Juan Cole

Cole on Danish Caricatures in Salon.com My article on cartoongate is out over at Salon.com. Excerpt: ‘ After the cartoons were published on Sept. 30, right-wing Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen reacted to the angry response by refusing to meet with ambassadors from Muslim countries and sternly lecturing Muslims on their need to put […]

Everything the West and the Middle East Need Could have been Learned in Kindergarten 1. Don’t make fun of people for things they were born with, like big noses, skin color or their religion. Danish newspaper carries caricatures offensive to Muslims. 2. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Iranian newspaper plans to run caricatures about […]

Condaleeza Rice is a Liar Blames Syria, Iran for Inciting Violence over Caricatures of Prophet Secretary of State Condi Rice on Wednesday blamed Iran and Syria for inciting violence over the Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. The problem is that she is lying, and this irresponsible charge is another in a long series of […]

The Politics of Race and Religion in Denmark A reader living in Denmark writes: ‘ I was most surprised to hear that there had been a demonstration of “as many as” 5000 Muslims here in Denmark. I do recall a demonstration, but 5000? That’s a darn big demonstration here! We didn’t a much bigger turnout […]

Guerrilla Violence Leaves 9 Iraqis, 4 GIs Dead Shiites Targeted during Festival CBS says that Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq is increasing, as is Sunni frustration with Shiite death squads. Bombings and other violence in Iraq killed 9 Iraqis on Tuesday. The head of the Fallujah city council was shot dead, as was a clerical follower […]

5,000 Sadrists Demonstrate Against Denmark in Kut Sadr Pledges Solidarity with Syria against ‘Israel, UK, US’ AP reports that the young Shiite nationalist leader Muqtada al-Sadr has been behind many of the street protests held in Iraq during the past week against the Danish caricatures of Muhammad. It says that a big crowd of 5,000 […]

More on the Hypocrisy of the West and Cartoongate The Danish newspaper that published the caricatures of Muhammad refused to carry cartoons lampooning Jesus of Nazareth, The Guardian revealed on Monday. ‘ In April 2003, Danish illustrator Christoffer Zieler submitted a series of unsolicited cartoons dealing with the resurrection of Christ to Jyllands-Posten. Zieler received […]

Caricatures Roil Muslim World Beirut Embassy Torched Iraq Demonstrations, Threats against Danish Troops Before I launch into this report, I want to underline that few places in the Muslim world have seen violence over the caricatures, so far mainly Damascus and Beirut (which are unexpected in this regard.) Protests in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, […]

Fact File on Reaction to Danish Caricatures It is being alleged in some quarters that the controversy over the Danish caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad is somehow artificial or whipped up months later by the Saudis. This is not true. The controversy began in Denmark itself among the 180,000 Danish Muslims. It was taken up […]