COPENHAGEN, 8 April 2006 — Violent protests over Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) cartoons have died down in the Muslim world but in Denmark, where the drawings were first printed, debate over the role of Islam has flared again, this time over a TV talk show host who wears a Muslim head scarf.
Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, a 24-year-old Dane of Palestinian origin, is the co-host of an eight-part series on the public DR2 network on the fallout of the cartoons affair which led to violent reactions throughout the Muslim world.
Asmaa’s appearance on television — the first time a female TV host has worn a head scarf in Denmark — has led to a flurry of negative reactions from viewers and feminist groups. Evidence, say experts, that a wide gap still divides Danes and Muslims.
Bright, frank and funny despite her austere looks, she engages in hard talk with her guest to get to the bottom of the crisis that has enveloped Denmark for two months.
“Our aim is to dissect the misunderstandings between Islam and the West in eight shows,” she tells AFP after the broadcast of “Adam and Asmaa,” wearing a sky-blue head scarf of the kind she has worn since she was 14.
Trained as a social worker and known as an ardent defender of Islam, Asmaa’s serene, almost angelic face is in sharp contrast to the angry reactions sparked by her television debut.
“The choice of Asmaa as co-host is an insult to Danish and Muslim women. She sends the message that an honorable woman can’t go out unless she is covered up,” blasts Vibeke Manniche, the head of the Women for Freedom association.
Manniche has started a petition to get the program taken off the air, insisting that DR2 “is a public service channel and it is important that its program hosts be objective and that its shows not be a meeting point for fanatic points of view.”
DR2 defended its decision this week, saying “head scarf-wearing women are part of Danish society and we need to accept this fact.” Asmaa takes the criticism in stride but says she is disappointed by it.
“I have a hard time understanding it, accepting that just because you wear a head scarf you are labeled a fundamentalist. That’s too simplistic. I have no ties to fanatic circles,” she insists.
She is a member of one of the Muslim organizations which sued Danish daily Jyllands-Posten for publishing the 12 cartoons.
“I want to give a more nuanced image... than that of Muslim women oppressed by the veil. You can still be strong and independent even with a piece of fabric on your head.” “I thought I would be supported when I accepted this job as host, which shows other Muslim women in Denmark that it is possible to actively participate in society,” she says, adding: “Denmark is in many ways an Islamic society because it’s a society that has a lot of what I believe in.”
While she acknowledges that many “Muslim men in particular would rather see me at home than as the star of a television show,” some of the reactions have been positive.
