Cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad in various unflattering situations have appeared in Scandinavia, first in a Danish newspaper with reprints in a like-minded Norwegian counterpart:
The cartoons included one of the prophet as a crazed, knife-wielding Bedouin and another of him at the gates of heaven telling suicide bombers: "Stop. Stop. We have run out of virgins!" -- a reference to the belief of some Muslim extremists that male suicide bombers are rewarded in heaven with 72 virgins.
Saudi Arabia and Libya have pulled their ambassadors from Copenhagen in response—but surprise!—the normally fainthearted EU is backing Danish free speech, no matter how blasphemous, for now by warning Muslim countries that any boycott of Danish goods violates World Trade Organization rules. Nonetheless, a Denmark-based dairy group with $421 million in annual Middle Eastern revenues says sales have essentially stopped.
Read the Post's action-packed account of this brouhaha to see the EU version of the First Amendment make its stand.
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