The controversy over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad

The editorial writer Rui Camacho is surprised that the editor of Jyllands-Posten should be amazed by the reaction these caricatures have provoked in the Muslim world. "Salman Rushdie could have explained to him what happens when one questions the Muslim prophet!" Camacho notes ironically. "But the most surprising thing is that there are still intellectuals out there ready with a justification when people react to any humourous treatment of the prophet by burning books, flags or newspapers. The editor of Jyllands-Posten was right not to apologise. This is not just about blasphemy toward a God that does not laugh and does not permit others to laugh at him, it is about higher values, those pertaining to freedom of expression and freedom to laugh. ... Fanatics may burn the Danish flag because they don't like a few drawings, but not here, not in Europe, not under the Western firmament."

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