Charlie Hebdo again

This time the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo (about which I wrote here, here and here) has decided to go for equal opportunities insults with a cover that shows Mohammed in a wheel chair being push by a Hassidim rabbi. Inside there are, apparently, more cartoons of the Prophet, including some that show him naked. (No nonsense about toplessness.)

Yes, dear reader, you are quite right: those not particularly good cartoons have caused all sorts of problems with representatives of one of the "insulted" groups (funnily enough, not the other) demanding satisfaction and the French authorities running around, heightening security in all sorts of places, especially for the coming Friday. 

The French government, which had urged the weekly not to print the cartoons, said it was temporarily shutting down premises including embassies and schools in 20 countries on Friday, when protests sometimes break out after Muslim prayers. 

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby called the drawings provocative and outrageous but said those who were offended by them should “use peaceful means to express their firm rejection”.

Tunisia’s governing Islamist party, Ennahda, condemned the cartoons as an act of “aggression” against Mohammad. It urged Muslims, in responding to it, to avoid falling into a trap designed by “suspicious parties to derail the Arab Spring and turn it into a conflict with the West”.

In Lebanon, Salafist cleric Sheikh Nabil Rahim said the incident would raise tensions that were already dangerously high.

“We will try to keep things managed and peaceful, but these things easily get out of hand. I fear there could more targeting of foreigners, and this is why I wish they would not persist with these provocations,” he said.

In the northern Paris suburb of Sarcelles, one person was slightly hurt when two masked men threw a small explosive device through the window of a kosher Jewish supermarket, a police source said, adding it was too early to link the incident to the cartoons.

We shall just have to wait and see, I suppose. Would it be possible for some other publications across the world to show some solidarity with Charlie Hebdo on the basis of "I may not agree with your views but I shall defend to the death your right to express them"?

No-one can beat Stalin for bullet points

Swedish artist attacked during lecture on free speech

Time to return to reality. No doubt I shall blog again about the new government as its membership becomes clearer. In the meantime we can all indulge in unholy glee as we watch the Conservatives repeating: Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better as people they denounced in vicious terms but a week ago are appointed to important positions and they have to rejoice.

For the moment, however, I shall turn to other matters, for instance an appalling episode in Sweden, though one must admit the Swedish police reacted well. I found the story on Instapundit and followed his links.

Zombie describes the scene.

Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist, sketched some caricatures of Mohammed as a dog back in 2007, and for his efforts earned himself a fatwa — a death sentence issued by the good clerics of Al Qaeda in Iraq for the capital crime of depicting Islam’s prophet. Today that death sentence was nearly carried out as Vilks was assaulted (by a Muslim screaming “Allahu Ackbar!”) while giving a lecture in Uppsala, Sweden about his experiences with censorship. Luckily, Vilks survived; unluckily, he was headbutted directly in his face by the attacker; Vilks’ glasses were smashed, but police were on hand to prevent the follow-up beheading which the fatwa-givers had called for.

I wrote about Lars Vilks over on EUReferendum (here and here) and admitted that I did not think the cartoon in question to be particularly funny. And so? I don't think Garland's cartoons are particularly funny. Should I be calling for his beheading?

Zombie sounds outraged that this should have happened in modern Sweden, the land of enlightenment but I am not sure that is quite as terrible as the blog implies. The fact that the police grabbed the man in question says good things and lunatics chanting hate chants from the Dark Ages is just something we have to accept. As long as they do no damage to anyone or anything except their own larynxes.

Zombie also lists the English-language media that picked up on the story. It would appear that only the BBC ran it of the main-stream media and no British blogs either. (No, I am not impressed by the need the BBC seems to have to refer to Mohammed as the Propher Mohammed every time. And no, they do not speak of Our Lord Saviour Jesus Christ.) At least they ran the story.