Cartoon comeback

Danish solidarity strikes back. They take their principles seriously:

Danish newspapers closed ranks on Wednesday to defend a cartoonist's right to free speech by reprinting 12 caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked deadly riots in Muslim countries in early 2006. The papers were responding to the arrest in Denmark on Tuesday (more...) of three Muslim men who allegedly wanted to kill Kurt Westergaard, the cartoonist who drew the most inflammatory image, showing Muhammed with a bomb-shaped turban.

"We are doing this to document what is at stake in this case," the Copenhagen paper Berlingske Tidende wrote on Wednesday morning, "and to unambiguously back and support the freedom of speech that we as a newspaper will always defend."

Reaction from Muslim leaders was mixed. "There could have been other ways to do it without the drawing, which I personally do not like," said Abdul Wahid Petersen, a moderate imam, according to the Associated Press.

"We are so unhappy about the cartoon being reprinted," said Imam Mostafa Chendid, head of the Islamic part Community, which led Danish protests against the cartoons in 2006. "No blood was ever shed in Denmark because of this [well, ain't that nice - MC], and no blood will be shed. We are trying to calm down people, but let's see what happens. Let's open a dialogue."..

Let's just recognize freedom of expression within the limits of the law.

CNN gives a broader European report--but doesn't show any cartoons unlike Spiegel Online at the first link:

[...]

Newspapers in Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands also republished the drawing Wednesday as part of their coverage of Tuesday's arrests...

Any bets on Canadian papers showing the cartoons?

More:

CNN's Paula Newton said the arrests reinforced growing fears in Europe that radical Islam was trying to suppress free speech.

"More and more Europeans feel that Islam is a threat to their way of life," Newton said. A recent Gallup poll for the World Economic Forum showed a majority of Europeans believed relations between the West and the Muslim world were worsening. According to the poll this sentiment was strongest held among Danish...

Mark Steyn sums thing up nicely:

Great Danes

While Ed Morrissey has a great big cartoon, ready to go "Bang!".

Mark C.

Damian adds: the CBC, not surprisingly, pixelated the cartoons while showing the newspapers, so as not to get their nice office building bombed offend the delicate sensibilities of its viewers.

They aren't hard to find online, of course.

Posted by markc at February 14, 2008 09:28 AM