Thousands of progressive and modernist Muslims are just like you and me here on Kos who believe it is to fine, in fact healthy, to cariacture religious leaders, including Muhammad and other modern and historic Islamic figures and to even to satire or parody him, and they have been very vocal on their own websites.  There was a brilliant, young Islamic women on the BBC defending the cartoons and the right of Free Press/Free Speech.  She went up against some male Islamic Wingnut and trounced him.  

In fact in many sects of Shia Islam, their are Icons everywhere still commonly used respectfully depicting Muhammad and his family  (just visit any house in Southern Iran).  Muhammad pictures are up on the walls.  This drawing of Muhammad is not just historical as some sites have noted.  Did it ever occur to anyone why the Shia's have been more quiet in this debate than the Sunnis.

So for the newsmedia and even some here on Kos to claim that ALL Muslims are outraged and all Islam forbids cariactures is ridiculous.  All Muslims are not outraged, and there is no shortage of Muhammad cariactures in many Middle Eastern homes today,  Just because a fundamentalist minority is out on the streets, is no reason to buy into this hate speech nonsense--this is the same fundmentalist minority that can always be counted on to denounce anything and everything about the West, USA, Israel, Europe. Gays, Women etc etc.  In fact very much akin to our Fundmenatalist Christian Wingnuts.

Is it any wonder that the Saudi Government, the Gulf Shiektatorshis,, the Bush Administration and the Vatican Hierarchy have all condemmed the cartoons in their usual arrogany pompous manner??  Let me think--what they all have in common??  The are all propped up by Fundamentalists, they hate Free Speech, hate Free Press, support male domination, oppress women, hate gays and other minorties.  

Islam, just like Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, is a very broad church with a mulitplicity of differing beliefs--not just the fundamentalist nonsense that gets printed in the media.  There is even a huge gay islamic movement with religious centres and religious houses serving the GLBT community.

So do not buy into this Fundmenalistic Islamic nonsense--they do not truly represent Islam except in their Dictortatorship hierarchies and unfortunately in the Western media. Thousands of Muslims support the cartoons or at least the right to publish them.  And many of my Muslim colleagues have laughed merrily at the more poignant ones.

Also this is not a small campaign by a few papers in a few countries.  Here is the complete list of papers and magazines that have pubished the material:

Belgium
Brussels Journal,
De Standaard
Het Volk

Bulgaria
Novinar

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

Jordan
Al-Shihan

Netherlands
De Volkskrant
NRC Handelsblad
Elsevier

New Zealand
National Business Review
The Dominion Post

Norway
Magizinet
Dagbladet

Portugal
Público

Spain
El Periódico de Catalunya
El Pais

Switzerland
Blick
Tribune de Geneve
Le Temps

USA
New York Sun

This is now a mainstream, global campaign by Reporters without Borders and others, including thousands of ordinary citizens on the left, right and centre of politics, to have these materials published in as many periodicals as possible to make the Free Press/ Free Speech point as crystal clear and to stand up to Fundementalism and religious intolerance of the worst kind.

Therefore I urge all people to ring your local media and ask for the cartoons (or new cartoons as they are being made minutely and many new competitions have arisen) to be printed as a matter of principal.  By all means chose a respectful representation if your intention is not to satire but to make a point.

I would also end by pointing out that as this debate about cartoons rages and the so much energy is spent on it, that we reflect on the genocide of hundreds of thousands of Muslims still occurring in Darfur, and the fact that hardly anyone Muslim, Christian, East or West (or anything else) is doing a damn thing about it.  I would have tonnes more respect for Hamas and the Palestinians if they would protest as vehemently against the genocide of Muslims in Darfur as about a bunch of silly cartoons in Denmark.  But in saying that we "supposedly caring" Kossacks should be as vehement about the genocide as we are in how fast Lieberman stands up at the SOTU.