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Muslim groups praise Canadian response to cartoons

2006-02-17 20:59:58

Our Comments

It is good to see the Muslims in Canada united against this hate and also in condemning the violence that sometimes resulted from this issue. In general Canada and Canadians have shown their tolerance such as UPEI and the private school not allowing the hateful cartoons with the exception of vandalism at some Mosques and an attack on an Imam (hopefully the violence was isolated).

I also think it's important for people to understand that by portraying Prophet Muhammad as a terrorist and waiting in heaven for suicide bombers is not only an attack on him, but God and all Muslims because terrorism is not a part of Islam and it further villifies all Muslims as being equivalent to the extremists. This is what upset most Muslims I know more than anything else. It's time for people to realize that the actions and words of extremists do not represent Muslim people or the faith of Islam according to the Holy Qur'an.

This is not to insult Christians but no one attacks or portrays all Christians as being racist killers even though the KKK is a Christian group nor would anyone portray the Christian faith or Jesus as a pedophile just because of the actions of some priests. This is the double standard and hypocrisy that is so frustrating and I think if non-Muslims learned to understand what Islam is really about it wouldn't be such an issue, the main theme here seems to be misconceptions and a lack of education about Islam. It also does not help to have so many web sites devoted to hate against Islam that so many people see, read and easily misled by. At the end of the day it is important to understand the and distinguish between what religion really is and what some religious people, including leaders due to misportray and distort the true teachings, as hard as it can be with the non-sense we see in the news.

Full Article:

Muslim groups praise Canadian response to cartoons

Last Updated Fri, 17 Feb 2006 14:00:45 EST

CBC News

A coalition of Muslim groups praised Canadians on Friday for their non-violent reaction to caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that have sparked violent protests around the world.

INDEPTH: Muhammad cartoons: a timeline

Canada's response to the cartoons have struck a balance between freedom of expression and protecting people from hate and racism, the coalition said at a news conference in Ottawa.

Group spokeswoman Tyseer Aboulnasr also praised Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, saying they have emphasized responsible expression while condemning the violent reaction to the cartoons.

The coalition includes the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Arab Federation.

FROM FEB. 17, 2006: Pakistan detains 125 anti-cartoon demonstrators

Because of the violence in other parts of the world, Denmark temporarily closed its embassies in Pakistan, where at least five people have died and hundreds have been detained during protests, and other countries.

In Pakistan on Friday, a cleric even announced a $1-million US bounty on the cartoonists, whose caricatures first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September and have been reprinted in other countries.

Meanwhile, in Canada, the United Church has expressed its regret over decisions by media outlets in Canada and other countries to republish the caricatures.

"We believe that the intention of publishing the cartoons has little to do with freedom of expression and much to do with incitement to racial and religious hatred," senior church officials said in a letter to the Islamic Council of Imams that was released Friday.

Halifax student's newsletter uses cartoon

On Thursday, a 17-year-old private school student in Halifax was admonished by administrators after he put one of the cartoons in his self-published newsletter and brought copies to the school.

Tim Mitchell accused Halifax Grammar School, which told him to remove the image from The Student Voice, of censoring him.

Mitchell says he checked with other students to see if they would be offended before releasing the cartoon. He says he even included an explanatory story from a Muslim student who explained her feelings about the cartoon.

But school headmaster Paul Bennett says the cartoon had to be removed because it crossed acceptable boundaries of free speech.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/02/17/20060217-muslimpraise.html

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