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| Danish chief rabbi slams cartoon publication
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Bent Lexner, chief rabbi of Denmark.
Photo: Mosaiske
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The chief rabbi of Copenhagen has criticised as “stupid” the decision of Danish newspaper Jylands Posten to publish the now infamous cartoon of Muslim prophet Muhammed.
Muslims around the world have held violent demonstrations outside Danish embassies over the last week to protest the image, which reportedly featured Muhammed wearing a turban made out of a bomb.
Scenes of angry mobs in cities from London to Riyadh burning Danish flags have shocked politicians and community members alike.
Chief Rabbi Bent Lexner, who has made efforts to improve the relationships between Jews and Moslems in Denmark in recent years, said although he believes in freedom of speech, he felt the paper had gone too far.
Lexner told EJP: “My point of view is that in democracy a newspaper has every right to demand an utmost freedom, including of course the freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
“But according to Jewish tradition freedom goes hand in hand with responsibility. There is no such thing as total freedom. To insult the Moslems has nothing to do with freedom of the press.
Freedom is responsibilty
Lexner said he believed that the right of freedom “does not give any paper the right not to be concerned with others feelings and religious beliefs. Responsibility does not negate freedom, but it rather puts it into the right context”.
Lexner added that publishing of the cartoons was “a stupidity that caused Denmark enormous damage, and was totally unnecessary”. He said
 If I say that one should respect freedom of speech in a democratic country like Denmark, I might be blamed of supporting the mocking of the Prophet Muhammad
Stefan Isaak Jewish Community president | However, the chief rabbi was not without criticism of the Arab reaction. Saying he understands the anger in the Arab world, Lexner added: “but of course no one can accept the violent behaviour of the mob on the streets of Syria and Beirut”.
“I feel angry as a Dane when I see the Danish flag being put on fire in Gaza, Hebron, London an Istanbul. But as a Jew I feel eased that it is not the Jews who are the target of the anger of the crowd.”
He also criticized the Danish government over the way they handled the crisis. “They were too slow and not enough sensitive in recognizing the danger of insulting the Moslems. It is not that they weren’t warned. Why did the Prime Minister refuse to meet with the ambassadors to Denmark of the Arab countries? Such a meeting could solve a great deal of the problem in a friendly manner.”
However the Chief Rabbi is still for a dialogue. “It is never too late to stretch a hand for reconciliation, not only between Denmark and the Arab world, but between the Danes themselves – Christians, Moslems and Jews.”
Communal caution
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Muslims burn the Danish and Norweigian flags inside Al-Aqsa Mosques compound or Temple Mount for Jews after the Friday Prayer in Jerusalem in protest at European newspaper's publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
Photo: AFP | Other leaders of the country’s small Jewish community have spoken of their concern over the escalation of the crisis but said they do not want to get involved.
"Anything that I could say concerning the dispute about freedom of the press versus the honour of Islam might be wrongly interpreted”, Jewish Community president Stefan Isaak said.
“If I say that one should respect freedom of speech in a democratic country like Denmark, I might be blamed of supporting the mocking of the Prophet Muhammad. If I call for respecting the honour of Muhammad I might be blamed of denouncing the freedom of speech in Denmark.
“The best way for us is to keep silence and be lucky, that the rage is not aimed directly at us, as it was done so many times in the past,” Isaak added.
The 7,000-strong Danish Jewish community, almost all of which is based in Copenhagen, has always been cautious towards the Arab minority. During 350 years of Jewish existence in Denmark, the Jews suffered only little from anti-Semitism.
They generally enjoy a peaceful relationship with their fellow Danes which manifest itself in the fact that assimilation is on high gear.
Some 85% of all marriages in Denmark are mixed marriages, where one of the partner is not Jewish.
During the last 30-40 years since the Moslem immigration to Denmark grew rapidly, the Jews felt themselves more and more threatened.
Many Moslems did not hide their sympathy with the Palestinians, the political gap played a negative role on the relationship between Jews an Arabs, and the result was more incidents of violence with anti-Semitic genre against Jews.
On the other hand Jewish leaders such as Lexner have stressed the need to show respect for those, who are a minority.
Danish government position
Explaining his government’s position at the end of last week on the Arab tv channel Al Arabiya, Danish Prime minister Anders Fog Rasmussen tried to tension on Arab streets.
"We believe in freedom of the press and the independence of the press. These are very important values for us because we believe they are fundamental for our democracy,” he said.
He urged Moslims to respect it. "In protecting our democracy we also take extra care of and fully respect others feelings and religions. 400.000 Muslims in Denmark share a full security and we respect their freedom of religion,” he added.
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