All over the world there have been severe reactions on the cartoons.
 
The cartoons, published in the Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten, are a provocation and have nothing to do with the freedom of expression.

It is not true when the Danish prime minister, the liberalist Anders Fogh Rasmussen, declares, that the freedom of expression is unlimited in Denmark. In Denmark the freedom of expression is freedom with responsibility which includes legislation against blasphemy. It is a normal ethical priority that you do not insult religious believes and thoughts.

The same newspaper and the right-wing politicians in Denmark have no problems on restricting the freedom of expression and other human rights when they implement ’legislation on terror’, which has criminalised Danes’ support to liberation movements as the FARC in Colombia and the PFLP in Palestine.
 
The publication of the cartoons and the way the Danish government has reacted on the problems has mainly 2 reasons:
 
For several years the public debate in Denmark has taken a more and more harsh and aggressive tone, especially when immigrants with a Muslim background are the subject. This negative tone has not facilitated the integration of our Muslim fellow citizens. The Danish legislation on immigrants and refugees is now one of the jost restrictive in Europe.

The integration of immigrants and their descendants has been hampered by a labour market that does not offer the necessary number of jobs for people with a not-Danish background.
 
We communists regard the publication of the cartoons and the way the government had treated the situation as a severe aggravation of the debate climate. The publication of the cartoons is a part of a more general provocation meant to create even more artificial contrasts within the Danish population. And the situation has been even more critical as the supporting party of the Government, the so-called Danish Peoples Party (an outjost rightwing party), is intensifying its xenophobian and sometimes directly racist rhetoric in the public debate.
 
The Danish government should strongly dissociate from this kind of rhetoric and in stead give full support to the integration by securing jobs and proper living conditions for all immigrants.
 
Since the beginning of the 1990’s the Danish foreign policy has changed from an international respected foreign policy deeply rooted in the UN to an aggressive US-supporting imperialism. This has lead to an active Danish participation in the illegal war in Iraq and to the Danish military involvement in Afghanistan.  

As a result of this policy and as never seen before in Danish foreign policy, the Danish prime minister refused to have a meeting with the official representatives from the embassies of a number of Muslims countries after the publication of the cartoons. By this negative action the Danish government added new fuel on the fire.

The situation is now dangerous. The imperialist pressure on especially Syria and Iran is growing daily and on the same time the imperialists try to find new ways of interfering in the internal affairs in Lebanon. The cartoons and the protests they have caused are now used in this aggressive play.

On the same time the eyes are shut on the Israeli aggressions and acts of terror against the population of Palestine. The Israeli government has no plans of finding a solution that respects the justified claims of the Palestinians.

The Communist Party in Denmark warns against this situation. New imperialistic aggressions are planned — especially against Syria and Iran. The imperialistic powers are now using provocations, where local reactionary powers are used. The purpose is to split the population to prevent that the people unite against the common enemy.

The situation is not a ’clash of civilisations’ as reactionaries claim. This claim is just made as a disguise for the growing discrepancies between the narrow interests of imperialism and the interests of the people and on the same time it should serve as a legitimation of new wars and new suppression. The contradictions all over the Worlds are between the suppressors and the suppressed and between the exploiters and the exploited.
 
A broad anti-imperialistic popular movement is the only tool to stop this trend.
 
Among the Danish population there is a majority who wants to stop the Danish participation in the military activities in Iraq, and the peace and anti-war movements are growing. Several initiatives are taken to try to stop the provocations and the harsh tone in the Danish debate on the integration issues. These initiatives are taken in common by many Danes regardless of religious and political positions and including our Muslim fellow citizens.

Communist Party in Denmark demand:

• The paper Jyllands-Posten shall give an unreserved excuse for having published the cartoons.
 
• The Danish prime minister and the Danish government shall publicly announce dissociation from the cartoons and give an excuse for not having accepted the meeting with the representatives from the embassies of the Muslim states in Denmark.

• The Danish government shall strongly dissociate from the harsh tone in the public debate and especially from the statements of its xenophobian supporting party.
 
• The restrictive Danish policy concerning immigrants and international refugees shall be changed. The reductions in the economical support to immigrants and refugees shall be removed and sufficient resources for a positive integration of immigrants and refugees in the Danish society should be made available.
 
• All Danish soldiers shall immediately be redrawed from Iraq and Afghanistan!