values," the controversy was an alarming sign of the degree of cultural conflict between Muslim immigrant communities in Europe and their broader populations, and advocated a measured and prudent response to the situation.<ref>{{cite news |date=27 February 2006 |last=Fukuyama |first=Francis |author-link=Francis Fukuyama |title=Europe vs. Radical Islam |newspaper=Slate |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2136964/ |access-date=17 September 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907121835/http://www.slate.com/id/2136964/ |archive-date=7 September 2011}}</ref> Helle Rytkonen wrote in ''Danish Foreign Policy Yearbook 2007'' that most of the debate around the cartoon controversy was over-simplified as a simple matter of free speech against religion. She said that the actual dispute was more nuanced, focusing on the tone of the debate and broader context of Western-Islamic relations.<ref>Rytkonen 2007, 106.</ref>

[[Christopher Hitchens]] wrote in ''Slate'' that official reaction in the West{{mdash}}particularly the United States{{mdash}}was too lenient toward the protesters and Muslim community in Denmark, and insufficiently supportive of Denmark and the right to free speech:<ref>{{cite web|title=Stand up for Denmark!|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2006/02/stand_up_for_denmark.html|last=Hitchens|first=Christopher|author-link=Christopher Hitchens|date=21 February 2006|work=Slate|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925164659/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2006/02/stand_up_for_denmark.html|archive-date=25 September 2012|access-date=3 October 2012}}</ref>

<blockquote>Nobody in authority can be found to state the obvious and the necessary—that we stand with the Danes against this defamation and blackmail and sabotage. Instead, all compassion and concern is apparently to be expended upon those who lit the powder trail, and who yell and scream for joy as the embassies of democracies are put to the torch in the capital cities of miserable, fly-blown dictatorships. Let's be sure we haven't hurt the vandals' ''feelings''.</blockquote>

[[William Kristol]] also wrote that the response of Western leaders, with the exception of the Danish Prime Minister, was too weak and that the issue was used as an excuse by "those who are threatened by our effort to help liberalize and civilize the Middle East" to fight back against the "assault" on radical Islamists and Middle Eastern dictatorships.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kristol |first=William |title=Oh, the Anguish! The cartoon jihad is phony |url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/697dhzzd.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060217204731/http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/697dhzzd.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 February 2006 |access-date=14 November 2012 |newspaper=[[The Weekly Standard]] |date=20 February 2006}}</ref>

Flemming Rose said he did not expect a violent reaction, and talked about what the incident implies about the relationship between the West and the Muslim world:

{{quote|I spoke to [historian of Islam] Bernard Lewis about this, and he said that the big difference between our case and the Rushdie affair is that Rushdie is perceived as an apostate by the Muslims while, in our case, Muslims were insisting on applying Islamic law to what non-Muslims are doing in non-Muslim countries. In that sense, he said it is a kind of unique case that might indicate that Europe is perceived as some kind of intermediate state between the Muslim world and the non-Muslim world.|title=|source=}}

==== Freedom of speech, political correctness and self-censorship ====

One of the principal lines of controversy surrounding the cartoons concerned the limits of free speech,<ref>Mohammed Saif-Alden Wattad, [https://web.archive.org/web/20190427145411/http://nujslawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/dr-mohammed-saif-alden-wattad.pdf "Islam, Terrorism and Modern Liberal Societies"], ''[[West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences|NUJS Law Review]]'', 2010</ref> how much it should be legally or ethically constrained and whether the cartoons were an appropriate expression for a newspaper to print. The cartoons were first printed in response to the perception of some journalists at the newspaper that self-censorship was becoming a problem; the ensuing reaction did nothing to dispel that idea. Rose said:

{{Quote|When I wrote the accompanying text to the publication of the cartoons, I said that this act was about self-censorship, not free speech. Free speech is on the books; we have the law, and nobody as yet has thought of rewriting it. This changed when the death threats were issued; it became an issue of the Sharia trumping the fundamental right of free speech.|title=|source=}}

Rose also highlighted what he believed to be a difference between political correctness and self-censorship{{mdash}}which he considered more dangerous. He said:

{{Quote|There is a very important distinction to be made here between what you perceive as good behavior and a fear keeping you from doing things that you want to do&nbsp;... A good example of this was the illustrator who refused to illustrate a children's book about the life of Mohammed. He is on the record in two interviews saying that he insisted on anonymity because he was afraid.|title=|source=}}

Christopher Hitchens wrote that it is important to affirm "the right to criticize not merely Islam but religion in general."<ref>{{cite news |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |title=Cartoon Debate: The Case for Mocking Religion |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2006/02/cartoon_debate.html |access-date=4 October 2012 |newspaper=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date=4 February 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010093541/http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2006/02/cartoon_debate.html |archive-date=10 October 2012}}</ref> He criticised media outlets which did not print the cartoons while covering the story. [[Ralf Dahrendorf]] wrote that the violent reaction to the cartoons constituted a sort of [[counter-enlightenment]] which must be defended against.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dahrendorf |first1=Ralf |author1-link=Ralf Dahrendorf |title=A world without taboos: Is modern society as enlightened as its champions like to believe? (Today's Counter-Enlightenment) |url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/oct/13/dahrendorf |url-access=registration |access-date=3 April 2023 |via=[[The Guardian]] |publisher=[[Project Syndicate]] |date=2006-10-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140926003422/http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/oct/13/dahrendorf |archive-date=2014-09-26}}{{void|comment|as originally published on Project Syndicate web site at https://web.archive.org/web/20121021074101/http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/today-s-counter-enlightenment }}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[Sonia Mikich]] wrote in ''[[Die Tageszeitung]]'', "I hereby refuse to feel badly for the chronically insulted. I refuse to argue politely why freedom of expression, reason and humour should be respected". She said that those things are part of a healthy society and that deeply held feelings or beliefs should not be exempt from commentary, and that those offended had the option of ignoring them.<ref>{{cite news |last=Mikich |first=Sonia |title=What next, bearded one? [de:Was nun, ferner Bärtiger?] |url=http://www.taz.de/pt/2006/02/06/a0132.1/text |access-date=15 November 2012 |newspaper=Die Tageszeitung |others=Translation on Signandsight.com by Naomi Buck |date=6 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218025955/http://www.taz.de/pt/2006/02/06/a0132.1/text |archive-date=18 February 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Ashwani K. Peetush of [[Wilfrid Laurier University]] wrote that in a liberal democracy freedom of speech is not absolute, and that reasonable limits are put on it such as libel, defamation and hate speech laws in almost every society to protect individuals from "devastating and direct harm." He said that it is reasonable to consider two of the cartoons as hate speech, which directly undermine a group of people (Muslims) by forming part of an established discourse linking all Muslims with terrorism and barbarity:<ref>{{cite journal|last=Peetush|first=Ashwani K.|date=May 2009|title=Caricaturizing Freedom: Islam, Offence, and The Danish Cartoon Controversy|journal=Studies in South Asian Film and Media|volume=1|issue=1|pages=173–188|doi=10.1386/safm.1.1.173_1|url=https://philarchive.org/rec/PEECFI}}</ref>

<blockquote>[The cartoons] create a social environment of conflict and intimidation for a community that already feels that its way of life is threatened. I do not see how such tactics incorporate people into the wider public and democratic sphere, as Rose argues. They have the opposite effect: the marginalised feel further marginalised and powerless.</blockquote>

In France, the satirical magazine ''[[Charlie Hebdo]]'' was taken to court for publishing the cartoons; it was acquitted of charges that it incited hatred.<ref name="Leveque" /> In Canada a human rights commission investigated ''[[The Western Standard]]'', a magazine which published the cartoons, but found insufficient grounds to proceed with a human rights tribunal (which does not imply criminal charges, but is a quasi-judicial, mandatory process) against the publication.<ref>{{cite news |title=Danish cartoon complaint rejected |url=http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=bab36f55-6aec-43c6-a458-a49f262fbbb6&sponsor= |access-date=10 June 2013 |newspaper=National Post |date=7 August 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324103700/http://www.canada.com/story_print.html?id=bab36f55-6aec-43c6-a458-a49f262fbbb6&sponsor= |archive-date=24 March 2016}}</ref> These government investigations of journalists catalysed debate about the role of government in censoring or prosecuting expressions they deemed potentially hateful.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kahn |first=Robert |title=Tragedy, Farce or Legal Mobilization? The Danish Cartoons in Court in France and Canada |journal=U of St. Thomas Legal Studies Research Paper No. 10-21 |year=2010 |ssrn=1666980 |doi=10.2139/ssrn.1666980}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Moon |first=Richard |title=The Attack on Human Rights Commissions and the Corruption of Public Discourse |journal=Saskatchewan Law Review |year=2010 |volume=93 |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1865332_code390771.pdf?abstractid=1865332&mirid=1 |access-date=27 July 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921054436/https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid=73+Sask.+L.+Rev.+93&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key=861fd9813a0be1188f2f9d2d1002244b |archive-date=21 September 2013}}</ref>

[[Tim Cavanaugh]] wrote that the incident revealed the danger of hate speech laws:<ref>{{cite news|last=Cavanaugh|first=Tim|author-link=Tim Cavanaugh|date=13 February 2006|title=The Mountain Comes to Muhammad|newspaper=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]|url=http://www.reason.com/links/links020306.shtml|url-status=dead|access-date=10 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706151832/http://www.reason.com/links/links020306.shtml|archive-date=6 July 2008}}</ref>
<blockquote>The issue will almost certainly lead to a revisiting of the lamentable laws against 'hate speech' in Europe, and with any luck to a debate on whether these laws are more likely to destroy public harmony than encourage it.</blockquote>

== Comparable incidents ==
The following incidents are often compared to the cartoon controversy:
* [[The Satanic Verses controversy|''The Satanic Verses'' controversy]] (novel, 1988, global)<ref>{{cite news |last=Stone |first=Susan |title=The Cartoon Jihad: 'Satanic Verses Taught us a Lesson' |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/the-cartoon-jihad-satanic-verses-taught-us-a-lesson-a-399459.html |access-date=16 March 2013 |newspaper=Spiegel Online International |date=7 February 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428232223/http://www.spiegel.de/international/the-cartoon-jihad-satanic-verses-taught-us-a-lesson-a-399459.html |archive-date=28 April 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[The Calcutta Quran Petition]]'' (a controversy about a petition to ban the Quran, 1985, India)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2009/02/21/freedom-of-speech-wilders-orwell-and-the-%E2%80%9Ckoran-ban%E2%80%9D/ |title=Freedom of Speech: Wilders, Orwell, and the "Koran Ban" |work=Andrew Bostom |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512105406/http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2009/02/21/freedom-of-speech-wilders-orwell-and-the-%E2%80%9Ckoran-ban%E2%80%9D/ |archive-date=12 May 2012}}</ref>
* ''[[Mohammad, Messenger of God (film)|Mohammad, Messenger of God]]'' (film, 1977, United States, Libya, UK and Lebanon)<ref>{{cite journal |last=Klausen |first=Jytte |author-link=Jytte Klausen |title=The Danish Cartoons and Modern Iconoclasm in the Cosmopolitan Muslim Diaspora |journal=Harvard Middle Eastern and Islamic Review |year=2009 |volume=8 |page=102 |url=https://cmes.fas.harvard.edu/files/cmes/files/hmeir08_pp086-118.pdf |access-date=16 March 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120917010820/http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/files/u1/HMEIR08_pp086-118.pdf |archive-date=17 September 2012}}</ref>
* ''[[Capitalist Piglet]]'' (cartoon, published in response to the {{Lang|da|Jyllands-Posten}} incident, generating national attention, 2006, Canada)
* ''[[Gregorius Nekschot]]'' (cartoons, 2008, Netherlands)<ref>{{cite news |last=Higgins |first=Andrew |title=Why Islam Is Unfunny for a Cartoonist |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121581460304047109 |access-date=16 March 2013 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=12 July 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418192245/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121581460304047109 |archive-date=18 April 2015}}</ref>
* ''[[Innocence of Muslims]]'' (film, 2012, United States)<ref name=previous>{{cite news |title=Previous events that spawned Muslim outrage |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/previous-events-that-spawned-muslim-outrage-1.1150387 |access-date=16 March 2013 |publisher=CBC News |date=19 September 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302071504/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/09/19/muslim-outrage-events.html |archive-date=2 March 2013}}</ref>
* ''[[Charlie Hebdo]]'' (cartoon controversies, 2011 and 2012; [[Charlie Hebdo shooting|terror attack]], 2015)<ref name=previous />
* ''[[Fitna (film)|Fitna]]'', 2008 Dutch film about Islam, which led to [[International reaction to Fitna|worldwide Muslim protests]] and a [[First trial of Geert Wilders|hate speech trial]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Klausen |first=Jytte |author-link=Jytte Klausen |title=Opinion: Taking a Cue from the Danish Cartoon Scandal |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/opinion-taking-a-cue-from-the-danish-cartoon-scandal-a-543378.html |access-date=16 March 2013 |newspaper=Spiegel Online International |date=28 March 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605100114/http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/opinion-taking-a-cue-from-the-danish-cartoon-scandal-a-543378.html |archive-date=5 June 2013}}</ref>
* ''[[Behzti]]'', (2004 play, United Kingdom)<ref name=gilbert>{{cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Gerard |title=Controversy resurrected: BBC to dramatise religious outrage that greeted Monty Python's Life of Brian |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/controversy-resurrected-bbc-to-dramatise-religious-outrage-that-greeted-monty-pythons-life-of-brian-2317689.html |access-date=16 March 2013 |newspaper=The Independent |date=21 July 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527230018/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/controversy-resurrected-bbc-to-dramatise-religious-outrage-that-greeted-monty-pythons-life-of-brian-2317689.html |archive-date=27 May 2014}}</ref>
* ''[[Submission (2004 film)|Submission]]'' (film, 2004, the Netherlands)<ref>{{cite web |last=Ranstorp |first=Magnu |author-link=Magnus Ranstorp |title=Danish Cartoons, Wilder's Fitna movie underscores need for better crisis management across EU |url=http://www.fhs.se/Documents/Externwebben/forskning/centrumbildningar/CATS/2008/better-crisis-management-eu-magnus-ranstorp.pdf |publisher=Civil Protection Network |access-date=19 March 2013 |date=April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513182956/http://www.fhs.se/Documents/Externwebben/forskning/centrumbildningar/CATS/2008/better-crisis-management-eu-magnus-ranstorp.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2013}}</ref>
* [[2005 Cronulla riots]]
* [[Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy]]
* [[2015 Copenhagen shootings]]
* [[Murder of Samuel Paty]]
* [[South Park controversies#Censorship of the depiction of Muhammad|South Park Muhammad controversy]]
* [[Everybody Draw Muhammad Day]]

== See also ==
{{Portal|Denmark|Islam|Journalism|Politics|Cartoon|Comics|Freedom of speech}}
* [[Blasphemy Day]] is celebrated on 30 September to coincide with the anniversary of the publication of the cartoons
* ''[[Clareification]]''
* [[Dove World Outreach Center Quran-burning controversy]]
* [[Everybody Draw Mohammed Day]]
* ''[[The First Temptation of Christ]]''
* ''[[Muhammad: The Messenger of God (film)|The Messenger of God]]'', a 2015 film the creation of which was inspired by the cartoons
* [[Murder of Samuel Paty]]
* [[Depictions of Muhammad]]
* [[Charlie Hebdo shooting]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==

=== Inline citations ===
{{reflist}}

=== General references ===
* {{cite news |last=Dworkin |first=Ronald |author-link=Ronald Dworkin |title=The Right to Ridicule |newspaper=[[The New York Review of Books]] |date=23 March 2006 |access-date=6 October 2013 |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2006/mar/23/the-right-to-ridicule/?pagination=false}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hansen |first1=John |title=Provoen og Profeten: Muhammed krisen bag kulisserne |trans-title=The Provocateur and the Prophet: Behind the Scenes of the Muhammad Crisis |year=2006 |publisher=Jyllands-Postens Forlag |location=Copenhagen |isbn=978-87-7692-092-0 |first2=Kim |last2=Hundevadt |language=da}}
* {{cite journal |last=Hervik |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Hervik |title=The Danish Muhammad Cartoon Conflict |journal=Current Themes in IMER Research |year=2012 |volume=13 |url=http://www.mah.se/upload/Forskningscentrum/MIM/CT/CT%2013.pdf |issn=1652-4616}}
* {{cite book |last=Klausen |first=Jytte |author-link=Jytte Klausen |title=The Cartoons That Shook the World |year=2009 |url=http://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=9780300124729 |isbn=978-0-300-12472-9 |publisher=Yale University Press}}
* {{cite journal |first2=Randall |last2=Hansen |author2-link=Randall Hansen |first3=Erik |last3=Bleich |first4=Brendan |last4=O'Leary |author4-link=Brendan O'Leary |first5=Joseph H. |last5=Carens |author5-link=Joseph Carens |url=http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/danish_cartoon_affair.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809113815/http://www.tariqmodood.com/uploads/1/2/3/9/12392325/danish_cartoon_affair.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2017-08-09 |title=The Danish Cartoon Affair: Free Speech, Racism, Islamism, and Integration |journal=International Migration |year=2006 |volume=44 |issue=5 |issn=0020-7985 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2435.2006.00386.x |last1=Modood |first1=Tariq |author1-link=Tariq Modood |page=3 |citeseerx=10.1.1.869.1234 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Nohrstedt |first=Stig A. |chapter=Mediatization as an Echo-Chamber for Xenophobic Discourses in the Threat Society: The Muhammad Cartoons in Denmark and Sweden |title=Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse |publisher=Bloomsbury |place=London/New York |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-78093-343-6 |pages=309–320}}
* {{cite book |title=Blasphemy: Art that Offends |first=Brent |last=Plate |location=London |publisher=Black Dog Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-904772-53-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Rose |first=Flemming |author-link=Flemming Rose |title=The Tyranny of Silence |year=2010 |publisher=JP/Politikens Forlaghus |location=Copenhagen |url=http://www.tyrannyofsilence.net/}}
* {{cite journal |last=Saloom |first=Rachel |title=You Dropped a Bomb on Me, Denmark--A Legal Examination of the Cartoon Controversy and Response as It Relates to the Prophet Muhammad and Islamic Law |journal=Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion |date=Fall 2006 |volume=8 |issue=3 |url=https://lawandreligion.com/sites/law-religion/files/Dropped-Bomb-Saloom.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427152648/https://lawandreligion.com/sites/law-religion/files/Dropped-Bomb-Saloom.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2019-04-27 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Soage |first1=Ana Belen |title=The Danish Caricatures Seen from the Arab World |journal=Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions |date=September 2006 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=363–369 |doi=10.1080/14690760600819523 |doi-access=free }}

== External links ==
{{Commons|Muhammad}}
{{wikinews|has=previous reports related to this article
| Eleven die in Libya over Muhammad cartoon T-shirt| Israeli group announces anti-semitic cartoons contest| Protest held against Muhammad caricatures in Paris| French satirical weekly reprints caricatures| 700,000 march in Beirut; Hezbollah leader lambasts Bush and Rice| Jyllands-Posten reconsiders printing holocaust denial cartoons| Hamshari newspaper plans cartoon response| Danish mission in Beirut set ablaze| Danish and Austrian embassies in Tehran attacked| New Zealand newspapers publish "Mohammad Cartoons"| Danish and Norwegian embassies set on fire| Manipulation alleged in the "Mohammad Cartoons" affair| Darfur declares Swedish Foreign Minister unwelcome}}

=== Video ===
* [https://www.memri.org/tv/protesters-burn-european-embassies-consulates-churches-damascus-and-beirut Protesters Burn European Embassies, Consulates, Churches in Damascus and Beirut 4–5 February 2006 (5 mins)]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsa/n5ctrl/progs/06/hardtalk/rose_laban03feb.ram BBC HARDtalk: Ahmad Abu Laban and Fleming Rose, 8 February 2006]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWweAz-yY30 Bloody Cartoons] A documentary by {{interlanguage link|Karsten Kjær|da}} from October 2007 on the cartoon affair, including many interviews with the major protagonists. (46 mins)

=== Images ===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080209153538/http://blog.newspaperindex.com/2005/12/10/un-to-investigate-jyllands-posten-racism/ The 12 cartoons in full size at Newspaper Index (Internet Archive)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080605142345/http://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/2006/02/04/456821.html?i=1 Picture series – Burning of the Danish embassy in Syria]
* [http://monkeydyne.com/photos/?d=akkari_dossier Copy of Akkari-Laban dossier]

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