Thread: Muslim anger prompts Pakistan to block Facebook

Muslim anger prompts Pakistan to block Facebook
By Babar Dogar, Associated Press Writer 9 mins ago

LAHORE, Pakistan – Pakistan's government ordered Internet service providers to block Facebook on Wednesday amid anger over a page that encourages users to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

The page on the social networking site has generated criticism in Pakistan and elsewhere because Islam prohibits any images of the prophet. The government took action after a group of Islamic lawyers won a court order Wednesday requiring officials to block Facebook until May 31.

By Wednesday evening, access to the site was sporadic, apparently because Internet providers were implementing the order.

The Facebook page at the center of the dispute — "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!" — encourages users to post images of the prophet on May 20 to protest threats made by a radical Muslim group against the creators of "South Park" for depicting Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode earlier this year.

In the southern city of Karachi, about 2,000 female students rallied demanding that Facebook be banned for tolerating the page. Several dozen male students held a rally nearby, with some holding signs urging Islamic holy war against those who blaspheme the prophet.

"We are not trying to slander the average Muslim," said the information section of the Facebook page, which was still accessible Wednesday morning. "We simply want to show the extremists that threaten to harm people because of their Mohammad depictions that we're not afraid of them. That they can't take away our right to freedom of speech by trying to scare us into silence."

A series of cartoons of the prophet published in a Danish newspaper in 2005 sparked violent protests by Muslims around the world, including Pakistan, and death threats against the cartoonists.

Facebook said Wednesday it is investigating.

"While the content does not violate our terms, we do understand it may not be legal in some countries," the company said in a statement. "In cases like this, the approach is sometimes to restrict certain content from being shown in specific countries."

It remains to be seen how successful the move will be at keeping people in Pakistan from accessing the site. Some countries, such as China, permanently ban Facebook. But citizens often have little trouble working their way around the ban using proxy servers and other means.

In an attempt to respond to public anger over the Facebook controversy, the Pakistani government ordered Internet service providers in the country to block the page Tuesday, said Khurram Ali, a spokesman for the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority.

But the Islamic Lawyers' Forum asked the Lahore High Court on Wednesday to order the government to fully block Facebook because it allowed the page to be posted in the first place, said the deputy attorney general of Punjab province, Naveed Inayat Malik.

The court complied with the request and ordered the government to block the site until the end of May, Malik said.

Lawyers outside the courtroom hailed the ruling, chanting "Down with Facebook."

Later in the day, the telecommunications authority ordered all Internet service providers to block Facebook, it said in a statement.

Pakistan's minister of religious affairs, Hamid Saeed Kazmi, said the country's ban was only a temporary solution and suggested the government organize a conference of Muslim countries to figure out ways to prevent the publication of images of the prophet, which have caused backlashes among Muslim populations.

On Tuesday, an alleged al-Qaida militant detained in Iraq said he had talked to friends about attacking Danish and Dutch teams at the World Cup in South Africa next month.

"We discussed the possibility of taking revenge for the insults of the prophet by attacking Denmark and Holland," Abdullah Azam Saleh al-Qahtani told The Associated Press in an interview arranged by Iraqi authorities. "The goal was to attack the Danish and the Dutch teams and their fans."

In the Netherlands, an anti-Islam party has become the country's fastest growing political movement. Its leader, Geert Wilders, calls the Quran a "fascist book" and wants it banned in the Netherlands. His 2008 short film offended many Muslims by juxtaposing Quranic verses with images of terrorism by Islamic radicals.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100519/...NsawNwcmludA--

Pakistan blocks YouTube over unIslamic content
By Sebastian Abbot, Associated Press Writer 2 hrs 42 mins ago

ISLAMABAD – The Pakistani government blocked access to YouTube on Thursday because of "sacrilegious" content in a growing Internet crackdown against sites deemed offensive to the country's majority Muslim population.

The move against the video-sharing website came a day after the government blocked access to Facebook amid anger over a page on the social networking site that encourages users to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Islam prohibits any images of the prophet.

The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority did not point to specific material on YouTube that prompted it to block the site, only citing "growing sacrilegious contents." The government acted against both Facebook and YouTube after it failed to persuade the websites to remove the "derogatory material," the regulatory body said in a statement.

It welcomed representatives from the two websites to contact the Pakistani government to resolve the dispute in a way that "ensures religious harmony and respect."

The regulatory body said it has blocked more than 450 Internet links containing offensive material, but it is unclear how many of the links were blocked in the last two days.

Access to the online encyclopedia site Wikipedia also was restricted Thursday, but it was not clear if the government had intended to do so. The head of the Pakistani telecommunications company Nayatel, Wahajus Siraj, said the restriction resulted from a technical glitch.

The government blocked Facebook on Wednesday after a group of Islamic lawyers won a court order requiring officials to restrict access to the site until May 31. It was unclear if the ban against YouTube also would be temporary.

The Facebook page "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!" encourages users to post images of the prophet on May 20 to protest threats made by a radical Muslim group against the creators of the animated American television series "South Park" for depicting Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode earlier this year.

The page sparked protests from radical students in Pakistan, with some holding signs urging Islamic holy war against those who blaspheme the prophet.

"Public sentiment has been growing," said Siraj, the Nayatel CEO. "The government was monitoring it and there seemed to be public unrest, so it had to take a decision."

A series of cartoons of the prophet published in a Danish newspaper in 2005 sparked violent protests by Muslims around the world, including in Pakistan, and death threats against the cartoonists.

In an attempt to respond to public anger over the Facebook dispute, the Pakistani government ordered Internet service providers in the country to block the controversial page Tuesday.

But members of the Islamic Lawyers Forum asked the Lahore High Court on Wednesday to order the government to fully block Facebook because it allowed the page to be posted in the first place.

"Such malicious and insulting attacks hurt the sentiments of Muslims around the world and cannot be accepted under the garb of freedom of expression," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said Thursday, referring to the images of the prophet on Facebook.

Facebook said Wednesday it was investigating.

"While the content does not violate our terms, we do understand it may not be legal in some countries," the company said in a statement. "In cases like this, the approach is sometimes to restrict certain content from being shown in specific countries."

Online reaction to the Facebook ban was supportive in the initial hours after it was implemented. But comments on Twitter — which was still unblocked Thursday and drawing new users thanks to bans on other sites — showed many Internet users were angry about the wide-ranging restrictions.

"Sad and embarrassing day in the history of Pakistan. Tough times to be a Pakistani. Questionable decisions in a so called 'democracy,'" one user tweeted.

Pakistan blocked access to YouTube for two days in 2008 because of what it said was unIslamic content. Turkey, Thailand, Indonesia and Morocco have all blocked access to YouTube in the past for various reasons.

It remains to be seen how successful the government will be at keeping Pakistan's nearly 20 million Internet users from accessing the blocked sites. Other countries, such as China, permanently ban Facebook and YouTube. But citizens often have little trouble working their way around the ban using proxy servers and other means.

"What's common to Facebook and Lashkar-e-Taiba?" one user on Twitter wrote, referring to a Pakistani militant group that is banned but has an alleged front group that operates openly. "They are both banned in Pakistan, but Pakistanis can still find them if they want to."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100520/...NsawNwcmludA--

Sadly the Jihadist videos are protected by "Free Speech"

'Everybody Draw Mohammad Day': What's a Muslim-American to think?
By Husna Haq Thu May 20, 10:13 pm ET

Molly Norris was frustrated.

Comedy Central had decided to censor an episode of "South Park" that showed the Prophet Mohammed in a bear suit, and the Seattle-based artist needed to vent. Yet the way she chose to mock the network's decision virtually kicked me – and every American Muslim – in the gut.

She created a fake poster declaring May 20 “Everybody Draw Mohammad Day.”

I am Muslim and I am American. I love my Prophet Mohammed, and I love my First Amendment right to free speech.

I understand that Ms. Norris has said her idea was satire – that she didn’t mean for it to go viral on the Internet, including an “Everybody Draw Mohammad Day” on Facebook.

But, apparently, what neither she nor much of America understood is how deeply what seems an innocent jibe offends Muslims.

To Muslims, Mohammed is the last Prophet of God – a particularly singular figure in Islam. He is the epitome of all the virtues one sees in the Quran, the model of a perfect human being. Volumes have been written compiling his words and actions, which along with the Quran, form the foundation of Islam. He is, in short, an intensely revered figure.

To depict him in a bear suit or with a pig snout – as he has been in two recent cartoons – is free speech, yes, but it is intensely offensive. It betrays a willful determination to refuse to see the world through Muslims eyes – to understand how innately the Prophet is loved by his followers and how profoundly flippant disrespect for him wounds us.

Imagine Martin Luther King Jr. portrayed as a monkey and you begin to understand the depth of Muslims' revulsion to such images.

Yet it is more than that, too.

In Islam, as in Judaism, iconography is prohibited out of fear that creating images of sacred figures could lead to dependence on, and even worship of, icons rather than God. The Prophet lifted his people from the worship of many gods to love for the one God. To depict him is to violate a fundamental tenet of Islam as a joke.

True, "South Park" and Facebook shy from no parodies. But to bait Muslims so brazenly is to play into the hands of those Muslims who often reinforce stereotypes with violent protests or threats to kill those behind the offensive works.

The situation is compounded by the fact that Muslims already feel besieged – in some countries, literally – and humiliated.

A recent Gallup World poll of some 800 million Muslims across the Muslim world reveals two telling observations: a widespread resentment over the perceived denigration of Islam and a belief that Westerners think Muslims are inferior. To Muslims, the Facebook contest – and more pointedly the Danish cartoon – are proof that both are true.

The reaction of the Muslim world – including Pakistan's decision to block access to Facebook until May 31 – often surprises non-Muslims. But it shouldn’t. The slurs can only be seen as intentionally inflammatory, deliberately designed to humiliate a people and their beliefs – indeed, to provoke the very reaction they do.

Even so, that is not the Islam I know.

The Islam I know finds inspiration in Mohammed, who when abused, bore it with Prophetic patience and continued his mission, head held high. In one parable, an abusive neighbor of his is said to have cursed him and dumped garbage on him every day he walked by her house.

For several days, he passed her house and no garbage or insults were thrown. Worried, he inquired after her. When he discovered she had fallen ill, he visited her in her home.

I am, and I think Mohammed would be, equally disgusted with both the sophomoric cartoons and contests as well as the threats of violence they incite.

Free speech, perhaps. But they add fuel to the fires of extremism on all sides.

Husna Haq is a Monitor correspondent. The views expressed here are her own.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100521...NsawNwcmludA--

To depict him in a bear suit or with a pig snout – as he has been in two recent cartoons – is free speech, yes, but it is intensely offensive. It betrays a willful determination to refuse to see the world through Muslims eyes – to understand how innately the Prophet is loved by his followers and how profoundly flippant disrespect for him wounds us.

But it is seemingly acceptable to depict Jesus or Moses, Buddha or any other religion icon with "flippant disrespect"; Madonna in elephant dung; a nude Christ made of chocolate; a crusifix suspended in urine as "art" ??



comments

I think that the point of this was not to insult Muslims worldwide as it was an exercise in our free speech. Please remember that people have died because "insulted" Muslims thought it was a good idea to kill them. Now, there is no chance at a backlash because people who love free speech have demonstrated in a non-violent way. If Muslims were to reciprocate in kind they'd have to hunt down hundreds of thousands people rendering the death threats useless.

Please note that I understand there is a difference between Islamic fundamentalists and Moderate Muslims. However, the quiet from the Moderate Muslims on this point did nothing to separate themselves from the fundamentalists.

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I'm offended by a lot of what I see in popular culture, but I don't demand that it be censored. I just don't look at it. That's the American way.

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Although I don't support insulting any religion and think people who do so are idiots, such breaches of common courtesy should not be subject to censorship in the United States. The first amendment is supposed to protect all speech, including deeply insulting speech. The Musloms here can protest all they want as long as they do so peacefully. But violence or threats of violence should be prosecuted quickly and vigorously. Of course the person or organization who initiated the awful speech should be condemned by everyone - something that never happens when the Christian religion is attacked in similar ways. No special treatment for Muslims please.

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"Imagine Martin Luther King Jr. portrayed as a monkey and you begin to understand the depth of Muslims' revulsion to such images. "

What I can't imagine, Husna, is violent, deadly reactions across the country to such a depiction. Anger? Yes. Condemnation? Of course. Fire and death in the streets and plots of murder? No.

And what irks me as an American, what possessed me to participate in "Everybody Draw Mohammad Day" myself, was realizing that the supposedly free press of the free world was being effectively blackmailed by threats and acts of violence. When we start allowing ourselves to kowtow to the demands of any group willing to spill blood over an issue, we are embarking down a dark path. Ever read "Fahrenheit 451", Husna?

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This article misses the entire point. The key is not that pictures of Mohammad are offensive to individuals, who for whatever reaon, adhere to this non-rational ideology. The problem is that muslims, and only muslims, insist they have a right to not be offended. The problem is that muslims, and at this current date in history only muslims, react with violence at 'offensive' language or pictures. Muslims do not have a right to not be offended. Until we CAN insult Mohammad with impunity, those who are not in the thrall of this murderous ideology will see that as a matter of basic human freedom, Mohammad must be insulted.

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sorry, i don't believe in islam, or christianity, or any of it...don't care what your beliefs are, they are none of my business...i have to notice though that here in america, it's cool to insult christians, but noone can be allowed to say anything irrevrent about muslims...sounds screwy to me...i don't think the christians are right about their higher power, but i do think they are far less childish than the muslims... maybe mohamad should teach his followers to GROW UP...

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So it is offensive - point taken. So is almost everything about Islam is to me. So if I can't offend Islam, how about they do not offend me? You see the point? Probably not. I am sure you will wrap your burqua or turban and say religon.

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Ms. Hag, when was the last time you, as a Muslim, took the time to find out anything about my religion? About Jesus? Yours is the religion that tells its followers to murder anyone who doesn't believe. This is perfection? What gives you and your fellow Muslims the right to threaten and kill those of us who do not believe in your religion, or who hold Mohammed in the same esteem that you do? Sorry, but untill Muslims start teaching tolerance of ALL religions, and freedom of worship, I for one will draw the picture and hang it on my garage doors. If you are offended, so be it; go draw your own picture, and I promise I won't attempt to harm you in any way, I just won't look it.

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"Free speech" is free speech no matter how insulting to any religion. MUSLIM gets offended- so what else is new. with stand critisicm - But DO NOT CONDEMN FREE SPEECH. We will insult every President, in every country and every Relegion- That is FREE SPEECH - show that your faith has the backbone to stand that - THAT IS THE TRUE TEST OF ANY RELEGION or Faith. LONG LIVE FREE SPEECH.

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how nice that you were offended, I'm offended that a pedophile is considered a prophet, no wonder they don't want his picture shown, the retro-active wanted posters would be a bit hard to argue with. I'm offended that converts from Islam are killed because they found a different faith. I'm offended that the so called peaceful Muslims have not taken care of thier own extremest and allow the so called leaders to preach hate and call it a peaceful religion. Muslims think that they have the sole right to be insulted, if the rest of the world acted the way some muslims have in the past few years the all the Islamic countries would be smoking glassy holes in the sand.

The western countries were at the point where religion didn't matter: Muslims changed that by exporting hate and trying to set themselves above the rule of law. Maybe if muslims were actually spending more time rooting out the evil in thier own religion, or making the world better and less time complaining, rioting and killing maybe people would care what you think. By complaining, killing, rioting and such when someone draws a cartoon: you just show that your prophet is an idol to you and the world laughs, because by your own words and actions this most reviered prophet seems to be more important to you than his so called message.

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Sorry, this Opinion is a crock of the smelly stuff that comes from the south end of a north bound Bull. Muslims around the world need to take out their own trash before they can even utter a single word about their religion and have it taken with any respect. The Muslim world's own lack of tolerance towards other religions and propensity for violence in the name of their religion has shape the disdain and scorn in which Islam is viewed by the rest of the world. Free Speech sometimes means you have to hear and see the ugly truth, and if that offends your religious sensibilities ... maybe it would be best if you went back to the Middle East.

Pakistan lifts Facebook ban after page removed
By Babar Dogar, Associated Press Writer Mon May 31, 11:07 am ET

LAHORE, Pakistan – Pakistan lifted a ban on Facebook on Monday after officials from the social networking site apologized for a page deemed offensive to Muslims and removed its contents, a top information technology official said.

The move came almost two weeks after Pakistan imposed the ban amid anger over a page that encouraged users to post images of Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims regard depictions of the prophet, even favorable ones, as blasphemous.

"In response to our protest, Facebook has tendered their apology and informed us that all the sacrilegious material has been removed from the URL," said Najibullah Malik, secretary of Pakistan's information technology ministry, referring to the technical term for a Web page.

Facebook assured the Pakistani government that "nothing of this sort will happen in the future," Malik said.

Officials from the website could not immediately be reached for comment. They said earlier the contents of the "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!" page did not violate Facebook's terms.

The page encouraged users to post images of the prophet to protest threats made by a radical Muslim group against the creators of the American TV series "South Park" for depicting Muhammad in a bear suit during an episode earlier this year.

Pakistan blocked Facebook on May 19 following a ruling by one of the country's highest courts. The Lahore High Court reversed its ruling Monday because of Facebook's response, paving the way for the government to restore access, Malik said.

The government will continue to block some Web pages that contain "sacrilegious material," but Malik declined to specify which ones.

The Facebook controversy sparked a handful of protests across Pakistan, many by student members of radical Islamic groups. Some of the protesters carried signs advocating holy war against the website for allowing the page.

Bangladesh also decided to block Facebook on Sunday but said it would restore access to the site if the offensive material was removed.

It is not the first time that images of the prophet have sparked anger. Pakistan and other Muslim countries saw large and sometimes violent protests in 2006 when a Danish newspaper published cartoons of Muhammad, and again in 2008 when they were reprinted. Later the same year, a suspected al-Qaida suicide bomber attacked the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, killing six people.

Anger over the Facebook controversy also prompted the Pakistani government to block access to YouTube briefly, saying there was growing sacrilegious content on the video sharing website. The government restored access to YouTube last week but said it would continue to block videos offensive to Muslims that are posted on the site.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100531/...NsawNwcmludA--

http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/ar..._lnk1%7C170804


Molly Norris, Artist Behind 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day' Cartoon, Goes Into Hiding

(Sept. 15) -- So much for freedom of speech.

At the urging of the FBI, Molly Norris, the Seattle-based illustrator and cartoonist whose satirical drawing marking "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" resulted in death threats, global protests and impassioned debate about religion and censorship, has been forced to change her name and abandon her former life as a result of her controversial cartoon.

The news that Morris had, out of concerns for her safety, decided to go into hiding was first reported in the Seattle Weekly today, a paper where Norris' cartoons had regularly appeared:

The gifted artist is alive and well, thankfully. But on the insistence of top security specialists at the FBI, she is, as they put it, "going ghost": moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity. She will no longer be publishing cartoons in our paper or in City Arts magazine, where she has been a regular contributor. She is, in effect, being put into a witness-protection program -- except, as she notes, without the government picking up the tab.

Norris originally posted her tongue-in-cheek cartoon announcing May 20 as "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" on her website, which no longer seems to be operating. It was dedicated to the creators of the Comedy Central animated television series "South Park" after one of their episodes was censored for its portrayal of the Islamic prophet.

Asif Hassan, AFP / Getty Images
Pakistani Muslims burn an effigy of American cartoonist Molly Norris during a protest against Facebook in Karachi on May 26.

As expected, Norris' creation touched a nerve, and her drawing soon became a viral hit on the Internet, posted to a variety of high-profile websites and forwarded in countless e-mails. Soon her fictitious drawing morphed into an actual event as Facebook groups championing the idea popped up and started attracting fans.

With media outlets covering the phenomenon, word of "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" spread across the globe, and the government of Pakistan announced it was suspending the use of Facebook to residents there.

Norris seemed caught off guard by the whirlwind. She removed the original cartoon from her website, took pains to disassociate herself from an actual "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" and pleaded for tolerance.

"I did NOT 'declare' May 20 to be 'Everybody Draw Mohammed Day,'" she said on her website.

"I never started a Facebook page; I never set up any place for people to send drawings to and I never received any drawings," she continued, adding, "I apologize to people of Muslim faith and ask that this 'day' be called off."

In June, despite her renunciation of the event spawned by her cartoon, Norris was placed on a hit list by Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an al-Qaida-linked figure who has been tied to the Fort Hood, Texas, massacre as well as the failed bombing in Times Square, the New York Daily News reported. Shortly thereafter, the FBI contacted Norris.

"We're hoping the religious bigots go into full and immediate remission," the Seattle Weekly said about Norris' need to go into hiding, "and we wish her the best."