I'd love to see the escalation of the cartoon case. More and more european newspapers should post the cartoons on the first pages on the base of free press. Islam states should theaten more violent response.

Grow up! There is no absolute freedom of speech without limits!

Some times I find it hard to insult you guys like you insult me. Actually I really think you have some values, but the problem is that you are lost in proving it in public matter. While you are lost you think criticizing them in silly way with lot of ill-implications, is not problem because you already see your self lost. You don't feel offended because your God is not real in your eyes. Or, he is not loved one. You don't fear on your children from the bad future, because you never know if they are your children. You never fear of their minds because you are thinking it is great thing to let them go astray like you. You lost your guidence and you are empty from values. You feel some needs to some values, but you are stick with only one, which is not anyvalue, but the inexistance of any value, which it is FREEDOM. Freedom of what? the answer is, the freedom from values. Why you are like this? Simply because that was the only way which gathered the nation of Danish, nation of French, nation of every so called democratic country in EU.
But why you guys chose this stupid system "Democracy"? because it is the only way to gather people in your countries and let them do what they really want to do. They want freedom? No, Actually freedom is a step, not a goal. To be democratic? actually no, it is also a step. Then what you want guys? The answer is, you are human beings, and as every other human being you are searching for happiness, but you failed to find one definition/guidence for happiness among your people, because you are surely ignorant of the most critical/important thing in your life. which is: What is happiness? and how to get it?. And for the elite class people of your country to stay the elite class, they just worked on a proposal to have the majority to agree on some system. And because you people are ignorants about any provable way of happiness, your people decided on the Democratic System, and Freedom Ideology. Actually your life do really sucks. Democrcy is the most stupid system in the world, because it is simply, counting numbers. The biggest group of monkeys will get the bananas. And the whole world should repect the choice of those monkeys because they are so much. Yes, you are really went astray. But actually you have no choice. You either accept Islam and be good honest, or you live in the propaganda of Democracy/Happiness relation. Islam actually inside you, but you just have desires which are just used to be over control, and your mind is just used to jump over logic only for some topics. I don't want your to apologize, because you are really doing much more evil things than insulting somebody you don't have certian information about (if you have no ill-will), you actually living in the earth which your fathers and mothers didn't make, and eat food which you didn't creat its source materials by your hands, and breathing air without asking about your right in it. You think your self an animal? ok, animals don't ask for democracy, they just serve the man. You think your self man? man has mind, values, manners, which will urge him to search for his rights and duties before you could stuck in any where far from your happiness. if you want to have the rights of human and behave like animals, then the best recipe for that is just to be European who insulted the prophet because he is ignorant about what that means. You think it is freedom, and freedom is something you just dream of, actually you are slave to your animality just like donkeys. If you want to think as a human being then this is the way:
* Who am I? SOME EXISTING UNKNOWN CREATION
* What I want? HAPPINESS
* What is happiness? TO BE HAPPY
* How to be happy? This is personalized unswer. Good people tends to be happy when they do good things and avoid bad things. And bad people tends to do what they desire, or do nothing. And many people are a mix of good and bad over time and conditions.
* If you are bad, actually you will have very little ammount of thinking about your happiness, and you simply will be slave to your desires which will keep you in the dark
* If you are good, then, What is good/bad? Good is what will let get benefit more than disbenefit in your way to happiness . and bad is the opposit.
* How to know what will make benefits more than disbenefits? Assuming that this world has some rules consisting over time, to know what is good and what is bad we need to know past/present/future.
* How can I know the future? That is not possible eternally so far, and It is loosely possible for the few years to come.
* So how to know what is good/bad for eternal life? This is what religion serves.
* How to know some religion is right? You check its proofs and the more probability of the basic proofs the more solid mindful belief. You intellectual talents will make the role here. And if you really honest and do value your philosophy you will not accept such weak proofs like what christianity or judaism have. You actually will go to Islam, which is the only authentic religion to some beneficial doctrine which will fill well in the space of my way to happiness. Your mind is your friend here, and if you are really want to be honest then stop believing in unproved things (like the integrity of the bible), and denying things you never can know about its inexistence (like God).
* Know about your God, and follow his guidence for what is good and what is bad, and feel the real happiness.

good luck in Denmark turning back the tide of the culture change and intollerance brough upon you by the muslim presence. They dont want to assimilate and live in harmony. Kind of like the "borg" on Star Trek. I"m not a "treky" but it's a comparison that comes to mind. Unfortunately it seems rather accurate. Call, write and vote for politicians who support your points of views. If that doesn't work, organize your own interest groups. Put pressure on moderate, muslim groups to do more than be a silent presence. Silence is consent. Here in the States we have asked why CAIR,(council on American Islamic Relations) to speak out against radical muslim groups and their actions world wide. I think it may be lip service on their part. Do what you can to let them know you arent passive about your objections to their pressures of your capitulation and subjugation to muslim. It's not my religion so I'm not bound to it. I'll give them the moderate respect I do to anything other religion, but you want find me on a prayer rug 5 times a day. I'm getting ready for WW3.

Good luck Denmark,

The Monty Python movie "Life of Brian" makes fun, for one example, of the prohibition in Judaism of saying G-d's name. Some people were offended by the film, but no boycotts of Great Britain resulted from it. No British nationals were beaten up. Salman Rushdie, on the other hand, will need bodyguards for the rest of his life. Would one of the Muslim contributors to this thread like to comment on this?

Non-Muslim Europe is choosing its leaders now, seeing who can be trusted to stand up, and who will sit back down when threatened.

Right now, it is Denmark that is leading.

This matters, I think, because ultimately Muslims will not live in peace with others; there is really no historical precedent for it, and every precedent possible for the opposite.

So I expect the two sides to split within Europe, with Muslims migrating to friendler (for them) climes, and non-Muslims doing the same.

Little changes now will be amplified steadily as first a few people move shifting the balance, then a few more, then...

To Anan:

Thank you for pointing out the cultural divide between the muslims and the civilized. The muslim world is powered by concepts such as honor, respect and faith. The civilized world has moved beyond these dark age notions of what the backbone of a society should be, and has replaced those notions with principles applicable to all, rule of law, freedom of expression, religion, etc...

In your world, he (and I do mean he, and not she) who is dishonored or disrespected is entitled to kill or maim. In my world, there is a rule, applicable to all, that prohibits murder, and "he offended me" is no defense to such rule.

It seems to me, therefore, that western values and muslim values are incompatible and irreconcilable. I think we would agree on this.

Those cartoons have shown the Muslims the truth of the european tolerance.
what is funny that the europeans always lecture us about human right and respect of the minorities!!
Our values are much better than yours, because we respect everybody.
Thanks for showing us your ugly face of racism

Please accept my appreciation for your slog through this long (and often ignored)story. You deserve some kind of prize for your efforts to keep this story alive as the muslim fundamentalists got more and more hysterical. If it were not for your hard work, Denmark would be still on its own as its supposed Danish-citizen imams traveled thru the ME spreading lies -- sorry, I mean taqiyya -- about the Danes' principles of free speech.

I can't do anymore than continue to applaud your efforts in my own blog -- as I've done since September. But since no one else could be bothered, I only had the BJ to turn to...

Thanks for all your work. You have polished the image of journalism.

Jamal, you are wrong.
Everyone has the right to offend muslims or christians or jews. And the muslims and christians and jews have the right to protest against such offenses.
But that is not the point here. Is anyone saying that the muslims should not be offended? Or that they should not write letters to the Danish newspaper explaining their point of view? Or that they should not be entitled to no longer buy the Danish newspaper in protest? No, nobody is saying that. Such responses would be normal and acceptable responses in a free democratic society where there is freedom of speech.
What you don't seem to be able to understand is that what really annoys the heck out of us is the MANNER in which the muslim community has been responding to this affair: with death threats, threats of violence, hate mongering by spreading vicious lies, and demanding the impossible (like demanding that the Danish government intervenes or punishes the authors of the cartoons... Hello? Anybody home???).
This must be added to the fact that muslims are GUESTS in Denmark. A NEW religion that is shown a LOT of tolerance (probably more than other sects would receive if they behaved the same way). A GUEST should not be so rude towards his host, EVEN IF the guest believes his host has offended him. A bit more humbleness would be appropriate.
(But then again, humbleness is the LAST thing a muslim ever learns, isn't it? After all, they are superios to all the Dhimmis...)
And that must in turn be added to the fact that muslims from OUTSIDE Denmark are jumping on the bandwagon, whereby it is clear that it is none of their business how Denmark manages its own democracy and internal affairs. At least, nobody is dying or nobody’s hands are being chopped off or raped at the order of the courts...(I'm sure you get the picture).
Finally, how DARE you speak about "islamophobic", when the entire Western world has shown a tolerance and acceptance towards muslims that borders on the incomprehensible especially in light of the fact that islam has been connected explicitly to so much terrorism and fear and hate. And, Jamal, that is a FACT. Whether such violence and fear and hate are a part of islam or a misinterpretation of islam are opinions which I do not want to delve into now, but that islam has been linked to terrorism, hate and fear are FACTS. And I’m not talking about the Middle Ages here, I’m talking about today, in most of the World. Not even muslims can deny that, or can they?
Ed

It is very unfortunate that has sacked Jacques Lefranc, we need to start a campaign in support of a brave man like Jacques Lefranc.

Good news is that the the Dutch Politician and Member Of Parliament Geert Widers has place the cartoons on his website as a statement of solidarity with Denmark.

See http://www.geertwilders.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=381...

Although the Danish newspaper apologised, many European newspapers have reprinted the slanderous cartoons. Some have called it solidarity, I call it collective slander. Apparently much of Europe does not realise the difference between ‘freedom of speech’ and unacceptable slander. At least Great Britain did not jump on the bandwagon like the rest of these losers did.

While supposed ‘freedom of speech’ advocates chant on one side and Muslims argue for an apology on the other, I wonder whether this row would be so popular if it had not centered on Islam. The media has already proven to be islamophobic, and reading comments on this issue at this blog and others will evidence that many backing the newspapers are also against Islam.

As stated by Omar and Aquacool, the inconsistency is that when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied the Holocaust there was an uproar and calls for him to retract his “anti-semitic” words. When a photograph that showed American coffins on their way back from Iraq was deemed offensive there was an uproar and the photographer lost her job. In each case action was taken against the so-called transgressor and the world did not come together to reprieve them, chanting freedom of speech and expression as a justification.

The first consistency so far in this issue is that Managing Editor of France Soir, the paper which has reprinted the cartoons, has been sacked. No doubt many will argue this is wrong, when the reality is that this should have been the standard from the outset.