Exploding Mohammeds Canceled in Spain
Charles Johnson
Mon Oct 2, 2006 at 10:00 am PDT • Views: 466
A painfully sad symbol of Spain’s surrender, as festivals commemorating the liberation of Spain from seven centuries of Muslim domination (the Reconquista) are being altered—out of fear of the new Muslim invaders: Spaniards tone down exploding Mohammed at fiestas. (Hat tip: mkstach.)
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish villages are toning down traditional fiestas in which revelers blow up dummies representing the Prophet Mohammed for fear of offending Muslims, the newspaper El Pais reported on Monday.
One eastern Spanish village, Bocairent, decided to abandon the custom of packing the head of a dummy representing Mohammed with fireworks after seeing the angry response by Muslims to a Danish newspaper’s publication last year of cartoons of him.
El Pais found that several other villages in the Valencia region had also modified similar fiestas this year. It carried out the investigation after a Berlin opera house decided last week to cancel performances of Mozart’s “Idomeneo” because the production included a scene depicting Mohammed’s severed head.
Bocairent’s mayor, Antonio Valdes, said blowing up the Mohammed dummy was offensive. “It just wasn’t necessary, and, as it could hurt some people’s feelings, we decided not to do it,” he said.
Frank says: