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Most people in Denmark are not rampant haters of Muslims or Islam, honestly. It's just that were saddled with a truly appalling rightwing government, who rely on the votes of The Danish People's Party to stay in power. This of course gives that party a lot of influence. The Danish People's Party can be described as a "true" National Socialist party. It's been a mistake to imagine that when Fascism reared its ugly head again they would all be carrying torches, marching in brown-uniformed columns and waving swastika banners! Personally, I always felt they would be back smiling, wearing business suits, carrying guitars and looking a lot like Tony Blair. The leader of the Danish People's Party is actually a woman who is kind to children, old people and dogs. I think of her as, "She who must be obeyed". The cartoons were just the tip of an enormous, black iceberg of hate and malice which has been growing like a cancer in Denmark for years, take my word for it. Actually, don't just take my word for it, be critical, as Voltaire said, "Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so too." In this context it's perhaps worth noting that he never said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." He was a satirist and enjoyed a good laugh, but he wasn't barmy! But that is perhaps another, longer story. The important point is, that I actually live in Denmark, so I suppose I'm somewhat of "an expert" on what actually going on here, and I sort of "neutral" because I was born and brought up in England, until I became a "political exile" during the Thatcher years. The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten which first commissioned the cartoons and published them, knew exactly what they were doing. It was a deliberate act of provocation, designed to as they said publicly, "Smoke the Muslim extremists out of the woodwork." They were even warned before the cartoons were published that "They risked pouring petrol on a bonfire." So one can hardly call them "innocent" in this sorry affair. If a bomb goes off on the tube and my daughter is blown in half will the so-called "right of absolute free speech" be a comfort to me? Who would I blame, the bomber or the man who lit the fuse? The cartoons are part of "cultural war" which is being fought in Denmark. They were also designed to tell Danish Muslims who the boss is, and we can say whatever we like about you and your deepest beliefs and your culture, and you can't do anything about it because we're bigger than you are! Unfortunately the people we were bullying had ten really big brothers waiting outside the school gates ready to wade in with fists swinging! Now, this is not meant to condone or excuse violence and overreaction, only to explain it, so we don't become more ignorant and reactionary that we have too. All this is of course getting out of control; it's like a forest fire. Happily the editor of the "culture" section of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, a guy called Flemming Rose, went too far the other day. He bravely announced that his paper was now going to publish cartoons ridiculing Jesus and Christianity. He was in contact with a paper in Iran, of all places, that wanted to publish "cartoons" that "satirised" and "poked fun" at ... wait for it... the Holocaust! Please correct me if I'm wrong here, is there something I misunderstood about "satire" and "humour". This just goes to show the intellectual and moral decadence at the heart of Jyllands-Posten. Anyway, Rose has now been sent on "sick leave" because he's suffering from "stress".
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