Call for cartoon protest in Amsterdam

8 February 2006

AMSTERDAM – Mewssages have been posted on discussion forums for Muslims in the Netherlands to announce a silent demonstration in Amsterdam against the Danish cartoons that have “insulted our Prophet and our religion”.

The call has been made in the name of the ‘Muslim Community’ but it is unclear how much support there will be among Muslims in the Netherlands. The message was posted on the Muslim forums AlMaghribia.nl and Maroc.nu by ‘admin’, the name used by a 19-year-old man who gives his location as Morocco.

He said the Muslims had to show they felt insulted by the publication by Dutch newspaper ‘De Volkskrant’ and others of the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

“By this demonstration we want to deliver a peaceful message, namely that we can, as Muslims, unite and let our voice be heard in a peaceful manner.

‘Admin’ said the intention is to told a silent demonstration and he asked people intent on causing trouble to stay at home.

Meanwhile, staff at AlMaghribia.nl and Maroc.nu have been working overtime in recent days to remove a deluge of offensive postings stemming from the row about the Mohammed cartoons.

Both sites were used almost exclusively by Muslims until late 2004. Publicity about the sites following the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh led to many non-Muslims to sign up to trade verbal blows with followers of Islam.

Subject: Dutch news