A PERSONAL VIEW

OF COURSE ALLAH & GOD HAS SENSE OF HUMOR

Otherwise he would never have created men!

Up till today I have received 733 reactions by e-mail from cartoonists all over the world.

FECO members and non-members writing about their concern.

FREEDOM of speech, FREEDOM of writing and FREEDOM of image is a very important privilege in most Western countries and should be respected.

Of course it is great that the cartoon is back in the world and showed us once again its importance.

The problem is the way it happened?

Discrimination, or hurting on purpose others feelings, is NOT the same as provocation.

A cartoonist may provoke, may ridiculise things, have to point out things, but not inflict deep wounds.

Humor should always be the base and a way of communication.

To communicate you need to understand each other's language!

People in Great Britain seem to have a different sense of humor than people in Japan or Egypt. Cartoonists in Germany draw in a different way than cartoonists in Russia.

Phases in life are cheerfully illustrated in the form of pleasant madness and disguised reality by cartoonists.

Humor is of all times and all countries (we can never say certain people do not have any sense of humor). But then not everywhere do people laugh equally loud or so often. Sometimes one will appreciate the humor of a certain country more when one gets to know more about the specific cultural traditions of its people.

As far as I know there has never been a cartoonist who killed other people with his pen!

Freedom and understanding.

�Drawing the world together� as FECO wants, hopes. Is that still possible?

I am shocked by the reaction and violence in some countries. Based on non-communication and non-understanding (perhaps from both sides) There should not be both sides, just one side!

I am pleased with the non-violent reaction of many Islamic leaders.

I am pleased with the reaction of many FECO members of which some disagree and some agree about the cartoons made by our Danish colleagues. That�s freedom; to agree or disagree. It should NEVER be a reason to end friendship.

We have to communicate, to respect other's opinion, to continue a dialogue, to make cartoons in freedom. NOT to create BLACK-lists with rules and names!

If someone feels offended or discriminated against, there is always the possibility to go to the court?. (that applies to many countries)

Please let�s continue to communicate by making fun, by making jokes about each other without hurting ones feelings on purpose. Of course a cartoonists walks the line, is looking �how far can I go�, has some form of self-censorship; but that�s freedom too.

Be proud to be a cartoonist. However today it seems to be a dangerous profession?

Do not draw the world apart, but draw the world together!

Peter Nieuwendijk

Secretary General FECO