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• History of Christianization of Europe
• Soviet Union, Communist influence
• Map of European ethnic groups
• Map of Fascism in Europe (1922-75)
• History of Islamic conquest in Europe
• Religions & ethnic groups in Russia

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--



• Muhammad cartoon crisis in pictures
• Stalin's private summer home
• Ravenna: capital of Gothic empire
• Czar Nicholas II's Ukrainian palace
• European traditional costumes/dress
• Inside the Vatican, house of all wealth

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Islamic Mujahidin vs. Spain & El Cid
• Poland-Lithuania vs. Teutonic Order
• Nevskiy's Russia vs. German Crusaders
• Mussolini vs. Libyan Islamic fighters
• Qadafi: Europe will soon be Islamic
• Ivan the Terrible vs. Muslim Tatars 

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

• Inside Albania, Europe's only Muslim culture (with rare pictures)
• History of Jihad in Chechnya
& Caucasus vs. Russians

• History of the Muslim Tatars in Russia
• Ethnic & religious history of Serbs, Croats, & Bosnians
• History of Italy: from Roman rule to Germanic barbarian
• The cost & bloodshed of the Serb-Albanian conflict in Kosovo
• Inside Bulgaria, 1st Slavic nation,
land of Thracian masters of gold

• Visual history of Yugoslavia
• Inside Muslim Turkey: right for the European Union? 

--MORE & NON-ENGLISH--

 

Gallery: the Muhammad cartoon crisis in pictures
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)

Print this Article    •    About the Author    •    Bibliography/Sources

The year of 2005 saw a bizarre ethnocultural and religious conflict that spanned across the world, all sparked by a series of 12 cartoons in a small newspaper of the tiny Danish country. Admittedly, the images were incredibly offensive to an already-dangerous situation. The images were intended to express the violent nature of Islam and Muslims today (or so the artist believed), the militant quality of the Prophet Muhammad, and the overall image of Muslims as terrorists or criminals. In many ways as well, the production of the cartoons was also used to signify how free speech is used in the world. The Danish queen and society refused to apologize, masking dormant cultural hatred under the guise of freedom. As can be imagined, this insult to the holiest figures of Islam as the major minority in Europe was not taken positively. To depict Muhammd as a being with a face is haram (forbidden) in Islam. Embassies were bombed, burnt, and closed all across the Muslim world. Jihad was summoned to deliver the protection of Islam into the heart of the infidel. In most Muslim countries, it is punishable by death to insult Muhammad or Islam, as has been practiced since the 6th century. Muslims responded to the claim that Islam was violent with violence, a strange response that brought increased hatred against Muslims among all European cultures. To the Muslims, however, they were defending their faith, tradition, worldview, Holy Prophet, and social status in a continent that they perceive as already racist and oppressive. In totality, the fiasco that was borne of this event revealed the cultural incompatibility of the Europeans and the Muslims as is increasingly aware to the European public each day.

The EHL publishes these images only to chronicle the cultural and religious history and situation of Europe today, not to endorse them. Included are some of the reactionary photos to the issue.


Burning the Danish embassy in Syria


The Danish embassy in Lebanon

 

________________________________________

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James Mayfield is the owner and Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I am working for a doctorate in history, with a specific emphasis on Islamic and European histories. I am well versed in all world cultures, ethnicities, religions, languages, politics, and historical evolution in relation to and against each other.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES USED:

Jyllands-Posten for the drawings.


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