ZAPIRO DRAWS FIRE

MUHAMMAD CARTOON CONTROVERSY

Jonathan Shapiro - the cartoonist Zapiro - has entered the fray surrounding the depiction of the prophet Muhammad by drawing him lamenting his followers' lack of humour in a cartoon published in the Mail & Guardian newspaper today.

The cartoon's appearance comes in the wake of the international "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" challenge to a violent and threatening Islamic response to cartoon depictions of the prophet since 2005. Zapiro's fellow cartoonists are divided in their response to his cartoon.

Bethuel Mangena (Sunday World cartoonist) has come out in defence of his one time mentor, arguing that if Jesus can be drawn, then why not Muhammad? "I don't see anything wrong in drawing the prophet", he asserts.

Brandan Reynolds (Business Day) thought it was a fun cartoon and also clever, but wondered whether it contributes to a solution, or inflames the situation further. "It doesn't help the debate", he feels. Brandan says that he tended to be a little more sensitive on the matter and was unlikely to draw Muhammad himself out of respect for Muslims who would be offended by the depiction of their prophet.

Pretoria News' Dr Jack Swanepoel feels that Zapiro has overstepped the mark. "With freedom comes responsibility; and that applies to everybody across the board including cartoonists and the press. Jonathan is a great cartoonist, but in this instance he has made a mistake. Should one person be injured or die as a result of this cartoon, he'll have a lot to answer for. I have never drawn Muhammad myself, and I won't be drawing him any time soon".

Jeremy Nell (The Times cartoonist, Jerm), having decided not to participate in the "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day", says that while he might not respect Muhammad the same way that Muslim people do,  he would rather target religious extremists than the founder of their religion and so offend followers who have not overreacted. Jerm says that drawing Muhammad for the "shock value" is pointless.

Fred Mouton (Die Burger) says that he doesn't care either way about Muhammad, and so the Prophet wouldn't find himself in any of his cartoons. But "it is his followers who have taken things far too seriously, scaring and killing people".

"I don't get fundamentalism", says Fred. "I can't get that people get fanatical about anything in life - cars, religion, politics. Extremism is sickening. I just don't get that one dimensional thinking."

Dov Fedler (The Star) agrees. "There's no negotiating with fundamentalism. Zapiro is very good, you can leave it to him to pick a fight. But he looks to insult and upset people and (in this instance) he is taking enormous risk to himself and his family". Dov contends that a cartoon can not change history, it merely comments on what is going on.

"It's a sound bite in this vast stadium of noise. As much controversy that this cartoon might stir up, it's not going to turn around the attitude of a few fundamentalists, it only serves to stir up the emotion. For what? An elitist argument about freedom of speech?"

In conclusion, Jerm suggest that "we should fight for the right to draw Muhammad, and then choose not to".

www.zapiro.com

NEWSCLIPS:

Anger mounts over Zapiro cartoon | Mail & Guardian,  May 22, 2010

Zapiro: "Why I did it" | Zapiro.com, May 21, 2010

Posted on May 21, 2010 by Africartoons