Where is the line crossed when freedom of speech and freedom of religious expression is involved? This is a direct commentary on the Muhammad cartoon controversy. Here’s what happened:

The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after complaints were made about twelve editorial cartoons which depict the Islamic prophet Muhammad among other things, with a bomb on his head and greeting suicide bombers arriving in heaven. The cartoons were printed in the Danish daily newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30, 2005. Some of the cartoons have been reprinted in newspapers in Europe, the United States, New Zealand, and Jordan.

The drawings were meant as satirical illustrations accompanying an article on self-censorship and freedom of speech. Jyllands-Posten commissioned twelve cartoonists to draw them and published the cartoons in response to the difficulty that Danish writer Kåre Bluitgen had finding artists to illustrate his children’s book about Muhammad, because the artists feared violent attacks by extremist Muslims. Islamic teachings forbid the depiction of Muhammad as a measure against idolatry. In the past there have been non-satirical depictions of Muhammad by Muslims; however, a significant number of Muslims have publicly indicated their perception that the Jyllands-Posten cartoons imply that all Muslims are terrorists, by depicting Muhammad carrying a bomb in his turban and collaborating with terrorists (by receiving them in heaven). This generalisation comes in the context of perceived Islamophobia, and has lead to the recent escalation of the controversy.

Although Jyllands-Posten maintains that the drawings were an exercise in free speech, there are both Muslims and non-Muslims in Denmark and elsewhere who view them as offensive, blasphemous and Islamophobic.

In reaction to the articles, several death threats have been made, resulting in two newspaper cartoonists reportedly going into hiding and the newspaper enhancing its security precautions. The reactions from the international community was also swift; the foreign ministries of eleven Islamic countries demanded action from the Danish government, and Libya eventually closed its embassy in Denmark in protest after the government refused to censure the newspaper or apologise. The Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, “The government refuses to apologise because the government does not control the media or a newspaper outlet; that would be in violation of the freedom of speech”. A large consumer boycott was organized in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and other Arabic-speaking countries. Recently the foreign ministers of seventeen Islamic countries renewed calls for the Danish government to punish those responsible for the cartoons, and to ensure that such cartoons are not published again. The Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League have demanded that the United Nations impose international sanctions upon Denmark.

On February 3, the United States State Department released a statement: “These cartoons are indeed offensive to the belief of Muslims. We all fully recognize and respect freedom of the press and expression but it must be coupled with press responsibility. Inciting religious or ethnic hatreds in this manner is not acceptable.”

The violence is escalating everywhere, with the Danish Consulate in Beirut this morning set ablaze. While I am all for freedom of speech, it was offensive and blasphemous to depicit Muhammad as a terrorist. Shouldn’t these European newspapers print an apology for how Muhammad was depicted? Muhammad should not be depicted as a terrorist.

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