Osama Bin Laden Threatens Retaliation on Europe for Muhammed Cartoons
by Liam Bailey
2008-03-20 08:08:02 **news**
In the latest Osama Bin Laden audio message released Mar 19 by Al-Shab, which the Washington Post calls "Al-Qaeda's media arm", Bin Laden threatens Europe with retaliation for the cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. The original 12 cartoons, published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2006, brought massive protests throughout the Muslim world, ironic as the cartoons depicted Muhammad leading protests throughout the Muslim world. The cartoons were republished in other Danish magazines and newspapers as a show of freedom of speech.
Then last month another cartoon by the same illustrator, depicting the prophet Muhammad with a bomb for a turban, was published in Holland after Copenhagen police announced they had foiled an assassination attempt on the illustrator.
The cartoons formed the centre of a row over the balance between freedom of speech and respecting people's beliefs. I don't think they have found the correct balance in Holland yet. To Muslim's drawing and displaying pictures of the Prophet Muhammad is a high form of blasphemy, even by Muslims, by non-Muslims it is ten times worse.
We have had an Al Qaeda bombing in London, perhaps if they had had one in Holland they would think twice about publishing the cartoons.
I am a devout supporter of freedom of speech and freedom of expression, but I don't think it needs to be done at the expense of someone else's religious beliefs. Drawing the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb as a turban is downright disrespectful by anybody's standards and as far as I'm concerned, not all that funny.
