The Mohammed Cartoons
Western governments have nothing to apologize for.
by Paul Marshall
AS MOST OF THE WORLD now knows, on
September 30, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published twelve
cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. Subsequent disputes have drawn
in the Arab League, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the
Council of Europe, the European Union, the World Trade Organization, the
United Nations, and Hezbollah, to name a few. Since not only freedom of
the press but also freedom of religion are threatened, it is vital to be
clear-sighted about the issues at stake.
In the light of Salman
Rushdie's case, the butchering of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh for his
film on Muslim women, and death threats against Egyptian actor Omar
Sharif for playing St. Peter on Italian TV, Jyllands-Posten wanted to
test whether "we still have freedom of speech in Denmark." Knowing that
Islamic tradition forbids such portrayals, it commissioned illustrations
for what editor in chief Carsten Juste called "an article on the
self-censorship which rules large parts of the Western world."
The paper expected a strong reaction, and got it. Immediately, two
employees received death threats, and the paper hired security guards.
Juste responded, "If we apologize, we go against the freedom of speech
that generations before us have struggled to win."
[Read on
here.]
