Flemming Rose in this interview reminds us, in these days of D’Souzaite dhimmitude, that publishing the cartoons of Muhammad was a courageous and necessary act. “Editor: Mohammad cartoons provoked vital debate: Editor of Danish newspaper that published cartoons of Prophet Mohammad, touching off violent protests, says caricatures ‘made an existing reality visible,'” from Reuters, with thanks to Davida:
Almost a year after violent protests against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, the editor who commissioned the drawings said they had prompted a vital debate on the integration of Islam in the West.
Flemming Rose, culture editor of daily Jyllands-Posten, said on Wednesday he had published the 12 cartoons depicting Mohammad to defend free expression against what he saw as self-censorship over Islam in Denmark and Europe.
The cartoons sparked protests by Muslims around the world in which at least 50 people died. Many Muslims regard any image of the Prophet as blasphemous.
“The cartoons didn’t create a new reality, they just made an existing reality visible. This reality is about differences in culture that have been taboo to discuss in Europe,” Rose told a news conference.
[…]
“Of course a drawing in a newspaper is never worth even a single life, but I just don’t accept the direct connection between our drawings and that people were killed,” he said.
Rose added that if he said he would not publish the cartoons again, it would send a signal that intimidation, threats and violence could be used to silence critics.