At a gathering in Copenhagen, leading Moroccan journalist Nadia Lamlili tweeted with her followers in Morocco and posed their questions to Flemming Rose, the editor responsible for the publication of the renowned Danish cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in 2005

During an interview session with Flemming Rose, who commissioned and published the infamous Danish cartoons of Prophet Mohammad in 2005, Moroccans could ask questions to Mr. Rose via twitter.

Why did you do it?

This was the one question that journalist Nadia Lamlili, editor in chief of a Moroccan magazine has been wanting to ask Flemming Rose, whose decision it was to invite Danish cartoonists to portray Prophet Mohammad, which enraged  Muslims all over the world when published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

A controversial subject

In Morocco, anger over the cartoons, one of which depicted the prophet with a bomb in his turban, led to protests in the streets and a fatwa issued by religious leaders on Jyllands-Posten. According to Nadia Lamlili Moroccan media took one of two stances on the cartoons. Some newspapers described the cartoons and Jyllands-Posten’s decision to publish them, as a disgrace, an insult to Islam and called Flemming Rose a foolish man. Others dismissed Flemming Rose as ignorant of Islam and lacking the sensitivities to deal with religion and therefore not worth paying attention to.

Now, almost six years later, Nadia Lamlili interviews Flemming Rose during a visit to Denmark organised by international Media Support, in a bid to understand why the now foreign editor at Jyllands-Posten decided to take - in her words - “such an extreme position vis-à-vis Islam”.  Her mere decision to interview Flemming Rose was met with criticism by some of her Twitter followers in Morocco consisting of active bloggers  and journalists. But faced with the opportunity to pose direct questions to the man who infuriated an entire Arab world, Nadia Lamlili’s followers proceeded to ask legitimate and serious questions to him.

A clash of thinking 

According to Nadia Lamlili, Flemming Rose explained that he never anticipated the overwhelming anger the cartoons sparked in the Arab world. He’d expected a few angry responses from Danish Muslims, he said, but nothing on the scale of what followed across the Arab world. He explained that the way of thinking in Denmark was very different from the Arab world and that citizen’s rights come before religion. Danes expect criticism of their religion, he alleged.

- In reality it is a clash between two cultures, says Nadia Lamlili in response to his comments.

- In the Arab world, cartoons depicting prophets of any religion are forbidden. Religion is more important than freedom, than citizenship. If you ask any Moroccan they will tell you that they are first and foremost Muslim, then Moroccans. In fact, you cannot separate the two, she says.

Diplomacy, not censorship

In Nadia Lamlili’s view, it is not about censorship when refraining from insulting other religions. It is about diplomacy and realising the responsibility you have as a journalist not only nationally, but also internationally, when writing about religion. It is about avoiding starting wars.

 - You can criticise Islam, but do so with good taste while not hurting people’s feelings.  In Denmark I find that journalists who deal with religion do not have an understanding of the sensitivities of religion or the subtle behavior needed when dealing with it. This goes for both Christianity and Islam.

Other tweets from Morocco posed the question of what repercussions the cartoon crisis had for Jyllands-posten and Flemming Rose.

According to Nadia Lamlili, Flemming Rose felt that Islam was still being dealt with on the paper like any other subject.  Nadia Lamlili however, thought that the paper in general seemed to have softened its stance towards Islam and were showing more awareness of the subject.  

Building bridges

The tweets from Morocco which had started out in a harsh tone, softened in the course of the interview as Nadia Lamlili’s Moroccan followers understood that this was a matter of a clash of cultures and thinking.

Building bridges and furthering understanding between the Arab world and Denmark is one of the cornerstones of the IMS Twinning programme which partners media professionals in the Arab world and Denmark. In January, nine female Danish journalists visited Morocco and were partnered with female Moroccan journalists with strong positions in the Moroccan media community to learn about media in Morocco and working as a female journalist in Morocco.

Follow Nadia Lamlili on Twitter: nadia lamlili or on Facebook (Nadia Lamlili).

In March, the Moroccan journalists visited their counterparts in Denmark as part of the IMS Twinning programme which partners media specialists in the Arab world and Denmark to further mutual understanding and share work experience. The visit included meetings Danish media houses, the foreign editor at Jyllands-Posten, Flemming Rose.