In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
The Canadian Islamic Congress Friday Bulletin
Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - Muharram 9, 1427, Year:9 Vol:9 Issue: 20
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THE CANADIAN ISLAMIC CONGRESS
MEDIA COMMUNIQUE
February 8, 2006
ISLAMIC CONGRESS CALLS ON PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISM GROUPS TO DEAL WITH
MUHAMMAD CARTOONS AS ETHICS AND QUALITY ISSUE
-- DANISH PAPER ACCEPTED ANTI-ISLAM CARTOONS BUT REJECTED THOSE MOCKING
CHRIST
The Canadian Islamic Congress today sent an urgent appeal to Canadian and
international journalism associations, asking them to deal with the ongoing
controversy around European cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as a
professional quality issue, where standard journalistic ethics should be
equally applied.
Earlier this week, the British daily The Guardian reported that the same
Danish newspaper that published the Prophet Muhammad cartoons had refused
to run a set of drawings lampooning Jesus Christ.
The Guardian article says in part:
"The Danish daily turned down the cartoons of Christ three years ago, on
the grounds that they could be offensive to readers and were not funny ...
In April 2003, Danish illustrator Christoffer Zieler submitted a series of
unsolicited cartoons dealing with the resurrection of Christ to [the Danish
paper] Jyllands-Posten. Zieler received an email back from the paper's
Sunday editor, Jens Kaiser, which said: 'I don't think Jyllands-Posten's
readers will enjoy the drawings. As a matter of fact, I think that they
will provoke an outcry. Therefore, I will not use them'."
"This double standard is appalling," the CIC statement. "It would not be
surprising if that same Danish paper -- and many more like it -- also
refused cartoons or editorial material denying the Holocaust. But when it
comes to the most revered prophet of Islam, the same standards of decency
and respect given to Christianity and Judaism do not apply."
Arla, Denmark's biggest dairy products exporter to the Middle East, has
reported a market loss of more than 500 million dollars in annual sales as
a result of the international cartoon outcry. An Arla spokesperson said
that it took four decades to build the company's Middle Eastern market and
"in five days it has gone to waste."
The CIC is emphasizing that boycotting all aspects of a single country's
commerce and culture is not the most productive response to the kind of
ethical offense committed by the Danish paper, nor to those that reprinted
its cartoons throughout Europe and the world.
"To stop this kind of hate literature, we must go to the source, where
decisions are made," today's statement said. "At the editorial level, good
professional standards and ethics are needed to filter out unacceptable
material. It is not censorship, but an issue of professional respect,
accorded equally to all the parties concerned -- in this case, treating
religious beliefs, values and images equally, whether the subject is Islam,
Christianity or Judaism."
CONTACTS:
Dr. Mohamed Elmasry
(519) 746-4107 (O)
(519) 498-1350 (Cell)
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mrs. Wahida Valiante
(905) 771-1023
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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