Danish Paper Rejected Jesus Cartoon
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Gwladys Fouche'
The Guardian (UK)
Monday February 6, 2006

Jyllands-Posten, the Danish newspaper that first published the cartoons of The Prophet Muhammad that have caused a storm of protest throughout the Islamic World, refused to run drawings lampooning Jesus christ, it has emerged today.

The Danish daily turned down the cartoons of christ three years ago, on the grounds that they could be offensive to readers and were not funny.

In April 2003, Danish illustrator Christoffer Zieler submitted a series of unsolicited cartoons dealing with the resurrection of christ to Jyllands-Posten.

Zieler received an email back from the papers' Sunday editor, Jens Kaiser, which said:

"I don't think Jyllands-Posten's readers will enjoy the drawings.
As a matter of fact, I think that they will provoke an outcry.
Therefore, I will not use them."

The Jyllands-Posten editor in question, Mr. kaiser, said that the case was "ridiculous to bring forward now." It has nothing to do with the Muhammad cartoons.

"In the Muhammad drawings case, we asked the illustrators to do it.
I did not ask for these cartoons. That's the difference," he said.

"The illustrartor thought his cartoons were funny. I did not think so.
It would offend some readers, not much but some."

The decision smacks of "double-standards," said Ahmed Akkari spokesman for the Danish-based European Committee for Prophet Honouring, the umbrella groups that represents 27 Muslim organizations that are campaigning for a full apology from Jyllands-Posten.

"How can Jyllands-Posten distinguish the two cases?
Surely they must understand," Mr. Akkari added.

Source:
http://guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1703501,00.html?gusrc=rss