Three cheers for the Czechs

I always find it interesting how former Iron Curtain countries understand the threat from radical Islam better than the "enlightened" West.

PRAGUE, Feb 14 (CTK) - Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda wants the EU to make a clear gesture in support of Denmark that faces pressure from Muslim countries over the publication of cartoons featuring the Prophet Mohammad in the media, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes writes today.

For example, the EU could provide financial compensation to Denmark for the economic loss it has suffered, the paper writes.

'A possible form of help could be financial compensation from the EU for the negative impact [of the controversy] on the export and sale of Danish goods,' Svoboda told the paper.

Svoboda is now seeking his EU colleagues' support for his plan.

Some time ago, Svoboda said on Czech Television that he would push for the EU to take a clear stance towards radical Muslims' violent reactions to the publication of the cartoons.

He called the EU's hitherto reaction reluctant. He said he considers the caricatures tasteless and understands that they have hurt the worshippers, but views the latter's reaction as unacceptable.

At the nearest meeting with his EU counterparts, Svoboda will reportedly ask them to condemn the violent reactions and to express clear solidarity with Denmark, where the controversial cartoons were published for the first time last autumn."

On the other hand, according to IslamOnline, Norway is well on its way to dhimmitude:

The Norwegian parliament has amended the Penal Code to criminalize blasphemy in the wake of the republication of Danish cartoons that lampooned Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) by a Norwegian magazine, Christian and Muslim leaders in Norway said on Tuesday, February 14.

"Law 150-A, which has been approved by parliament, criminalizes blasphemy and clearly prohibits despising others or lampooning religions in any form of expression, including the use of photographs," Norway's Deputy Archbishop Oliva Howika told reporters after a meeting in Doha with Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.

Howika was among a Norwegian delegation that also included the chairman of the Supreme Islamic Council in Norway, Mohamed Hamdan.

"Under the new law, the crime of blasphemy will be punished either by a fine or imprisonment," Howika said, promising Qaradawi to fax him a copy of the law after being published in the country's official gazette.

technorati tags: cartoons, norway, czech, blasphemy, islam