Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Kurt Westergaard 1935 - 2021

 


Kurt Westergaard, a Danish cartoonist who is known for his Jyllands-Posten 2005 cartoon of the prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb as his turban, died in his sleep after a long illness at the age of 86 on July 14, 2021. 

His cartoon was one of the

"... Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons, which triggered several assassinations and committed murders by Islamists around the world, diplomatic conflicts and state-organized riots and attacks on Western embassies with several dead in Muslim countries. After the drawing of the cartoon, Westergaard received numerous death threats and was a target of assassination attempts. As a result, he was under constant police protection."

-- from his Wikipedia page 

 

From The Guardian:

 

"Islamic tradition says no image of the prophet should be produced or shown.

"The anger escalated into anti-Danish violence across the Muslim world in 2006 in which dozens died, with Danish embassies attacked, including the one in Damascus which was burned down.

"The violence linked to the cartoons culminated in a 2015 massacre in France that left 12 people dead at the Paris office of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which had reprinted the cartoons in 2012.

"A total of 17 people were murdered across three days in a series of attacks that horrified France. All three assailants were killed in shootouts with the police, leaving only accomplices to face trial.

"Death threats against Westergaard personally eventually forced him into hiding. In 2008 Denmark’s three main newspapers reprinted the cartoon after the arrest of three men for plotting to murder the artist. One was released without charge, another deported and a third sent to an asylum centre.

"In early 2010, Danish police caught a 28-year-old Somalian armed with a knife and axe in Westergaard’s house, where he was planning to kill him."

 

Via France24:



Related:

The Daily Cartoonist

 

 

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