by Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu;

The Islamic world has been facing an unjust campaign in recent years. This campaign gained pace after the September 11 incidents in the US.

The terrorist attacks in Madrid and London, and most especially the assassination of a Dutch [film] director, brought the anti-Islamic and racist emotions of some circles in Europe to the fore.

The current perilous situation emerged because the Danish authorities did not show the necessary sensitivity to the issue despite reactions from Danish Muslims and the Islamic world after the rude and appalling publication of 12 derogatory cartoons of our beloved Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), by a Danish newspaper on September 30, 2005.

Although the reactions in Europe vary from segment to segment, this incident has unfolded the prejudices, lack of understanding and tolerance, the misunderstandings directed against Muslims; and the real fact that Europe and the world at large are facing a potentially dangerous situation. However, the main point is to insult a religion and the most sacred values of Muslims, one-fifth of the world’s population, under the cloak of the freedom of _expression and freedom of the press, by attacking the spiritual personality of our beloved Prophet (PBUH). This spiritual attack is being done for several reasons. On the one hand, European Muslims have been provoked, and on the other hand, this incident has been exploited to back claims that Muslims cannot reconcile with the basic liberties, culture and values of Europeans. The moves made against immigrants in some European circles have also been added to the picture. Channeling the debates to different dimensions, on purpose, escalated the rage in the Islamic world.

Hate campaigns against Muslims

It is claimed the cartoons were published by the Danish Jyllands-Posten newspaper to emphasize the of _expression and freedom of the press, that the content was innocent and that Muslims overreacted unnecessarily. Moreover, we are said to be intolerant about the caricaturization of our Prophet even with an innocent sense of humor.

In an extremely sensitive international political milieu and in a period when the hate campaign against Muslims have gained pace, how can it be seen as the manifestation of the freedom of _expression and an innocent sense of humor to identify all Muslims with terrorism by depicting our beloved Prophet (PBUH) as a terrorist, to humiliate and provoke Muslims, and cultivate the image of Muslims in the subconscious of European generations as, “All Muslims are bloodthirsty murderers.” What should be considered is that these cartoons are being used as a part of a campaign, on purpose, to distort the image of Muslims, defame them and sow the seeds of hatred against Muslims in Europe and other parts of the world, by saying this is how Muslims react.

I hereby want to address world leaders: Take action immediately action for global peace and stability. Stop insulting the spiritual values of 1.3 billion Muslims on purpose, the reckless spread of this campaign that arouses hate feelings against Islam and Muslims, and aims to halt the dialogue initiatives between civilizations and cultures, which are being carried out with utmost efforts. Support efforts by Islamic countries to make the United Nations adopt a resolution to prevent similar incidents from happening again and encourage everybody to behave responsibly. All Muslims are offended, but the direct target of this action is the Muslim citizens of European countries. The internal minority of Europe. The majority are third and fourth generation European citizens. Those who say; “Either adopt our values or leave!” Don’t you know that the spiritual values Europe, the so-called continent of tolerance, is proud of, besides the freedom of _expression and freedom of the press, is “protecting the minorities against all kinds of discrimination and oppression?”

Muslims throughout the world are hurt…

Are the Europeans, who place limits on how fans can cheer in football games and penalize a team if a fan or a group of fans oversteps these limits, ban players just for making racist remarks, aware of the dangerous precedent they have set by declaring a newspaper which said, “We aimed at bringing the extreme elements to the fore by agitating Muslims,” as the champion of the freedom of _expression and freedom of the press? As a matter of fact, doesn’t Europe, which deported an imam on the grounds of preaching hatred see these papers as doing the same thing? Or, do they overlook this particular case on purpose?

Recently, this campaign repeated in various European countries with the excuse of “solidarity” has inflamed the mutual distrust between the West and the Islamic world; among the European societies and Muslim groups in these societies, this campaign has made millions of non-Muslims think that “Islam and Muslims are against the freedom of _expression, and again in the minds of millions of Muslims, this campaign has intensified the belief that “the West and Europe are against Islam,” damaged inter-state affairs and has pulled a few forward steps made for mutual dialogue, tolerance and understanding in recent years, backwards. Either to sow the seeds of mutual hatred knowingly, or to defend the freedom of _expression with good intentions, Muslims around the world are being hurt and world leaders with the responsibility to do so should tackle this reality. Hence, I would like to thank former US President Bill Clinton and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for acting with this spirit of understanding and exhibiting an examplary behavior on this issue.

As known by all, the European press applies an auto-control mechanism on many subjects, as proven by many examples so far, that the freedom of _expression in Europe is not absolute. Testing this freedom by targeting the value Muslims are mostly sensitive about, doing this by openly fomenting the feelings of grudge through instigation – could all these be watched silently by European governments? Is adopting a clear attitude not a requirement of common sense in order to prevent a repetition of similar cases in the future? The situation which surprises me most is that of the calls made with determination by some of the members of the European Parliament, which is expected to act with commonsense and responsibility in the face of these incidents, to the freedom of expresssion that includes insulting religions and values. Muslims are not against the freedom of _expression and freedom of the press. Muslims adopt these values. On the other side, these values cannot be monopolized by Europe either. To reduce the issue to the preservation of the freedom of expresion is the greatest mistake that can be made. If one looks at the issue from European angle, there is a violation of the freedom of conscience of Muslims as a minority in Europe, and an act encouraging grudge. This violates many international laws including those of the Europeans. From a political perspective, it is an instigation to ruin social peace in Europe and the efforts for inter-religious dialogue among world leaders. Therefore, to introduce the existing problem as an issue of the freedom of _expression means the distortion of realities knowingly.

One of the questions that needs to be asked is, does Europe respect the freedom of conscience of Muslims and does it to see this freedom as a value that has to be protected? Of course, to handle the issue as a means of looking for answers to the other questions listed above, will bring us to a more solid ground of discussion. After the publication of these cartoons in the Danish newspaper, I made many quick initiatives as the secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), with international organizations and Danish authorities. These initiatives are still continuing. On November 14, 2005, I called on the delegations of the Permanent Council of the Organization of Security and Cooperation for Europe (OSCE) during my visit to Vienna:

There is no freedom without responsibility

“The image of Islam and Muslims displayed in the West indicates the lack of understanding and information on Islam in general. This sows the seeds of fear and enmity against Muslim immigrants and Islam in Western societies. In recent weeks, this has also been the case in the publication of a series of cartoons insulting our Prophet Mohammed by a newspaper in one of the European countries. The worrisome style being applied is similar. The local Muslim community and ambassadors of OIC countries were not taken seriously when they brought the issue to the fore and the editor of the paper which published the cartoon made an unacceptable excuse by citing the freedom of _expression in a democratic society. It is correct that in Western societies there is an understanding that religious beliefs should not obstruct the freedom of _expression. But at the same time, there is a common understanding that there will be no freedom without responsibility. Is it too much to expect a sensitivity show that even though it is not against the law for other circles which made statements equally instigative, an imam, because of his Friday sermon, was tried at the lower part of a European town for incitement and deported by the host country?”

From here, I would like to reiterate that one of the most important messages of the summit was “moderation and englightment” clearly declared by all leaders at the Extraordinary Islamic Summit which convened at Mecca in December and to repeat that Muslims in under no circumstances, approve of terrorism, extremism and violence. Besides, I would like to call on all my Muslim brothers one more time to express their reactions with moderation and in a peaceful way during these times in which Islam and Muslims are being targeted and the spiritual side of Muslims are being hurt. The Organization of Islamic Conference, closely following all the events targeting Muslims and Islam will react accordingly. It will continue this sacred and significant task nonstop. However, from now on, by putting all incurable evil intentions aside, taking international organizations and European countries which are increasingly interested on this subject to our side, it is time for all Muslims, our organization, and member countries to follow an active program with solidarity and cooperation in order to eradicate the prejudices, which are being formed against Islam, at least in the minds of the broad-based masses in Europe.

Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, Zaman Com

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