.... But there is not “a clash of civilisations”. There is a deep and ongoing conflict between liberal values and a small subset of a world religion. This subset acts in an utterly modern way, depending on social media to spread its message, operating more as a criminal gang than a political movement. Therein lies its instability.
.... In response we must fight them. And we must laugh, ridicule and ultimately disrespect them. Fanatics, as Amos Oz said, don’t really do jokes. There cannot be peaceful coexistence with those who are want to return to a fantasy of the seventh century. They brook no dissent. They fear laughter.
[TOP RATED COMMENT 1955 votes] Honor his name by showing his muslim cartoons here on the Guardian or do what you always do and cower in fear and make apologies.
[SECOND 1444] Sadly, Suzanne, I expect that the general response to this atrocity will be further curtailment of free speech in the West.
We're not allowed to say X, Y or Z because 'it may offend'.
The Guardian has been, and I expect will remain, one of the primary cheerleaders for this spineless and wrong attitude.
[THIRD 1376] All very well, Suzanne, but words are cheap.
Action counts.
The Guardian should publish the cartoons and announce unequivocally that it will not be held to ransom or censored by barbaric thugs.
If it doesn't, then true journalists who see their work as more than just a job, but a vocation, should consider whether they wish to be associated with such craven appeasement in the face of those who wish to destroy everything good in our society.
[FOURTH 1256] The more I think about this it is a big test for the Guardian editorial team and Steve Bell. It is not enough to produce the usual platitudes, but to react with courage. [7 Jan. Guardian Cif, Suzanne Moore, 327 comments] Read more
