(AUDIO available under NC020366/67/68/69/70) (INTRO) There have been fresh protests in parts of the Muslim world over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The row has also sparked a boycott of Danish goods in many middle eastern countries. But now there are signs of an emerging counter campaign -- one that says people can support free speech by buying Danish products. RFE/RL correspondent Kathleen Moore reports. Prague, 4 February 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The row over the Muhammad cartoons had been brewing for weeks. But it was Monday's (30 January) raid by gunmen on a European Union office in Gaza that spurred Belgian Tijl Vercaemer (say: TAYL Ver-KHAHM-er) to act. (INSERT AUDIO -- Vercaemer in English -- NC020366) "I got the idea on Monday after the raid and I wanted to do something positive, nothing provocative, but some positive action. So I created the website and registered the domain name 'supportDenmark.com' and on Tuesday the website was online." SupportDenmark urges people to do just that -- by buying Danish products, or by posting Internet pictures of the Danish flag with the message "I support Denmark in its struggle for freedom of speech." Vercaemer says he's had thousands of mostly supportive emails from around the world. (INSERT AUDIO -- Vercaemer in English -- NC020367) "It's mostly about freedom of expression and also people want to buy Danish goods, but it's just that they are shocked at how it's possible that the Muslim world can demand of us what we should or should not publish in our newspapers." Vercaemer's website is part of an emerging, predominantly online, response to the campaign to boycott Danish goods. The idea for a "Buy Danish" campaign has also appeared in conversations posted on blogs (eds: web forums often dealing with news issues) like littlegreenfootballs.com, or the History News Network, a website at George Mason University in the U.S. It published a list of Danish goods like cheese, beer, and porcelain, as well as online stores that stock them. A Belgian news and opinion website (Brusselsjournal.com), meanwhile, proclaims on its front page, "We are all Danes now!" And there's an online petition (petitiononline.com/danmark/petition.html) that says it has more than 5,500 signatures in support of the "Jyllands-Posten" newspaper that originally printed the cartoons. Some of the online campaigners say they understand how a cartoon showing the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban can offend Muslims. But they say freedom of speech includes the right to be offensive. (INSERT AUDIO -- Mortensen in English -- NC020368) "We started this last week, it wasn't really planned." Eric Mortensen is the man behind Advar.org, a Norwegian website urging readers to "Buy Danish." The world "advar" means "warn," and it's also the Norwegian acronym for "campaign for Danish goods." (INSERT AUDIO -- Mortensen in English -- NC020369) "There was also a Norwegian paper that printed these cartoons and that's when it became a big issue in Norway. We felt the Norwegian government wasn't supportive enough of free speech and they were almost apologizing for this paper's right to print these cartoons." Some of the sites in support of Denmark have anti-Muslim or anti-immigrant overtones. But Mortensen says his has no political agenda. (INSERT AUDIO -- Mortensen in English -- NC020370) "No, we are definitely not anti immigration, we are pro immigration. This is nothing to do with Islam, nothing to do with immigration, this has to do with protecting freedom of speech and secular democracy." The boycott of Danish goods across the middle east could deal a real financial blow to Danish exporters. Danish dairy foods have already disappeared from many supermarkets and at least one company (Arla) has announced job cuts. The people behind the "anti-boycott boycott," meanwhile, acknowledge their supporters are unlikely to fill that financial hole by eating Danish cheese. They say their goal is more modest -- to give Denmark moral, if not financial, support. .......................................... RFE/RL Prague, Czech Republic tel ++ 420 22112 3076 .......................................... http://www.rferl.org ...........................