Well, well, well. The United Nations has removed its anti-Danish poster from its website. This morning, it was featured prominently as a graphic and available as a special download in PDF.

It was also available in Arabic:

Now, no trace of it at all. No explanation.

Dr. Steven Taylor at Poliblog offers a common defense of the poster here:

First, I would note that the Lego is the one being left out. If the goal was to attack the Danes, surely a bunch of Legos would be shunning a black puzzle piece. That would make more sense if the Legos are supposedly represenitng Danish intolerance, yes?

With all due respect, those giving the U.N. the benefit of the doubt and advocating this benign interpretation are looking at the graphic bass-ackwards. The puzzle pieces represent unity and tolerance; the red LEGO represents a blaring, non-conformist, and unacceptable “shape of racism.” Some readers write in that no one knows who makes Danish-based LEGO toy pieces. Have you all been snoozing through the Cartoon Jihad conflagration or what? If you can’t see the poster for the Islamist-pandering piece of propaganda that it is, there’s nothing I can do to help you.

Context is everything.

See also Agora:
UN Special Rapporteur Doudou Diéne calls Danes Racists, Xenophobes.

My Danish-speaking reader Alan M. sends a translation of LEGO’s response to the ad published in the Jyllands-Posten:

LEGO on Racism Poster

UN’s International Racism Day uses Lego block as focal point. Toy giant is extremely surprised.

The UN is now linking the Danish toy giant LEGO together with racism. It happened today- on the international day on racism- that the UN’s High Commission for Human Rights used as a focal point for a wide global arrangement has launched a poster with the with slogan “Racism can take may forms”. Right under the slogan, which is also produced in Arabic, is a picture of a LEGO block.

(Danish) Institute for Human Rights chairman professor Claus Haagen Jensen is shaken. “This is tactless and a stupidity. It’s directed at when the cartoons were published, as the Jyllands-Posten pointed out. The UN human rights commission should therefore not misuse its mandate.” He believes that there is reason to investigate this issue. “Is this supposed to be a little unfriendly greeting to Denmark? It is really extremely unfortunate”, he said.

LEGO goes to the UN

LEGO is very surprised about the company’s very recognizable product is being used in connection with racism. LEGO’s communications chief Charlotte Simonsen explains that they will now get in touch with the UN. “This is problematic, to know that this poster should include LEGO connected with racism or as racists. We really have to wonder that the UN didn’t let us know in advance when LEGO has previously worked together with the UN’s Refugee Commisson on a campaign” said Ms Simonsen.

Danish Peoples Party leader, Pia Kjærsgaard, finds the UN poster unacceptable. “One would have to be more than usually naive to not see that this is an outrageous insult. It is my assumption that they have tried to symbolize the Mohammed-cartoon crisis as something very Danish”. She feels that this is the latest example of how the UN has over time lost its founding values.

More here.

Whatever your interpretation of the idiotic poster, the U.N.’s weasely removal of it from its website today speaks unambiguous volumes.

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