Danish Embassy in Syria Torched over Muslim Cartoons
 |
James Joyner | Saturday, February 4, 2006 |
The Danish Embassy in Damascus has been set on fire as a protest over some cartoons got out of hand.
Hundreds of Syrian demonstrators stormed the Danish Embassy in Damascus Saturday and set fire to the building, witnesses said. The demonstrators were protesting offensive caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed that were first published in a Danish newspaper several months ago. Witnesses said the demonstrators set fire to the entire building, which also houses the embassies of Chile and Sweden.
Protesters have been staging sit-ins outside the Danish Embassy in downtown Damascus almost daily since the furor over the drawings broke out last week. Saturday’s protest started out peacefully but as anger escalated, protesters broke through police barriers and torched the building, the witnesses said.
The cartoons, first printed in Denmark and then published elsewhere in Europe, have touched a raw nerve in the Arab and Islamic world, in part because Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depiction of the Prophet Mohammed, favorable or otherwise.
Amazing.
See all of the images in full size at my Danish Muslim Cartoons page.
Related stories below the fold.
________
Previously:
-
Danish Muslim Cartoons Offensive, Says U.S. Government
Muslim Day of Anger to Respond to Cartoons
French Editor Fired Over Muhammad Drawings
French and German Papers Republish Danish Cartoons
Danish Newspaper Apologizes for Muslim Cartoons
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
Follow James on FriendFeed | Twitter | Digg
- None Found
- Are We in a Recession? Probably
- Hundreds of Billions More
- OTB Latenight - Romeo Void
- McCain - Obama Townhall Debate Instant Reaction
- How the Candidates Differ on Iraq
- America’s Demise Greatly Exaggerated
- Bleg: Firefox Eating Pictures!
- Atlantic Redesign, Rebrand
- Is Credit Drying Up?
- Afghanistan: Defining Victory
We could help the rest of Damascus catch fire. Maybe if enough of their cities caught fire, Assaid would reveal where Iraqs WMD is stored.
Germanys Merkel likened Iran to the Nazis in 1930
But, Isn't Islam a peaceful religon?
I agree with Jack Ehrich, We should help Danascus catch fire, I think a few 117's and a couple of B-2's would do the trick. Maybe they could make it a first strike on their way to Iran
One wonders why all the online tough guys are not seeing combat in Iraq...
one wonders why all the online weak guys are not seeing anything at all...
All this violence in the middle east by Muslim/Islamist protesting mobs simply proves or at least appears to justify the view behind the content of the cartoons. This is not my view, but that is what the actions say.
Furthermore, Europe (or the Americas for that matter) is not the middle east and nor is it subject to the views of Islam. Europe makes its own rules and after thousands of years of oppression, we view the right to free speech as being as sacred as any religion. If Muslims wish to live by a different law, then that is their business
Denmark did not drop leaflets over the Hajj in Saudi depicting these cartoons so no direct offense was made. As for the European Muslims protesting that is their right, but keep the violence away. If you dont like freedom of the press and speech then go someplace else where people hold your views.
Daniel,
Canada
Comments are Closed
