Moif posted a report last week about a TV meeting between the famous Motoonist, Kurt Westergaard, and an Islamic extremist:
So, on Danish television yesterday [September 24th], Kurt Westergaard, the artist responsible for the most famous of the Mohammed cartoons, the ‘turban bomb’, met with Kasem Said Ahmad, who is currently the foreman of the Islamic Faith Society. The meeting was billed as an attempt at ‘dialogue’ (a word that has been very popular of late) but failed in this when Kasem Said Ahmad, failing to receive an apology from Kurt Westergaard, stood up and walked out.
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Kasem Said Ahmad is quoted at JP as explaining, “I became angry and walked away. We were never even close to each other and nothing I had expected came from the meeting. I had thought he would apologise having regretted what he did”.
The meeting took place at the artist’s home and it is the first time Kurt Westergaard has stood forward on television to explain his drawing. If it were me, I’d be more than slightly concerned that Kasem Said Ahmad knew where I lived. The man is an uncompromising extremist and I am not surprised his only reason for wanting ‘dialogue’ was to get an apology.
So it seems pretty definite now that the cartoonist is not in hiding; that’s good to know.
Dialoguing with those who wish no dialogue.
As the Pope so wisely pointed out, reason is not part of the equation. It’s the Islamist way or the highway.
The islamist version of “dialogue” consists of Westerners apologising to Muslims.
Forget it.
“Dialogue” is ridiculous. It is not an attempt to convince either party to the other side, and their worldview is in direct opposition with ours. What could they possibly hope to accomplish? There can be no outcome besides apologies, and insincere ones at that.
When are people going to get it through their head? We didn’t ‘dialogue’ with Nazis.
“Dialogue” implies that both sides can exchange rational criticism of the other’s position.
Unfortunately, Islam does not tolerate criticism.
Public criticism of Islam is met with death threats or worse from the Muslim community. As such, Muslims themselves are the barrier to dialogue.
Vi kan ikke give os bare en millimeter. Vi kan ikke gå på kompromis med ytringsfriheden. Ytringsfriheden er den mest værdifulde frihedsrettighed, vi har, for uden den er ingen af de andre frihedsrettigheder noget værd.
We can not give one millimeter. We can not compromise our right of free expression, it is the most valuable right, we have, for without that, none of our other rights are worth anything.
These words were quoted by :- Statsminister Anders Fogh Rasmussen a couple of days ago, My translation is is not a literal word for word translation, but I am certain I have captured the essence of his meaning. I ask a question, why is it that a cartoonist, and the Prime Minister of a Politically and economically insignificant country, have the moral backbone to stand up and raise a metaphorical middle finger, in public, in the direction of Islam, while the wests, so called moral and political leaders shake with fear.
Dialogue in the islamic sense means “Do as i say or else”
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Trying again, the link was bad.
Yorkshireminer. The translation is great 🙂
He is saying, what most of his countrymen belive to be true. The diference between the left and the right used to be mostly a question of more or less taxasion. The it also became a question about more or less emigration. When the left where very slow to defend Jyllandspostens right to print cartoons, a new dimension oppened. The right got the role of champion for rights we used to take for granted. The left got the role of being willing to give up on those rights for a greater good. The problem, for the left, is that most people dont feel attrakted to this greater good, in fact most consider it to be no good at all. The left has tried to get out of this role again, without succes. In saying what he does, he is sort of rubbing their faces in it. Its very entertaining. The left will now write letters to newspapers explaining how they allso belive in these rights and that we shouldent surender them. But if people are not there when it counts, what good are they ?
Short answer would be, that its internal politics that counts and not so much size that matters 🙂
By the way, somewhat related. Here is a poor Frenchman that could use some support.
We need brave artists, brave journalists, and brave politicians and leaders. It goes without saying we need some real brains that can understand and accept Islam for what it is, not for what most infidels pretend it is when it is not.
I have no answer to Yorkshireminer’s question, other than ‘the Danes are the Danes’. I grew up with kiddy stories of the Holger Danske of Kronborg Castle, photos of real ‘Holger Danske’ anti-Nazi partisans of WW2, and a relic Bergmann-Bayard pistol from those days. Of mixed ancestry myself and an American to boot, I can’t claim any personal credit from those paternal relatives, but I am damned happy to have such allies in today’s Europe. May they help rally others to the common defense.
Kurt Westergaard would do it again – Interview / discussion with cartoonist Kurt Westergaard & Islamist Kasem Ahmad – September 24 2006 – English translation
The latest interview: February 2 2008
Murder plot to kill Muhammed cartoon artist Kurt Westergaard – DR February 2, 2008 – English translation of complete transscript of TV interview