The Tyranny of Silence

by Flemming Rose

  2 Amos Oz, Hvordan man kurerer en fanatiker (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 2004), p. 19.

  3 Orla Borg, “Terrorens religiøse ammunition,” Jyllands-Posten (Aarhus), September 11, 2005.

  4 Ayaan Hirsi Ali, “Kære Theo,” Jyllands-Posten (Aarhus), November 2, 2005. The letter Bouyeri left at the scene of the crime can be read at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/312.

  5 Morten Skjoldager, Truslen indefra: De danske terrorister (Copenhagen: Lindhart og Ringhof, 2009), p. 32.

  6 Rasmus Blicher, “Klovens grænser,” Jyllands-Posten (Aarhus), September 18, 2005.

  7 Troels Pedersen of the Danish news agency Ritzaus Bureau was the journalist who initially interviewed Kåre Bluitgen about his difficulties finding an illustrator. I am hugely indebted to Troels Pedersen for having allowed me access to his recording of that interview, from which parts of this chapter derive. I later interviewed Kåre Bluitgen myself, as well as Nanna Gyldenkærne, publishing editor of Copenhagen publishers Høst & Søn, on the circumstances surrounding the publication of Bluitgen’s 2006 book Koranen og profeten Muhammeds liv (The Koran and the Life of the Prophet Muhammad).

  8 Oleg Grabar, “Seeing and Believing,” New Republic, October 30, 2009; Catharina Raudevere, Gudebilleder, “Billedforbud i Islam,” in: Gudebilleder. Ytringsfrihed og religion i en globaliseret verden (Copenhagen: Tiderne skifter, 2006), pp. 28–43; Klaus Rothstein and Mikael Rothstein, “Bomben i turbanen,” Copenhagen, 2006.

  9 Claus Seidel, chairman of the Danish cartoonists’ society, later confirmed that my proposal to the cartoonists was open. For a transcript of Claus Seidel’s interview on his communication with me and understanding of the project on the radio program Orientering, broadcast by Danmarks Radio, see “Muhammed-tegner: Invitationen var åben,” Jyllands-Posten (Aarhus), January 18, 2008.

  10 Flemming Rose, “Muhammeds ansigt,” Jyllands-Posten (Aarhus), September 30, 2005; Ulla Dubgaard, “Er kunstneres selvcensur og frygt for fundamentalister reel?” Information (Copenhagen), September 9, 2005; Klaus Rothstein, “Profetens ansigt,” Weekendavisen (Copenhagen), January 27, 2006.

  11 Klaus Rothstein, “Profetens ansigt.”

  12 Flemming Rose, Amerikanske Stemmer (Viby: Indsigt, 2006), pp. 51–66.

  13 Søren Kassebeer, “Ali-oversættere vil være anonyme,” Berlingske Tidende (Copenhagen), September 23, 2005; Helsingin Sanomat, “Publisher Says ‘Technical Error’ Led to Omission of Book Critical of Islam,” Helsingin Sanomat (Helsinki), September 19, 2005.

  14 John Latham on the origins of God Is Not Great, http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/latham/transcript.

  15 David Smith, “Artist Hits at Tate ‘Cowards’ over Ban,” Observer (London), September 25, 2005.

  16 Tate press statement about John Latham in Focus, http://www.tate.org.uk/about/press-office/press-releases/tate-press-statement-about-john-latham-focus.

  17 Louzla Darabi’s comments on Scène d’amour can be found on the website of Galerie Peter Herrmann at http://galerie-herrmann.com/arts/darabi/Answers_Louzla_Darabi.htm. In the summer of 2010, Darabi penned another piece on the work in the Swedish tabloid Expressen in which, under the headline “The Terror of Censorship,” she states: “When ‘Scène d’Amour’ was censored I received threats from fundamentalists and was hounded by the media. Being unused to such things at the time, I was an easy target for manipulation. I made the mistake of accepting that ‘Scène d’Amour’ be replaced by another painting. . . . The citizens of our societies have laid down their arms, the social contract entailing that the State is duty-bound to protect them. But what happens when the State shies away? In such instances, the State allows barbarism to prevail. This was what happened when ‘Scène d’Amour’ was subjected to censorship.” Expressen, June 10, 2010. Jesper Stein Larsen and Tom Hermansen, “Den farlige selvcensur,” Jyllands-Posten (Aarhus), October 1, 2005.

  18 Darabi, “The Terror of Censorship“; Larsen and Hermansen, “Den farlige selvcensur.”

  19 The British government’s bill against inciting religious hatred is dealt with in the anthology Free Speech Is No Offense, Lisa Appignanesi, ed. (London: Penguin, 2005), which contains the open letter to the home secretary signed by 400 writers, as well as Rushdie’s and Atkinson’s essays.

  20 Andrew Higgins, “Blame It on Voltaire: Muslims Ask French to Cancel 1741 Play,” Wall Street Journal, March 6, 2006.

  21 “Marlowe Rewrite ‘Draws Criticism,’” BBC News, November 24, 2005.

  22 For the court’s decision, see http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-70113# (enter itemid “001-70113”).

  23 Jakob Nielsen, “Imamer Kræver medvind i medierne,” Politiken (Copenhagen), September 21, 2005; Mikkel Thastum and Louise Scheibel, “Imamer kræver positive medier,” Jyllands-Posten (Aarhus), September 21, 2005.

  24 Ben Lewis, Hammer and Tickle: A History of Communism Told through Communist Jokes (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008); Milan Kundera, En Spøg (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1967); Dora Shturman and Sergei Tikhtin, Sovetskii Soiuz v zerkale politicheskogo anekdota (London: Overseas Publications Interchange, 1985).

  25 Jens-Martin Eriksen and Frederik Stjernfeldt, Adskillelsens politik: Multikuluralisme—ide og virkelighed (Copenhagen: Lindhardt og Ringhof, 2008), pp. 237–61; Anthony Julius, Transgressions: The Offenses of Art (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003). Both deal with offensive images.

  26 Mikkel Bøgh, “Virkningshistorier: Billeder, tvivl og blasfemi,” Kritik no. 185 (2007): 37–41.

  27 W. J. T. Mitchell, What Do Pictures Want? The Lives and Love of Images (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005).

  28 Asbjørn Grønstad and Øyvind Vågnes, “An Interview with W. J. T. Mitchell,” Image and Narrative, November 2006, http://www.imageandnarrative.be/inarchive/iconoclasm/gronstad_vagnes.htm.

  29 Mitchell, What Do Pictures Want? p. 131.

  30 Julius, Transgressions, pp. 57–60.

  31 Ibid., pp. 25–51.

  32 Robert Hughes, Culture of Complaint: The Fraying of America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 155–203; Jack Fritscher, “What Happened When: Censorship, Gay History and Mapplethorpe,” in Censorship: A World Encyclopedia, Derek Jones, ed. (New York: Routledge, 2001), pp. 67–98.

  33 A transcript of the debate in Congress concerning Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ can be read at http://www.csulb.edu/~jvancamp/361_r7.html.

  34 Mitchell, What Do Pictures Want? p. 130.

  35 On the controversy about Chris Ofili’s Madonna, see Carol Vogel, “Holding Fast to His Inspiration: An Artist Tries to Keep His Cool in the Face of Angry Criticism,” New York Times, September 28, 1999; David Barstow and David M. Herszenhorn, “Museum Chairman Broached Removal of Virgin Painting,” New York Times, September 28, 1999; Gustav Niebuhr, “Anger over Work Evokes Anti-Catholic Shadow,” and “Mary’s Power as Icon,” New York Times, October 3, 1999; and Michael Kimmelman, “A Madonna’s Many Meanings in the Art World,” New York Times, October 5, 1999.

  36 Mitchell, What Do Pictures Want? p. 130.

  37 Ibid., p. 142.

  Chapter 4. The Infamous Ability of Humans to Adapt

  1 I have interviewed Kurt Westergaard several times; the last time was in the spring of 2010.

  2 On al Shabaab in Denmark, see Michael Taarnby and Lars Hallundbæk, Al-Shabaab: The Internationalisation of Militant Islamism in Somalia and the Implications for Radicalization in Europe (Copenhagen: Denmark Ministry of Justice, 2010).

  3 “Summit Considers Terrorism, Moderation in Muslim World,” Associated Press, December 7, 2005.

  4 Gulf Daily News (Bahrain), December 8, 2005.

  5 Eva Bendix, Man siger tak: En bog om en pige og hendes far (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 2003).

  6 Rasmus Kreth, Pilestræde under pres: De Berlingske blade 1933–1945 (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 1998), p. 131.

  7 Ibid., p. 78.

  8 Gregers Dirckinck-Holmfeld, Tør: Hvor andre tier, en krønike om Ekstra Bladet, vol. 1 (Copenhagen: Ekstr
a Bladet, 2003), p. 192.

  9 Poul Henningsen, Kulturkritik, vol. 3 (Copenhagen: Rhodos, 1973), pp. 44–48.

  10 Julius Streicher, “Nuremberg Trial Judgements,” http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/JudgeStreicher.html.

  11 In his book Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World (New York: HarperCollins, 1987), Mikhail Gorbachev, in accordance with Marxist-Leninist ideology, claimed that the nationality question was solved in the Soviet Union. A few months later, movements for national independence initiated a political process that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

  12 Louis Greenspan and Cyril Levitt, eds., Under the Shadow of Weimar: Democracy, Law, and Racial Incitement in Six Countries (London: Praeger, 1993), pp. 15–37.

  13 Aryeh Neier, Defending My Enemy: American Nazis, the Skokie Case, and the Risks of Freedom (New York: Dutton, 1979), p. 3.

  14 Ibid., p. 167.

  15 Agnès Callamard, “Fighting Racism through Freedom of Expression” (keynote address, ECRI Expert Conference, Strasbourg, November 16–17, 2006).

  16 Aryeh Neier, “Free Speech for All,” Index on Censorship 37, no. 3 (2008): 20–25.

  17 “Banned Books,” The Independent (London), January 22, 2010. For information on the ban of Vladimir Nabokov, D. H. Lawrence, and William S. Burrough, see http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/banned-books-you-couldhave-been-jailed-for-reading-1876200.html; of John Steinbeck, see http://bannedbooks.world.edu/2012/08/12/banned-books-awareness-the-grapes-of-wrath; of James Joyce, see http://bannedbooks.world.edu/2012/02/20/banned-books-awareness-ulysses; of Henry Miller, see http://www.thefileroom.org/documents/dyn/DisplayCase.cfm/id/1275; of Allen Ginsberg, see James Campbell, “To Save America,” The Guardian (London), February 6, 2007.

  18 Anders Heger, “Voltaire Light,” Morgenbladet (Oslo), September 21, 2007.

  19 Ibid.

  20 Ibid.

  21 “Günter Grass Says Danish Cartoons Recall Nazi Era,” New York Times, February 17, 2006.

  22 “Government Renames Islamic Terrorism as ‘Anti-Islamic Activity’ to Woo Muslims,” Daily Mail (London), January 17, 2008.

  23 Muslim Council of Britain, http://www.mcb.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1531&Itemid=94.

  24 Riazat Butt, “Archbishop Backs Sharia Law for British Muslims, The Guardian (London), February 7, 2008.

  25 Martin Gilbert, The Holocaust: The Jewish Tragedy (London: HarperCollins, 1987).

  26 Victor Klemplerer, Jeg vil aflægge vidnesbyrd til det sidste: Dagbøger 1933–1941 (Copenhagen: Gyldendal, 2000), p. 15.

  27 Why Democracy? De forbandede tegninger, directed by Karsten Kjær (2007).

  Chapter 5. The Pathway to God

  1 Manifesto of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, http://ex-muslim.org.uk/manifesto/.

  2 Morten Skjoldager, “Tunesere er anklaget for at true statens sikkerhed,” Politiken (Copenhagen), July 2, 2008.

  3 Pernille Ammitzbøll and Kristoffer Pinholt, “Terrormistænkte levede dobbeltliv,” Jyllands-Posten (Aarhus), February 15, 2008.

  4 Olivier Roy, Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004).

  5 Hans Magnus Enzensberger, “The Terrorist Mindset: The Radical Loser,” Der Spiegel (Hamburg), December 20, 2006.

  Chapter 6. Aftershock I

  1 Jyllands-Posten (Copenhagen), “Terror og frihed,” October 28, 2009.

  2 For an account of the charges against Headley, see United States of America v. David Coleman Headley, http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2009/pr1207_01a.pdf. For a summary of the case against Headley, see http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2009/pr107_01b.pdf. For his confession, see the plea agreement, http://www.hindu.com/nic/headleyplea.pdf. For an account of the charges against Tahawwur Rana, see United States of America v. Tahawwur Hussain Rana, http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2009/pr1027_01a.pdf.

  3 The profile of Headley is based on the following sources: Sebastian Rotella, “The Man Behind Mumbai,” ProPublica (New York), November 13, 2010; Sebastian Rotella, “Mumbai: The Plot Unfolds, Lashkar Strikes and Investigators Scramble,” ProPublica (New York), November 14, 2010; Jane Perlez, “American Terror Suspect Traveled Unimpeded,” New York Times, March 25, 2010; Joseph Tanfani, “From Pakistan to Philadelphia: A Terror Suspect’s Journey,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 19, 2009; Joseph Tanfani, John Shiffman, and Kathleen Brady Shea, “Terror Suspect Was Drug Dealer, Then Informant,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 13, 2009; Gerald Posner, “Making of a Terrorist,” Daily Beast, December 8, 2009; Philip Shenon, “A Terrorist Immigration Service,” Daily Beast, December 8, 2009; Bruce Riedel, “Al-Qaeda’s American Mole,” Daily Beast, December 15, 2009; and Ginger Thompson, “A Terror Suspect with Feet in East and West,” New York Times, November 22, 2009.

  4 Stephen Tankel, “Lashkar e-Taiba: From 9/11 to Mumbai,” International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence, April–May 2009, http://www.ps.au.dk/fileadmin/site_files/filer_statskundskab/subsites/cir/pdf-filer/Tankel_01.pdf; Jayshree Bajoria, “Profile of Lashkar e-Taiba,” Council on Foreign Relations, January 14, 2010; Bruce Riedel, “What Pakistan’s Terrorists Want,” Daily Beast, May 4, 2010.

  5 Husain Haqqani, “The Ideologies of South Asian Jihadi Groups,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, March 20, 2005.

  6 Puk Damsgaard Andersen, “Terroren rykkede helt tæt på,” Jyllands-Posten (Copenhagen), June 3, 2008; Puk Damsgaard Andersen, “Far sover, så du skal ikke græde,” Jyllands-Posten (Copenhagen), June 8, 2008.

  7 Ilyas Kashmiri was killed in 2011, presumably by a drone strike. See Ron Moreau, Sami Yousafzai, and Christopher Dickey, “Al Qaida Commander Ilyas Kashmiri Killed in U.S. Predator Strike,” Daily Beast, June 4, 2011.

  8 Nicholas Kulish, “New Terrorism Case Confirms That Denmark Is a Target,” New York Times, September 17, 2007.

  9 Kenan Malik, From Fatwa to Jihad: The Rushdie Affair and Its Legacy (London: Atlantic Books, 2009).

  10 Erik Jensen, “Det er jo pissenemt at opføre sig ordentligt,” Politiken (Copenhagen), February 4, 2006.

  11 Jytte Klausen, The Cartoons That Shook the World (London: Yale University Press, 2009). p. 65.

  12 Ibid.

  13 Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Freedom of Expression in Islam (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1997).

  14 Hardtalk, BBC, February 3, 2006.

  15 The following is based on John Hansen and Kim Hundevadt, Provoen og profeten: Muhammedkrisen bag kulisserne (Aarhus: Jyllands-Postens Forlag, 2006).

  16 Klausen, Cartoons That Shook the World, pp. 175–80.

  17 Ibid., p. 81.

  18 Ibid., p. 168.

  19 Allan Sørensen, “Stormuftien i Jerusalem: Danmark er et let offer,” Kristeligt Dagblad (Copenhagen), Feburary 7, 2006.

  20 Vebjørn Selbekk, “Tegningerne som ryster Danmark,” Magazinet (Bergen), January 19, 2006.

  21 Klausen, Cartoons That Shook the World, p. 75.

  22 Associated Press, January 31, 2006.

  23 Hansen and Hundevadt, Provoen og profeten.

  24 Ritzaus Bureau, February 28, 2006.

  25 “OIC Calls for Emergency Meeting on Cartoon Issue OIC,” Arab News (Jeddah), February 18, 2006.

  26 Hansen and Hundevadt, Provoen og profeten.

  27 Ibid.

  28 Gwladys Fouché, “Danish Paper Rejected Jesus Cartoons,” The Guardian (London), February 6, 2006.

  29 For a transcript of the interview, see American Morning, CNN.com, February 8, 2006, http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0602/08/ltm.01.html.

  30 “Arabiske streger,” Jyllands-Posten (Copenhagen), February 4, 2006.

  Chapter 7. Aftershock II

  1 Obed Minchakpu, “Religious Riots in Nigeria Leave Hundreds Dead,” Christianity Today (Carol Stream, IL), October 1, 2001; “Nigeria’s Sharia Split,” BBC News, October 15, 2001.

  2 Jefferson Morley, “Cartoons Not the Only Cause of Nigeria V
iolence, a Daily Survey of What the International Online Media Are Saying,” Washington Post, February 22, 2006.

  3 John Hansen and Kim Hundevadt, Provoen og profeten:Muhammedkrisen bag kulisserne (Copenhagen: Jyllands-Postens Forlag, 2006).

  4 Ulla Dubgaard, “Er kunstneres selvcensur og frygt for fundamentalister reel?” Information (Copenhagen), September 9, 2005; Klaus Rothstein, “Profetens ansigt,” Weekendavisen (Copenhagen), January 27, 2006.

  5 Patrick Jonsson, “Jihad Jane Alleged Target Lars Vilks: I Have an Axe Here,” CSM, March 10, 2010.

  6 Jack Katzenell, “Israeli Woman Convicted of Distributing Mohammed as Pig Leaflets,” Associated Press, December 20, 1997.

  7 Nick Gillespie, “Why We’re Having an Everybody Draw Mohammed Contest on Thursday, May 20,” Reason.com, May 18, 2010.

  8 Ben Hoyle, “Artists Too Frightened to Tackle Radical Islam,” The Times (London), November 19, 2007.

  9 Vebjørn Selbekk, Truet af Islamister (Oslo: Genesis, 2006).

  10 Kristian Lindberg, “Hån, spot og rumrejser,” Berlingske Tidende (Copenhagen), September 26, 2008.

  11 Michael Bo, “Den er sjov. Den kommunikerer. Og tog kort tid at lave,” Politiken (Copenhagen), September 24, 2008.

  12 For those who find themselves unconvinced as to the extent of self-censorship, please consult the website Fri Debat, http://www.fridebat.nu. It includes a timeline tracking examples around the world.

  13 Per Stig Møller, “Værdiernes kollision,” Berlingske Tidende (Copenhagen), July 27, 2009.

  14 On the background of the call to outlaw incitement to hatred and war propaganda as worded in the conventions on human rights, see Manfred Novak, “UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” CCPR Commentary, 2nd rev. ed. (Kehl, Germany: Engel, 2005).

  15 Dieter Grimm, “Freedom of Speech in a Globalized World,” in Extreme Speech and Democracy, Ivan Hare and James Weinstein, eds. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 21.