A Danish newspaper editor said today he had sought to defend free expression against self-censorship and "challenge a Muslim taboo" by commissioning cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad which outraged many Muslims.
Flemming Rose, the culture editor of Denmark's Jyllands- Posten, wrote in an opinion article for today's edition of The Washington Postthat his newspaper had meant no disrespect for Islam, but it was wrong in a democracy for the taboos of one religion to restrict public debate.
"We certainly didn't intend to trigger violent demonstrations throughout the Muslim world," Mr Rose wrote. "Our goal was simply to push back self-imposed limits on expression that seemed to be closing in tighter."
The cartoons had led to constructive debate in Denmark and the controversy may hasten the integration of Muslims into European societies, he said. But the impact on the Middle East was "more complex," and he acknowledged the current climate made it hard to relax self-censorship.
The article was published on the same day as Saudi Arabian newspapers printed a full-page apology from the Jyllands-Posten'seditor, Carsten Juste.
However, Rose said in the Washington Post, "We cannot apologize for our right to publish material, even offensive material."
"If a believer demands that I as a nonbeliever observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect, but for my submission. And that is incompatible with a secular democracy," he wrote.
Jyllands-Posten
Mr Rose wrote that he sought to test self-censorship limits "by calling on cartoonists to challenge a Muslim taboo." He cited several instances of self-censorship in Europe caused by "widening fears and feelings of intimidation in dealing with issues related to Islam."
These included illustrators turning down work on a Danish children's book on Muhammad, European translators not wanting their names on the cover of a book critical of Islam, and an imam urging Denmark's prime minister to intervene to get more positive press coverage of Islam.
The cartoons were within the bounds of Danish satire and a way of integrating Muslims into the tradition, Mr Rose said.
"The cartoonists treated Islam the same way they treat Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and other religions."
The newspaper has rejected some satirical cartoons of Jesus. But Mr Rose said it had published one of Jesus by the cartoonist who drew the turban cartoon, and another by the same artist "with the star of David attached to a bomb fuse."
Mr Rose cited his experience as a correspondent in the Soviet Union and said it was wrong to surrender to "totalitarian impulses" and "censorship on the grounds of insult."
He contrasted what he said was religious tolerance in the West with laws in Saudi Arabia against displays or possession of Christian items. "Nowhere to so many religions coexist peacefully as in a democracy where freedom of expression is a fundamental right," Rose said.
in September published the 12 cartoons. The protests, sometimes deadly, erupted in earnest in January. Many Muslims regard any image of the Prophet as blasphemous.