The Star: The wave of protests against an anti-Muhammad movie made in America is said to prove, yet again, the unbridgeable gap between the West and the world of Islam. ……………
The BBC apologized to the Queen after one of its reporters revealed that she once told him how “pretty upset” she was about a radical Muslim cleric in London, whom the government wanted to deport. The secrecy demanded by palace protocol trumped the public’s right to know their subsidized monarch’s thinking on an important issue.
A French court ruled against a magazine for publishing pictures of a bare-breasted Kate Middleton, and imposed a fine of $12,700 a day if it didn’t remove them from its website.
The British tabloid Sun was criticized for printing a photo of a nude Prince Harry in New York.
The royal private bits are off limits, even if they give much enjoyment to many. But it’s fine to show the Prophet Muhammad as a sex fiend, as the film does, or portray him in crude, lewd and nude poses, as does Charlie Hebdo, even if that upset tens of millions.
These different approaches reflect the differences in jurisdictions, sure. Still, in Europe and North America, both legal strictures and social pressures work disproportionately against Muslims and Islam.
A court in New York allowed a pro-Israeli group to put up crude anti-Muslim posters in 10 subway stations. Citing the First Amendment, it overruled the Metropolitan Transit Authority policy of banning derogatory ads. Similarly citing free speech, Google, owner of YouTube, rejected a White House request that the Muhammad movie not be shown. Yet Google bowed to public pressure and removed an android app that plugged the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion.
Categories: Americas, Canada, Free Speech, Religious Values