Debates on the Danish Cartoon Affair in Islamic Southeast AsiaArndt Graf

ASIEN – Nr. 101 (2006) pp. 65–73

When the journalists of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published twelve caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed in September 2005, they probably did not anticipate the global dimensions of the subsequent controversy. According to the specialized web-page www.cartoonbodycount.com, until April 2006 alone, 139 people were killed and 823 injured worldwide in demonstrations and violent acts related to the Danish cartoon affair.2 Danish exports were hurt considerably, and Danish tourists are facing difficulties when travelling to a number of Islamic countries. These circumstances also pose a major problem for the Danish foreign policy that has to try to repair the international damage caused by the affair. Interfaith relations in general have become more difficult, and followers of Samuel Huntington’s well-known hypothesis of a ‚clash of civilizations‘ feel themselves once again justified…