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US community college paper publishes controversial Prophet cartoons
(AP)
6 May 2006
GLEN ELLYN, Illinois - A weekly student newspaper at a Chicago-area community college has published a series of cartoons that have sparked outrage and violence around the Islamic world in recent months.
The Courier at the College of DuPage printed the controversial Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) cartoons in its Friday editions along with an article on why the newspaper published the drawings.
The newspaper said it felt that in order to cover an event held Monday at the suburban Chicago campus that featured editorial cartoonist who spoke about the cartoons, the paper had to print them.
�Our hope in printing these images is not to incite anger or create news, but rather to cover a story and to allow for open discussion on this campus,� said the article, which was signed Courier staff.
The paper said the cartoons were printed only after the Courier�s editorial board agreed to it.
Courier editor-in-chief Kristina Zaremba said Friday night that she stands by the newspaper�s decision to publish the cartoons and plans to run an editorial in the paper�s next issue responding to the many letters it has received.
�Our belief in free speech is absolute. It�s not just because we are not Muslim. If these had been Christian cartoons, it wouldn�t have made a difference,� she said.
The cartoons were first published in September in a Danish newspaper. Since then, media in several countries, including the student-run newspaper at the University of Illinois, have reprinted the cartoons, which prompted angry mobs to attack Western embassies in some Muslim countries earlier this year.
The cartoons, which included a drawing of the prophet with a bomb-shaped turban, were seen as highly insulting by many followers of Islam, which is interpreted by some as barring images of Muhammad for fear of prompting idolatry.
The Courier also published commentary from the Muslim Student Association.
�These cartoons that have been drawn solely for the purpose to defame and humiliate the Great Prophet ... couldn�t be further from the truth of his character. We hope that people won�t take this matter lightly and see the seriousness of its case,� the student association said.
College of DuPage President Sunil Chand said the school �understands the need for freedom of speech� but the Courier�s decision to publish the cartoons �did not reflect the values, aspirations and commitments of the College,� according to a story posted on the Chicago Tribune�s Web site. The community college does not determine the newspaper�s editorial content.
Copies of the newspaper were hard to find on campus on Friday, and the campus public safety department is investigating whether copies were removed from distribution bins, a spokesman for the college said.
