By Cem Ozdemir MEP - 3rd February 2006
The publication of cartoon caricatures of the Muslim prophet Muhammad was a provocation but free speech must be defended, argues Cem Ozdemir MEP.
Freedom of expression, which is one of the fundamental principles of the EU, allows any newspaper to write and publish whatever they like, as long as the content is not unconstitutional under national laws.
The caricatures published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten may be tasteless, but they are not unconstitutional.
Sadly, they perpetrate untrue and racist stereotypes of the Muslim community. The question should not be answered without being aware of the background.
Jyllands-Posten is known as a mouthpiece of the Danish right-wing, anti-migration establishment.
Picturing the prophet Muhammad was a provocation and we should be careful assuming that it was not meant exactly to be so - it is as a matter of common knowledge forbidden in Islam.
In the past years Danish politicians more than once described migrants as second class human beings and compared Islam with cholera and pest.
Unfortunately radical powers within the Arab world as well as racist powers within Europe have taken advantage of the dispute.
Threatening letters were sent to Muslim communities in Denmark that had criticised Jyllands-Posten, who in response forwarded caricatures to Arab authorities which were far more provoking than the ones published in the Danish newspaper.
The menace of several Arab countries to put Denmark under political and economic pressure goes too far.
Nowhere should the media be restricted by religious or political pressure.
The dismissal of the editor-in-chief of "France Soir" sets a dangerous precedent.
The EU defends the right of freedom of expression, as it is one of the fundamental principles of the European community.
Cem Ozdemir is a German Green MEP and member of the European parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
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