it's interesting that in all of this shody coverage no one bother to talk about the current situation in Denmark for immigrants and refugees. this dude mentioned in SPON could have decided to travel with a dossier of all of the overt, violent racist acts in Denmark over the last 10 years, the public critique by international orgs UN/EU/AmnestyIntl over the xenophobic, discriminatory laws in Denmark, etc. (and maybe he did... no one seems to be interested) just as euro/intl media could have chosen to mention that bit of contextual info as well. i guess dumbing down/sensationalizing makes for better headlines and flag-burning protests. with tacit support for denmark's policies on one side and extremist craziness on the other side, the people who needed external help - danish immigrants, naturalized citizens, and asylum seekers - are going to be in a worse situation. unfortunately they can't all move to sweden (even though many foreign-danish couples do and make an intl commute).
 

That's a good point; Denmark is pretty xenophobic. And the violent protests will only help fuel the European far right, which is a story that needs to be written. But I also want to know who's organizing these protests. I doubt they're spontaneous.
 

This would be a good Stammtisch subject when you return Mike *hint*

I don't exactly see how racism plays a role here though. A lot of these asylum seekers are probably hoping to get to Denmark after fleeing countries where freedom of speech and the right to criticise religion isn't allowed.... and I can't really see Sweden as a positive model either.
 

I think racism plays a role. Muslims were offended by the cartoons partly because they felt discriminated against in Denmark. (And because their prophet was disparaged.) The original complaint was, "Look what we put up with." (I'm afraid the answer in the west, where we believe in offending people, is "Deal.") And far right groups will make it racial as soon as they can.

But the interesting thing to me is that Muslim protesters -- no matter what race they are -- hold "Danes" responsible, no matter what they do for a living. In other words: a religion against a race. I noticed the same pattern in France, where French-born Muslim kids identified not as "French" or "Algerian" (since they weren't Algerian citizens) but as "Muslim."
 

Rubbish
 

The extra cartoons included by the imams in the pamphlet were blatently misrepresented, with the intent to inflame opinion. There was a '60 Minutes' interview with one of the pamphlet creators, and when asked if it was worth it all, now knowing that people were dying in the riots, he said "yes, we are now getting the attention we deserve; and you can't control those things that happen".

Although his lies have led (not entirely indirectly) to several deaths, he sees no problems with his actions.

Compared to the newspaper's responsibility - yes, they have stirred up sentiment, but not through blatant deception.

the cartoons

And what are the asylum seekers seeking asylum from? Not having concurrently the right to hold a difference of opinion and the right to personal security.