Thursday, February 02, 2006

UAE boycotts Danish goods!!

All the markets in UAE continue to boycott the Danish goods for the fourth day, even famous series such as Spinneys and Carrefour have joined the campaign against the Danish government and have asked it for an apology.
The case has began in September, when a Danish newspaper first sparked a furor by publishing 12 cartoons, one of which depicted the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse.
Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the Prophet, even respectful ones, out of concern that such images could lead to idolatry.
According to local newspapers, this boycott made the Danish companies lose between 150 and 200 million Dhs ( about 60 million dollars till now).
Yesterday I went to do some shopping from Carrefour which I think is French series of hypermarkets, and saw some empty shelves with signs wrote on them (here where sold some Danish goods), the same thing with Spinneys but without any sign, just empty shelves.
The Danish newspaper did apologize for this act, But I think when it was too late.
Now the Muslims around the world want an official apology from the Danish Government .
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said he could not apologize on behalf of the paper, he said: “I would like to emphasize that the Danish Government condemns any expression, action or indication that attempts to demonize groups on the basis of their religion or ethnic background.
The Danish prime minister refused to apologize because it was against their constitution, since the newspaper was a private company.
The crisis is still on, but I think it will be solved within a few days, because so many Danish companies are loosing millions everyday, and this boycott will lead to some discussion.
The Boycott is not only in UAE, but also in Saudi Arabia and many other Muslim countries.