Everybody Draw Mohammed Day
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Everybody Draw Mohammed Day (or Draw Mohammed Day) was a 2010 event in support of artists threatened with violence for drawing representations of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It stemmed from a protest against censorship of the American television show South Park episode "201", led by the show's distributor Comedy Central, in response to death threats that had been made against some of those responsible for two segments broadcast in April 2010. A drawing representing Mohammed was posted on the Internet on April 20, 2010 with a message suggesting that "everybody" create a drawing depicting Mohammad on May 20 in support of free speech.
Threat on Molly Norris's life, forced into hiding
On July 11, 2010, it was reported that the Yemeni-American al-Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki had put Molly Norris on a hitlist. In the English version of the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire, Al-Awlaki wrote, "The medicine prescribed by the Messenger of Allah is the execution of those involved," and was quoted as saying,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 ... But even then our campaign should not be limited to only those who are active participants.
FBI officials reportedly notified Norris warning her that they considered it a "very serious threat."
Norris has since changed her name and gone into hiding. According to the Seattle Weekly (her former employer), this decision was based on "the insistence of top security specialists at the FBI."
The threat against Norris appeared to be renewed when Al Qaeda's Inspire included her in its March 2013 edition with eleven others in a pictorial spread entitled "Wanted: Dead or Alive for Crimes Against Islam," and captioned, "Yes We Can: A Bullet A Day Keeps the Infidel Away." The cartoonist Stéphane "Charb" Charbonnier was also added to Al-Qaeda's most wanted list, along with Lars Vilks and three Jyllands-Posten staff members: Kurt Westergaard, Carsten Juste, and Flemming Rose.
As of 2015, Norris is still in hiding and jihadist threats against her life continue.
See also
- Blasphemy Day
- Boobquake
- Charlie Hebdo shooting
- Criticism of Facebook
- Curtis Culwell Center attack
- Dove World Outreach Center Quran-burning controversy
- Flying Spaghetti Monster
- International Holocaust Cartoon Competition
- Israeli antisemitic cartoons contest
- Je suis Charlie
- Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
- Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy
- 2015 Copenhagen shootings