EU Law Blog

The publication of cartoons in a newspaper doesn’t usually lead to international incidents, but you may have noticed that the publication of cartoon representations of the Prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper in October last year has resulted in Iran withdrawing diplomats from Denmark and in protests including fire bombing of the Danish Embassy in Tehran. The EU’s Presidency deplored the latest violent actions:

The Presidency of the European Union condemns the wave of attacks and threats against European citizens and property, which has today culminated in attacks against the offices of the European Union and Member States in the Palestinian territories and in the arson attack against the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus. Such acts can by no means be legitimised and are utterly unacceptable.
The Presidency of the European Union demands that all authorities concerned take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of European citizens and property.
In this moment of tension, the Presidency of the European Union urgently calls on all concerned to show restraint and to refrain from and prevent further violence.

The issue is presented by many as a conflict between extreme religious views on the one hand and extreme commitments to ideas of free speech on the other. Tariq Ramadan counsels against this polarisation:

We are at a crossroads. The time has come for women and men who reject this dangerous division of people into two worlds to start building bridges based on common values. They must assert the inalienable right to freedom of expression and, at the same time, demand measured exercise of it. We need to promote an open, self-critical approach, to repudiate exclusive truths and narrow-minded, binary visions of the world.
We are in dire need of mutual trust. The crises provoked by these cartoons shows us how, out of “seemingly nothing”, two universes of reference can become deaf to each other and be seduced by defining themselves against each other - with the worst possible consequences. Disasters threaten that extremists on both sides would not fail to use for their own agendas. If people who cherish freedom, who know the importance of mutual respect and are aware of the imperative necessity to establish a constructive and critical debate, if these people are not ready to speak out, to be more committed and visible, then we can expect sad, painful tomorrows. The choice is ours.

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