Dutch Extremist Relaunches “Draw Muhammad” Contest

The Guardian reports:

Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders has revived his plan to hold a contest for cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad, more than a year after cancelling such an event out of fear for attacks in the Netherlands.

In a tweet late on Saturday, Wilders called on people to send in their Muhammad cartoons. “Freedom of speech must prevail over violence and Islamic fatwas,” the leader of the largest opposition party in the Dutch parliament wrote.;

Deutsche Welle reports:

In August last year, Wilders canceled a similar contest after Dutch police arrested a 26-year-old man who had threatened to kill him over his anti-Islam stance.

Wilder’s previous plan to hold the Muhammad cartoon contest prompted huge demonstrations in some Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan.

Images of the Prophet Muhammad are traditionally forbidden in Islam as idolatrous, and many Muslims regard caricatures as highly offensive.