Well, not quite, but theUAE Foreign Affairs Minister Anwar Mohammad Gargash has sent a strong memo to the Danish Ambassador decrying the re-publishing of the infamous Mohammad cartoons (or Motoons). It said in part,
''The UAE has been keen in bolstering and maintaining its relations with countries around the world, including Denmark, because the UAE respects religious freedom and tolerance among people all over the world,''
BUT (isn't there always a BUT?)
''It condemns the unwise stand of the Danish government in not preventing the reprinting of the cartoons, defaming Islam and the Prophet Mohammad..... This will definitely cast a shadow on bilateral relations between the two countries,''
And in a closing that seems to contradict the opening statement,
The UAE refuses to accept the use of press freedom as a cover for defaming ''our religion and Prophet''
They feel that just because the UAE has a tame press that every country should be able to do the same. They somehow cannot grasp the concept of the 1st Amendment and that it applies to stuff you don't like as well as the stuff you do.
Some grocery stores in the UAE have already started to pull Danish products from their shelves. I doubt that a boycott of Danish milk and cheese will have a large impact on the Danes. But just to make sure, eat a Danish Pastry today in honor of our Danish friends.
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3 comments:
Eat a Dane; the blonde ones are tasty.
But just to make sure, eat a Danish Pastry today in honor of our Danish friends.
We're dumping everything unDanish in our house and re-stocking with only Danish products in support of Denmark.
The real problem is double standards and hypocrisy. Blasphemy against Christianity, denying the Holocaust, anti-Semitism are illegal in many 'free-speech' western countries. Yet the same acts against other religions or groups are defended as 'free speech'.
I have no problem whichever way their governments choose - as long as the standards apply to all.
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