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It’s election time in the Danish Kingdom, and what better way to churn out those votes, than to let the Prophet Muhammad work his magic?

The Danish People’s Party (DPP, Dansk Folkeparti) has published election posters (here) featuring a drawing by Alexander Ross from 1683 of the Prophet. The poster reads in bold, capital letters: “Freedom of Speech is Danish, Censorship Isn’t – We Hang on to the Danish Values,” and continues, “Danish People’s Party – Your Country, Your Choice.” According to Danish People’s Party’s party leader, Pia Kjærsgaard, “We [Danish People's Party] are not doing this to provoke, but are doing it exactly because a drawing – a 400 year old drawing of Muhammad – is a symbol of the freedom of speech in Denmark, because we hung on to that freedom of speech.”

As in 2005, the Danish government does not intend to take any actions against the party, although the word has already spilled into the Arab world. In a press release on Oct. 30, the Great Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Husseini, condemns the drawing, which he calls both “uncivilized” and “hateful,” according to leading Danish newspaper Politiken. The press release follows the denunciation issued by Saudi-Arabia Oct. 29, and encourages the Danish government to put an immediate stop to Danish People’s Party’s “illegal activities,” the Danish daily notes. “Due to Jerusalem’s special status as the third holiest city in Islam, his words weigh heavily throughout the Muslim world, when he encourages all Arab and Muslim states ‘not to remain silent’,” Politiken predicts.

Danish Foreign Minister, Per Stig Møller (the Conservative, De Konservative), vindicates Danish People’s Party’s campaign, and has this to say about the Great Mufti’s press release to Politiken: “I’m having a hard time understanding why it is uncivilized, since it is a 300 year old drawing; I don’t want to defend the Danish People’s Party, but it is, after all, an existing Islamic drawing, so it can’t be uncivilized to use it, considering it hasn’t been crossed out by Islamic censorship.”

Denmark came under serious fire in much of the Arab world, and woke up to mixed reviews in the Western press, when Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten decided to publish 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad 2 years ago, on Sept. 30, 2005. The result: possibly the greatest diplomatic crisis in Danish history during which, especially, Danish dairy merger Arla suffered from boycotts and an estimated $2,000,000 deficit pr. day. Among the Cartoons was one depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban; according to Jyllands Posten, they were intended to spark a “much-needed” national debate about freedom of speech and freedom of press, after more and more journalists had expressed increasing anxieties about criticizing Islam in Denmark, some fearing for their lives.

Following a delegation of leading Danish Muslims to various Arab and Muslim countries (during which were presented cartoons that had not even been published by Jyllands Posten), the controversy took on unforeseeable proportions as Danish consulates, embassies, flags, and pictures of the Prime Minister were set ablaze by angry protesters in as different places as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines; in Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan more than 40 people died as a result of violent protests. Throughout, the Danish government refused to infringe on the rights of Jyllands Posten, citing freedom of press. Reports later surfaced, documenting that the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Ramussen (Left, or “Venstre”), had refused to meet with diplomats from the Arab world, calling it a matter of principal, thereby extending the crisis well into 2006.

Surely, to most this is old news. What apparently is not, however, is the immigration debate, which has crowned the Danish political agenda for 10+ years, since Danish People’s Party was founded by Pia Kjærsgaard in 1995. The party, which former Danish Prime Minister, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (Social Democrats, Social Demokraterne), described as “not housebroken” in a 1999 speech at the People’s Assembly (Folketinget), soon soared to the top of Danish politics, making it, until just recently, Denmark’s 3rd biggest party and an influential coalition partner of the current government.

DPP is also one of the most disputed parties on the Danish political scene. Statements made on national television, on the pulpit of the Danish People’s Assembly, in party newsletters and at national conventions tell the story of a party that has done all rhetorically possible to stay in the political spotlight – for better or worse:

“Let me make it clear: Muslims must live in Muslimland – and that’s not here [Denmark].” (Mogens Camre at DPP’s Annual National Convention, Sept. 9, 2004)

“I completely agree with Søren Krarup [MP, DPP] that it is the exact same symbol – a veil and a swastika.” [Pia Kjærsgaard on TV-Avisen [Danish national news program], Apr. 29, 2007)

“…Islam is not a religion in the traditional sense. It’s a terrorist organization, trying to obtain world domination through violence” (Michael Rex at DPP’s Annual National Convention, Sept. 15.-16., 2001)

“It’s been said that 9/11 caused the clash of civilizations. I disagree. Because a clash of civilizations would require two civilizations, and that’s not the case. There’s but one civilization, and that’s ours.” (Pia Kjærsgaard, opening of People’s Assembly, Oct. 2, 2001)

Comprising app. 6 percent of the Danish 5.5 million inhabitants, about the same as the state of Maryland, immigrants (with emphasis on Muslims, comprising an estimated 2 percent) have been a political hot potato, and has secured DPP a solid following especially in rural towns and provinces across the nation. Promoting itself on a strict immigration policy, Danish People’s Party has been instrumental in making Denmark one of the hardest countries in the EU to get into, despite being one of the richest. Inevitably, this has led to tensions, with many Muslims feeling targeted by the media and politicians, a development criticized by the UN Human Rights Commission in their 2006 Annual Report on the elimination of racial discrimination – also, expressing an overall concern about the tendencies in Europe, as a whole.

In 2006, video clips surfaced of a Danish People’s Party Youth summer camp at which seemingly drunken people had a contest about who could make the “best” drawing of the Prophet Muhammad – among the contestants was a depiction of the Prophet as a urinating, beer-drinking camel. The clips were shot by Danish artist Martin Rosengaard Knudsen, part of a group of artists called Defending Denmark, who had joined and infiltrated DPPY since March 2005. The clips, however, caused but a number of big “Ooh’s” and “Ah’s!” As a spokesman for Danish group Muslims in Dialogue, not surprised by the event, told FOX News: “The Danish People’s Party has through its history made a virtue to make humiliating and generalized statements about minority groups, especially Muslims.”

In 2007, however, Danish People’s Party has tried to weed out bad seeds that unfavorably affect the polls. The result: deleterious dissension within party ranks, and accusations of tyranny, culminating in a free-fall in the voter polls. Today, DPP is predicted to get 9.8 percent of the votes, a deficit of 3,5 pp, or 6 mandates in the People’s Assembly, compared to the national elections in 2005. With the Socialist People’s Party (Socialitistk Folkeparti) looking to double their mandates according to recent polls, and New Alliance (Ny Alliance) co-founded by the Muslim, and former political profile of the Radical Left (Radikale Venstre), Naser Khader, posing a serious threat to DPP as a potent coalition partner, it could be a rocky road for Danish People’s Party. Not that they are not used to that.

This week in an interview with Jyllands Posten, Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade spokesperson, Khaled al-Jabbari, slighted at the consequences of the election poster: “This party is bargaining with the Danish people’s blood. That is dangerous.” When asked whether to take that as a threat, al-Jabbari responded, “No, I am not threating, I am warning. We do not wish to see the Danish people as an enemy, but this could lead to actions,” stating he himself would be willing to actively attack Danish institutions to defend the Prophet. The Palestinian Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade is designated a terrorist organization in the EU, USA and in Israel.

While al-Jabbari’s words might fan the fire in the Middle East, they are sure to bring the Danish People’s Party to a political boil in the last 9 days before the Danes cast their ballot. Danes are habitually allergic to outside threats. After a period of national division over the Muhammad Cartoons in 2005, by January 2006, after reports of burning embassies and flags, 79 percent of Danes polled said that they did not want the Danish Prime Minister to apologize. This time round, he, too, has denounced al-Jabbari’s statements.

In a nation with more than 1500 years of history, which once spread from Iceland to France, Denmark is first in line of European countries with an identity crisis waiting for psychoanalysis. With the new realities and challenges posed by an ever-growing influence of outside cultures, statements like “We Hang on to the Danish Values” make Danish People’s Party all the more diffuse. One thing seems certain, however: Danish People’s Party is going to need more than divine prophecy to relive their glory days. Maybe al-Jabbari is that secret ingredient?

Election date is Nov. 13. Who will the Danes let define their new identity?

Pictures from Politiken.dk

By Peter Dahl