`Toon War Continues

demonstrations and outright violence across the Islamic world have gotten even hotter...

A gang of armed Palestinians broke into the EU offices again after cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed were published in several European countries. The gunmen at the EU offices scrawled the words "Closed Until Further Notice" on the front door of building in Gaza City, which had not even opened for business on Thursday for fear of violence.

Earlier in the day, two armed groups, the Popular Resistance Committee and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, had threatened to kill or kidnap Danes, French and Norwegians in the Palestinian territories after newspapers in France and Norway opted to reprint the Danish cartoons.

"Every Norwegian, Dane and Frenchman in our country is a target," said the Popular Resistance Committee and the radical Al-Aqsa brigades. If the three countries in question don't shut down their offices and consulates in the Palestinian territories, "we won't hesitate to destroy them."

The cartoons were printed in La Stampa in Italy, El Periodico in Spain, and the Dutch paper Volkskrant also carried some of the drawings. Le Temps in Geneva and Budapest's Magyar Hirlap ran another offending cartoon showing an imam telling suicide bombers to stop because Heaven had run out of virgins to reward them. (!)

A number of other publications either printed the cartoons or ran `illustrations' of them, like Australia's Sydney Morning Herald.

And one more. Jordan believe it or not...

"Muslims of the world, be reasonable," said the editor-in-chief of the weekly independent newspaper Al-Shihan in an editorial alongside the cartoons, including the one showing the Muslim religion's founder wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

"What brings more prejudice against Islam, these caricatures or pictures of a hostage-taker slashing the throat of his victim in front of the cameras or a suicide bomber who blows himself up during a wedding ceremony in Amman?" wrote Jihad Momani.

He told the AFP news service he decided to publish the offending cartoons "so people know what they are protesting about... People are attacking drawings that they have not even seen."

Jihad Momani was fired immediately after the cartoons ran and the publisher ran amuck in an effort to gather up every unsold copy.

I have a distinct feeling he may be looking for another job outside the Muslim world!