Political calls in Denmark to make the cartoon crisis insulting the Prophet Muhammad a mandatory subject in school.

According to local media and the Danish website BT, a number of politicians have called for the mandatory teaching of the cartoon crisis that insulted the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, known as the “Muhammad Crisis”, in Danish schools, stressing that the decision should not be left to each individual teacher.

These calls came after a high school teacher, Kasper Pagh Ditlevsen, told the same website that he was afraid to teach the cartoons in lessons because of what he described as ”security considerations,” while stressing the importance of addressing the crisis in its broader political and cultural context, without showing the cartoons themselves.

Member of the European Parliament: Freedom of expression is under pressure and must be defended

“The biggest foreign crisis Denmark has faced since World War II, in their opinion,” according to the source. This statement was made by Anders Vistisen, Member of the European Parliament and political spokesman for the Danish People’s Party, and is a key element in understanding the background of the call to make teaching caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad mandatory, according to him.

He also stressed that freedom of expression should be a central focus in civic education, and considered the cartoons a “shocking” example of the threats facing this freedom.

Festesen said: “It is impossible to imagine civic education lessons that do not address fundamental freedoms. The Mohammed crisis is the clearest example of those freedoms being under pressure.”.

He noted that his party, along with other parties such as the Liberal Alliance, the Conservatives, the Danish Democrats, the New Party, and the Socialist People's Party (SF), had submitted a similar proposal in 2023 to make crisis education mandatory in schools, but the government rejected it at the time.

Current laws do not require schools to teach about the crisis.

According to the Danish Ministry of Education and Childhood (Børne- og Undervisningsministeriet), teaching about the Mohammed crisis and related cartoons is not subject to any law that obliges or prevents public, private, or secondary school teachers from addressing these topics. The decision is left to the educational institution and the teacher, based on a professional assessment and in accordance with educational goals and curricula.

High school teacher reveals his security concerns: “I don’t teach art for fear of the consequences.”

Kasper Bah Detlevsen, who teaches the crisis without showing the cartoons, believes that this situation is good in principle because it gives teachers the freedom to choose their educational methods, but at the same time he criticized the results of a government study on self-censorship among teachers in teaching sensitive subjects, considering that it reduces the size of the problem.

The Danish intelligence service warned of the consequences.

Education Minister Mattias Tesfaye (of the Social Democratic Party) justified the government's rejection of the proposal last year by citing warnings from the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET), which warned of "serious consequences" if the crisis and fees were taught.

Commenting on this warning, Festesen said: “We put ourselves at greater risk if we compromise on principles. But we are open to finding a suitable way to implement this, such as sending external lecturers from the state instead of school teachers to teach this part of the curriculum.”.

Opposition to political interference in curricula

Teacher Kasper Bah Detlevsen expressed his rejection of politicians interfering in the details of the curriculum, demanding that educational planning be left to the teachers themselves.

But Festissen responded, saying: “In Denmark we have compulsory education in other subjects such as sex education, although some teachers may feel uncomfortable, but we as a society recognize the importance of this type of education, and the same applies to the Mohammed crisis.”.

Support from parliamentary parties

Karina Adsbøl, spokesperson for the Danish Democrats party, supported the call to make crisis education mandatory, saying: “It is essential that everyone in Denmark knows the background of the crisis, its consequences, and the importance of defending freedom of expression.”.

She added: “The responsibility now lies with the minister, and we have not yet seen any action following the results of the study.”.

BT reported that it tried to contact Education Minister Mathis Zweij for comment, but he did not respond before publication.