Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Rarebit eating surrender monkeys

Compare and contrast two pieces in today's Telegraph.

Muslim Plea Fails:

A French court yesterday turned down a request by Muslim groups to gag a satirical weekly which today publishes all 12 of the cartoons and a new caricature.

The Muslim Council of France told the Paris civil court that the cartoons incited religious or racial hatred. The court ruled the application inadmissible on a technicality.

Charlie Hebdo's director and editor-in-chief, Philippe Val, said yesterday he chose to publish the cartoons "for reasons of solidarity and on principle".

University drops editor over cartoon:
A student newspaper has suspended its editor and recalled 10,000 copies after it published the Danish cartoon satirising Mohammed as a terrorist.

Cardiff University's student union paper Gair Rhydd - which means Free Word - is believed to be the first British publication to use the image that has led to violent global protests. The cartoon, first published in Denmark last September, shows the Prophet with a lighted bomb on his head decorated with the Muslim declaration of faith.

Student union leaders in Cardiff discovered on Saturday that the weekly newspaper, which is distributed free on the university campus and to halls of residence, included the cartoon alongside an article describing reaction to its publication elsewhere.

By noon yesterday they had retrieved 98 per cent of the copies. About 200 copies remained in circulation. A statement by Cardiff University Students' Union said it "very much regrets any upset caused or disrespect shown".

Ashgar Ali, a councillor in Grangetown, Cardiff, said: "The Muslim students at the university are going to be upset."

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