From my Danish friend

Some of you have met my Danish pal Johan. He's the first friend I ever made over the internet, way back in 91. He visited me twice in New York all the way from Copenhagen, and it is thanks to his lust for tourism that I went to the top of the World Trade Center with him in 2000.

Anyway, he sent out a mass email to all his friends abroad today which I thought would be of interest to some folks.

Dear friends abroad,

I hope you are all well!

You might have heard Denmark mentioned in your media during the last few days in connection with the "Mohammed drawings"?



I'm afraid the reputation of my country and fellow citizens seems to be at stake because of this whole thing - and this is why I'm bothering you with this e-mail. I'll offer you some insights about this matter - since many incorrect things are stated - even in what one would refer to as "Western media".



If you haven't heard about this matter - or if you don't really care - just delete my e-mail and accept my apology for disturbing you


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Yesterday, an EU office was occupied in Gaza. Danish flags were being burned in the streets. Arab consumers are boycotting Danish goods. Palestinian and Al Qaeda groups are encouraging and threatening to kill Danish, Norwegian and French citizens all over the world. And it seems that Muslim scholars from all over the world want to interfere with and actually limit the Danish freedom of speech.

This is because the Danish newspaper "Jyllands-Posten" in October 2005 published 12 drawings of the Muslim prophet Mohammed. Some of the drawings were satirical and portrayed the prophet in a negative way. (According to (some versions of) Islam it is not at all allowed to portray the prophet).

The escalation of the conflict has, however, been strongly helped by false information. I hope you will take interest in reading about the background, clarifying some serious misunderstandings.

The drawings are NOT sponsored by the Danish people or government

The drawings were published by an independent and privately owned Danish newspaper ("Jyllands-Posten"). The Danish government has, according to Western constitutional principles, absolutely no connection to this newspaper. The government has not endorsed the drawings in any way whatsoever. But nor has it condemned the drawings because it would be an unprecedented and unconstitutional step for a Danish government to try to influence the work of the free press.


However, the government has several times, in general terms, condemned “any statement, action or expression that attempts to demonise groups of people based on their religion or ethnic background”. This statement by the Prime Minister was made in his speech to the Danish people on New Years Day after a public debate about the drawings. It has been repeated many times since.

The Danish government (or Queen) will not apologise

The Danish government has taken the stance that it can not apologise for the drawings. It feels that this would be acknowledging responsibility for the drawings. The Queen is NOT the head of the Danish Christian Church.


What was the newspaper’s reason for publishing the drawings?>

The newspaper claimed that there is an intimidation of public space where Muslims “claim the right to special treatment when insisting on special considerations for their own religious feeling. It is not compatible with a secular democracy and freedom of expression where you must be prepared to be mocked and ridiculed”. This issue was raised after several Danish artists (stand-up comedians, authors) agreed that they did not dare touch Islam as a subject of their performances. Therefore, the newpaper invited cartoonists to draw Mohammed as they percieved him and then published the results on September 30th.

Publishing the drawings was not part of an ongoing campaign against Muslims in Denmark as it has been claimed by even media in our neighbouring countries.

Are Danes burning the Koran in the streets and planning to publish a state censured version of it?

These accusations are completely false. Regarding the burning of the Koran, there was an SMS from unknown sources going around that this would take place. But it did not. If it did it would be punishable. Nor have there been any other violent expressions against Muslims in Denmark.

Supporting the campaign against Denmark does NOT help the Danish muslims

It is a small minority of Danish Muslims that think it does. The Danish Muslims that started the campaign by travelling to Saudi Arabia to rally support against Denmark represent 15.000 out of the approximately 200.000 Muslims in Denmark. Muslim MPs in Denmark and spokesmen from the vast majority of Danish Muslim organisations have condemned the campaign against their country. For obvious reasons, they do not think that it helps them. Luckily most muslims in Denmark seem moderate and willing to discuss these issues in a civilised manner. What is a problem is that most media only focus on the few muslims that seek confrontation and conflict.

The Danish Prime Minister has refused to meet with 11 ambassadors from Muslim countries in order to discuss the issue

This is true. On October 12th, the ambassadors asked for a meeting and sent a letter to the Prime Minister “urging Your Excellency’s government to take all those responsible to task under law of the land in the interest of interfaith harmony, better integration and Denmark’s overall relations with Muslim world. We rest assured that you will take all steps necessary”. The meeting was refused on the ground that the prime minister can not take any legal steps against the free press.

On February 3rd the prime minister and foreign minister has invited the ambassadors from all countries represented in Denmark to a meeting in order to discuss the conflict.

Denmark is a responsible member of the international community

Some people try to make this a general issue about racism in Denmark. However, the most thorough survey of European racism clearly rejects the accusation that Danes should be xenophobic.

The Eurobarometer is made by the European Commission. This survey asks 1000 citizens in each EU country about their attitude to immigrants. It has consistently showed that Danes are less hostile to multicultural society than the European average. (Full report: http://www.europa-kommissionen.dk/upload/application/6f66e279/EB2005-summary.pdf )

Also notice that Denmark gives the third largest foreign aid per capita in the world and ranks highest in the global development index which takes account of how factors such as trade and investments help reduce global poverty: http://www.cgdev.org/section/initiatives/_active/cdi

During the last few days, quite a few foreign newspapers have also printed some or all of the 12 drawings in support of the freedom of speech. I personally hope that this will not in any way limit our freedom of speech, allthough I fear it already has. I'm quite sure that Danish newpapers will censor themselves heavily when dealing with Islam-critical stories. Is that how we want our society to work? I do also hope that this whole thing has revealed a cultural gap that we can now focus on bridging. It is my impression that the moderate Muslims have been mobilized here in Denmark - and I hope this will aid the integration of our Muslim immigrants.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this! I hope it made sense. I'll be happy to discuss this issue with you, should you have any interest in that.

Kind regards,
Johan Bitsch Nielsen