Thursday, August 13, 2009

Danish cartoons--not pastries

"So Yale University and Yale University Press consulted two dozen authorities, including diplomats and experts on Islam and counterterrorism, and the recommendation was unanimous: The book, “The Cartoons That Shook the World,” should not include the 12 Danish drawings that originally appeared in September 2005. What’s more, they suggested that the Yale press also refrain from publishing any other illustrations of the prophet that were to be included, specifically, a drawing for a children’s book; an Ottoman print; and a sketch by the 19th-century artist Gustave Doré of Muhammad being tormented in Hell, an episode from Dante’s “Inferno” that has been depicted by Botticelli, Blake, Rodin and Dalí." Of course, Yale University Press should have published the cartoons: it is part of the story covered. Western governments and institutions are worse when they feign sensitivity to Islam: they support wars against Muslims, and discrimination against them, but then refrain from publishing offending cartoons. And if Muslims are claiming that they are offtended by the cartoons, I need to ask them about such skewed standards according to which cartoons in a Danish publications become more offensive than occupations and invasions.