Coping in Copenhagen

Greyhawk

Copenhagen:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs holds a crisis meeting Saturday night after demonstrators set fire to Denmark's embassy in Syria

Demonstrators in Damascus stormed Denmark's embassy in Syria and burned it to the ground Saturday afternoon after rumours that copies of Muslims' holy book, the Koran, were going to be burned in Copenhagen.

Demonstrators who had gathered in front of the embassy in protest over the action went 'out of control' and set fire to the complex, according to embassy counsellor Hans Schou.

Most major news media are crediting the cartoons of Mohamed as the cause for the rage. Although true, that's a slight over-simplification. The story has since been expanded to include the more significant allegations of planned Koran burnings.

Allegations that have the Danish government scrambling to perform rumor control:

No Korans or other Islamic symbols were burnt in Copenhagen on Saturday as a counter-reaction to Muslim demonstrations against Denmark during the past week, said Copenhagen Police.

The police made their statement after the Danish embassy in Damascus had been sacked and burnt to the ground as rumours of the opposite spread.

'We would like to make this very clear: There has not been any defilement or burning of religious icons such as the Koran, flags, or other items,' said Copenhagen Police Department spokesman Flemming Steen Munch.

It's not likely that the fact that the event never took place will restore any calm. Allegations of a plan (following the publication of cartoons) were sufficient to achieve a result. And thus far Muslim reports (in the form of threats of retaliation) remain the only source of the "planned Koran burning" story. This version credits a "statement issued by Fatah and Islamic Jihad armed militants":

Yesterday one of the leading Christian Palestinian clerics in Gaza, Father Manuel Mussallam, said that "Mohamed is a high Arab personality".

He said that the Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar had met him and Christian nuns on Thursday within an hour of complaints about a statement issued by Fatah and Islamic Jihad armed militants. These warned that churches in Gaza, along with the EU office, would be "bombarded" if plans for a Koran-burning protest in Denmark went ahead.

Other reports cite telephone text messages:

Telephone text messages had been circulating in Damascus claiming that Danes were going to be gathering in one of Copenhagen's main squares on Saturday to burn copies of the Koran. People were urged to gather at the embassy to protest.

These were similar to messages being sent in Egypt earlier this week.

"Denmark wants to burn the sacred Koran on Saturday in Copenhagen in response to the Muslim boycott (of Danish products)," the message in Egypt said, calling on Muslims to curse the Danish.

"Send (this message on) and you will be rewarded," the text said.

And Islam Online credits "Danish Muslim leaders" for the heads-up:

Danish Muslim leaders warned on Saturday, February 4, of grave consequences if copies of the Noble Qur’an were burnt in a rally planned by Danish extremists to protest Muslim anger over cartoons mocking Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

"All hell will break loose, if those extremists burn the Qur’an," Raed Halil, the head of the European Committee for Defending Prophet Muhammad, told IslamOnline.net over the phone from the Danish capital Copenhagen.

Halil in turn claims his source is "A female member of a racist party":

"A female member of a racist party circulated a message calling for burning copies of the Noble Qur’an in Saturday’s march," he said.

Halil said the message incited young Danes to burn the Muslim holy book in retaliation for the burning of Danish flags by angry Muslims across the world and the boycotting of Danish products.

We can assume that Korans are more widely available in Denmark than say, Danish flags in the Middle East, and we can't rule out that a female member of a racist party circulated a message (though we wonder why only young Danes were encouraged to burn the Koran - setting an age limit seems counter-productive to achieving such a result) but it should be noted that the only things burned yesterday were Danish flags and the embassies in Damascus and Beirut.

Note also Jeff Goldstein's analysis

...the Danish protesters are “extremists” from the “extreme-right”—many of them members of a “racist party”—while those Muslims outraged by the publishing of the cartoons in the first place (who “protested” by burning flags, firebombing embassies, and—even here, through a spokesman, issuing active threats of “grave consequences” and promises that “All hell will break lose” should counterprotests seek to address “Muslim anger") are mere victims of some minor misunderstanding in the “new cultural battle over freedom of speech and respect of religions.”

No surprise - you'll find a bit more of that in Al Jazeera's coverage of the marches in Denmark:

Danes on the far left and extreme right have taken to the streets, adding a political dimension to a blistering row over cartoons of Prophet Muhammad first published in a Danish newspaper.

Both far-left and extreme-right marches took place in Hilleroed, 30km northeast of Copenhagen.
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The left-wing marchers, many of them clad in black and bearing banners urging people to "Crush the Nazis", were protesting against an anti-Muslim march by the extreme-right Danish Front.

Daniel Savi, a local secretary of the youth wing of the Socialist People's party, which organised the left-wing march, told AFP: "We say no to the racist and ignorant Danish Front demonstration against Muslims in Denmark and in the world."

Helle Mortensen, a 17-year-old protestor, said: "This affair has gone much too far and it's clearly the fault of the Danish government.

"Freedom of expression does not mean hurting others."
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Many stores had removed their shop window display after police had warned that the left-wing demonstration could include "troublemakers" but there was no violence beyond an occasional call of "Nazi pig" addressed to the far-right marchers, who were clearly outnumbered by their rivals.

About 100 Danish Muslims joined the left-wing demonstration "because we want to show the world that Muslims are not terrorists", Bassen, a 20-year-old demonstrator, said.

Keep that last comment in mind - along with the quote from an apparent member of the youth wing of the Socialist People's party: "Freedom of expression does not mean hurting others." - as we return to coverage of the protests in Denmark

Throughout the day, police forces patrolled streets in number and sought to prevent confrontations as Muslim, nationalist, and leftist groups planned demonstrations.

While demonstrations in the Nørrebro and Frederiksberg districts were peacefully conducted, one protest in the city of Hillerød, 30 km north of Copenhagen, resulted in 162 arrests, said police inspector Mogens Lauridsen.

About 30 members of the nationalist group, Danish Front, organised the Hillerød protest in response to what it considered 'Muslim aggression'. Leftist political groups organised a counter-demonstration and were joined by a number of people with an immigrant background.

Police officers armed with tear gas and batons struggled to maintain distance between the antagonistic groups.

'We feel it's best that people be allowed to express their opinions separated,' said police spokesman Flemming Munch.

The groups yelled slogans at each other for about two hours in sub-zero temperatures, but no physical confrontation took place. As the leftist political groups headed back to the train station, however, they began throwing bottles and other projectiles at police.

Police arrested about 110 leftists, as well as about 50 people with an immigrant background.

*****

Something rotten in Denmark

Last year, when a Danish author couldn't find an artist to illustrate his upcoming book about Mohammed, the newspaper Jyllands-Posten called for submissions, and eventually published 12 images - all cartoonish depictions of the prophet.

It's well worth taking a moment to look at how cartoons in a Danish newspaper led to an incident of global significance. London Telegraph reporter David Rennie recently interviewed Ahmed Akkari, spokesman for the European Committee for Honouring the Prophet, a group comprised of 27 European Muslim organizations. Akkari was also a member of a Danish Muslim delegation that made repeated trips to the Middle East late last year. They carried with them a 43-page dossier on "Danish racism and Islamophobia" that included the now infamous 12 cartoon images of Mohammed.

The group met with "scholars, officials of the Arab League and senior clerics in Cairo and Beirut" including Amur Musa, the secretary-general of the Arab League, and the mufti of Egypt. Akkari describes how the outrage spread from there:

I think why there is a strong attention on the case now is there has been the pilgrimage, there has been the Hajj to Mecca, you know the Hajj is where 2.5 million Muslims meet, there are conferences and small talks here and there, and I think that it was just in the Hajj that for example Saudi and other countries may have heard about the case, and thought it was very, very bad, and they began to react.

He also carefully explains why he considers the Muslim response appropriate

Q: What do you think about the current reaction in the Muslim world? Is it excessive, or appropriate?

A: I think it is natural, actually, because you know Jyllands-Posten has stepped on the feelings of one billion Muslims in the world, by drawing their prophet with a bomb in his head, and by making him ugly and a criminal with one eye.
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The most calm and cultural Muslim cannot accept that I am accused of following a man who has a bomb in his head that is going to blow up in a second, this is what makes the reactions, believe me.
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Here in Denmark we have a debate right now about freedom of speech, we have a debate about drawing Mohammed or not. But I have seen some history books in the library, where they have some drawings of Mohammed, from Iranian and Persian ancient times.

Why didn't Muslims protest on those, if the problem was drawings? The problem was the way he has been drawn, and the negative attitude it leaves in the eyes of the viewer.

Q: So do you support the right of Western authors to use respectful drawings of Mohammed?

A: I actually think we should take this debate later. This has been a debate between Muslim scholars for many hundred years and so on.

But nonetheless Akkari expresses surprise at the impact of his visits - claiming that even the consumer boycott was an unforeseen result:

Q: Do you support the consumer boycott?

A: I was surprised it got so far.

Having succeeded in inflaming the Muslim world, Akkari is now focused on ensuring that the West sees Muslims as victims...

But we never understood that you should try to test the freedom of speech on one of the most exhausted, and discriminated against and weak communities in Europe, everybody knows that about the Muslim community. We have criminal youngsters, we have fanatics, we have social and economic problems, we have a large number of people who are illiterate and have low qualifications.

Trying to test the freedom of speech against a group like that? And using the character of someone like Mohammed who is a worldwide character, that is very well respected by many non-Muslims, as a person who had great influence in history. They can criticise, but to put a bomb in his head, like that, it was very bad.

...while emphasizing the real threat comes from European "Right Wing extremists"

You know in Denmark we have some right wing extremists, and we have in the Muslim world also average people who maybe do not have a reasonable mind.

Q: Is there a danger of violence?

A: For four months, we have been trying to take this conflict in hand politically, through the legal system, so we should not see any case, any scenario like Holland.

Q: Like the killing of Theo van Gogh?

A: Yes. I can tell you, if just one person does anything wrong in Denmark, I think our mosques, our institutions, our women, our girls will be a target for some right-wing extremists here in Denmark. It isn't in any Muslims' interests that this case will escalate.

Q: Do you think it will happen?

A: I am afraid, we had a meeting with the Danish intelligence service two days ago, we came out with a common press release, and other Muslims and imams. At that meeting, they said that the situation is very, very tense, and they asked that we should participate, to talk to people, we said we would.

Right now we have an SMS going round between our contacts, telling people not to react to provocations from right-wing extremists, like burning the Koran, but I know some Muslims will not listen to our message.

Recall that Raed Halil, identified as the head of the European Committee for Defending Prophet Muhammad, is quoted by Islam Online above warning "All hell will break loose, if those extremists burn the Qur’an".

The collusion of the Left in the events in Europe is also notable. Back to Akkari, and more details of the threat posed by European Right Wing extremists:

Q: Do you feel some violence is more likely than not?

A: It is more likely. I have actually received threats on my phone. Also, one of the other leaders of a delegation, some people came to his home and asked his neighbours which was his home.

It is more likely right now, here and now, any minute that we will hear of violence, unless the police can keep an eye on it, and God protects us.

Q: Do you think the violence will come from one side, or either side?

A: I am sure it could come from both sides, because many Europeans are not so well aware about the dangers from right-wing extremists. They are just as dangerous as Muslim extremists. But they are very organised, and working under the table, so you cannot see them.

This is a rather amazing statement - "rather cheeky" as the Brits might say. The evidence above makes it increasingly apparent that the events surrounding "toonrage" have been carefully orchestrated, well planned and coordinated.

Update: related - with additional background.

More: Michael Totten from Beirut.