Associated Press
CAIRO: Egypt s largest Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood, on Saturday denounced what it called new Danish insults to Islam and urged the world to boycott countries that allow offenses to all religions.
The Brotherhood s condemnation came a day after word spread about a Web video showing young members of a populist Danish political party mocking Islam s Prophet Mohammed.
The video showed people in their 20s and 30s participating in a drawing contest at a summer camp for the Danish People s Party Youth last August. They appeared to have been drinking alcohol.
The footage shows a woman presenting a drawing of a camel and saying it has the head of Mohammed and beer bottles as humps. The group laughs as the woman, who was not identified, explained the drawing.
Muslims are shocked by this new Danish insult, the Muslim Brotherhood said in a statement issued Saturday. It described the drawing as the ugliest for God s most honorable human being, peace be upon him.
Kenneth Christensen, chairman of the Danish People s Party Youth, known for its anti-immigration stance, refused to apologize Friday for the actions of its members, but acknowledged they were problematic.
It is bad style because it overshadows our political line, Christensen said. But he added that he believed it was OK to poke fun at Mohammed, Jesus or Bill Clinton.
The Brotherhood, which enjoys wide-spread popularity in Egypt and across the Arab World, urged Muslims on Saturday to boycott products from Denmark and any other country that would allow such an insult.
It also called on Muslims to express denouncement through peaceful means, by demonstrations and protests.
The drawings depicted in the video, like the pope s comments about Islam earlier this month and Danish cartoons mocking Prophet Mohammed last year, were likely to provoke Muslims and could trigger a new round of angry demonstrations all around the world.
The repetition of such actions is evidence of the depth of enmity carried by certain sectors in the West toward Islam and the prophet, the Brotherhood statement said.In September 2005, the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten printed drawings of the Prophet Mohammed. Four months later, they were reprinted in a range of Western media, triggering protests from Morocco to Indonesia.
Some Islamic leaders called for the cartoonists to be killed. Throughout the crisis, the Danish government resisted calls to apologize for the cartoons and said it could not be held responsible for the actions of Denmark s independent media.
Islamic law is interpreted to forbid any depiction of the prophet for fear it could lead to idolatry.
