In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
The Canadian Islamic Congress Friday Bulletin
Sunday, February 12, 2006 - Muharram 13, 1427, Year:9 Vol:9 Issue: 24
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THE CANADIAN ISLAMIC CONGRESS
MEDIA COMMUNIQUE
February 12, 2006
ISLAMIC CONGRESS REGRETS CALGARY JEWISH PAPER'S PUBLICATION
OF DANISH ANTI-ISLAM CARTOONS,
WARNING CANADIAN JEWISH-MUSLIM RELATIONS COULD BE SERIOUSLY DAMAGED
-- CALGARY JEWISH COMMUNITY COUNCIL DISASSOCIATES ITSELF FROM
JEWISH FREE PRESS AFTER CARTOON PUBLICATION
-- CIC APPEALS TO THE WESTERN STANDARD NOT TO REPRINT THEM
Following a televised news report on Saturday that Western Standard
(Calgary, AB) publisher Ezra Levant plans early next week to reprint
cartoons from a Danish newspaper mocking the Prophet Muhammad, the Canadian
Islamic Congress has issued a strong appeal urging Levant not to do so.
Last week Levant published an op-ed in the National Post (Feb 10) calling
the cartoon "innocuous" and criticizing the federal government for issuing
a statement he considered too sympathetic to Canadian Muslims.
The CIC is also asking another Calgary-based publication, the Jewish Free
Press, to apologize in its pages for having run the offensive cartoons last
Thursday (Feb. 9). "Otherwise Canadian Jewish-Muslim relations could be
seriously damaged," CIC warned.
"This is a devastating setback to Canada's credibility as a moderate,
reconciling voice amid the global tragedy these cartoons have already
caused," the CIC statement said. "How can people of faith and conscience
even consider reprinting such hate literature, after what has unfolded
during the past several weeks?"
>From the beginning of the cartoon controversy, CIC has also appealed to
Muslims in Canada and worldwide not to allow the hurt caused by the Danish
newspaper to be used to harm Muslim relationships with people of other
faiths.
"To allow self-serving opportunists anywhere in the world to negatively
influence our response to these cartoons is to give away our powers of
reason and understanding; it is nothing short of admitting defeat," the CIC
statement continued. "Instead, let us focus on issues of professional
ethics and address those in the media who make the editorial decisions."
"Canadians should persuade Canadian editors to reconsider their position
and to not be seduced by historical hatreds and political biases in their
response to the Danish cartoons. This is the right thing to do," the
statement concluded.
CIC acknowledged that the Calgary Jewish Community Council has since issued
a statement disassociating itself from the Jewish Free Press.
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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