Brussels, 08/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday MEPs Sajjad Karim (ALDE, Britain) and Cem Özdemir (ALE, Germany), both of them Muslims, criticised the “bad judgement” of Danish journalists and editors who allowed publication of cartoons of Mohamed but they also stressed that Islamic extremists who were now attempting to take advantage of the affair did not represent the majority of Muslims living in Europe who were behaving like “good democrats”. During a press conference in Brussels Mr Karim stated that freedom of the press had to be protected but should be exercised with responsibility, respect and sensitivity. Everywhere and every day in Europe journalists and editors decide (for ethical and other reasons) whether material should not be published but which, from a purely legal point of view, would not pose any problems. This stance and respect for certain criteria is normally part of European thinking. Mr Karim, however, regretted “that judgement was not exercised in a proper manner”. Unfortunately, the two MEPs deplored the fact that with the outbreak of violence that this affair had ignited, Islamic extremists had been provided with the “ammunition” and oxygen of publicity,” which they have been dreaming about, in the newspapers and television screens throughout the world. Mr Karim regretted that the media reaction was disappointing because “they ignore the views of the majority of its own Moslem population and give credence to those who represent the fringes of our society”. Karim underlined the fact that “the extremists are not representing the majority of the Muslim communities”. Cem Özdemir continued on this note, “Governments of Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia do not represent Moslems who live in Denmark, Germany or elsewhere in Europe.
We have our own voices, our own elected people and they can speak for us. Their response is very clear: they don't like the cartoons, they feel offended and they say it very clearly. But they also condemn all the violence and say that they are against the burning of the Danish flag or destruction of buildings”. Mr Özdemir warned that “there are governments and organisations which want to make a campaign and gain from the whole affair. They don't speak for us!” The German MEP of Turkish origin added that “in most of the EU countries, the Muslims made clear that they are good democrats, they are part of the societies in which they live and they use the democratic tools to express what they feel”. He also warned against any facile allusion to the “clash of civilisations”, explaining that, “this is not a clash of civilisations which some might wish to have. We all have to support the freedom of expression that is part of our democracies. Let me remind you as a Muslim living in and growing up in Germany that is part of the reason for some people why they came into the EU and why they still live here. Some came as refugees because they had to leave countries where there was or is no liberty of expression”.
Appeals for dialogue from EPP-ED
On Wednesday, at the EPP-ED group at the European Parliament, the German president of the foreign affairs committee Elmar Brok, Dane Gitte Seeberg and Swede Gunnar Hökmark produced a joint press release appealing for an end to the violence and a “return to dialogue”. They explained that freedom of expression was a fundamental right in the European Union but it should be expressed in respect of religious beliefs, they underlined, adding that, neither Denmark nor other Member States of the EU deserve to be condemned for deeds that have not been committed by these countries. Brok and Hökmark underlined in solidarity with their colleague that “Denmark is not alone. The EU must and will be in this together”.
President of public freedoms committee highlights freedom of expression
Many other MEPs spoke about this crisis, including Jean-Marie Cavada (ALDE, France), the president of the public freedoms committee, who has spent more than forty years working in journalism. In a press release Cavada asked “what is it that is most harmful to Islam, these cartoons or the images of a kamikaze who has detonated himself in the middle or a marriage in Amman?” Quoting Jihad Momani, Editor-in-Chief at the Jordanian weekly, Shihane,, which is awaiting a ruling on 9 February for having published three Danish cartoons and Hicham al-Khalidi, Editor-in-Chief of the Jordanian paper, al-Mehwar, the trial of which is set for 15 February, the UDF MEP asserted, “At this stage of the polemic, the European Union has to choose what side it is on: support for the Arab Muslims who really believe in our universal values to the extent that they are prepared to go to prison to defend these values, like these two Jordanian journalists, or give into pressure from those who support limits on freedom of expression…The freedom of expression for journalists and editors is a fundamental and inalienable right, which does not have a corollary with their responsibility and which can certainly not be put into some kind of code of conduct, which as we can clearly see, presents dangers”.