Fair Is Fair: You Post 1 Cartoon Of Mohammed on Facebook and We Burn Your House (and All Of Your Neighbour's Houses Too)

Drawing of Prophet Muhammad leads to Coptic homes burned Egypt

DigitalJournal

The homes of Coptic Christians in southern Egypt have been burned in a display of enraged violence by outraged Muslims. Violence broke out following a drawing of the Prophet Muhammad being posted online by a Christian student.

Sectarian violence erupted in the Egyptian province of Assiut after a Christian student posted a drawing of the Prophet Muhammad on his Facebook page. According to the Washington Post the drawing depicted the prophet with four women seeking his hand in marriage.

Naharnet reported that police arrested the Christian student responsible for posting the drawing on Thursday, after dozens of Muslims stormed his house. His arrest did not appease the Muslims that were riled to violence by the image. They proceeded to set fire to a shop belonging to the student's father before turning their attention to burning seven houses belonging to Coptic Christians. Five members of the police were injured in the ensuing violence.

Ironically, when Muslims react violently to images of the prophet it results in further dissemination of such images. Any images of the prophet are considered blasphemous within Islam and this latest depiction resulted in the inevitable violence which has ensued on previous occasions when images and cartoons of the prophet have been circulated.

Policymic explains that the reason why images of Prophet Muhammad are forbidden in Islam is they "could lead Muslims to worship the man instead of the Creator."

Whilst those who practice Islam may find the images offensive, the circulation of such images by others is perceived as a cornerstone of free speech. There is no necessity for the scenes of such intolerant violence, yet they have become as inevitable as the fatwas which generally follow.

This latest outburst of sectarian violence further destabilizes relations between Coptic's and Muslims in Egypt. Already prepared to expect violence against the Copts during the Coptic Christmas and New Year, the army had promised extra security precautions around Coptic churches on Jan. 7.

What's Worse? ... Drawing Knives or Drawing Muhammad?

Sweden court lets go 3 accused in artist kill plot

Three men charged with plotting to kill Lars Vilks, the Swedish artist who depicted Islam's Prophet Muhammad as a dog, were released Wednesday by a court ahead of its verdict announcement.

ABC
In a brief statement on the final day of the trial, the Goteborg District Court said the men, aged 24-26 and of Somali and Iraqi origin, were no longer in detention. It did not give any reasons for its decision, saying only that it will disclose more information when the verdict is announced on Jan. 20.

But typically such a decision means that the court either won't convict the defendant or that there is little, or no reason, for keeping a person detained for fear that the suspect might run away or destroy evidence.

Prosecutor Agnetha Hilding Qvarnstrom has accused the suspects of planning to stab Vilks at an art event in Goteborg, Sweden's second largest city.

The men carried knives when they were arrested on Sept. 10, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, and an art gallery was evacuated in connection with the arrests. Vilks had written on his blog that he planned to visit the event, but did not attend that night.

Police originally treated the case as a terror investigation, but later re-labeled it a murder plot.

All three suspects have denied the charges.

Vilks' 2007 drawing led to several threats against him, including from the al-Qaida terror network, and rekindled a debate over free speech and Islam. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.