The Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who has personified the cartoon crisis that has beset Denmark for the past four years, says that his drawing was not of the Prophet Mohammed.

“It is not Mohammed. The drawing shows that there are terrorists who are inspired by parts of Islam as their spiritual ammunition. That is what the drawing shows, and that is what I have always said,” says Kurt Westergaard in an interview with Politiken.dk

Imams to blame
Along with 11 others, Westergaard’s drawing was reproduced in Jyllands-Posten in 2005 under the headline – ‘The Faces of Mohammed’.

Although the cartoon did not initially raise much furore, within months Denmark was entwined in an international crisis and Westergaard himself has had to be under 24-hour watch for fear of his life.

Westergaard blames Danish and foreign imams for the fact that his drawing is still perceived by many Muslims as the ultimate symbol of a Western humiliation of Islam.

“It has been opportune for imams and other Islamic authorities to say that it was Mohammed. Imams who operate with hatred as fuel to create a feeling of community need an easy symbol. So they have taken over this drawing, which has now become The Mohammed Cartoon in large parts of the world,” Westergaard says.

But you were asked to draw Mohammed. Would it not be reasonable to think that is what you did?

"The overriding theme was Mohammed. But there were also several of the other drawings that were not specific Mohammed figures. I chose to draw a terrorist, but it has been more opportune to say it is Mohammed,” Westergaard adds.

Why haven’t you said this before?

“I have always said this – also when I have held speeches in the United States at Yale and Princeton. But no-one has accepted it. I just have to accept that some say that it is Mohammed – and if you look at it, it will always be an individual interpretation. The problem of interpretation will always be there and the drawing has now been out of my influence for a long time and is in the international sphere – so one must view it as one wants,” Westergaard says.

But if there has really been a misunderstanding, you must be particularly put out over what has happened?

“I don’t know if there has been a misunderstanding. If some people call it a Mohammed cartoon, then it easily becomes that. That is also where terrorism is connected to Islam, because the terrorists often have Islam and Mohammed as their religion,” Westergaard says.

Intellectuals betray freedom of speech
He says his explanation is not an attempt to provide an apology.

“This does not mean that I am apologising. Using the drawing I show how terrorists are inspired to killing and terrorism. And I have been proved to be right as I have produced the drawing and people try to kill me,” says Westergaard who also scolds his colleagues.

“I can see many of my own class of intellectuals and creative artists, writers and authors who condemn this action. That is unfortunate, because if they don’t pay homage to freedom of speech, then who does?” asks Westergaard who says he has learnt one thing recently.

“I have learnt that when the Security and Intelligence Service says they have built a safe room, it functions.”