COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s integration minister has caused a stir by publishing a screen grab of a tablet showing a controversial caricature of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) that caused outrage among Muslims around the world in 2006.
After a Danish museum did not display the 12 caricatures depicting the prophet (peace be upon him) in its exhibition on blasphemy, Inger Stoejberg posted a photo of an iPad where the background showed a caricature of the prophet (peace be upon him).
Stoejberg wrote Tuesday on Facebook that the cartoons show Denmark is “a free country where opinions are challenged.”
“I have no real comments” about Stoejberg’s Facebook post, Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen said. “But I’m happy to live in a country where you can have artists making bizarre pieces of art.”
Holger K. Nielsen of the opposition Socialist People’s party urged people on Twitter to ignore Stoejberg.
The drawings first appeared in Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten newspaper in September 2005 to test whether cartoonists would apply self-censorship when asked to portray the holy prophet (peace be upon him). Although no Danish laws had been violated, they sparked protests four months later in pre-dominantly Muslim countries, where Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet.
Denmark then became the target of extremists, and police say they have thwarted a series of terror plots against Denmark. In February 2016, a gunman killed two people and wounded five in attacks on a free-speech event and Copenhagen’s main synagogue.
The three-month exhibition, called Image Storm, opens Friday at a small museum in Viborg, 260 km northwest of Copenhagen, and tells how blasphemy has provoked people since the 16th-century Protestant Reformation.
In a statement, the museum said it had “deliberately chosen not to show” the prophet drawings, citing potential security challenges.
The exhibition includes a 1987 photograph by American artist Andres Serrano of a small plastic crucifix submerged in a small glass tank allegedly filled with the artist’s urine.
It also shows a tin can by Italian artist Piero Manzoni filled with 30 grams of human excrement and a jar with parts of a horse by Bjoern Noergaard, a Danish artist who caused a scandal in 1970 by slaughtering a horse.
Danish minister posts screen grab of Prophet’s caricature
Danish minister posts screen grab of Prophet’s caricature
South Korea calls for resuming dialogue with North
- President Lee Jae Myung has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North since taking office in June
- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul
SEOUL: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung called on Sunday for dialogue with North Korea to resume, after Pyongyang last week shunned the prospect of diplomacy with its neighbor.
Since taking office in June, a dovish Lee has sought to mend ties with the nuclear-armed North, which reaffirmed its anti-Seoul approach during a party meeting last week.
“As my administration has repeatedly made clear, we respect the North’s system and will neither engage in any type of hostile acts, nor pursue any form of unification by absorption,” Lee said in a speech marking the anniversary of a historical campaign against Japan’s colonial rule.
“We will also continue our efforts to resume dialogue with the North,” he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last week dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, describing its overtures as “clumsy, deceptive farce and a poor work.”
Speaking at the party congress in Pyongyang, Kim said North Korea has “absolutely no business dealing with South Korea, its most hostile entity, and will permanently exclude South Korea from the category of compatriots.”
But he also said the North could “get along well” with the United States if Washington acknowledges its nuclear status.
Speculation has mounted over whether US President Donald Trump will seek a meeting with Kim during planned travels to China.
Last year, Trump said he was “100 percent” open to a meeting.
Previous Trump-Kim summits during the US president’s first term fell apart after the pair failed to agree over sanctions relief — and what nuclear concessions North Korea might make in return.
