More anti-Islamic cartoons


I have been investigating further anti-Islamic cartoons after the riots and Embassy burnings of the past few days as the Islamic fundamentalists vent their fury. Oh where is the Islamic Voltaire when we need him/her? Daryl Cagle has a good discussion and links to many good political cartoons. This site as well as images going back centuries. The cartoonist Ted Rall chimes in with defence of the freedom to offend.

This one makes the point that pens too can be hurtful;





This is a just a pedantic point but I can't help asking it. If it is forbidden for Muslims to depict the prophet Muhammad, presumably they don't or at least aren't allowed to, so how do they know what he looks like and if indeed any of these cartoons do in fact depict him? There is no labelling in the cartoons that "this is the prophet" so it could be any arab male dressed in traditional attire. A small point I know.

The Danish newspaper which started the furor printed some fairly crude, badly drawn, and not all that clever cartoons. The exception I think is the one depicting the two all-seeing women standing behind the blinded prophet. This is well drawn and has a powerful message about the oppression of women's rights, so it is a successful cartoon on a number of levels. The others are quite forgettable.




I have found some other cartoons which are much more pointed in their barbs against religious intolerance and bigotry and stupidity. So why haven't the authors of these cartoons been stoned and their country's embassies burned?

Here is one which is cleverly drawn, makes a good political point about freedom of speech, and comes on the heels of the deaths by panic and crushing which took place during the last pilgrimage:




An even better one which conjures up images of Escher and Guenter Grass as well as the traditional Islamic punishment for theft:



no more

Posted: Sat - February 4, 2006 at 05:37 PM        

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