Dutch Political Party Airs ‘Bloody’ Mohammad Cartoon On National Television

Muslim protesters, who have taken issue with the depiction afforded the Prophet Muhammad in an American film, burn the U.S. flag in Ankara, Turkey. — Muslim protesters, who have taken issue with the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in an American film, burn the U.S. flag in Ankara, Turkey. Reuters

Anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders aired Prophet Mohammad cartoons on Dutch national television. It is the same series of caricatures that was presented at a controversial cartoon competition in Texas.

Two gunmen opened fire at a cartoon competition featuring the caricatures of the Islamic prophet. The Dutch politician visited the exhibition in May.

The series of cartoons was presented in the form of a slideshow with piano music in the background. The broadcast was done during a two-minute slot allotted to Wilder's Freedom Party.

Wilder promoted the “freedom of speech” with the series of Prophet Mohammad cartoons. “The only way to show terrorists that they are not going to win is to do exactly what they do not want us to do,” Russia Today quoted Wilders as saying. “I do not broadcast the cartoons to provoke; I do it because we have to show that we stand for freedom of speech and that we will never surrender to violence.”

There were 10 cartoons of Prophet Mohammad that were aired just before the 6:00 p.m. (local time) news. One of the cartoons showed the Islamic prophet with a blood-stained sword, while the world had blood splattered on it. Another cartoon showed Prophet Mohammad juggling with decapitated heads.

According to the Dutch politician, freedom of speech should always prevail over terror and violence. Wilder said that he was “forced” to broadcast the cartoons because the Dutch Parliament had refused to host an exhibition for them.

Aissa Zanzen said that Wilders was trying to provoke Muslims who had decided to ignore him. The spokesman for the Council of Moroccan Mosques in the Netherlands said that the politician had tried everything he could to provoke Muslims, Yahoo News reported. Zanzen said that Wilder’s move was a publicity stunt.

The Council of Moroccan Mosques in The Netherlands earlier released a caricature of Wilders as a spoiled child with a big mouth. Wilders announced in 2014 that he would decrease the number of Moroccans in the country.

The two-minute slideshow of cartoons was broadcast during Ramadan, the Islamic holy month. Muslims find drawings of their prophet disrespectful and even blasphemous.