A small delegation of Danish imams traveled to the Middle East in December to generate international Muslim support for their opposition to the cartoons. They met with representatives of the Egyptian government and the Arab League. Around the same time, the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) held a summit in Mecca. While the original purpose of the meeting was to address the image of Islam in light of 9/11 and the Madrid and London bombings, the agenda was amended to incorporate the topic of Islamophobia in light of the cartoons. The OIC condemned the cartoons as a sign of “the rising hatred against Islam and Muslims” and urged governments to respect all religions and not to use freedom of expression as a pretense for disparaging religions. The OIC also established the Islamophobia Observatory at the meeting in order to monitor and counteract Islamophobia. The OIC summit marked the internationalization of the controversy: because of this meeting, the global Muslim population became aware of the Danish cartoons.

XREF: Relates to how a regional incident becomes a global issue through organizational action and summit diplomacy.

Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Intro…, loc. 414