The AP today reports that newspapers in France, Germany, Spain and Italy are reprinting some of the controversial cartoon drawings of the Prophet Muhammad that first appeared in a Danish paper in September. The Danish publication (and later Norwegian paper's republication) has sparked worldwide protests from Muslims that have particularly heightened in recent days. (See prior postings 1, 2 .) In France, the managing editor of France Soir, Jacques Lefranc, was fired by the paper's owner after he republished the cartoons.
Also according to the AP story, today Palestinian gunmen jumped on the outer wall of a European Union office in Gaza City and demanded an apology for the drawings. Today's Jerusalem Post reports that a leaflet signed by a Fatah militia and the Islamic Jihad had said the EU office and churches in Gaza could come under attack and urged all French citizens to leave Gaza. On Wednesday night, the Fatah-affiliated Aksa Martyrs' Brigades and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine threatened to blow up the Danish and Norwegian consulates in the Palestinian Authority, Israeli Army Radio reported. And, according to Haaretz, these threats have led Norway to close its Palestinian Authority representative office in the West Bank.
