.... Don’t fool yourselves that this is about Islam. It was the Islamists’ secularist enemy Bashar al-Assad who got his thugs to break the fingers of the Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat four years ago. The Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali was murdered in London in 1987 by a student who claims to have been a double agent for Mossad and the PLO. The British cartoonists’ names in the Gestapo death list were just another manifestation of how hateful laughter is to despots throughout history. Which is why, now more than ever, we mustn’t stop laughing this latest bunch of murderous clowns to scorn.
[TOP RATED COMMENT 407 votes] One simple question for you Martin. Have you ever, in your career, drawn a cartoon featuring a representation of God? If so, why do you feel entitled to ignore the Jewish restriction on graven images while arguing for respect for the Islamic restriction on images of their prophet.
[SECOND 361] You seem to think reproducing the cartoons of Big M is a step too far, but are quite happy to run with images of the last moment of a policeman pleading for his life.
[THIRD 337] "But don’t fool yourselves this is about Islam."
Don't fool yourself that, in this instance, it very much is.
[FOURTH 311] Yes we should laugh
But also be serious about the underlying conflict of values
[FIFTH 290] erm why aren't the cartoons on the broadsheet of every UK paper then?
Because the Guardian's commitment to free speech is, er skin deep.
[SIXTH 272] May I suggest a cartoon showing Allah looking down on the killers, with a speech bubble "Stupid idiots, don't they realise I'm just pretend".
[SEVENTH 254] "But don’t fool yourselves this is about Islam."
“we have avenged the prophet Muhammad” Er, it's probably a little bit about Islam. [8 Jan. Guardian Cif, Martin Rowson, 1003 comments] Read more
