In 2005, public outrage erupted after the publication of 12 Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, resulting in riots in Europe and the Middle East. While the flames of those riots have since faded, publishers worldwide are still forced to consider whether they too should publish similarly controversial images. How should the media balance religious sensibilities and free speech?
Interestingly, the ones who invoke democracy in publishing the cartoons are the same groups in Europe who have made the denial of the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide punishable crimes. Some European countries also outlaw insults against their state religions. So the issue is not freedom of expression but selective expression. Selective justice is injustice. Furthermore, Islam regards Moses and Jesus with veneration and one would never find anything but respect towards these great men. In other words, issuing caricatures of them have and will never be found in Muslim media even with anti-Israel and anti-American sentiment running high in the Muslim world.
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