The largest daily newspaper in the Czech Republic, Mlada fronta Dnes, published the cartoons today with the editorial that "We are all Danish Today".
It was joined in solidarity in publishing the cartoons by more newspapers in Europe including the largest Polish daily newpaper Rzeczpospolita as well as many TV stations including those in Canada and Australia, and numerous websites of all persuasions.
Many progressive and modernists Muslims have been standing up in media and on the web in defense of the right to publish these cartoons as well.
"A network of moderate Muslims was established in Denmark. Naser Khader, a member of parliament for the Social Liberal Party (Radikale), brought together a group of moderate Muslims. He hopes that his group will contribute to creating a Danish form of Islam as a counterweight to the Danish imams inciting the Islamic world against Denmark. On Thursday morning 175 moderate Muslims attended a gathering where the network was formally founded. Mr Khader said that the Danish imams who have incited people against Denmark should take their responsibility and help ease tensions." (from Brussels Journal).
Many more Muslims would be doing so, if they were not scared to death (and for good reason).
As a Norwegian whose Embassy has now been violently attacked in Syria, whose Government is a dictatorship famous for assassinating elected Lebanese parliamentarians and Lebanese journalists, I now feel it is a duty of all Newspapers who value Free Speech and Freedom of the Press to publish a cariacture in solidarity with these fundamental freedoms. This is even more urgent with the arrest of the Jordanian Senator who was brave enough to publish the cartoons.
My father and grandfather along with much of my extended family who were partisans in Narvik, Norway fought against the Nazis did not fight and in some cases die so that Scandinavia could roll over and have our Free Speech, Free Press and open debate stifled by religious fundamentalists. Destroying our freedom is exactly what the Nazis tried to do to us and they failed. Norwegians joining together safely evacuated our Jews, gays and other minorities so the Nazis could not touch them. And we fought the Fascists from forest to tundra continuously throughout the war, at the cost of thousands of Norwegian lives, and huge sections of Norway were never truly under Nazi control.
And any other group of Fascists or Fundamentailist who tries to do the same to Norway or Denmark will fail. Denmark has a similar proud history.
We have also fought the Christian fundmentalists within our countries as well and managed to get religion fully separated from most aspects of Government and education, as well as full rights for gays and other minorities who are oppressed by Christian fundamentalist. We are now going to stand up to Islamic Fundamentalists who attack and burn our Embassies, call for our deaths and try to intimidate us by stifling free and open debate, satire and parody.
Fundamentalism is a scourge on our values of freedom be it Islamic, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu or any other. We, who value freedom, have a duty to peacefully fight against it on each and every level.
As Patrick Henry (may or may not ;-) have said, "Give me Liberty or Give me Death! and as Jefferson did write, I have sworn upon the altar of Almighty God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.
Here is an updated list of the brave newspapers who have stood in solidarity of Freedom of the Press by publishing cariactures or cartoons.
Belgium
Brussels Journal,
De Standaard
Het Volk
Le Soir
Bulgaria
Novinar
Czech Republic
Mlada fronta Dnes
Denmark
Jyllands Posten
France
France Soir
Le Monde
Liberation
Germany
Berliner Zeitung
Die Welt
Die Tageszeitung
Tagesspiegel
Hungary
Magyar Hirlap
Iceland
Dags og Viðskiptablaðsins
Ireland
Daily Star
Italy
La Stampa
Corriere della Serra
Jordan
Al-Shihan
Netherlands
De Volkskrant
NRC Handelsblad
Elsevier
New Zealand
National Business Review
The Dominion Post
Norway
Magizinet
Dagbladet
Poland
Rzeczpospolita
Portugal
Público
Spain
El Periodico
El Periódico de Catalunya
El Pais
Switzerland
Blick
Tribune de Geneve
Le Temps
USA
New York Sun
GOD BLESS DENMARK, NORWAY, THESE NEWSPAPERS, AND THE THOUSANDS OF MODERATE MUSLIMS WHO ARE DEFENDING THE RIGHT OF FREE SPEECH TO PUBLISH THESE BLASTED CARTOONS