'draw muhammad' cartoonist goes into hiding

[Amby 490]

The Seattle cartoonist whose artwork sparked the controversial "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day!" has gone into hiding at the advice of the FBI after being targeted by a radical Muslim cleric, according to the newspaper that published her comics.

Molly Norris has moved and changed her name, the Seattle Weekly said Wednesday, after U.S.-born Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki placed her on an execution hit list. Awlaki -- who has been linked to the botched Times Square bombing and cited as inspiration for the Fort Hood massacre and a plot by two New Jersey men to kill U.S. soldiers -- reportedly called Norris a "prime target" for assassination and that her "proper abode is hellfire."

"You may have noticed that Molly Norris' comic is not in the paper this week," Seattle Weekly Editor in Chief Mark Fefer wrote Wednesday. "That's because there is no more Molly."

"The gifted artist is alive and well, thankfully. But on the insistence of top security specialists at the FBI, she is, as they put it, 'going ghost': moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity. She is, in effect, being put into a witness-protection program -- except, as she notes, without the government picking up the tab," Fefer wrote.

Norris ignited a firestorm in April after drawing a satirical cartoon to protest the decision by cable television channel Comedy Central to cancel an episode of "South Park" over its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad in a bear suit.

In her cartoon, Norris mockingly proposed making May 20 "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day!"

Soon after, a fan page popped up on Facebook, but Norris wrote on her since-shuttered website that she had nothing to do with it.

"I did NOT 'declare' May 20 to be 'Everybody Draw Muhammad Day,'" she said, adding that her idea was satire that was "taken seriously, hijacked and made viral."

"I apologize to people of Muslim faith and ask that this 'day' be called off," she said.

The 27-year-old Facebook page creator -- a Canadian woman who asked not to be identified due to fears of reprisal -- told FoxNews.com in July that she was visited at her home by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials who advised her to remove her page and not to talk to reporters.

"I'm scared," she said. "I'm scared that somebody might kill me."

Islam strictly prohibits the depiction of any prophet as blasphemous and the "Draw Muhammad" page led to Facebook being temporarily blocked in Pakistan and sparked angry street protests.

In July, English-language Al Qaeda magazine "Inspire" attributed an article to Awlaki, saying Norris "should be taken as a prime target of assassination."

"The large number of participants makes it easier for us because there are more targets to choose from in addition to the difficulty of the government offering all of them special protection," wrote Awlaki. "But even then our campaign should not be limited to only those who are active participants."

He warned that "assassinations, bombings and acts of arson" are all legitimate forms of revenge against the creators of blasphemous depictions of Muhammad.

"Now, with the defamation of Muhammad reaching the shores of America, I wonder whether the patriotic American Muslim will still have the audacity to claim that he enjoys the right to be a Muslim in America?" Awlaki wrote. "Does he understand that this right includes his duty to fight against those who blaspheme his Prophet?"

Awlaki invited Muslims worldwide to "stand up in defense" of Muhammad and for their efforts to "manifest in all appropriate" means.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/09/16/draw-muhammad-cartoonist-goes-hiding/

[Peikko 1,575]

What a hateful little man Mr Awlaki is.

[Heracles 417]

What a hateful little man Mr Awlaki is.

Nice attempt to divert attention from the underlying problem.

Once again, something you beat on about regularly regarding other issues.

[mawilson 2,133]

Nice attempt to divert attention from the underlying problem.

Of course - Awlaki is the bad guy here.

Never mind that Awlaki is thousands of miles away from the US, and the woman whose

life is in danger lives in Seattle.

[Heracles 417]

Of course - Awlaki is the bad guy here.

Never mind that Awlaki is thousands of miles away from the US, and the woman whose

life is in danger lives in Seattle.

I just love the it's only one guy #######. Most of us learned back in primary school that when there are a lot of events that are similar, this leads to something called a pattern.

I am sure a certain poster or two will use unrelated articles to try to compare something like someone [anyone] growing crazy in a trailer, to a cleric demanding the death [murder] of others.

Edited September 16, 2010 by Heracles

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I wouldn't be surprised if there are people in the US who would take the word of that Awlaki guy seriously. The US, being a diverse country has an equally diverse array of nutcases.

[Peikko 1,575]

Nice attempt to divert attention from the underlying problem.

Once again, something you beat on about regularly regarding other issues.

Attempt to divert attention from what? This is the person who is demanding that the cartoonist be killed. Would he not be culpable if something happens to her?

You assume a lot by suggesting that anyone would or should listen to his demands and that those who do would be citizens of the US - not that the US is exempt from its own nutters, in fact far from it - but that is a diversion, trying to guess who might be inspired to action by the call from a hateful little man like Awlaki. Personally, I don't know anyone who would be, do you?

[Heracles 417]

Cleo, if he is just an insignificant little man, why not go live in Yemeni for a while? Go outside his Mosque and say I don't agree with what you said.

I am keen to hear what you have to say about such an experience.

Edited September 16, 2010 by Heracles

[Peikko 1,575]

Cleo, if he is just an insignificant little man, why not go live in Yemeni for a while? Go outside his Mosque and say I don't agree with what you said.

I am keen to hear what you have to say about such an experience.

How do you make the connection that I would want to go and live next to a hateful little man just because I think he is insignificant? Is that the sort of logic you stand by BY?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Cleo, if he is just an insignificant little man, why not go live in Yemeni for a while? Go outside his Mosque and say I don't agree with what you said.

I am keen to hear what you have to say about such an experience.

She'd learn about 'tolerance' the hard way.

[Heracles 417]

How do you make the connection that I would want to go and live next to a hateful little man just because I think he is insignificant? Is that the sort of logic you stand by BY?

It's called walking the talk. If these countries and people are just shooting from the hip, as you pretty-much insinuate, then surely you should be able to go there and tell them what you think about the childish threat.

I sure as hell can go to the preacher in Florida and tell him what I think.

[Peikko 1,575]

It's called walking the talk. If these countries and people are just shooting from the hip, as you pretty-much insinuate, then surely you should be able to go there and tell them what you think about the childish threat.

I sure as hell can go to the preacher in Florida and tell him what I think.

No, it's called jumping to absurd conclusions. I do not blame the muslim religion for the problems that exist in the Yemen, problems that you claim I am ignorant of and oblivious to, which is completely wrong by the way.

[Heracles 417]

No, it's called jumping to absurd conclusions. I do not blame the muslim religion for the problems that exist in the Yemen, problems that you claim I am ignorant of and oblivious to, which is completely wrong by the way.

I'll purchase the ticket for you to fly there.

[Peikko 1,575]

I'll purchase the ticket for you to fly there.

Why? I don't blame the muslim religion for the PROBLEMS that EXIST in the yemen. Why is that so hard to digest BY?

Even if there were no problems by the way, why should I simply fly to the Yemen just because to prove some absurd proposition you put forward BY?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

As we know, BY is a fan of the Daz Doorstep Challenge.