# Muslim boycott of Danish goods **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 30, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209 "2006-01-30T15:31:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/141 "2006-02-04T12:33:51Z")
> [@](#): > > I am not denying that Islamic extremism is a major problem. By all means condemn those who act with barbarism - I’ll join you. But as with many of the hysterical in threads about Islam, the Muslim population of the world turns out to be way, way bigger, with many more shades of tolerance and behaviour, than you appear willing to acknowledge. I agree , the problem is clearly ignorance. My understanding of the whole affair is that local blowhards are taking the issue out of context and adding inflammatory lies to fan a fire. The muslim community needs to isolate and ostercise these people, just as any society or group needs to basically self monitor for extremism and remove them. Irresponsible leaders can temporarily increase their popularity by taking an extreme stance on some issue. Christians have their Pat Robertsons, James Dobsons, etc. and they have the odd Cleric here and there. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/142 "2006-02-04T16:59:20Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > But firstly, let us just establish that this kind of behaviour is not unique to that particular faith: The TV station in (I believe) Terre Haute Indiana received death threats after broadcasting “The Book of Daniel.” I watched the show. There was nothing there for people to get hysterical about. But they did. No, that sort of behavior is hardly confined to Muslims. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/143 "2006-02-04T17:24:02Z")
No the behaviour is not limited to moslems but the moslem reaction tends to be significantly more dangerous, extreme and include much larger numbers. You really want to compare a random death thread (via phone call) in Indiana to this: [http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/religion](http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/religion) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/144 "2006-02-04T17:34:46Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > No the behaviour is not limited to moslems but the moslem reaction tends to be significantly more dangerous, extreme and include much larger numbers. > > You really want to compare a random death thread (via phone call) in Indiana to this: > > [http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/religion](http://news.yahoo.com/fc/world/religion) Considering that “The Book of Daniel” wasn’t a deliberate attempt to inflame people? Yeah. Considering 18 year olds attacking gay bars and whackos bombing abortion clinics and people hiding said whackos? Yeah. I’m an atheist. I wish all religions would shrivel up and die because the vast majority of them spur their adherents into the stupidest shit on the planet. Someone calls in a death threat based on their religious views? That person just lacks the guts to do anything worse. They would if they weren’t such a coward. Americans are complacent. But don’t imagine that these lovely Christians would be content with phoning in a death threat if they were more marginalized. Just ask the IRA. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/145 "2006-02-04T17:38:46Z")
For all the IRA’s problems they never held themselves out as being the ‘defenders of the Christian faith’. They were nationalists first, Catholics second. Please don’t confuse the two. Morever, there is no abortion at all in most Arab countries so as bad as abortion bombers may be, most abortion clinics are run day-to-day without feat of attack or censure. All the protests over the likes ‘piss Christ’ or the Last Temptation of Christ don’t amount to a hill of beans to the mass riots and government actions of moslem countries. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/146 "2006-02-04T19:04:16Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > For all the IRA’s problems they never held themselves out as being the ‘defenders of the Christian faith’. They were nationalists first, Catholics second. Please don’t confuse the two. > > Morever, there is no abortion at all in most Arab countries so as bad as abortion bombers may be, most abortion clinics are run day-to-day without feat of attack or censure. All the protests over the likes ‘piss Christ’ or the Last Temptation of Christ don’t amount to a hill of beans to the mass riots and government actions of moslem countries. If you discount the IRA’s actions, then you must discount the actions of moslem countries and the Palestinians. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/147 "2006-02-04T19:11:30Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > If you discount the IRA’s actions, then you must discount the actions of moslem countries and the Palestinians. Don’t put words in my mouth, I am not discounting them at all. The IRA are/were a group of muderous thugs who propagated a terrorist campaign all while profiting from mafia-like criminal activities. I was pointing out that the IRA were not religious fanatics. That is, they weren’t fighting for the Catholic church or the Catholic religion. To be sure they drew their support from the Catholic community in the north of Ireland but they were not a religious force like Islamic Jihad or Hamas. They did not drape their campaing in religious slogans or suggest that they hada mandate from god. Suggesting otherwise betrays a profound ignorance of the IRA. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/148 "2006-02-04T21:12:32Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > The muslim community needs to isolate and ostercise these people, just as any society or group needs to basically self monitor for extremism and remove them. Irresponsible leaders can temporarily increase their popularity by taking an extreme stance on some issue. Christians have their Pat Robertsons, James Dobsons, etc. and they have the odd Cleric here and there. Indeed, but - and here I am asking all Christians participating in this thread - what are _you personally_ doing to counteract Pat Robertson et al? How have you motivated and mobilised your community to put the lie to the bad impression that those vocal mouthpieces are giving your community? Have you stood up to be the voice of moderation, to counteract people laughing behind their hands about American Christianity due to these high profile nutjobs? If the answer is “nothing”, or “they don’t speak for me”, or “nothing to do with me, why should I?”, perhaps you can understand the vast majority of Muslims who are just getting on with their lives, ignoring, or hopelessly embarrassed by, the vocal bastards who are causing the trouble. And, of course, in pragmatic terms if you want to assist and abet such a voice of moderation in Islam, try and help them. Don’t allow people to alienate moderates by making broad, sweeping, and insulting generalisations about the faith and its followers. Tonight, embassies burn in the middle east, and yet tonight my Muslim friends in Thailand are carrying on as if it’s nothing to do with them - because it _is_ nothing to do with them. Nothing whatsoever. Can you understand that, **Ghanima**? ---
**Author:** ![Pope\_Bob\_The\_Pious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@Pope\_Bob\_The\_Pious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pope_Bob_The_Pious)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/149 "2006-02-04T21:26:06Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > If the answer is “nothing”, or “they don’t speak for me”, or “nothing to do with me, why should I?”, perhaps you can understand the vast majority of Muslims who are just getting on with their lives, ignoring, or hopelessly embarrassed by, the vocal bastards who are causing the trouble. I understand your sentiment, but are not dealing with ‘vocal bastards’, but rather ‘embassy-burning and terrorism-supporting’ bastards. There is simply _no_ parallel for that sort of reaction in the western world. How much popular support does Jack Chick or that ‘God hates fags or shrimp or whatever’ guy have? None; they are about as marginalized as we can legally make them. And if they ever crossed the line from ‘talking like idiots’ to ‘acting like idiots’, the state would come down on them like a ton of bricks. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/150 "2006-02-04T23:50:48Z")
And it’s not just a handful of Muslims, either. There is rioting all through the Muslim world today. Two embassies have been burned in Syria. 10,000 people marched in Palestine, calling for Denmark to be bombed by Bin Laden. ---
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/151 "2006-02-05T04:50:01Z")
So is the entire world to live in fear of 10-50,000 Muslim radicals? Today it is a cartoon of Mohammed. What is to stop them burning and blowing up stuff because we do not practice Islam like they do? Isnt that the same thing? Are they not just protesting the fact that non Muslims are in fact, not Muslim? And…if the Islamic community simply ignores/tolerates their violence, are they not all just as guilty as the minority of intolerance? ---
**Author:** ![Eurograff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Eurograff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eurograff)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/152 "2006-02-05T13:43:38Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > There is little debate that the Islamic reaction to this particular cartoon is extreme and misguided. At least misguided from the POV of anyone who is interested in having Arab society become part of the rest of world’s community of communities. And that plenty of hate speech saturates Arab media, which is much more controlled by governemntal powers than the West’s. > > The result has been greater polarization between the Arab and Western world with less sympathy for the Arab/Islamic perspective in Western countries (particularly the EU where Arab sympathies have run high in recent years), even bordering on making Moslems a minority that it is okay to stereotype in polite company (previously a position held longest by the Jews, although less so since HaShoah, and still held by the Romani in most of Europe) and with Moslems developing a greater sense of distrust of the West and of feeling disrespected by the West as well. > > So why are Islamist leadership fomenting this bizzare situation? Because that result is _exactly_ the result the Islamists are looking for! The Islamist fundamentalists do not want to see integration with the West and those who use Islam as a tool to oppress do not want to see an Arab world that accepts Western secular values. Anything that widens that chasm is in their interest. > > Of course the Western message must be that this is how free press works, that the press is given a wide berth of freedom from governmental control, and that this does not quite reach the level of hate speech that would be regulated. And to leave it at that. That I agree with, but the following part > [@DSeid](#): > > It does ring a little hollow though, honestly, when the speech that follows comes closer and closer to hate speech, and when the same EU countries that trumpet free speech blaspheming Muhammad (from the Islamic POV) are regulating action freely expressing the Islamic faith, such as in prohibiting Moslem females from wearing the head coverings in public. That does give the appearence that everyone has freedom of expression, but some have more freedom than others. is simply a lie. I have seen this same assertion parroted so many times, that it makes me wonder if some propagandists have been trying to spread this disinformation to further a certain agenda. Because the situation actually is that no EU countries have any laws regulating the expression of Islamic faith or in any way targeting Muslims specifically. The law that you are referring to, which regulates the use of Muslim females’ head coverings in France, does not in any way prohibit them in public. They are free to walk in full scarves or whatever in the streets of Paris and no one minds a bit. What they can’t do is wear a headscarf in a public school, or in their workplace if they work for the state. That is a rather big difference to your claim that Muslim women are prohibited to wear their head coverings in any public place, isn’t it? There are, indeed, certain countries that do this, but not in EU. Turkey and (I believe) Tunisia prohibit the headscarfs and veils in any public place, thus, as you say, forbidding the Muslim females their free expression of faith. Yet both are almost completely Muslim countries. Turkey, if it joins, will be the first EU country with laws targetting specifically Muslims this way. And Turkey has had this strict headscarf ban for over 80 years, because they see it as a way to secularise their society. May say that the French law on hijab or use was mainly a reaction against rising Muslim fundamentalism. But in practice it isn’t very restrictive, and the alternatives, such as putting your headscarf-wearing children in private schools are easily affordable. Calling it a restriction of freedom of speech is a stretch. What’s even more telling is that while France has three million Muslims, only maybe tens of thousands of these protested against the law. The large majority has no problem with it. Similarly, while the mob in Saudi Arabia violently rioted against the French law, like they do now against the Danish pictures, they apparently have no problem with Turkish full prohibition of hijabs. Most Muslims, like most Christians, are not fanatics. Those who are fanatics, though, are noisy and violent, and are trying to use every controversial situation to provoke hate against those who don’t believe the way they do in order to spread the fanaticism. However most Islamic countries have leaders who need support also from the fanatic segment, and like them to direct the population’s anger towards outside targets. Now the governments of Syria and Lebanon have allowed their fanatics to destroy Danish embassies. This is a violation of all international agreements and must not be tolerated. Unless such actions are firmly opposed the fundamentalists will soon be the only image of how Islam is perceived in the rest of the world, even though in most Muslim countries they only have the minority’s support. And if someone at this point does the way like the US foreign department and Kofi Annan apparently did and say that these fanatics’ reactions towards the cartoons are understandable, then they also are a threat to the freedom of speech. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/153 "2006-02-05T18:07:38Z")
Boy, **Euro** “lie” is such a strong word. The Dutch are considering a complete ban, according to this [npr blub](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5181079) > [@](#): > > All Things Considered, January 31, 2006 · The Dutch government is debating whether to make it a crime to wear a burqa, a form of traditional female Islamic dress that covers the entire body except for the eyes. Supporters of the ban say the burqa oppresses women, but opponents say the ban is unnecessary and racist. And public schools and governmental buildings are indeed public spaces, for a child, the most important public spaces. Your statement “The law that you are referring to, which regulates the use of Muslim females’ head coverings in France, does not in any way prohibit them in public.” is “a lie” since those are public spaces. Chill dude. I amend my statement to the more precise: “… are considering banning expressions of Islamic faith in any public space in some locales and already significantly restricting the public expression of Islamic faith in others.” ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/154 "2006-02-05T18:16:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Turkey … prohibit(s) the headscarfs and veils in any public place If it’s good enough for Attaturk, it’s good enough for me… ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/155 "2006-02-05T19:13:48Z")
According to this weekends Wall Street Journal the cartoons were published more than 4 months ago. Evidently a group of “Danish” mulsims used the cartoons to stir-up anti-Western sentiment around the Arab world. TThey even added two additional cartoons that were not created by the Danish cartoonists. This makes the rioting and the complaints even more disingenous. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/156 "2006-02-05T19:45:09Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > TThey even added two additional cartoons that were not created by the Danish cartoonists. This makes the rioting and the complaints even more disingenous. Interesting, but I need a site please. this is GD afterall. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/157 "2006-02-05T20:08:32Z")
> [@The Flying Dutchman](#): > > Interesting, but I need a site please. this is GD afterall. This weekend’s Editorial section of the Wall Street Journal (from the Journal’s editors). It’s a subscription only website and even though I am a subscriber to the print addition I’ve decided not to pay extra for the online addition. [http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story\_id=E1\_VQGQQVG](http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_VQGQQVG) Link to the Economist noting that the cartoons were published in September. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/158 "2006-02-06T00:27:54Z")
Yes. That’s true. Another Danish newspaper brought that story several months ago. There’s actually talk about at least three extra drawings, presented as published by the Danish newspaper: [http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed\_image\_archive/tegninger38sm.jpg](http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/tegninger38sm.jpg) [http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed\_image\_archive/tegninger39sm.jpg](http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/tegninger39sm.jpg) [http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed\_image\_archive/tegninger40sm.jpg](http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/tegninger40sm.jpg) They, unlike the real drawings, are in fact vile and disgusting and bereft of humour, but nobody knows where they got them from - it’s assumed the Imams drew them themselves. They also spread, whether knowingly or through misunderstanding, a number of other lies. Like the newspaper was government owned, that the danish state was about to publish am edited Koran with the most violent bits removed, etc. ---
**Author:** ![alaricthegoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@alaricthegoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alaricthegoth)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/159 "2006-02-06T07:59:16Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Yes. That’s true. Another Danish newspaper brought that story several months ago. There’s actually talk about at least three extra drawings, presented as published by the Danish newspaper: > > [http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed\_image\_archive/tegninger38sm.jpg](http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/tegninger38sm.jpg) > [http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed\_image\_archive/tegninger39sm.jpg](http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/tegninger39sm.jpg) > [http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed\_image\_archive/tegninger40sm.jpg](http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/tegninger40sm.jpg) > > They, unlike the real drawings, are in fact vile and disgusting and bereft of humour, but nobody knows where they got them from - it’s assumed the Imams drew them themselves. They also spread, whether knowingly or through misunderstanding, a number of other lies. Like the newspaper was government owned, that the danish state was about to publish am edited Koran with the most violent bits removed, etc. not for nothin’, and i suppose essentially irrelevant, but the real cartoons were damn good. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2006, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209/160 "2006-02-06T08:13:37Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Yes. That’s true. Another Danish newspaper brought that story several months ago. There’s actually talk about at least three extra drawings, presented as published by the Danish newspaper: > > [http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed\_image\_archive/tegninger38sm.jpg](http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/tegninger38sm.jpg) > [http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed\_image\_archive/tegninger39sm.jpg](http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/tegninger39sm.jpg) > [http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed\_image\_archive/tegninger40sm.jpg](http://www.zombietime.com/mohammed_image_archive/tegninger40sm.jpg) > > They, unlike the real drawings, are in fact vile and disgusting and bereft of humour, but nobody knows where they got them from - it’s assumed the Imams drew them themselves. They also spread, whether knowingly or through misunderstanding, a number of other lies. Like the newspaper was government owned, that the danish state was about to publish am edited Koran with the most violent bits removed, etc. All I can say about that is, what contemptible, disgusting, deceitful behavior. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/muslim-boycott-of-danish-goods/342209.md?page=9)