As TheBlaze reported back in January, Austrian Muslims became outraged when they saw that Lego, a popular children's toy company, created something they viewed as anti-Islamic in nature. Following months of intense angst and debate, Lego has reportedly agreed to stop making one of its Star Wars toy sets in an effort to temper the storm.
Called "Jabba's Palace," the set features a giant alien who resides in a building that, according to critics, resembles a mosque. The scenario was first put on sale in 2012 as part of Lego's Star Wars collection, but it wasn't until this past January that the toy started to spark debate, The Independent reports.
The outlet explains the controversy in detail, highlighting the purportedly anti-Islamic nature of "Jabba's Palace":
The game, which is aimed at children aged from nine to 14, features Jabba the Hutt in his intergalactic lair. Jabba, the slug-like villain who first appeared in the 1983 film Return of the Jedi, lives in a domed, oriental-looking building equipped with rockets and machine guns. He also smokes a water pipe and keeps Princess Leia in chains for use as his personal slave.
Furious Muslim critics complained that the Lego set's Asian and oriental figures were "deceitful and criminal" characters such as gun-runners, slave masters and terrorists.
Melissa Gunes, a spokesperson for Austria's Turkish Cultural Association (TCA), told The Independent that the toy doesn't belong in kids' bedrooms, as the palace that is depicted is said to look like the Hagia Sophia mosque, an Islamic house of worship in Istanbul.
Which it no longer is. |