Khaleej Times Online >> News >> TODAY'S FEATURES Embers of cartoon row smolder in Denmark over TV hosts headscarf (AFP)
7 April 2006 COPENHAGEN - Violent protests over Prophet Mohammed cartoons have died down in the Muslim world but in Denmark, where the drawings were first printed, debate over the role of Islam has flared again, this time over a TV talk show host who wears a Muslim headscarf. Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, a 24-year-old Dane of Palestinian origin, is the co-host of an eight-part series on the public DR2 network on the fallout of the cartoons affair which led to violent reactions throughout the Muslim world. Asmaas appearance on television -- the first time a female TV host has worn a headscarf in Denmark -- has led to a flurry of negative reactions from viewers and feminist groups. Evidence, say experts, that a wide gap still divides Danes and Muslims. In this weeks episode, Asmaa, together with her atheist Danish co-host Adam Holm, grills a moderate Danish imam. Bright, frank and funny despite her austere looks, she engages in hard talk with her guest to get to the bottom of the crisis that has enveloped Denmark for two months. Our aim is to dissect the misunderstandings between Islam and the West in eight shows, she tells AFP after the broadcast of Adam and Asmaa, wearing a skyblue headscarf of the kind she has worn since she was 14. A meeting point In her office, where a bouquet of flowers and a gift from one of her fans stand on a table, she welcomes AFPs reporter. She refuses to shake his hand, placing her hand on her heart. But dont think Im a fanatic, Im not, she insists with a warm smile. Trained as a social worker and known as an ardent defender of Islam, Asmaas serene, almost angelic face is in sharp contrast to the angry reactions sparked by her television debut. The choice of Asmaa as co-host is an insult to Danish and Muslim women. She sends the message that an honourable woman cant go out unless she is covered up, blasts Vibeke Manniche, the head of the Women for Freedom association. Manniche has started a petition to get the programme taken off the air, insisting that DR2 is a public service channel and it is important that its programme hosts be objective and that its shows not be a meeting point for fanatic points of view. Another group, the Iranian Womens Rights movement, has also urged viewers to voice their opposition to Asmaa. Denmarks minister for social affairs and gender equality, Eva Kjaer Hansen, has even jumped into the fray: I want to remind DR that its employees should not serve as missionaries, she said recently. DR2 defended its decision this week, saying, headscarf-wearing women are part of Danish society and we need to accept this fact. Positive reactions Asmaa takes the criticism in stride but says she is disappointed by it. I have a hard time understanding it, accepting that just because you wear a headscarf you are labelled a fundamentalist. Thats too simplistic. I have no ties to fanatic circles, she insists. She is a member of one of the Muslim organisations, which sued Danish daily Jyllands-Posten for publishing the 12 cartoons, considered by Muslims to be blasphemous. I want to give a more nuanced image ... than that of Muslim women oppressed by the veil. You can still be be strong and independent even with a piece of fabric on your head. I thought I would be supported when I accepted this job as host, which shows other Muslim women in Denmark that it is possible to actively participate in society, she says, adding: Denmark is in many ways an Islamic society because its a society that has a lot of what I believe in. While she acknowledges that many Muslim men in particular would rather see me at home than as the star of a television show, some of the reactions have been positive. The movement Feminist Forum has been one of Asmaas supporters. Her hiring by DR strengthens ethnic and gender equality in Denmark and is a step in the right direction towards a more egalitarian representation in the media sphere, it said. Tim Jensen, a religion expert at the University of Southern Denmark, says the protests confirm that there is still a wide lack of understanding between a good part of the Danish people and Muslims living in the country, which was brought to light by the cartoons row. Yet, he stresses, Asmaas appearance on television is a historic breakthrough because for the first time a Muslim woman, even one wearing a headscarf, is accepted as part of Danish society and she is not necessarily an extremist. http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/todaysfeatures/2006/April/todaysfeatures_April14.xml§ion=todaysfeatures Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
