Flemming Rose
Encyclopedia
Flemming Rose is a Danish-Jewish journalist, author and cultural editor at the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten
. He was principally responsible for the publishing of the cartoons that initiated the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
.
and literature
from University of Copenhagen
. From 1990 to 1996 he was the Moscow
correspondent
for the newspaper Berlingske Tidende
. Between 1996 and 1999 he was the correspondent for the same newspaper in Washington, D.C.
In 1999 he became Moscow correspondent for the newspaper Jyllands-Posten and in April 2004 the cultural editor of that paper (KulturWeekend), replacing Sven Bedsted.
that were published on 30 September 2005. His reasoning was that the European public had witnessed severe examples of self-censorship
because of possible violent threats from groups from within the Muslim minority. It began with Danish children's book author Kåre Bluitgen
, who seemingly couldn't find illustrators for a book about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The Jyllands-Posten asked illustrators to depict Muhammad "as you see him".
Among the cartoons two that caricatured Bluitgen, one that mocked the Jyllands-Posten itself, caricatures of Danish politicians, and one depicting Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.
In the text that supported the publishing of the 12 cartoons, Rose wrote: "The modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings. It is incompatible with contemporary democracy and freedom of speech, where you must be ready to put up with insults, mockery and ridicule."
He later argued that the publishing of the cartoons could mean an "inclusion" instead of an "exclusion" of ethnic minorities like Muslims, arguing that Muslims at last were a part of the European societies as much as the rest of the population when there were made cartoons of their religious authorities as well.
When accused, "But you depicted Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, armed with a knife and with a broken halo that resembled satanic horns", Rose replied, "The cartoon with horns didn't arouse special criticism; it was the other two. The one with the bomb in his turban doesn't say, 'All Muslims are terrorists,' but says, 'Some people have taken Islam hostage to permit terrorist and extremist acts.' These cartoons do not treat Muslims in any other way than we treat other citizens in this country. By treating them as equals, we are saying, 'You are equal'".
When asked whether he had any regrets about commissioning the cartoons, Rose replied, "That is a hypothetical question. I would say that I do not regret having commissioned those cartoons and I think asking me that question is like asking a rape victim if she regrets wearing a short skirt Friday night at the discothèque." (Jyllands-Posten
11 Dec. 2005; Politiken
16 Dec. 2005)
and TV 2
that Jyllands-Posten planned to reprint satirical cartoons depicting the Holocaust that the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri
planned to publish. He told CNN "My newspaper is trying to establish a contact with that Iranian newspaper Hamshahri, and we would run the cartoons the same day as they publish them". Later that day the paper's editor-in-chief said that Jyllands-Posten under no circumstances would publish the Holocaust cartoonshttp://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php?id=3616151&forside and Flemming Rose later said that "he had made a mistake".http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php?id=3618698&forside http://politiken.dk/VisArtikel.sasp?PageID=437404 The next day Carsten Juste
, the editor-in-chief of Jyllands-Posten, stated that Flemming Rose was on indefinite leave because he needed time off.http://politiken.dk/VisArtikel.sasp?PageID=437583 After some months Rose returned to Jyllands-Posten.
wrote that Flemming Rose repeated allegations made by FSB. According to Litvinenko, Rose slandered separatist Chechen
minister Usman Ferzauli alleging that Ferzauli set up concentration camps for captured Russian soldiers.
Free Press Society of 2004 (Trykkefrihedsselskabet af 2004).
Jyllands-Posten
Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten , commonly shortened to Jyllands-Posten or JP, is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Viby, a suburb of Århus, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies, it is among the largest-selling newspaper in Denmark...
. He was principally responsible for the publishing of the cartoons that initiated the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
.
Life
Rose has a major in Russian languageRussian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
from University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
. From 1990 to 1996 he was the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
correspondent
Correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is a journalist or commentator, or more general speaking, an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, location. A foreign correspondent is stationed in a foreign...
for the newspaper Berlingske Tidende
Berlingske Tidende
Berlingske, previously known as Berlingske Tidende , is a Danish national daily newspaper based in Copenhagen...
. Between 1996 and 1999 he was the correspondent for the same newspaper in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
In 1999 he became Moscow correspondent for the newspaper Jyllands-Posten and in April 2004 the cultural editor of that paper (KulturWeekend), replacing Sven Bedsted.
Cartoon controversy
Rose is best known for commissioning a series of drawings of Muhammad in the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversyJyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
that were published on 30 September 2005. His reasoning was that the European public had witnessed severe examples of self-censorship
Self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own work , out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority...
because of possible violent threats from groups from within the Muslim minority. It began with Danish children's book author Kåre Bluitgen
Kåre Bluitgen
Kåre Bluitgen is a Danish writer and journalist whose works include a biography of Muhammad. In the 1970s Bluitgen was politically active on the Danish left, namely within the Left Socialists.-Education:...
, who seemingly couldn't find illustrators for a book about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The Jyllands-Posten asked illustrators to depict Muhammad "as you see him".
Among the cartoons two that caricatured Bluitgen, one that mocked the Jyllands-Posten itself, caricatures of Danish politicians, and one depicting Muhammad with a bomb in his turban.
In the text that supported the publishing of the 12 cartoons, Rose wrote: "The modern, secular society is rejected by some Muslims. They demand a special position, insisting on special consideration of their own religious feelings. It is incompatible with contemporary democracy and freedom of speech, where you must be ready to put up with insults, mockery and ridicule."
He later argued that the publishing of the cartoons could mean an "inclusion" instead of an "exclusion" of ethnic minorities like Muslims, arguing that Muslims at last were a part of the European societies as much as the rest of the population when there were made cartoons of their religious authorities as well.
When accused, "But you depicted Muhammad with a bomb in his turban, armed with a knife and with a broken halo that resembled satanic horns", Rose replied, "The cartoon with horns didn't arouse special criticism; it was the other two. The one with the bomb in his turban doesn't say, 'All Muslims are terrorists,' but says, 'Some people have taken Islam hostage to permit terrorist and extremist acts.' These cartoons do not treat Muslims in any other way than we treat other citizens in this country. By treating them as equals, we are saying, 'You are equal'".
When asked whether he had any regrets about commissioning the cartoons, Rose replied, "That is a hypothetical question. I would say that I do not regret having commissioned those cartoons and I think asking me that question is like asking a rape victim if she regrets wearing a short skirt Friday night at the discothèque." (Jyllands-Posten
Jyllands-Posten
Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten , commonly shortened to Jyllands-Posten or JP, is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Viby, a suburb of Århus, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies, it is among the largest-selling newspaper in Denmark...
11 Dec. 2005; Politiken
Politiken
Politiken is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus.The newspaper comes third among Danish newspapers in terms of both number of readers and circulated copies ....
16 Dec. 2005)
Book five years later
Five years to the day after the cartoons were first published in Jyllands-Posten, they were republished in Denmark in Rose's book Tyranny of Silence. The Norwegian publisher which bought the rights to the controversial book has described it as "a 500-page collection of essays about free speech and its boundaries."Holocaust cartoons
On 8 February 2006, Flemming Rose said in interviews with CNNCNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and TV 2
TV 2 (Denmark)
TV 2 is a publicly owned television station in Denmark based in Odense. The station began broadcasting on 1 October 1988, thereby ending the television monopoly previously exercised by the Danmarks Radio ....
that Jyllands-Posten planned to reprint satirical cartoons depicting the Holocaust that the Iranian newspaper Hamshahri
Hamshahri
Hamshahri is a major national Iranian Persian-language newspaper published by the Municipality of Tehran, and founded by Gholamhossein Karbaschi. It is the first coloured daily newspaper in Iran and has over 60 pages of classified advertisement, and is priced at 1000 Iranian rials. Currently, the...
planned to publish. He told CNN "My newspaper is trying to establish a contact with that Iranian newspaper Hamshahri, and we would run the cartoons the same day as they publish them". Later that day the paper's editor-in-chief said that Jyllands-Posten under no circumstances would publish the Holocaust cartoonshttp://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php?id=3616151&forside and Flemming Rose later said that "he had made a mistake".http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/article.php?id=3618698&forside http://politiken.dk/VisArtikel.sasp?PageID=437404 The next day Carsten Juste
Carsten Juste
Carsten Juste is a Danish journalist and former editor-in-chief of Jyllands-Posten, a Danish large-circulation newspaper....
, the editor-in-chief of Jyllands-Posten, stated that Flemming Rose was on indefinite leave because he needed time off.http://politiken.dk/VisArtikel.sasp?PageID=437583 After some months Rose returned to Jyllands-Posten.
Criticism
Alexander LitvinenkoAlexander Litvinenko
Alexander Valterovich Litvinenko was an officer who served in the Soviet KGB and its Russian successor, the Federal Security Service ....
wrote that Flemming Rose repeated allegations made by FSB. According to Litvinenko, Rose slandered separatist Chechen
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the unrecognized secessionist government of Chechnya. The republic was proclaimed in late 1991 by Dzokhar Dudayev, and fought two devastating wars between separatists and the Russian Federation which denounced secession...
minister Usman Ferzauli alleging that Ferzauli set up concentration camps for captured Russian soldiers.
Awards and honors
On 27 March 2007, Flemming Rose was awarded the "Free Speech Award" from the DanishDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
Free Press Society of 2004 (Trykkefrihedsselskabet af 2004).
Works
- Mod strømmen (Against the Stream), in Russian by Boris YeltsinBoris YeltsinBoris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
(translated by Flemming Rose to Danish), Schønberg 1990. - Katastrofen der udeblev (The Disaster that did not Happen), Gyldendal, 1998.
- Velfærdsstaten tur/retur - efter socialdemokratismens sammenbrud (The Rise and Fall of the Welfare-state - after the Collapse of Social-Democracy), Gyldendal, 2005 (Editor)
- Amerikanske stemmer, Jyllands-Postens Forlag, 2006.
- Tavshedens Tyranni (Tyranny of Silence), 2010
External links
- RFE/RL Reports 31 January 2006, Volume 6, Number 2: Satire Vs. Self-Censorship
- The Last Word: Flemming Rose
- Image of Rose
- Why I Published Those Cartoons An op-edOp-edAn op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
by Rose in the February 19, 2006 Washington Post - "The Threat of Islamism", Flemming Rose's interview with Daniel Pipes (Danish translation: "Truslen fra islamismen")
- Muhammeds ansigt (Face of Muhammed) by Flemming Rose (Danish article)
- Culture battle on JP’s culture section, Rose becomes culture editor (Danish article)
- Rose retrospektivt: Det stærkeste våben (Danish article)
- Revisiting the Danish Cartoon Crisis. An interview with newspaper editor Flemming Rose, Reason Magazine, 1 October 2007
