Christians Under Attack

Democracy-minded Moslems to join. See this article for biography and background on the enmity between Naser Khader and the Imams in Denmark.

Today Jyllands-Posten reports that Imam Ahmed Akkari was recorded on a hidden camera by journalist Mohamed Sifaoui of the French TV-Station France 2 which will show a documentary tonight detailing the doings of the Danish Imams. The documentary also reveals that the Danish Imams have been using the affair as a lever to go against their political opponents in Denmark.
Ahmed Akkari is quoted as saying:

If [Naser Khader] becomes the Minister of Foreigners or Integration, why don’t we send out two guys to blow up him and his ministry?

 

The Danish reaction to this has been consternation and revulsion.
Peter Skaarup of the Danish People’s Party:

It’s pure threats and it only goes to show how crazy these Imams have been acting. I will at once ask the Minister what punishment can be given for making such statements and whether it is a punishable offense,

 

Jens Rohde of the Liberals:

This is certainly very disturbing and it shows what we’re up against. That’s also why I am worried about what is happening at that conference in Bahrain which Ahmed Akkari is a delegate to

 

Ahmed Akkari denies:

I’ve never said anything like that about Naser Khader, but they are welcome to try and prove it

 

UPDATE 1
Politiken reports that Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen of the Social Liberals has reported Imam Ahmed Akkari to the police:

The police must investigate whether the French documentary checks out and whether things are as Jyllands-Posten says. If they are, that statement deserves the harshest condemnations.
[…]
I feel very sorry for my colleague and his family . It’s absolutely horrible that he has to live with threats of murder and must be guarded by the police.

 

The police say that an inquiry is under way:

From what we know so far, it is relevant to start an inquiry.
[…]
[whether it is punishable] depends on under what circumstances the statement was made. And whether they create real fear and discomfort. The fact that the threats are now being quoted in the media is also relevant.

 

The police in Berlingske Tidende:

We’re investigating whether there is grounds for prosecuting him for these threats. We need to find out what kind of documentation the journalists have and we need to talk with the persons involved.

 

Ahmed Akkari now calls it a “joke”:

If they think I have said that, then I must have been jesting.
[…]
You also need to understand, from the context, that I wasn’t being serious because I usually don’t say stuff like that - not even in jest. But sometimes things happen.

 

This blog would like to remind Ahmed Akkari of the time he beat a little boy till he bled. Was that just “one of those times”?

UPDATE 2
Naser Khader has recovered enough to give a statement to the news agency Ritzau. Ritzaus reports that he is still shaken by the statement but wants to see the documentary and hear what is said in Arabic before he issues a statement.

But this is in any case still very, very discomforting.

 

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has issued a statement:

I only know of the case from the media. But if things are the way they seem, I find reason to express horror that anyone could seriously consider saying that. It’s quite shocking shocking that an elected Danish politician is threatened like that. I assume the police will investigate what’s what in this case and then I count on them to deal with it.

 

The Vice President of Democratic Moslems, Fathi el-Abed says:

Words are powerful - we learned that from this crisis. I think it’s childish, shocking and reprehensible that he says something and then takes it back because the public gets wind of it.

 

This is the latest from the police. Per Larsen, Chief Inspector:

This seems to be serious. If the words that have been reported to have been said were said, this is a case of Threats on a Person’s Life. This needs to be thoroughly investigated.
[…]
With the reservation that we must know how the threats were made, it sounds like we might want to interrogate the people who are on their way home from Bahrain.

 

UPDATE 3
From the ten o’clock TV2 news programme.
Ahmed Akkari by telephone from Bahrain:

If I said that, I think the cirumstances must have been not very serious and only in jest ehh… and I of course clearly distance myself from any thing of this kind and also assure Naser that it isn’t anything I can vouch for.

 

Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller:

What I’ve seen from the newspapers doesn’t look very nice at all. And if he was joking, he’s got a very bad sense of humour.

 

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen:

I think that, in any case - even if one is only toying with the thought of terrorist attacks against elected representatives - it is a gravely serious matter, which one must distance oneself from to the greatest degree. Apart from that, I assume as a matter of course that the Police will make inquiries into this matter.

 

Peter Lautrup Larsen, TV2’s Resident Political Expert:

Of course [Ahmed Akkari’s remarks] have been noticed. That the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister feel that they must comment on this, shows that it is something the politicians view very gravely. Even if Ahmed Akkari says it’s just a joke. As the Foreign Minister said; it’s a very bad joke indeed then.

 

Peter Lautrup Larsen also says that the Prime Minister said off-camera that it’s funny how it’s seemingly okay to joke about something in one context [Ahmed Akkari’s remarks] and not in another context [the Muhammed Cartoons].

UPDATE 4
Hat tip: Uriasposten
The programme will be sent tonight 8.50 on France 2 in the series of programmes known as Envoye-Special (Trans: Special Correspondents). Link to the introduction to the programme here.
Translated:

Caricatures: Beneath the Anger
A report by Mohammed Sifaoui

 

Following the publication of the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammed, the Moslem world ignited. Ransacked embassies, flag burnings and confrontations between police force and demonstrators caused the death of thirty people.

Following the violent reactions in many countries, several Danish newspapers spoke about manipulation. That is what a team of Special Correspondents wanted to investigate in Denmark.

At the source of the extensive media coverage in the Arab Muslim world: a group of imams. They’re Danish and it is they who gave international significance to what was at the beginning only a simple matter of the press.

The investigation very quickly will show that these Imams are actually islamists. They use the matter of the caricatures to settle a score with Jyllands-Posten, the newspaper which published the drawings. This daily newspaper on several occasions had criticized the goals and activities of these imams. To ignite the Islamic world, these clerics prepared and disseminated to a wide audience a file with accusations against Denmark which didn’t contain only the famous caricatures of Muhammed. It is this file which was sent with the assistance of certain ambassadors to the Moslem authorities of several Arab countries. The imams admit adding these vulgar photographs and insulting drawings which have no relation to the caricatures.

The journalists of the Envoye-Special gained the confidence of some of these imams. These “clerics” do not hide their views. They regard secular people as “enemies” and try to promote a radical Islam.

A report about Mohammed Sifaoui: Journalist penetrated Islamic extremist groups in Paris

UPDATE 5
Berlingske Tidende have been quick to get their correspondent in Paris on the case and have an interview with Mohamed Sifaoui here. Note that Ahmed Akkari is of Lebanese origins.
Translated the good bits:

Are the quotes by Jyllands-Posten correct?
They are entirely correct(…) He said it in Arabic and I had three different persons translate it. I speak Arabic myself, but to exercise due dilligence, I also had it translated by some Lebanese people to be sure.
Ahmed Akkari denies that he has ever been in a car with Sheikh Raed Hlayhel and a French journalist?
I think that the best answer is that you see him for yourself in the car with me filming him with a hidden camera.
In your opinion, was he serious when he said he would blow up Naser Khader?
I don’t know.
Did you ask if he was serious?
I didn’t ask. I didn’t even react. I was there as an observer, I didn’t want to react. I looked out the window while filming and pretended not to follow their conversation. I didn’t want to interrupt their conversation. Since they were talking, I was filming.
It was Akkari and Hlayhel who were talking?
Yes, I pretended not to be there. I didn’t encourage them with questions, nothing at all. I said nothing. I got into the car, they started talking and I was filming. I didn’t ask any questions at all.
How did you gain the trust of the Imams?
I won the trust of Abu Laban first and foremost… (…) Abu Laban was in the other car. He was being filmed by my colleague.

 

UPDATE 6
Screenshots from the documentary:
Abu Zakaria talking with Mohamed Sifaoui
Ahmed Akkari in the car
Sheikh Raed Hlayhel

Ahmed Akkari has issued a public apology. It’s funny that he has to defend himself with the words that were used to defend the cartoons. Funny in a hilarious way. Really hilarious. “In Denmark there is a tradition for humour, irony, sarcasm and jests…” I don’t believe him, by the way.
Translated from TV2:

No threat to Naser Khader
I have learned that a recording made with a hidden camera has caused much debate in the media in Denmark.

 

The recording was of a group of people talking and having a good time. The mood was loose and free, and jokes were made. In this mood and spirit I said what has now been understood as a threat against Naser Khader.

I would like to emphasise that my remark carried no serious intent and that Naser Khader of course need not feel threatened by me. It was said in jest only and looking back I see that it may have been a bit out of place and too rough on the edges.

In Denmark there is a tradition for humour, sarcasm, irony and jests and I have often heard jests of an equally jestful nature from many different parties. Not just Moslems.

Both I and other Moslems in Denmark have have always had the position on Naser Khader and his political career that when we feel we must oppose him we do so, but only with words. Unfortunately a cheerful mood can sometimes escalate and I deeply regret that this statement, which was made in jest only, has been taken seriously.

Who only sees jest as jest

And the serious as only serious…

The last part is part of a gruk (kind of a saying) by Piet Hein, which goes so in Danish: “Den som kun tager spøg for spøg, og alvor kun alvorligt, han og hun har faktisk fattet begge dele dårligt”
Translated: “Who only sees jest as jest, and the serious as only serious, he and she has understood both things poorly.”

So which is it? Jest or serious?

When we’re talking about people who supported the September 11 attacks, it is hard for mere mortals to tell the difference.

UPDATE 7
DR.DK has brought a list of statements by politicians about this case. Some of them are new.

Spokesman on Immigrant Politics, Elsebeth Gerner Nielsen, Social Liberals:

Murder threats are not somthing to jest about and particularly not in the current situation. I can’t distance myself enough from those statements. Some things seem to indicate that he is a criminal or in any case insane.

 

Chairman of Conservatives’ parliament group, Helge Adam Møller:

We have long known that Ahmed Akkari speaks with a forked tongue, but that one of its forks is so poisonous is, after all, a surprise to me.

 

Coming up in next update: Translation of an article which describes the documentary.

UPDATE 8
Sorry, didn’t get that translation done. This interview came up. From Denmark’s Radio. Link.

Interviewer: Akkari, I would like to begin this with reading to you a quote: “If he becomes the Minister of Foreigners or Integration, why don’t we send out two guys to blow up him and his ministry?” who spoke those words?

Akkari: I don’t recall saying anything either in jest or in earnest. If it happened, it is regrettable and a very crude jest, which I immediately and at once want to express my regrets for and distance myself from.

Interviewer: What is it you find jesting about those words?

Akkari: Perhaps there isn’t anything funny about them. It’s more sarcastic and out of proportions in a light-hearted context… And it’s very unfortunate that something like that is taken seriously because there’s no intent there, at all.

Interviewer: But what might make you - in jest - threaten to murder a prominent Danish politician?

Akkari: Our tongues can, all of us, run to the right or to the left and I think that’s what happened in very simple circumstances where there’s been a slightly humourous situation… and talked a bit to the right or to the left about something funny.

Interviewer: Do we agree that it is serious to threaten a Danish politician with murder?

Akkari: I will write him a letter to insure him that it wasn’t the intent at all… and that I have eh… never wished nor do I wish… I take strong exception to anyone who would plan or think of something like that… Whether it’s in jest or in earnest, it’s totally reprehensible.

Interviewer: What’s your comment on having been reported to the police?

Akkari: Eeehh… I don’t think that anything… comes from that because it’s something that’s totally unserious and something that’s… I take exception to in the most direct way and I also assure Naser that it isn’t something he was meant by.

Interviewer: But if you’re saying that you’ve acted in an irresponsible manner here, how do you imagine Danish Moslems and the Danish population in general respecting you and taking you serious in the future as spokesman for Moslems in Denmark?

Akkari: One thing is what one usually says, another thing is that… anyone can err - we are human, have that as something we were built with that that error may happen so people will have to judge by the whole and not by such a single, unique rather unconcentrated situation in a car where there’s a lot of loose talk.

Interviewer: The last couple of days, I have several times asked you whether you could give me any guarantees that what you’re saying in front of the camera is the same as you’re saying in the nooks while talking to your Moslem brothers. What do you think of the fact that you, time upon time, have told me that you could guarentee that - you weren’t one to talk with a forked tongue, that you’re reliable, that you have but one message: Peace and reconciliation?

Akkari: Eeeh… All people joke about certain things eeeehh… which they usually don’t support… eeeh… or normally say - express that that is their position. I think that’s what happened - there’s come a serious, crude joke which is no more. I have rejected it and taken clear exception to it. It’s nothing I in any way have any intent of doing.

Interviewer: Do you think you can continue on as spokesman for the Islamic Faith Community of Denmark?

Akkari: I think the line is clear and there’s nothing to mix up with this. So.. eh, yes I don’t see that it’s a problem, what’s happened.

Interviewer: But isn’t it hard to have a serious, respected spokesman who goes around and, in jest, threatens to murder Danish politicians?

Akkari: No, because I have threatened to kill nobody and this has been a completely unacceptable situation.

Interviewer: But how do you explain that it happens, that you’re sitting in the company of another Imam and an undercover journalist crack that kind of joke. What makes you crack such a joke?

Akkari: I think it’s been a rather light-hearted situation where people have been talking right and left, and then one can sometimes overdo it in describing a catastrophe, or a problem. So I think that’s all that’s been the meaning of that.

Interviewer: Will there, in the future, be uncovered other quotes where you maybe have threatened other Danish politicians or said anything else, that might contravene your official position of peace and reconciliation?

Akkari: I think that all my official an unofficial positions are of the same cloth, but both you and everybody else can sometimes say and use some words which they normally don’t.. approve of or really mean in conditions of light-heartedness and… I don’t drink [alcohol] but others do and the things one say when there’s a light-hearted mood, that is what happens.

Interviewer: But have you made other, similar, remarks where you’ve threatened to kill other Danish politicians or doing something similarly radical?

Akkari: I couldn’t even remember the reference to that, before you mention it, so I don’t think I have said it, and if I have said that then I take exception to myself and those statements - if there’s something to it - where my tongue was faster than my brain in such a special situation.

Interviewer: How do you think the Danish people should view you after these statements - in jest - about killing a Danish politician?

Akkari: It’s not statements about killing a Danish politician. And I think the people have more reason and sense to understand these kinds of things than one would think.

Interviewer: So you’re certain that the Danish people will forgive what you call an innocent joke?

Akkari: That’s up to them, but I am sure that people see that this isn’t anything to be taken seriously at all.

[Camera changes, interviewer out of picture. Ahmed Akkari seen being interviewed]

Akkari: We have made satire and poked fun at many things and…

[Camera changes back]

Interviewer: Do you understand that it might be hard for Danes to accept that it’s not okay to make caricatures of Muhammed, but that it’s okay to threaten - in jest - to kill a Danish politician?

Akkari: That’s a wrong conclusian and comparison to make of this.

Interviewer: Isn’t it very natural? You’ve been very angry, very offended that your prophet has been offended, but now you’ve - in jest - threatened to kill a politician. How do you think Naser Khader feels today?

Akkari: I hope he feels only safe because we all know that stuff like this is ridiculous and not acceptable. Good.

[Camera moves, another journalist moves in]

Interviewer 2: You were confronted with your statement…

[time lapse in interview]

Akkari: … recorded it, then I must have said it, otherwise I wouldn’t remember it.

Interviewer 2: So you DID say it?

Akkari: If they can document it with a tape, it must have been said, I can’t say more than that.

[another journalist]

Interviewer 3: Do you doubt that you’ve said it? Because they write..

Akkari: Yes, I do. But I don’t have…

[time lapse again, original journalist back in the game]

Interviewer: How do you think your threats against Naser Khader affect the situation for Danish Moslems?

Akkari: I don’t think they have to affect anything, because if we have a public who understand things in proportions, nothing will happen, but if one is very narrow-minded, I do understand how…

Interviewer: But don’t you think you’ve hurt the cause of Moslems in Denmark by threatening to kill a Danish politician?

Akkari: No, I don’t think that will happen, because, as I have said, it’s something that’s.. a unique situation.

UPDATE 9
Naser Khader is considering resigning his mandate in the Danish parliament Folketinget. JP has published a report by Ritzau’s bureau quoting a statement made to TV2’s news programme by Naser Khader saying that he is considering leaving Danish politics following the death threat made by Ahmed Akkari. It says that the last few months have put him under intense pressure and he has had to accept protection by the Police Intelligence Service. According to TV2, Naser Khader has experienced very unpleasant episodes, i.a. confrontations with the Moslem extremist of Hizb-ut-Tahrir and other radical organisations. He has also received death threats by mail.

Therefore he has chosen to take a political time-out before announcing his decision.

Marianne Jelved, the leader of the Social Liberals says to DR about the news that she has had contact with Naser Khader and that:

He and his family are understandably very shaken. They need a bit of peace this weekend. We in the parliamentary group will give all possible support to Naser Khader and his family. I don’t hope that he does that, resigns from politics. It’s unbearable, but I respect that he needs a few days of peace.

 

Friend of Naser Khader, parliamentarian Morten Helveg Petersen of the Social Liberals says to Politiken:

Naser is the symbol of seperation between religion and politics and that is why this is bigger than just that forked-tongued guy Akkari. As a religious leader he has a responsibility to not create a situation and to not deceive. That responsibility he has failed totally and my fear is that it has an effect in places we don’t know well enough. That’s why there’s cause for concern.

 

————————–
Translated the first article to report on this, from Jyllands-Posten today:
(Not available online, though an online shorter version is available here)

Imams Busted by Hidden Camera

By PERNILLE AMMITZBØLL and JØRGEN ULLERUP

French TV tonight reveals the truth about the Danish Imams. According to France 2, Imam Ahmed Akkari mentions the possibility of blowing up Naser Khader of the Social Liberals, while Sheikh Raed Hlayhel want to create an atmosphere of hate against Jyllands-Posten. Major protests from Danish politicians.

/Paris/

The aggressive defense by the Danish Imams in the row surrounding Jyllands-Posten is accompanied by an aggressive campaign against the Democratic Moslems organisation and against critics in the press, especially Jyllands-Posten.

That will be revealed tonight in a documentary from Denmark on the French TV-Station France 2, whose journalists have used hidden cameras to get a look at the Imams’ real doings.

Threat with a smile
In a central part of the documentary, Imam Ahmed Akkari indirectly threatens the leader of the Democratic Moslems, Naser Khader, who he suggest they murder if he becomes a minister.

“If he becomes the Minister of Foreigners or Integration, why don’t we send out two guys to blow up him and his ministry?” says the spokesman for the delegation of Moslems who travelled the Middle East.

The remark was delivered with a smile in Arabic, while the Arab journalist behind the programme, Mohamed Sifaoui, was sitting next to him in the car’s back seat. But Akkari didn’t know he was being recorded. Sifaoui didn’t make clear whether the statement should be considered as being ironic or a provocation.

Khader Shocked
Naser Khader yesterday was still too shocked to comment on Ahmed Akkari’s statements.

Peter Skaarup of the Danish People’s Party plans to bring the matter to Minister of Justice Lene Espersen’s attention.

“It’s pure threats and it only goes to show how crazy these Imams have been acting. I will at once ask the Minister what punishment can be given for making such statements and whether it is a punishable offense,” says Peter Skaarup.

Jens Rohde of the Liberals is also shocked by the statement.

“This is certainly very disturbing and it shows what we’re up against. That’s also why I am worried about what is happening at that conference in Bahrain which Ahmed Akkari is a delegate to,” says Jens Rohde.

Also Jyllands-Posten is targeted by the Imams’ wrath. During the same drive in Copenhagen, Sheikh Raed Hlayhel, Imam for the Mosque on Hrimhøjvej in Aarhus that, that it is important to keep the pot boiling and to create a climate of hate against Jyllands-Posten. He didn’t know he was being recorded, either.

Targeted Campaign
From other parts of the documentary, we learn that the Imams have consciously targeted their campaign specifically against Jyllands-Posten and not against any of the other newspapers who have printed Jyllands-Posten’s cartoons. Imam Abu Bilal from Aarhus accuses Jyllands-Posten of being run by Jews and Abu Laban explains that it’s about getting at the root of the problem.

“This only confirms my suspicions. These Imams aren’t going for the ball, they’re targeting the player. They’ve given Jyllands-Posten the evil eye and use religion as a lever, but now they’ve been caught red-handed at trying to use the situation for political gains,” says Peter Skaarup.

Ahmed Akkari denies ever being in a car with Sheikh Raed Hlayhel and a French Journalist.

“I’ve never said anything like that about Naser Khader, but they are welcome to try and prove it, ” he says.

Sheikh Raed Hlayhel also denies having said what the French documentary says he did.

“It’s absurd, the hatred against the newspaper has always been there,” says Raed Hlayhel.