New Zealand cartoon print angers traders, Muslim groups
Regional-New Zealand, Politics, 2/6/2006

In a report on the reflection of the reprinting of cartoons for Prophet Muhammad in the New Zealand's media, Radio New Zealand said that meat and wool exporters have added their voices to growing criticism of two New Zealand newspapers, who have published controversial cartoons that have stirred Muslim anger through the world.

Wellington's The Dominion Post and The Press in Christchurch published the caricatures on Saturday, replicating moves by European newspapers who see the issue as one of freedom of speech. TVNZ and TV3 have both broadcast the cartoons as part of reporting on the issue.

The radio said that the cartoons have sparked Muslim outrage across the world, following their publication in a Danish paper. One of the cartoons depicts Muhammad as a terrorist, another shows him meeting suicide bombers in heaven. Any images of the Prophet are banned under Islamic tradition.

The protests have spread to New Zealand: 700 demonstrators took to the streets of Auckland on Sunday afternoon, carrying banners and placards with the message "stop the blasphemy."

Adding to the issue, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced his government will consider abandoning commercial and trade deals with countries in which the cartoons have appeared, the radio said.

New Zealand exports millions of dollars worth of goods to Iran, including dairy products, meat and wool. In 2005, exports to Iran totaled $76.1 million.

Meat and Wool New Zealand spokesman Jeff Grant says Iran continues to be an important market and the newspapers have been irresponsible.

While dairy giant Fonterra will not comment on the Iranian president's comments, it says Muslim countries represent a large proportion of its trade.

A spokesperson says the company makes no judgment on whether the cartoons should be published in New Zealand, but it has a long relationship with the Middle East and other Islamic countries in Asia and Africa, and does not want that jeopardised.

The president of the Federation of Islamic Associations in New Zealand, Javad Khan, was quoted by the radio as warning The Dominion Post before the newspaper printed the cartoons, that doing so might threaten trade with Muslim nations.

He says the caricatures are very offensive and the community is deciding whether to approach the Race Relations Commissioner, the Ethnic Affairs Minister or to take up the issue with the newspapers.

Race Relations Commissioner Joris De Bres says the controversy highlights the need for further dialogue on the freedom of the press and how that right is exercised responsibly.

Prime Minister Helen Clark says the government is monitoring overseas reaction and is watching closely for any sign of a backlash. She has called the publication 'gratuitous' and says the issue is not one of freedom of the press but of taste and judgement, and the cartoons will do nothing to bring communities together.

The caricatures originated in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten paper in September depicting prophet Muhammad as a terrorist, and have been reprinted in newspapers in France, Jordan, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands and Spain - who say they were exercising their right to free speech.

Jyllands-Posten has apologized for causing offense to Muslims, although it maintains it was legal under Danish law to print the cartoons. The newspaper originally commissioned the images to highlight the difficulty of a Danish writer to find artists to illustrate his children's book about Muhammad, the radio noted.

Previous Stories:
  Protesters in Syria decry Mohammed cartoons, threaten retaliation   (2/4/2006)
  Islamic organization calls Muslims to react in civil way against prophet blasphemy   (2/3/2006)
  Ahmadinejad and King Abdullah Telephone Contact   (2/3/2006)
  Newspapers challenge Muslims over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed   (2/2/2006)
  Danish paper apologizes to Muslims over insulting them, companies sales come to a halt   (1/31/2006)

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