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Sorry - this page has been removed. Palestinian president orders inquiry into newspaper’s ‘Muhammad cartoon’
(4 months later)
This could be because it launched early, our rights have expired, there was a legal issue, or for another reason. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has ordered an investigation into a cartoon apparently depicting the prophet Muhammad in an official Palestinian newspaper.
The move came less than a month after Abbas joined world leaders in a march for free speech in Paris following a deadly attack by Islamist gunmen on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which had caricatured Muhammad.
For further information, please contact: A drawing in the West Bank-based newspaper al-Hayat al-Jadidah on Sunday showed a robed man standing astride Earth and reaching into a heart-shaped pouch to sow seeds of love around the world. The caption reads: “Our Prophet Muhammad”.
Artist Mohammed Saba’aneh, a Muslim, said he meant no harm. The figure was not Muhammad but “a symbol of humanity enlightened by what the Prophet Muhammad brought”, he wrote on Facebook.
Islam frowns on any depictions of its most revered prophet. Strict interpretations of Islamic scripture ban drawing any sentient beings, although court artists in past centuries drew Muhammad in illuminated manuscripts.
In a report late on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency WaFa said Abbas had ordered “an immediate investigation”.
It quoted him citing “the need to take deterrent action against those responsible for this terrible mistake, out of respect for sacred religious symbols and foremost among them the prophets”.
Saba’aneh, one of the most prominent Palestinian cartoonists in a society that has long prized them as incisive critics of Israel, has faced free speech controversy before.
He was imprisoned by Israel for five months and fined last year for “being in contact with hostile parties”. Saba’aneh and his backers said Israel was trying to silence his mordant cartoons.
No public threats have been made against Saba’aneh, who thanked his supporters online. “Despite facing a committee of inquiry, I love this country,” he wrote on Tuesday.