American Cartoonist Apologizes For Offending Muslims
American cartoonist Molly Norris shot to fame when her idea to make May 20 the “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” was hijacked by someone who created a Facebook page of the same name without her knowledge. But this is the fame that Molly Norris would rather not have, for she has now received death threats from angry Muslims because they consider it sacrileges to draw the Prophet. Molly Norris had proposed this idea of “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” to protest the intimidation and fear that the radical Muslim group, Revolution Muslim had exerted on Viacom, the producers of Comedy Central’s long running TV series, South Park, forcing them to censor an episode showing the Prophet in a bear costume. But ironically, what started off as a protest against censorship is now itself the subject of censorship. Pakistan has now blocked Facebook and Youtube from being accessed locally, and Facebook in turn has removed the cartoons from that offending page. And in neighboring India, Muslims are demanding that the government follow Pakistan in banning Facebook. Now Molly Norris has apologized, clarifying that she has nothing to do with the Facebook page.
The Idea Behind Everybody Draw Muhammad Day
Explaining her reason for suggesting the “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day”, Molly Norris said: ”As a cartoonist I just felt so much passion about what had happened I wanted to kind of counter Comedy Central’s message they sent about feeling afraid.”
Molly Norris wrote on her website that the objective of this “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” is to protect people’s right to express themselves; it is not to discredit or insult any religion.
Molly Norris then invited people to submit drawings of any religious figure. She said that such drawings would be posted as part of a non-existent entity which she called Citizens Against Citizens Against Humor (CACAH) on May 20.
Molly Norris Reacts To The Overwhelming Response
Molly Norris said: “I make cartoons about current, cultural events. I made a cartoon of a ‘poster’ entitled “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day!” with a nonexistent group’s name - Citizens Against Citizens Against Humor - drawn on the cartoon also. I did not intend for my cartoon to go viral. I did not intend to be the focus of any ‘group’. I practice the first amendment by drawing what I wish. This particular cartoon of a ‘poster’ seems to have struck a gigantic nerve, something I was totally unprepared for. I am going back to the drawing table now!”
Molly Norris Apologized
Molly Norris said: “I’ve had some death threats from Muslims on Facebook and e-mail.” Then she added: “I regret my cartoon the way I made it. I wish it would have said ‘Everybody draw the CEO of Viacom Day.’”
Explaining further, Molly Norris said: “I never started a Facebook page; I never set up any place for people to send drawings to and I never received any drawings.”
Although she did not start the Facebook Page, Molly Norris nevertheless apologized for her role in the controversy. She acknowledged that the Facebook Page was “offensive to Muslims who did nothing to endanger our right to expression in the first place”.
While her blog never received any drawings, the Facebook Page on “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” however, received numerous entries. These include drawings and cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed and characters from other religions, including Hinduism and Christianity.
The High Court in Pakistan has ordered the government to shut access to Facebook in Pakistan. In compliance, the Government of Pakistan did just that, without prior warning, citing “growing sacrilegious content” of the Facebook Page. Reacting to this, Facebook said: “We are very disappointed with the Pakistani Courts’ decision to block Facebook without warning, and suspect our users there feel the same way. We are analyzing the situation and the legal considerations, and will take appropriate action, which may include making this content inaccessible to users in Pakistan.”
Facebook did take down the “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” page but it has now reappeared with offending pictures censored.
There is another Facebook Page entitled “Against ‘Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.’” It posted a congratulatory status update and called on its 120,000 supporters to continue similar action against other pages mocking the Prophet.
YouTube
YouTube, which was also blocked in Pakistan, issued a statement saying it was “looking into the matter and working to ensure that the service is restored as soon as possible.” The statement went on to say: “Because YouTube is a platform for free expression of all sorts, we take great care when we enforce our policies. Content that violates our guidelines is removed as soon as we become aware of it.”
Think About It
Was it wise of Molly Norris to initiate this “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” a week after the Swedish cartoonist was attacked and his house burnt down and a month after the furore over South Park? Islam Wardak said: “Especially in this day and age that somebody would intentionally instigate a fire, I don’t think it’s anything funny about it.” Rohadi Abdul Fatah, director of Islam and Shariah law at the Ministry of Religious Affairs said that freedom of expression should not be pushed to the extent that it “hurts Islam.” Perhpas Molly Norris herself sums it up best. She said: “What started as something about censorship has ended in censorship. It’s a full circle situation.” What lessons can be learnt from this whole saga?
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a stupid act that is a product of doing without thinking. to molly norris, next time use your pea brains before making a stupid activity like this. What if someone draw her mother as a pig?