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The latest in Danish fashion.
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| By Associated Press February 10, 2006 |
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Thousands of Palestinians, some firing rifles in the air, others burning Danish flags, demonstrated Friday against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper.
The drawings, which have been reprinted in publications across Europe, sparked outrage across the Islamic world, with violent protests in Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Afghanistan. In recent weeks, Palestinians held mass protests, threatened to kidnap Europeans in Gaza and chased foreign observers out of the West Bank city of Hebron.
The demonstrations following Friday afternoon's Muslim prayers were smaller than other recent protests here, but indicated the Palestinians remained angry at Denmark's refusal to apologize for the cartoons.
Israeli police unsuccessfully tried to prevent protests in Jerusalem by barring all men under the age of 45 from attending Friday prayers at the Al Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third-holiest site.
But about 2,000 women, young boys and older men marched around the Dome of the Rock shrine on the compound, chanting "Bin Laden, strike again." Some of the protesters trampled a homemade Danish flag. Others ripped a flag and lit it on fire.
About 7,000 marched through the streets of Gaza City in a demonstration organized by Islamic Jihad and joined by members of other militant groups. Protesters carried Palestinian flags and black Islamic Jihad flags. Some gunmen fired in the air.
In the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Said Sharaf, an imam at a local mosque, delivered a 30 minute sermon on Muhammad, saying that the Europeans spoke badly of him because they did not know how special he was.
In Hebron, where an angry mob sent dozens of international observers fleeing on Wednesday, several hundred protesters called on Denmark to apologize to the entire Islamic world. "Muhammad our hero, our leader. No one will touch him," they chanted.
"Today we are only marching in protest, but if you do not stop this assault (on Muhammad) we will sacrifice our souls and our blood for the prophet," Khader Habib, a top Islamic Jihad leader, told the crowd in Gaza City. "Our message today is that we will accept an official apology from the government, but if the assault continues we will burn the land under their feet."
Habib told the crowd to remain determined in its fight against Israel, saying "the enemy should look for another homeland and not Palestine."
He also criticized the kidnapping Thursday of an Egyptian diplomat in Gaza City, saying those behind the "criminal" attack did not represent the Palestinians. The diplomat, Hussam Almousaly, was snatched near the Egyptian mission by masked gunmen. The abductors have yet to contact authorities with their demands.
"Egypt is our best friend and best brother and our best ally," he said. "We condemn this act and we call on those careless people to release the diplomat immediately."
Many of the protesters carried Egyptian flags in solidarity with Almousaly.
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