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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 18-Feb-08
Arson, vandalism and riots sweep across Denmark as Mohammed cartoon controversy is revived

Web Log - February, 2008

Arson, vandalism and riots sweep across Denmark as Mohammed cartoon controversy is revived

Muslim governments around the world are condemning Danish officials, demanding that Mohammed be respected and that Muslims in Denmark be treated with respect as well. Iran's government has said that it may sever ties with Denmark.

Either by coincidence, or purposely, perhaps desiring to be ironic, the producers of the CBS news magazine 60 Minutes ran a segment on Sunday evening addressing the question of why the Danes are, according to a recent study, the happiest people in Europe:

"60 Minutes asked Danish newspaper columnist Sebastian Dorset what he thought about Denmark's number one status.

"If you didn't tell me about the survey I wouldn't believe that Denmark was the happiest place. Because everybody complains all the time," Dorset says.

"But I find it fascinating that you say people complain. But there is a real sense of contentment here," [Morley] Safer remarks.

"Yeah," Dorset agrees.

Dorset says that contentment may stem from the fact that Denmark is almost totally homogenous, has no large disparities of wealth, and has had very little national turmoil for more than a half century. "We have very little violence. We have very little murders. So people are, feel very safe," he says.

He says people feel secure. "[A] knife stabbing makes the front page every time. Yeah, I don't think that happens in America very often," Dorset says."

Even more enjoyable than the above broadcast is this video of the song "Wonderful wonderful Copenhagen" from Danny Kaye's 1953 movie, "Hans Christian Andersen":

The 50-year record of "little national turmoil" has been broken this week, as Denmark has seven nights of rioting and vandalism in Copenhagen and other Danish cities, with bands of youths setting fire to cars, buses and schools.

Putting together several newspaper accounts, here's what appears to have happened:

Last week, three men were arrested in Copenhagen for allegedly planning to murder cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.
Westergaard was the cartoonist who drew the cartoons, featuring Mohammed, that touched off worldwide Muslim demonstrations and boycotts of Danish goods two years ago. The cartoons, which had appeared in September 2005, were considered blasphemous and offensive by Muslims around the world. In one of the cartoons, Mohammed is wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with its fuse lit. In another, Mohammed is telling suicide bombers to slow down, saying, "Stop, stop, we're running out of virgins."

On Wednesday, the day after the three men were arrested, as a gesture of solidarity with the cartoonist, 11 Danish papers reprinted his now famous drawing depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban.

The riots had already broken out before the new publication of the cartoons.
The riots are thought to be connected to new regulations allowing police to conduct random searches for weapons in parts of Copenhagen without probable cause. According to one peaceful demonstrator, "When police choose to stop everyone with Arab features or the wrong skin color while they let other people pass by, it's not about a specific effort anymore. It's about racism."

The combination of all of these events occurring almost simultaneously last weekend provided the fuel for the unrest. Dozens of fires were set, and hundreds of cars and schools were vandalized.

Denmark

Denmark

It's interesting that Denmark has had little social strife since World War II.

Denmark's role in World War II is still considered controversial. Nazi Germany conquered Denmark in 1940, but allowed Denmark to remain neutral in exchange for returning German Jews to Germany. Danish manufacturers profited from trade with Germany, and some Jews were sent to Germany, but a robust underground movement saved many other Jews, helping them to flee to Sweden.

Still, the ambivalence felt by Danes must have weighed heavily on many hearts in the decades after WW II, and undoubtedly contributed to the tolerance and integration of the small (2%) Muslim population within the mostly Christian population.

So it's not surprising that xenophobia is only increasing now, in a generational Crisis era, 63 years after the end of WW II. At this time, there are few people left who remember the horrors of the German occupation, and with population growth, there must be a competition for jobs and other resources.

The revival of the Mohammed cartoons is quite remarkable. The publication of these cartoons caused an extreme worldwide Muslim backlash two years ago. The boycotts of Danish goods did a great deal of harm to Danish businesses. You would think that newspaper editors would have the sense not to provoke such a backlash again.

But you know how it is with those arrogant, narcissistic Boomers. They want to prove a point of principle, and so the Mohammed cartoons just have to be printed again, no matter what the consequences.

It will be interesting to see whether the anti-Danish Muslim demonstrations will be as potent this time as they were last time, or whether they'll fizzle.

But the problems within Denmark itself go well beyond the cartoon controversy. The 60 Minutes broadcast gave as one reason for Danish happiness the fact that the Danish population is "almost totally homogeneous."

Well that's true. Its population is 95% Evangelical Lutheran, 3% other Christian (includes Protestant and Roman Catholic), and 2% Muslim, according to The CIA World Factbook.

Being 98% Christian does make Denmark "almost totally homogeneous," but the other 2% can't be ignored, and they are the ones demanding to be heard right now. (18-Feb-08) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 18-Feb-08 Arson, vandalism and riots sweep across Denmark as Mohammed cartoon controversy is revived

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 18-Feb-08
Arson, vandalism and riots sweep across Denmark as Mohammed cartoon controversy is revived