Title: Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad – Is Something Really Rotten in
the State of Denmark?
Author: Linda S. Fair
Affiliation: Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Abstract: How did it happen that in Denmark – a country renowned for tolerance
and humanitarianism – a newspaper could publish editorial cartoons so offensive
to the Muslim world that their publication would spawn protests, riots and
violence resulting in at least one hundred dead and hundreds injured around the
globe? Understanding what occurred in Denmark requires a look at Denmark’s
political history, its recent history of immigration, the reaction of media, politicians
and government to immigrants, and the relationship between “ethnic” Danes and
the newcomers of different races from different places. Denmark’s openness to
the reception of refugees and asylum seekers during the late 1980s and the
1990s resulted in a rapid surge of these individuals. Many came from Asia, the
Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. The rapid influx of a large number of
“strangers,” came to be seen, by some Danes, as a “threat” to Danish culture and
identity. The “immigrant problem” was frequently discussed by politicians and
the media. In particular, the newspaper which printed the controversial cartoons
often portrayed immigrants negatively. With the publication of the Muhammad
cartoons, anti-immigrant rhetoric was purposely ratcheted up, and more than just
a notch, with the intent of pushing against the limits of tolerance. Interviews held
in 2005 in Denmark with researchers, government employees, and immigrants,
supplemented by an analysis of primary documents including newspapers,
research publications and laws, provide insight into this volatile situation. This
work, part of a larger study on refugee dispersal within Denmark, identifies
patterns not unique to Denmark.