There is a prohibition against
worshipping images, and that has been interpreted by the more extreme Salafic elements of Islam to ban, for example, visiting the tomb of the Prophet or creating the Muslim equivalent of Lourdes. In fact, several hundred years ago Salafi Muslims wanted to destroy that tomb.
Certainly, the Danish cartoons were not published to be worshipped. So, technically, they do not violate Islam. What's going on here is a Muslim reaction against Western contempt. Their resentment of that contempt is not new; what is new is the extent of their reaction to it. In a strange way, bin Laden is accomplishing his goal of recreating the caliphate across the Muslim world. They are uniting in their negativity; and what we are likely to see as a result is a huge nihilistic empire which we are going to have to live with for a long time to come.
That being the case, it's about time we learned not to hand this empire money and therefore eliminate its need to do something positive to nurture itself. The port deal with Dubai should be looked at in this context. So should the drive to the supermarket in your SUV.