The recent attack on the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing six and injuring more than 20, has been met with disbelief and anger in Copenhagen. Denmark’s prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said:
“Nothing can justify this hideous and cowardly act. We still don’t know who is behind it or why this attack was carried out. This will not make us change our position on anything.”
Though the prime minister claims he isn’t sure who carried out the attack, he may suspect that the Taleban, or like-minded fundamentalists, had a hand in it. Jason Burke’s article in the Guardian about false assumptions of Al-Qaeda’s imminent defeat, to some extent rings true in Denmark. The Danes are aligned with the US in the “war on terror” and the hawkish approach taken by the Bush administration internationally is reflected by a similarly tough position on Islam and Muslims in Denmark.
If the US is leading a global mission, the Danes have been fighting an inner mission, standing up against what is perceived, by some, as a threat to our democracy. Ever since the Prophet cartoon crises of 2006 and 2008, Islamist extremists around the world have been threatening bloody revenge on Denmark. It isn’t surprising that the attack took place in Pakistan. Anti-Danish sentiment has been growing among certain groups in this part of the world. The Danish security service, PET, has been warning about a potential terror attack for months.
Monday’s attack, is of course, indefensible, but it raises questions about the wisdom of the much-debated cartoons and Danish reactions to Muslim wrath. Not because anything about any cartoon — no matter how provocative — justifies such acts of violence, but because the cartoons ended up playing into the hands of extremists who could utilize it to “prove” how badly the West behaves toward Muslims.
The leaders of all of Denmark’s political parties, along with leading Muslim organizations in the country, have strongly condemned the attack. But here the national unity stops. Marianne Vestager, the leader of the Social Liberal Party De Radikale, pointed out that it is now time for Denmark to revise its foreign policy and its confrontational stance on Islam and Muslims. Meanwhile, Soren Pind of Venstre — the center-right party in government — said that this was the terrible consequence of an unavoidable and deepening conflict between civilizations. A spokesman for the populist right-wing party Dansk Folkeparti (Danish People’s Party), Soren Espersen, recommended that Denmark follow the example of Israel and the US and deploy Danish guards and elite soldiers around the Danish embassies in Muslim countries.
On the whole, it would seem that the bombing has not changed the Danes’ already polarised views on Islam and coexistence. The tragedy in Islamabad only confirms the views of those on both sides of the argument. The editors of the Danish newspapers who, in defiance of alleged murder threats to the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, chose to reprint a cartoon in February 2008, stand by their actions. Lisbeth Knudsen — chief editor of Berlingske Tidende said: “We cannot accept to change our behavior to please people who think differently than we do. We must protect the freedom of speech.”
While some Danes worry about similar attacks on Danish soil, it would seem many are proud of Denmark’s newfound role as a “player” in the international conflict between the West and Islam.
This is certainly not a position we used to pride ourselves on — nor is it one that is shared by other Scandinavian countries. Denmark used to have a reputation as a liberal, consensus-seeking country advocating calm and reason, a country that managed to support the State of Israel while at same time actively encouraging better conditions for Palestinians. Whereas we used to have no problems understanding several sides of any given conflict, the Danes are increasingly seeing things in black and white terms. The “you are either with us or against us” policy of the current US government is certainly a view shared by many Danes when it comes to Islam. The “clash of civilizations” point made by Venstre is quite commonly held. On the whole, the debate in Denmark is mostly seen as an idealistic struggle between good an evil, with defenders of the cartoons and Denmark’s alignment with the US on international issues claiming that those who find the cartoons a provocation are betraying the core democratic values of Western society. The hawks pay little attention to the failing domestic integration process. The lack of public differentiation between fundamentalist and normal law-abiding Muslims threatens to push Danish Muslims away from a mutual social consensus of respect and tolerance. The terror bomb in Pakistan is a terrible atrocity. But let us not forget that a group of experienced and highly respected Danish ambassadors during the Prophet cartoon crisis appealed to the Danish government to show more understanding of Muslim sentiment. This was not about appeasing, just people used to dealing with diplomacy on an international level providing sound advice. Denmark has now become a target, and while these should in no way be excused, we ought to have known better.
