The latest in 'incidents" to anger militant Islam will probably be this French magazine in a country with a substantial and growing militant Muslim population.
So the question in my mind is: knowing what militant Islam's response to this kind of thing is, should it be prohibited? There is a part of me that questions the ethics of intentionally inflaming militant Muslims knowing that people will likely die. And there is a part of me that so resents free speech being set aside in deference to any religious (or other) figure or personality, I wonder what would happen if everybody insulted Islam's prophet simultaneously making it virtually impossible for them to target any one person or country?
A French satirical magazine published nude cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed Wednesday, a move that could further inflame tensions after violent protests in the Muslim world over an anti-Islam film.
The cover of Charlie Hebdo shows a Muslim in a wheelchair being pushed by an Orthodox Jew under the title “Intouchables 2″, referring to an award-winning French film about a poor black man who helps an aristocratic quadriplegic.
Another cartoon on the back page of the weekly magazine show a naked turbaned Mohammed exposing his posterior to a film director, a scene inspired by a 1963 film starring French film star Brigitte Bardot.
France has stepped up security at its embassies in countries following the move, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday.
“I have obviously issued instructions so that special security measures are taken in all the countries where this could pose a problem,” Fabius said, admitting that he was “concerned” by the potential for a backlash.
The publication came a day after 12 died in an Afghan suicide bombing, the deadliest attack linked to an anti-Islamic film.
A female suicide bomber killed 12 people in Afghanistan on Tuesday in the deadliest single attack attributed to the controversial film which has sparked furious protests across the Muslim world.
The deaths raised to over 30 the toll from incidents linked to the trailer for “Innocence of Muslims,” a film produced by extremist Christians in the United States that depicts the Prophet Mohammed as a thuggish womaniser.
Charlie Hebdo’s website crashed on Wednesday after being bombarded with comments that ranged from hate mail to approbation.
The magazine is no stranger to controversy over issues relating to Islam.
Last year it published an edition “guest-edited” by the Prophet Mohammed that it called Sharia Hebdo. The magazine’s offices in Paris were subsequently fire-bombed.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said anyone offended by cartoons could take the matter to the courts after expressing his “disapproval of all excesses”.
But he emphasised France’s tradition of free speech. “We are in a country where freedom of expression is guaranteed, including the freedom to caricature,” he said on RTL radio.
“If people really feel offended in their beliefs and think there has been an infringement of the law — and we are in a state where laws must be totally respected — they can go to court,” Ayrault said.
He also said a request to hold a demonstration in Paris against the controversial US-made anti-Islam film “Innocence of Muslims” which has sparked furious protests across the Muslim world would be refused.
Charlie Hebdo’s latest move was greeted with immediate calls from political and religious leaders for the media to act responsibly and avoid inflaming the current situation.
The magazine’s editor, originally a cartoonist who uses the name Charb, denied he was being deliberately provocative at a delicate time. . . .
French magazine publishes naked Prophet Mohammed cartoons | The Raw Story
So the question in my mind is: knowing what militant Islam's response to this kind of thing is, should it be prohibited? There is a part of me that questions the ethics of intentionally inflaming militant Muslims knowing that people will likely die. And there is a part of me that so resents free speech being set aside in deference to any religious (or other) figure or personality, I wonder what would happen if everybody insulted Islam's prophet simultaneously making it virtually impossible for them to target any one person or country?
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