 Peter Hervik said that the cartoon controversy must be seen in the context of an increasingly politicised media environment in Denmark since the 1990s , increasingly negative coverage of Islam and the Muslim minority in Denmark , anti @-@ Muslim rhetoric from the governing political parties , and government policies such as restrictions on immigration and the abolishment of the Board for Ethnic Equality in 2002 . Hervik said these themes are often ignored in international coverage of the issue and that they render conclusions that Jyllands @-@ Posten and the Danish government were innocent victims in a dispute over freedom of speech inaccurate . Against this background , Danish Muslims were particularly offended by the cartoons because they reinforced the idea that Danes stigmatize all Muslims as terrorists and do not respect their religious beliefs . 
