Davids Medienkritik

Signs of Solidarity: Photos from the Danish Embassy

Today Ray attended a gathering at the Danish Embassy in Washington, DC organized by several bloggers to demonstrate solidarity with Denmark and to support free speech. Here are photos:

Solidarity with Denmark: Freedom of Speech.

A proud Iraq war veteran holds a sign: "We are all Danes now!"

A sizeable crowd was on hand on a beautiful day.

One man used a well-known Danish product (Legos) to construct his argument.

Christopher Hitchens attended and gave several interviews. Andrew Sullivan was there as well (not in photo) and received an honorary Davids Medienkritik t-shirt.

William Kristol of the "Weekly Standard" was also in attendance as was Cliff May and Tony Blankley (not in photo).

At the Embassy gate: "Submit to Havarti"

Our Message: Support Denmark!

More photos here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit has linked our pics and notes: "I'm wearing a Medienkritik t-shirt right now!" 

Iranian Humor: Possesses a Distinct Flavor...

We all know by now the sensibilities of Iran about cartoons in the European media. Memri has collected some cartoons published in the Iranian media. Iranian humor seems to possess a distinct flavor...

BTW, I don't understand the headline (of course not...). Do we have folks here fluent in Persian?

Update 1: Solomonia has an interesting posting on how to deal with Iran.

Update 2: frenchfgoli2 kindly offered this translation of the headline: "Holocaust (Hitler's human burning ovens)". Unbelievable.

Another World War Starting in Berlin?

No doubt, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's energetic president, might use this cartoon* in last Friday's edition of the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel as an excuse to start WWIII.

I suspect there will be an avalanche of apologies from Germany's government in the next couple of days...

(* Left: (most likely) the Iranian national soccer team; right: the 'Bundeswehr' (German military). The cartoon's text: "Why we definitely need the 'Bundeswehr' at the soccer world championships")

Update: According to this report, the caricaturist has received several death threats. He moved out of his home for security reasons. Also, the Iranian embassy in Germany requested an apology from Tagesspiegel. The story is developing...stay tuned. (For the time being we have decided not to correct this posting's headline.)

Update #2: Michelle Malkin is on the case.

Protestant Priest: Danish Cartoons Were the Drops that Brought the Cup to Overflowing

Another anti-American highlight on Germany's number one public television channel ARD - presented in this Saturday's "Wort zum Sonntag", a Christian TV program.

Our friend DL from Heidelberg endured the intellectual challenge of watching the sermon of Protestant priest Burkhard Mueller. Here are his observations:

Well, it's official, God has spoken to German Pastor Burkhard Mueller and guess what? Violent Islam is all America's fault. The only reason embassies have recently been torched and violent protests have erupted in the Islamic world is because:

"The Christian faith is also a grand religion. This religion is foreign to many and widely unknown. And it has not been made easy for Muslims to recognize the beauty and depth of the Christian religion. The American soldiers are felt to be occupiers in Iraq. There are reports about bombarded towns in Afghanistan. The pictures of Abu Ghraib, the rumors of violations of the Koran in Guantanmo and now the mean spirited and defaming caricatures from Denmark!"

ARD ought to take some of the taxpayer money they use to broadcast such opinions and buy Pastor Mueller a clue. In his February 11 "Word on Sunday" broadcast entitled "The Cup Runneth Over," Mueller went on to say:

"The Danish cartoons were the drops that brought the cup to overflowing. And this cup is full of degradations and injuries that the Christians and the West have visited upon the Islamic world over many centuries.

The Crusades are not forgotten and the memory of the people is long. The degrading colonialization, the economic imperialism of the West, (a society) that is not interested in people but only in its oil. What should a Muslim think about a Christianity that has brought so many blessings to the world!"

I'll have to visit a German church this Sunday. Obviously I've been missing all the good stuff. Sadly, this is what passes for sophisticated analysis among Germany's elite. Everything bad in the world is the West's (especially America's) fault. In this case Islamic fascists kill and burn embassies because we force them to with our (take your pick) a. Support for Israel; b. Greed for oil; c. Cultural imperialism; d. Crusades; e. Intolerance and discrimination; f. Lack of respect. 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember 2,800 people being murdered in New York City and Washington DC prior to Afghanistan, Iraq, Abu Ghraib, and Guantanmo. And I've checked a couple of reference works on the Crusades and mine seem to be missing the chapter on the 12th century American-led one. This argument, however, hasn't changed since 12 September. The good news is the cartoon episode seems to have changed the tone of the debate in Germany in spite of what Pastor Mueller thinks.

Amen.

Erik of No Pasaran Defies Gravity Again

Back in 2004 on D-Day weekend, we took on the angry mob in Paris with Erik of No Pasaran. We did so again when Bush visited Mainz in February 2005. Well, Erik continues to defy political gravity and defiantly take on the angry mobs. This time was simply unbelievable. Accompanied by but a single ally, he wore a Danish flag calling for freedom of speech to a rally attended by thousands of angry Muslims. Check it out. Click here for more. Can you say gutsy? And most media are afraid to confront these guys in print...

Oops...STERN Fell for a Hoax - Again!

It's a tradition at STERN, one of Germany's leading left-wing, anti-American magazines: being a victim of a hoax!

This time STERN fell for a nice photoshop joke in connection with a Muslim demonstration in London. Here is the original, true picture:

 

And here you find the photoshop hoax, and the story behind it.

This Was To Be Expected: Guenter Grass Blasts Danish Newspaper

That was easy to forecast: German novelist and Nobel laureate Guenter Grass, a prominent left-wing critic of the USA ever since the Vietnam war, blasts the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten for the publication of the Mohammad cartoons:

"This was a conscious and planned provocation by a right-wing Danish newspaper," said German Guenter Grass, who took the Nobel Prize in 1999.

Grass described the Danish publishers of the caricatures as "xenophobic right-wing radicals" and the subsequent violent Muslim protests as "a fundamentalist response to a fundamentalist act."

"Where does the West take that arrogance to impose what must and must not be done?" Grass asked, stressing the relativity of the freedom of opinion in the West where the media are controlled by conglomerates "monopolizing the public opinion."

Poor Muslim extremists ... they had to respond (burning houses, issuing death threats, etc., etc.) to a fundamentalistic act (publishing cartoons).

I never looked at it this way, but 9/11 probably was just a fundamentalist response - a bit rough, maybe - to a fundamentalistic act of "the West". For the moment I can't come up with one, but I'm sure Guenter Grass can help us out...

(I know, we had linked to this elegant gentleman already in an earlier post, but I am under the impression that it's his somewhat fundamentalist attitude that Mr. Grass defends.)

Danish Cartoons: Update

Poor, misunderstood islamists...

Danish Cartoons: German Journalist Association Says "No"...Make That "Yes"

The Danish cartoons of prophet Mohammad were reprinted today in German and French papers, in a sign of solidarity with their colleagues in Denmark.

The left-wing German journalist association (Deutscher Journalistenverband/djv) first criticized the publication in German papers, because "Muslim principles were hurt", then - on the same day - supported it, citing the principle of free speech.

A hard to make decision, I fully understand. After all, it puts the feelings of Muslims - who are supposed to be mostly anti-American, an attitude shared by much of the German media - against fundamental democratic rights of the press. Difficult, difficult...

Source: Cox & Forkum (via Gegenstimme)

With Denmark: United Against Islamic Intolerance

Time to Stand up to Islamo-Bullying: Buy Danish!

Look for and purchase Danish products: Send a message to the Islamic fanatics attempting to sabotage Denmark's economy! LGF is already on the case. Michelle Malkin has a great link here and another here. Here's another good page.
 

Update: Here are some suggestions:  Carlsberg & Tuborg beer, Havarti cheese, Danzka vodka, Legos, York refridgeration systems, Aalborg liquor, Oticon hearing aids, Tulip Computers, Vesta wind turbines, B&W marine diesels, Wegener fine furniture, Georg Jensen silverware, Fly SAS, Stanwell smoking pipes, White Clover Dairy, Lurpak butter.

Travel to Denmark for your next vacation!

We at Medienkritik will be seriously stocking up on Danish beer and cheese for this Sunday's Superbowl. We encourage everyone to make this a "Danish-Super-Sunday".

Please give us the names of other reputable Danish firms in our comments section or email us.

Update #2: Here is an English translation of Henryk Broder's article on the Denmark situation. Danish-American blogger Erik of No Pasaran also has a lot to say on this issue. Check out this "Support Denmark" site.

Update #3: Buy Danish flags, pins and other accessories here and fly and wear them proudly! In Germany, you can purchase Danish flags and pins here and here.

Update #4: Here is another good site.

Update #5: Check out these photos from a rally at the Danish Embassy.