.... The point is that while Muslim spokesmen demand respect for their faith they are not often prepared to give it to others, and in the west this inconsistency is a significant obstacle to a better understanding of the offence taken from the film and cartoons.
Free speech is at the heart of this issue, but western governments should not be bamboozled into imposing restrictions that exceed present laws.
On the contrary, we should proclaim its value, because the kind of free debate the young people in the Arab Spring yearned for will bring about transformation in states where torture, discrimination against women and religious minorities and the failure to build modern civil societies all go unchallenged. [Guardian Cif] Read more
