Indonesia: Muslims insulted by prophet drawings

Cleric: We regret and strongly condemned the new Danish insults to Islam during the holy month of Ramadan.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
cartoon uf protest 88 29 (photo credit: AP [file])
cartoon uf protest 88 29
(photo credit: AP [file])
Indonesian Muslim groups on Sunday said they felt insulted and disappointed by a video of Danes poking fun at Islam's Prophet Muhammad during a summer camp for members of a populist political party. The video, about which stories were published by Danish media on Friday, shows members of the Danish People's Party Youth who had taken part in a drawing competition. Amidhan, the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Clerics who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said Sunday the videos were "clearly insulting. We regret and strongly condemned the new Danish insults to Islam during the holy month of Ramadan." Video clips of a drawing contest among the young politicians, in their 20s and 30s, were posted on some Web sites after the annual Aug. 4-6 camp. Nearly all of dozens of people shown in the videos had their faces blurred, but the images they drew were clear. Indonesia, the world's fourth largest country, also has the single largest population of Muslims. The new drawings were the source of protests by Muslims in Egypt on Saturday. Amidhan said the latest Danish incident shows the intolerance of the Danish politicians and "the Danish government's inability to prevent its people from humiliating Islam." Din Syamsuddin, chairman of Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim group in Indonesia, said members of his organization regretted the "repeated humiliation of Islam in their country." "It was clear that they were intentionally provoking Muslims, they enjoy seeing Muslims angry ... we should express denouncement through peaceful way," he said. Kenneth Kristensen, chairman of the Danish People's Party Youth, known for its anti-immigration stance, refused to apologize, but acknowledged the behavior was problematic.