The second auction is over, and two more of Kurt Westergaard's cartoons were sold together at a hefty price.

One of the two was Westergaard's first attempt: A poster for Frederikshavn art Museum from 1994. This one is referred to as "1/1", because it was Westergaard's first Mohammed cartoon and the only existing version.

The other cartoon was "2/2", which is indistinguishable from the "2/1" that was sold a fortnight ago, as well as from 2/3, 2/4 and 2/5 that are currently being auctioned off. The only discernable differences between these five "originals" are variations in colour.

Original Mohammed cartoon sold for € 445,000

Kurt Westergaard's original Mo-toon has just been auctioned off at the staggering amount of € 445,000. The buyer is unknown.

It is less than clear to me what is meant by "original" since the gallery has four more for sale, and there are very few and small differences among these -- like the green color in the "shahada", and the red color in the fuse.

This one however, is the one that Westergaard had chosen for publication in Jyllands-Posten. The gallery calls it "2/1" - "2" because it was supposedly Westergaard's second attempt to portray Mohammed (which it isn't) and "1" because Westergaard preferred this one.

The next auction (5 days left as we speak) includes "1/1" and "2/2". "1/1" was Westergaard's first attempt to draw Mohammed for a gallery-poster, and "2/2" is almost indistinguishable from the above-mentioned "2/1".

Another auction - soon to be - includes "2/3", "2/4" and "2/5" in one suit-case. These three are also almost identical to 2/1.

Kurt Westergaard died the day after his 86^th birthday.

The drawing to the right was sent to Pia Kjærsgaard -- founder and then leader of Dansk Folkeparti, a party that is critical of the Islamizaion of the West.

On the drawing Westergaard says, "OK . . . there is the risk that one's work will be taken seriously".

The wastebasket is full of death threats.

It's a well-kept secret, but Kurt Westergaard's famous Mohammed Cartoon was not his first attempt.

Two months before the publication of the famous twelve Mohammed Cartoons, Westergaard had illustrated a feature article by the former dean of Odense, Poul E. Andersen.

The subject was Islamic terror, in particular the recent terror attack in the London Underground train. The title of the article was "Når tro føder terror" - i.e. "when faith gives birth to terrorism".

Westergaard made the illustration to the right. There is no caption, so it's everybody's guess whether it was meant to show a random Muslim terrorist or the prophet himself.

Two months later Westergaard along with ca. 40 other colleagues were asked by Jyllands-Posten to "draw Mohammed as you see him". Maybe because of the short notice (and maybe because of the low fee) Westergaard evidently chose to recycle his two months old drawing.

By now the fuse had burned shorter, the beard had grown longer, the unknown terrorist had become Mohammed himself, and the rest is history.

Franz Füchsel was one of the artists who in 2005 submitted his interpretation of the prophet Muhammed.

Füchsel has a long career behind him portraying everyday situations in Denmark. He later offered his original Mohammed cartoon for sale at an auction and then donated the proceeds (15,000 Danish kroner - approximately 2,200 USD) to Pakistan, which was at that time suffering from the aftermath of an earthquake.

I myself am lucky enough to own an original drawing by Füchsel (to the right). I don't know the context. The subtitle says, "I wonder what he voted for. He's been acting like that since the election".

Akkari: My departure from Islamism

In my last post, 9 months ago, I reported how one of the main instigators behind the Mohammed Crisis, Ahmed Akkari, now regrets his actions.

Since then he has apologized profusely to everybody -- appearing in every Danish media and even on the BBC radio (2nd Aug 2013). With the help of Anders Fogh Rasmussen's old spin doctor, Michael Ulveman, he has also attempted to get on Al Jazeera, but without success. It seems Al Jazeera found it more opportune to write about Muslims suffering in Syria and everywhere else, rather than dwell on the Muslim double dealings of yesteryear. However there is an article on Al Arabiya News: Danish Muslim leader regrets role in cartoon rage

Here are just two articles: Ahmad Akkari, Danish Muslim: I was wrong to damn Muhammad cartoons (the Guardian) The imam who defected: Extremists run all Danish mosques (International dispatch).

But what is much more important is that he has now written a book: "My departure from Islamism, the Mohammed Crisis, the double dealing and the struggle against Denmark".

In the first part of the book he describes in detail how Muslim private schools -- funded by Danish tax money -- brainwash generation after generation of young Muslim immigrants and teach them to hate the Western secular world.

Akkari's case was a bit different because he was from a secular family and had attended Danish public schools. Instead he was caught by the mosques where the warm welcome of the older members gave the young insecure teenager the attention and identity that he craved. In fact it only took a few months to convert him from a secular, model school pupil into an Islamist who refused to shake hands with his female teacher at graduation day.

The second part of the book details how the crisis was orchestrated by a handful of Danish Imams. I was slightly surprised to read about the strong ties between Raed Hlayhel and Akkari -- leaving Abu Laban as a more reluctant third player.

Among other surprises are that during the tours of the Middle East, the Imams had meetings with the Amal Movement as well as the terror organisations Hamas and Hezbollah (Pages 289-294. See Mohammed delegation met with Hamas and Hezbollah, CPH Post).

The Danish Imams didn't ask for anything in particular, but obviously if you ask two terror groups to "take action" and then show them a number a fake Mohammed cartoons with Mohammed as a pig or Mohammed as a pedophile demon, you know what the result will be.

Akkari: "I needed a breating hole."  Drawing by Rasmus Sand Høyer

It also appears that the dairy giant Arla paid an unspecified amount to the clerics in order to the get the consumer ban lifted. (page 378).

The third part of the book is about his way back to normal life, re-finding his own secular self. Two years working as a school teacher on Greenland (picture to the left) gave him time to read a lot of books and to think a lot of thoughts.

The books ends with a short appeal to fight Islamism and the words: "Finally I would like to say to Denmark: Sorry. And thanks for everything".

Parts of the book can be previewed on Google Books: Ahmed Akkari: Min afsked med islamismen. Chapter 1 can be read here: Ahmed Akkari: Min afsked med islamismen.

Screen grap from TV2: Ahmed Akkari, former imam, former spokesman for the Islamic society

No, you don't need to check your calender, this is not April Fools' Day. Ahmed Akkari who was one of the instigators behind the Mohammed Crisis - traveling around in the Middle East with fake Mohammed cartoons - now regrets his actions.

Here's a sample of today's news media (all Danish text): Akkari: Muhammed-tegningerne var ok (Akkari: The Mohammed cartoons were OK - Jyllands-Posten), Jeg skylder måske hele Danmark en undskyldning (I owe maybe all of Denmark an apology - TV2), Ahmed Akkari: Muhammed-tegningerne var i orden (Ahmed Akkari: The Mohammed cartoons were all right - Kristeligt Dagblad), Ahmed Akkari beklager sin kritik af Muhammed-tegninger (Ahmed Akkari regrets his criticism of Mohammed cartoons - JydskeVestkysten), Akkari: 'Jeg var ung og naiv' (Akkari: 'I was young and naive' - BT).

It seems a few years on Greenland has cooled his hot temper, and he now appears older, chubbier and wiser. He has cut his old connections with the Islamic society, cut his beard, and is in the process of divorcing his wife in Lebanon.

Akkari now stands up in order to warn against the danger of radicalization. He tells about his upbringing in Denmark, how his father wanted to stay outside the big cities to avoid influence from radical elements, and how he was himself enticed when he went to high school in Aalborg.

Let me quote (and translate) a bit from this article: Tidligere imam fortryder sin rolle i Muhammed-krisen: Nu forstår jeg tegningerne (Former imam regrets his role in the Mohammed crisis: Now I understand the cartoons - BT):

Since the Mohammed crisis Ahmed Akkari has retired from the general public and the role as imam and religious spokesman. When he now in spite of this chooses to stand up, it is partly because of what he considers an ominous development. If the inrush to the extreme Muslim circles is not curbed it may have serious consequences for the Danish society, he fears.

- One reproduces a specific worldview in people, totally without nuances. Everything is portrayed black an white as a struggle between them and the rest of the world, and after all, the reality is not like that. What makes it even more dangerous is that they have started to attract young people from the street gangs and prisons. These may not have the intellectual resources to evaluate critically what they are being told. And it is people, who are already on the outskirts of the Danish society and have troubles observing its rules. That combination is a powder keg. This can end with anything, says Akkari.

As examples of the dangerous teachings, he mentions that democracy and the Western separation of religion and legislation in several radical environments is considered an attack on Islam and the correct way of living, and that it therefore should be fought.

According to the now former imam, it is precisely the concept of having the monopoly on truth, and the opposition against any other opinions, that makes the Islamic radicalization dangerous for both the individual person as well as society.

Unfortunately, Akkari refrains from mentioning specific names, specific techniques or specific examples of how these radical forces are working. Cutting the ties to the neighborhood is not without danger.

Fogh Rasmussen by Lars Refn

The big news story in Denmark for the last few weeks has been whether or not our prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, would get the job as NATO's new secretary general.

All 26 countries agreed on Fogh Rasmussen except for Turkey. Apparently the Turks were still mad over -- wait for it -- the Mohammed Crisis. Yes, the Turks have never been able to forgive Fogh for telling them back in 2006 that a prime minister in a free country does not have the right to throw "blasphemous" cartoonists in jail.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan from the Muslim party AKP told how he had received phone calls from leaders of Muslim countries who had urged Turkey, Europe's only country with a predominantly Muslim population, to veto against Anders Fogh Rasmussen for the post as NATO's secretary general.

In return for allowing a staunch defender of free speech to become secretary general, Turkey has made an unspecified number of counter-demands, like having a Turkish vice-secretary general, closing down the local Kurdish ROJ-station in Denmark and, oh yes, apologizing to the "Islamic world" for the cartoons, which may in fact happen today in Istanbul.

Lars Refn, no fan of Fogh Rasmussen himself, made this drawing of Fogh with a Turkish fez:

A 500 years old Mohammed cartoon: Mohammed asleep while drunk

Do you remember two years ago, when Western media cowardly refused to show their audience the "terrible" cartoons, so the audience could form their own opinion? One of the most hypocritical papers was the N.Y.Times, who refused to show the cartoons they were describing (out of "respect"), but instead illustrated their article with a picture of the Virgin Mary made out of elephant dung - out of "respect" for whom?

But there was a time when the N.Y.Times were free of censorship. A 100 years ago, in November 1908 (PDF-file) the paper featured an almost full-size picture of a print by Lucas von Leyden illustrating the sad story of Mohammed's friend getting murdered and the drunken Mohammed getting the blame. From the article:

The famous print of the year, 1508, is an illustration of the story of the Prophet Mohammed and the Monk Sergius. Mohammed, when in company with his friend Sergius, drank too much wine and fell asleep. Before he awakened a soldier killed Sergius and placed the sword in Mohammed's hand. When the prophet wakened the soldier and his companions told him that while drunk he had slain the monk. Therefore Mohammed forbade the drinking of wine by his followers.

While Mohammed sleeps, the murderer places a sword in his hand.

It's a sad story indeed. According to the N.Y.Times, Mohammed was a drunkard, who didn't even know whether he had killed his good friend.

The N.Y.Times even informs us that parts of the Holy Quran were made up by Mohammed. Wine, we're told, is forbidden in the Quran, not because Allah wills it, but because of Mohammed's moral hangover.

It's a sad story indeed that the N. Y. Times were less fettered by censorship a hundred years ago than today.

The picture in the article isn't very clear, so click at the one to the left instead.

Cartoonist Erik Abild Sørensen dies, age 89. From Flemming Rose's private Blog:

Erik Abild Soerensen, one of the 12 cartoonists that back in 2005 contributed to Jyllands-Postens cartoons of the prophet Muhammed has died at the age of 89.

This is a rather old story, actually it goes back to 1831. From USINFO:

The December 13, 2004, issue of the London-based, pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat contains an article stating that Cairo’s Al-Azhar Islamic Academy wishes to ban a book critical of Islam authored by the alleged grandfather of President George W. Bush, who was also named George Bush.

Reuters carried a story on the controversy on December 13, 2004, describing the book’s author as an ancestor of the current president.

Reverend George Bush published his "Life of Mohammed" in 1831, and as could be expected, the good reverend did not mollycoddle the "impostor" Mohammed: "All therefore that can now be expected is such a selection and arrangement and investment of the leading particulars of the Impostor's history [. . .]"

Once he got warmed up he started quoting the apocalyptic prophecies - first there was the little horn from Daniel:

"The result, therefore, of the whole inquiry must be, that by the little horn, described in this chapter of Daniel, is symbolized the spiritual kingdom of Mohammedanism."

The locusts from St. John's Revelation was another symbol of the "Saracens":

"In the Revelation of John, this deficiency is supplied ; and we are furnished with two distinct and accurate paintings, both of the Saracenic locusts under their exterminating leader, and of the Euphratean horsemen of the four Turkish Sultanies.

[. . .]

And there came out of the pit locusts upon the earth. Arabia has long been noted for giving birth to prodigious swarms of locusts, which often overspread and lay waste the neighbouring countries ; and it is remarkable, that in a genuine Arabian romance, the locust is introduced as the national emblem of the Ishmaelites. The symbol, therefore, of the locusts issuing out of the smoke strikingly represents the armies of the Saracens, the martial followers of the prophet, first engendered, as it were, amid the fumes of his religion, and then marching forth, at his command, to conquer and to proselyte the world."

The original 1831 edition can be read online or downloaded from The Internet Archive: Life of Mohammed. The book doesn't contain any images, but a later reprint from 1900 with a frontispiece can be downloaded from Muhammadanism.

The book was recently reprinted at least twice, so George Bush is now the cause of at least three Mohammed cartoons. In case you're wondering, the Rev. George Bush, A.M. was the cousin of Obadiah Bush, who was the great-great-great grandfather of president George W. Bush.


Added: If you're wondering why I'm suddenly so interested in a book from 1831, it's because of the latest output from the rumor mill - Christian and Muslim leaders unite against anti-Muslim cartoons:

In our research we discovered that the first one who intentionally published a picture demeaning the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) was one of the forefathers of the current US President, George W. Bush. That was in his book titled “Life of Mohammad,” published in 1831 in which he called for “destroying the empire of Islam to establish the Empire of God represented in a Jewish state exclusive for Jews in Palestine”. The book made dangerous accusations against the Prophet (pbuh) and set the tone for a new ideology geared to stir conflict between religions. It is the same ideology of the current President Bush who during his recent visit to Israel voiced support for the Jewish state.

As already stated, the Reverend Bush was not a forefather of the Current president of U.S. of A., and the 1831 edition does not contain any illustrations at all. Once again precious hours of my life has been spent on chasing another Islamic wild goose.

However, the reprint from 1900 does contain a portrait of Mohammed, although it could hardly be considered "demeaning".

Kurt Westergaard at work (movie still from "Bloody Cartoons")

Murder plot against Danish cartoonist (Jyllands-Posten, English article)

Early Tuesday morning, Danish police arrested several people with a Muslim background suspected of conspiring to kill Kurt Westergaard, a Danish cartoonist with Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten.

Apparently the would-be murderers are two Tunisians (who will be deported) and a 40-year old Danish citizen of Moroccan descent, who'll be released after interrogation. The police have known about the plans for at least 3 months: Interview with artist. Running from murder plans (Danish text, my translation):

"When I came home, three bodyguards were standing with guns. We were told that we could do whatever we wanted. As long as we disappeared from our homes."

[. . .] the threat has never been as concrete as the information that the Security and Intelligence Service (PET) brought to him 3 months ago: "They want to kill you. They will do it here in your home. They know where you live. And they know your home well enough that they have been able to draw a basic plan over the design of the house."

Speaking of Islamofascists - do you remember the Iranian rioter who was shown "red-handed" in front of the Danish Embassy in Iran during the riots in 2006?



Danish journalist Karsten Kjaer has made a documentary where he travels around the Middle East, interviewing all the muftis and imams who were behind the riots. It turns out - surprise, surprise - that none of them had ever seen the cartoons.

Karsten Kjaer located the old man (who turned out to be pretty pleasant when he isn't busy burning down Danish embassies). He hadn't seen the cartoons either - he had simply been told by the government's Basij Forces that "the infidel Danes have insulted our Prophet".

Karsten Kjaer proceeds to show him the terrible Kurt Westergaard cartoon, and the old man hides his face from fear: His eternal soul is clearly in danger:



But when he actually sees Kurt Westergaard's cartoon, he relaxes again: Mohammed looks like an Indian Sikh:





Indeed. Who is to tell whether a given cartoon "is the Prophet Mohammed". Just like this famous poster shown below: Karsten Kjaer bought it at a religious supermarket in Iran, where he was told by his governmentally assigned guide that it was the last Mohammed-poster for sale. According to the guide, the supermarket stopped selling Mohammed icons and posters after the Mohammed crisis. Something about Shiite Muslims respecting Sunni dogma. Or something.

Other people will tell you the poster is not a picture of Mohammed, but instead his cousin Ali. So who's to say whether Westergaard's cartoon is an image of Mohammed, Ali or an Indian Sikh?



You can see the movie here: Bloody Cartoons (English dialogue and sub-titles). See below


Added: In case you never saw the original page back in September 2005, Jyllands-Posten has put it online here: Jyllands-Posten's twelve cartoons (PDF-file)



Added: The above link to the movie is only to a short teaser. The whole movie can be streamed from this address: mms://wms.dr.dk/storage/PP/dril/dmb/03-10-2007/51729_320x240x500K.wmv. Alternatively, you can go to Denmark's Radio, click "2" and then click "Se filmen".

I have been asked in the comments section, about why I made this Blog.

In the beginning was the Word, and the word was Danish. When I created my Blog back in May 2004, it was in Danish, commenting mostly on the Danish Church - hence the name Bibelen, which means "the Bible" in Danish.

Icons like these were sold in Iran until after the Mohammed crisis.

My Blog had almost come to a stand-still - with no posts in September 2005 (when the cartoons appeared in Jyllands-Posten), and neither did I post anything in October and November.

Late December I got curious about all the hubbub about these cartons. Everybody talked about them, but nobody had seen them, so I wanted to see them for myself in order to form my own opinion - and let me tell you: They were hard to find! I searched for days, and being stubborn and technically minded I did at last succeed in finding them. But the point is: If you wanted to become offended back in December 2005, you had to work hard for it!

Having found the cartoons I then decided to post them in Danish to show my fellow Danes how harmless and bland these cartoons were - half of the so'called Mohammed cartoons don't even show Mohammed. I actually believed, that displaying them would defuse the anger. Yup, naïve.

To my surprise I discovered that the cartoons brought on a great number of visitors from the entire world. So I started retro-fitting some of the old posts into English. To my dismay I also received countless death threats in the comments section. So much for my contribution to world peace.

I started following the case around the clock - literally. I discovered that Danish imams were spreading false rumors in the Middle East, while on the other hand it was very hard to see why the cartoons were offending, since they in no way break Islamic law. Did I mention that Danish Islamic Society has repeatedly stated that the cartoons published in Weekendavisen were much more offending than those in Jyllands-Posten?

One of the drawings produced by the Danish Islamic Society. I'm still waiting for 1,300,000,000 Muslims to explain why it was okay for the imams to publish and distribute these images.

Then came the revelation: Danish imams were spreading offensive images of Mohammed as a pedophile child molester. That's right, the double-tongued imams were talking about peace home in Denmark, while spreading offensive material of their own production in the Middle East and even showing them on the B.B.C.. And it wasn't only the Danish imams, the the Egyptian Foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, had 15 meetings with the Danish Foreign minister, where he assured that all was dandy - while Egyptian diplomacy helped giving the Danish imams access to spread their lies, distortions and false blasphemous Mohammed cartoons at all the major congresses in the Middle East.

For a while I thought that if only we could tell the Muslim world how the imams had fooled the Danes with their double dealings - and how the Danish imams had produced Mohammad cartoons that were far more offensive than anything ever published in a Danish newspaper, then the riots would fall down. That's why I worked arond-the-clock - investigating, translating, discussing and writing.

Yup, still naïve!

Well, eventually the rioters found themselves some new victims, an incautious word by the Pope, a Bangladeshi cartoonist, a Swedish artist, and currently it's a school-teacher who foolishly let her pupils name their teddy bear after a class mate called Mohammed.

Bottom line is, if you're a Muslim and if the cartoons offend you, don't blame Jyllands-Posten, who only posted them once, don't blame me, who knew nothing about them until the orchestrated riots had gone on for months, but blame the lying imams, who duplicated, published and distributed the cartoons all over the world, and who repeatedly and insistently have pushed their pedophile Mohammad cartoons into yours and mine faces.

The French/Algerian journalist, Mohammed Sifaoui, who caught the Danish imams on candid camera, has written a book about the cartoon crisis - Dessins et Manipulations.

According to Sifaoui, the affair over the caricatures has demonstrated, how Islamists try to subdue the Western democracies with their religious dictates. But the affair has also functioned as a thermometer for courage and cowardice in the Western countries.

The front page is illustrated by Ramo, a Muslim artist of Algerian descent. The left side shows three imams producing fake Mohammed cartoons. One of them has made a drawing of Mohammed as a pig and says, "I have one, which will make trouble". The imams don't bear any physical resemblance to Kasem Said Ahmad, Ahmed Akkari or Abu Laban.

On the right hand side "Mohammed expresses himself at last" and says, "The first ones to insult the Muslim religion are those, who kill innocent people in the name of Islam."

Israel is attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon and the civilians are getting worried. Strangely, a large proportion of the Lebanese population turns out to be Danish (5,000 people), Swedish (6,000) or Canadian (30,000). Apparently lots of people, who have received asylum, are now on vacation in the very country from which they have ostensibly fled.

Akkari hiding behind the Danish flag.

Luckily, the Danish embassy which was burned down in February is functioning again. But it turns out that one of these people with Danish passports Danes is none other than Ahmed Akkari - one of the lying imams, who travelled the Middle East with their fake Mohammed cartoons and thus were directly responsible for the embassy burnings.

Danes, Swedes lead evacuation race (CNN)

The Danes got a test run in crisis management earlier this year when newspaper cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad triggered violent protests against Danish embassies in Muslim countries.

One of the Danish Muslims who spearheaded the rallies against the prophet drawings, Lebanese-born Ahmad Akkari, was among those evacuated from Beirut on Thursday.

"My impression is that the transportation has been safe and that no one has been suffering," Akkari told Denmark's TV2 channel as he boarded a Greek ferry chartered by Denmark.

Ahmed Akkari has Danish citizenship since he only received a suspended sentence for violence in 2001. His wife and daughter are not Danish, but have now received a temporary residency permit.

So Akkari and his family are going to Denmark. This time Akkari is neither burning the Danish flag - nor trampling on it - but hiding behind it.

Added: Fixed typo, 30,000 Canadians - not "30,0000" (thank you, Unright@Fark).

Added: According to Danish Television (Danish text), 5,300 people have been evacuated. 47 of these weren't Danish citizens but have received a 90 days temporary residency permit (this group includes Akkari's wife and daughter). Among the evacuated are at least 10 criminals, who were expelled from Denmark for a period of no less than five years, but who have been granted a visa.