Mahem in Copenhagen (Part II)

The protests were about the student house that used to exist in the Norrebro neighborhood in Copenhagen. This is what Wikipedia has to say about it:

Ungdomshuset (literally "the Youth House") was the popular name of the building formally named Folkets Hus ("House of the People") located on Jagtvej 69 in Norrebro, Copenhagen, which functioned as an underground scene venue for music and rendezvous point for varying anarchist and leftist groups from 1982 until 2007 when — after prolonged conflict — it was torn down.

Tearing it down caused huge uproars and mass riots in the streets, which are still continued on a much smaller scale as the students still protest. I think the biggest frustration people had with the city tearing it down was how quickly it happened. Danes usually are laid-back about things and the hostility in which the city tore the 2 1/2 decade-old building down stunned them. March 1st marks the one-year anniversary in which police evacuated the building, so it'll be interesting to see what happens that day!

Also, there were riots not this past weekend but the one before in both Copenhagen and my little suburb of Albertslund! They were in response to a recent assassination attempt that took place in Arhus, Denmark (northern part of the country). You may recall a certain published cartoon depicting a bomb growing out of a turban worn by the prophet Mohammed that caused a mass amount of controversy among Muslims in Denmark and anti-Danish protests in Muslim nations. Well, that article was drawn by a Dane and published in a September 2005 issue of a newspaper called Jyllands-Posten. The controversy lies in the Muslim belief that the prophet Mohammed shouldn't be depicted in print verses free speech. On Tuesday, February 12th, 3 men were apprehended in Arhus who were suspected to have a plan of murdering Kurt Westergaard, the Danish cartoonist. In response to the assassination attempt a large majority of newspapers in Denmark published the cartoon (along with other controversial ones) in thier February 13th issue, showing how they're sticking to their initial decisions to publish the cartoon. This then, sparked another bout of anti-Danish protests all over the country. I wasn't here at the time (we were on our Odense trip), but it would have been interesting to see what was happening in the city. So, big weekend.

I'm not sure of my take on it, a comment from an editor of one of the newspapers stated, "In a free society, we can discuss how public discussions should be conducted, but not if they should be conducted," which fits Denmark's demeanor. Although their personality is quiet at first, once they start talking they'll share almost anything with you; they just say it how it is. It took me some getting used to at first, as usually people back home monitor what they say a little more. So, yet again another cultural experience.