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SA papers apologise to Muslims
07/02/2006 20:28 - (SA)
Cape Town - Independent Newspapers has offered to publish an apology for any offence a weekend article might have caused to Muslims, already in an uproar about a Danish-penned cartoon lampooning the Prophet Muhammad.
Chris Whitfield, editor of the Cape Times and a member of an Independent Group newspaper delegation, said: "(The) decision to apologise by Cape Argus was an acknowledgement of an error in judgement."
The delegation met the Muslim Judicial Council on Tuesday.
Also present from Independent Newspapers was the Star editor Moegsien Williams, Dave Chambers of the Cape Argus, Daily Voice editor Rashid Seria and Cape community newspapers editor David Hill.
Whitfield said: "We had a lengthy meeting... conducted in a positive spirit, with frank exchanges of views and airing of various positions."
The meeting followed a call by the MJC to boycott Independent Newspapers after it found an article published in the Sunday Argus to be offensive to Muslims.
Depicted in an unflattering way
The article, an opinion piece, provided historical details about the prophet's life, such as where he was born and how he began to preach a creed of monotheism similar to Judaism and Christianity.
It mentions how he was depicted in medieval Christendom in an unflattering way.
The article also chronicles the West's portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad, and uses quotes from the controversial book, Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie, which some Muslims say insulted the prophet.
Initiatives explored at Tuesday's meeting, included the opening of better lines of communication between the MJC, Muslims in general and the Independent Group, said Whitfield.
He said the MJC would go back to its constituency to gauge its response to the offer.
Whitfield confirmed that some subscriptions were cancelled and some advertising was lost after the MJC called its ban, but denied the apology was driven by business imperatives.
He said the matter was essentially a clash between freedom of expression and freedom of religion.
"Perhaps the article in question overstepped a boundary... but I don't think it has ramifications for freedom of expression."
Meeting 'constructive and positive'
Whitfield said the matter was an important reminder to stakeholders to remain sensitive to a community's religious or other beliefs.
"We gladly accepted their admission that it (publication of the article) was a misjudgment," said MJC president Ebrahim Gabriels, who agreed that the meeting had been constructive and positive.
The MJC would lift its boycott if the MJC and Independent Group reached an agreement on the apology, and if the MJC was given newspaper space to explain the Muslim position and its reverence of the Prophet Muhammad.
Meeting Danish ambassador
Responding to a question, Gabriels said the MJC was committed to freedom of expression in a secular state.
However, he added: "We respect the freedom of expression, but with limits and boundaries. It doesn't mean the right to insult the religion of any person in the world."
Gabriels said the MJC would meet with the Danish ambassador on Wednesday.
Muslim protests against the Scandinavian country about the cartoons continued to rage worldwide on Tuesday, with Danish and Norwegian embassies torched in some cities.
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