2006-01-22 Danish Imams Propose to End Cartoon Dispute

2006-01-22 \Muhammad/cartoon riots\Jyllands-Posten\Denmark\Islam/moderate Brussels Journal http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/698 Danish Imams Propose to End Cartoon Dispute &ldquo;The [imams] announced on Friday that they no longer demand apologies from Jyllands-Posten for the publication. Instead they said they just want two things: a guarantee from the Danish authorities that Muslims can freely practice their religion without being "provoked and discriminated." And a declaration from Jyllands-Posten that the cartoons were not published with the intention of mocking the Muslim faith.&rdquo;  Last week a couple of Norwegian papers decided to publish the cartoons in support of the Danish paper while in Denmark moderate Muslims, encouraged by the government's refusal to be intimidated by the radicals, have distanced themselves from the imams. The latter announced on Friday that they no longer demand apologies from Jyllands-Posten for the publication. Instead they said they just want two things: a guarantee from the Danish authorities that Muslims can freely practice their religion without being "provoked and discriminated." And a declaration from Jyllands-Posten that the cartoons were not published with the intention of mocking the Muslim faith. I would have said "We respect Muslims as individuals", and carefully avoided saying anything about Islam itself. (Article includes all 12 cartoons.)   