Western Resistance

The image of Mohammed in Hell has been painted by Salvador Dali (left), for a collection of illustrations of the Divine Comedy, distributed in 1959 in Paris by publishers Les Heures Claires. This was not the only time that Dali had the audacity to disrespect "Muslim sensitivities". In 1963, he painted in oils a rather haphazard tableau of Mohammed receiving his "visions", now in the hands of a private collector. A black and white reproduction of the painting, which shows Mohammed's face, can be found by clicking here.

As Dali did not pander to Muslims' feelings, should they not rise up and storm the Dali Museum in Barcelona, and destroy all of the master's canvasses?

European artists have, since at least 20,000 BC, used their art to represent all aspects of life, from the banal and erotic to the sublime and the spiritual. The woodcut below was made by Dutch artist, Lucas van Leyden in 1508.

Should Holland be attacked for housing copies of this woodcut in its museums?

The image of Mohammed sometimes appears in Persian miniatures, as in the one depicted below, which illustrate the rather ludicrous tale of Mohammed ascending to Heaven on the back of a human-faced donkey called al-Burak. To avoid depicting the features of their prophet, the artist left him with a white hole instead of a face.

The same device was employed by another miniaturist, visible if you click here, where Mahomet's face is a blob of exposed paper, while those around have faces. Sometimes, Muslim artists in Persia depicted the entire body of Mohammed as a space of empty paper, as seen here. In another depiction of the silly ass story, Mohammed has a white unfeatured face, as depicted here.

But that was not always the case. The image below, depicting Mahomet at Medina, shows him with a face:

For Westerners, there has never until now been a time when we, in our own nations have had to censor ourselves when depicting the "prophet" Mohammed. The images of Mohammed range from the mundane (left), to the magnificent. The US charity, which acts like Freemasonry, a bit like Laurel and Hardy's "Sons of the Desert", the Korashriners, have regularly featured images of Mohammed, as seen here.

One of the last images I will show here is from a book by the renowned author Washington Irving (1783 - 1859), author of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Published posthumously in 1869 by G.P. Putnam & Sons New York, the book is entitled "Mahomet and his successors" and concerns the history of Islam.

Should all works by Washington Irving be banned? Should Tim Burton be jailed for making a film based on one of his stories?

In 1911, a film was made in Italy, based on Dante's Divine Comedy, called L'Inferno, directed by Francesco Bertolini. In this film, Mahomet is depicted entirely naked, with his hanging entrails covering the actor's modesty. The film has recently been restored, and is now available in DVD format, with a soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.

Should the DVD's distributors have their offices firebombed? Should all the albums and CDs of Tangerine Dream be publicly smashed and burned? Should all who are involved in such activities have a bounty set upon them, with a massive reward for the first to behead the infidel artists?

The answer to all of the questions that I raised above is in every case a resounding "NO!!!" We are inheritors of a tradition of philosophy and art that has enriched our souls and inspired our dreams. The culture we possess has lately been kind enough to allow Muslims to enter our lands freely, unlike historic examples from Spain, at Tours and in Vienna where their antecedents tried to invade by force.

We recently have seen acts of gross cowardice by the media in Britain and the United States (and Canada and Australia) where editors have been too fearful of potential reprisals from terrorist Muslims to publish a few cartoons. We should ignore the fear of death threats, and we should keep our traditions alive. The encroaching dragon of Political Correctness has sapped our moral fiber and our pride in our culture's heritage.

And all for the sake of a 7th century caravan-raiding, Jew-massacring, violent, sexually incontinent, paedophile "prophet" called Mohammed. We should get our lives back, and not be bullied by followers of this imbecilic fiend. And to those who say we should appease those who threaten us, they should basically be told to go screw themselves, because that's what they are doing to us, our heritage and our culture.

Italy: Muslims Whine Over Cartoon Of Mohammed In Hell

April 17 - Giraldus Cambrensis

An Italian Catholic monthly magazine, Studi Cattolici, has created a storm amongst the Muslim community in Italy, as in its March issue, it has featured Mohammed in Hell. I say featured, rather than depicted, as the cartoonist did not actually depict the so-called "prophet". Cleverly, they had Mohammed invisible behind a wall of flames.

Fresh after the issue of the Danish cartoons of Mohammed, which caused international condemnations and displays of Muslim intolerance and violence, with scores killed, the latest drawing has reignited a debate which most had thought had died down.

The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published its 12 images of Mohammed after children's author Kare Blultgen, writing a book on Mohammed, found that illustrators were too scared to submit work for publication, for fear of reprisals by Muslim fanatics. The publication of the cartoons in September showed the world just how fanatical and barbaric many Muslims can be.

The issue only became an international furor this year, after Palestinian-born Danish cleric Abu Laban, together with his Lebanese-born sidekick Ahmed Akkari toured the Middle East to incite anger. They made matters worse by including three extra pictures, which had never been published. One of these was said to have shown Mohammed depicted as a pig. In fact, this picture was of a Frenchman participating in a pig-squealing competition, wearing a pig mask.

The Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten reported with some glee that Studi Cattolica had published the new cartoon.

Today's UK Daily Telegraph reported on the cartoon today, but in an extremely mendacious example of poor journalism. Malcolm Moore either has not seen the image, or is trying to sensationalise the issue, for he writes: "An Italian magazine has infuriated Muslims by publishing a cartoon showing the Prophet Mohammed cut in half and burning in Hell."

We are reproducing the original cartoon below, to disprove his opening statement. Mohammed is not shown. The image is a pastiche of more famous images of Mohammed in Hell, which we described earlier in an illustrated anthology. It is a send-up of illustrations depicting the famous work by Dante Alighieri (1265 - 1321), called the Divina Commedia or Divine Comedy.

In book One, the Inferno in Canto 28, Mohammed (called Mahomet by Dante) is described cleft from his chin "to where one breaketh wind. Between his legs were hanging down his entrails; His heart was visible, and the dismal sack that maketh excrement of what is eaten. While I was all absorbed in seeing him, he looked at me, and opened with his hands his bosom, saying: "See now how I rend me; How mutilated, see, is Mahomet; In front of me doth Ali weeping go, cleft in the face from forelock unto chin; And all the others whom thou here beholdest, disseminators of scandal and of schism while living were, and therefore are cleft thus."

Mahomet is witnessed by Dante, accompanied by Virgil, his guide through the Inferno. Mohammed is disembowelled, and Ali, the figurehead of the Shia faith, has his face split in two. We depicted illustrations of this subject by Gustave Dore, Salvador Dali and WIlliam Blake.

The captions read, from left to right: "That one split in half from his head to his rump is Mohammed?"
"Yes, he is split because he brought division to society."
"While instead that other one with his pants down (or with burning coals) is Italian politics regarding Islam."

Studi Cattolici has links to the orthodox Catholic group Opus Dei. The magazine's editor, Cesare Cavalleri, said: "If, contrary to my intentions and those of the author, anyone felt offended in his religious feelings, I freely ask him in a Christian manner for forgiveness."

He had formerly stated: "We must not fear freedom of opinion, and had alluded to reactions from "the idiotic positions" of Islamists. he stated: "This is not a cartoon against Mohammed. It is a cartoon which addresses the loss of the West's identity. Why all the fuss over a cartoon which only represents that which has already been written centuries ago by Dante Alighieri?"

The Union of Italian Muslim Communities said the cartoon was "odious and racist". Is spokesman said: "The rage was just calmed and here, with an absurd and criminal logic, they go and stir things up."

Opus Dei distanced itself from the magazine, saying it was not an official publication of the group.

The Washington Times reports that Souad Sbai, of an associaion of Italian Muslim women said that Studi Cattolic should "step back, stop and lower the tone." She asked: "Wouldn't it be better to sit down around a table and talk about it, instead of provoking things? What can such an initiative mean?"

According to Arab News, Italy's Interior Ministry recently announced that it had foiled a terrorist attack, which had been planned against a church in Bologna, which is home to frescoes depicting "Mahomet" in Hell, inspired by Dante's work.

Italy: Truth in Art in Bologna Cathedral

April 21 - Jean de Valette

Bologna's Basilica of St. Petronio, the city's main Catholic church, is under serious threat of being vandalized by followers of the 7th century Arabian warlord, Mohammed. The imposing cathedral, almost 50 meters high and 132 meters long, is named in honor of the city's bishop, Petronia, (431 AD to 450 AD). Construction on the cathedral began in 1390 and was completed by 1500. One of the 15th century frescoes made by Renaissance artist, Giovanni da Modena, depicts a passage from Dante's ``Inferno'' where the warlord Mohammed is in his rightful place in hell for all the violence and destruction he committed during his lifetime, as well as the violent legacy he has left us to this very day.

Sadly, this sacred site and great piece of church architecture has been turned into a fortress. Muslims explain their anger on the grounds that the fresco is `offensive', and so given the bloody and violent nature of the Muslim totalitarian cult, police vigilantly patrol the area around the church.

In 2002, an Italian and four Muslims from Morocco were arrested in Bologna on suspicion of preparing to carry out terrorist acts. The fate of these men, and this case is not clear. And it's not known if other acts of violence have been plotted against the church since then.