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If they
[Danish/French] want to defend their freedom of _expression_, then Muslims should
also be able to exercise their freedom by boycotting products of French, Danish,
Norwegian [please add to this list, including
Israel], withdrawal of ambassador, cancel trading
agreement etc. After all, they are facing uncontrollable forces
!!
From: Media Watch
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 6:03 AM
Subject: Boycot Affects 100%: Naif Urges Muslim Stand on
Cartoons Naif Urges Muslim
Stand on Cartoons
Arab News - 31 January 2006 TUNIS, 31 January 2006 Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday called on Arab and Islamic countries to take a decisive stand on the issue of cartoons denigrating the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Its certainly insulting to all Muslims, Prince Naif told reporters about the 12 cartoons published by a Danish newspaper last September and reprinted in a Norwegian magazine in January. Saudi Arabias stand on this matter is very clear, he said. The Saudi Cabinet had earlier denounced the sacrilegious cartoons. Denmark has defended the Jyllands-Posten newspapers right to publish the cartoons that a Norwegian paper later ran. Muslims have reacted angrily, calling for goods boycotts and demanding an apology. Saudi Arabia has recalled its envoy from Denmark, Libya has closed its embassy, Kuwait said it would recall its ambassador and thousands of Palestinians marched in protest yesterday. Denmark warned its citizens in the Middle East to be cautious and companies worried about lost business. Masked gunmen briefly seized a European Union office in Gaza City to protest the cartoons and the Denmark-based dairy group Arla Foods said a boycott of its products in the Middle East was nearly total. The Danish Red Cross said it was evacuating two of its employees from Gaza and one from Yemen. The Norwegian Peoples Aid group also said it was withdrawing its two Norwegian representatives in Gaza after threats. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen briefed European Union colleagues about the matter yesterday in Brussels. He has repeatedly rejected calls to intervene, saying the government has no say over media. But Arlas executive director urged the Danish government to take action. I urgently beg the government to enter a positive dialogue with the many millions of Muslims who feel they have been offended by Denmark, Peder Tuborgh said in a statement. Freedom of _expression_ is an internal Danish issue but this has a totally different dimension, Tuborgh said. This is about Denmark having offended millions of Muslims. Villy Soevndal, leader of the small opposition Socialist Peoples Party, said Denmark cannot be a country where the prime minister goes into hiding while Denmark loses export money, Danish citizens are being threatened and Danish flags burned. An Arla official, food products division manager Jens Refslund, said in a statement that all Arlas customers in the region have canceled their orders, and sales have come to a standstill in almost all markets. Arla Foods products have been removed from shop shelves in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The company has a 2.6 billion kroner ($430 million) in annual sales in the Middle East and about 1,000 employees in the region, its main market outside Europe. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson warned Saudi Arabia that the bloc would take action at the World Trade Organization if the government supported the boycott of Danish goods, the European Commission said. Mandelson told a Saudi official that any Danish boycott would be a boycott of the European Union. He made it clear that if the Saudi government had encouraged the boycott, Commissioner Mandelson would regret having to take the issue to the WTO, said EU spokesman Peter Power. The Saudi official told Mandelson that the government had not encouraged the boycott. Danish goods boycotted in Muslim countries http://www.sciencedaily.com/upi/?feed=TopNews&article=UPI-1-20060130-23041100-bc-denmark-muslims.xml Arla Foods sales dropped to nothing (zero), boycott has been practically 100% COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- A series of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed that ran four months ago in a Danish newspaper has led to boycotts of Danish goods in most Arab countries. Arla Foods, a Danish company and the second-largest distributor of dairy products in Europe, reported that sales had dropped to nothing. "This is a public uprising," said Louis Honore, a spokesman for Arla, told the New York Times. "This has spread through the region like wildfire. And the boycott has been practically 100 percent." Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper that ran the cartoon series, had refused to apologize, saying that it violated no Danish laws. But late Monday the editor issued a statement to a Jordanian news agency, the BBC said. "These cartoons were not in violation of Danish law but have irrefutably offended many Muslims, and for that we apologize," the editor said. Several Arab countries have withdrawn their ambassadors from Denmark. The government of Denmark had refused to meet with ambassadors to discuss the cartoons or to order an apology, citing freedom of the press. Denmark has warned any of its citizens in Arab countries to be on their guard. More News Here: http://news.google.com/?ncl=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/30/AR2006013001316.html&hl=en *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".
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