Muslims and squiggles

Motoons artist Kurt Westergaard has accused the BBC of appeasing Muslim sensibilities by refusing to air a recent interview with him.

According to a story in Britain’s Daily Mail:

It had been expected to go out on BBC World, the BBC News channel, across radio services and on its website. But the corporation has kept the report under wraps amid claims it is frightened that it will “inflame” Muslims around the world.

Mr Westergaard told the Daily Mail last night: “I am disappointed on behalf of the freedom of speech. Every time you are afraid I think you make a step backwards. That is depressing me.”

He compared the BBC’s behaviour with the way countries tried to appease Hitler before the Second World War and added: “If you have an appeasement policy towards the radical Muslims then you are on a very wrong way and you have to start marching backwards.”

A BBC spokesman said last night: “No decision has been made yet. As and when one is, it will be based, as always, on editorial merit.”

Westergaard was one of 12 cartoonists commissioned by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005 to produce caricatures of the marauding Muslim “prophet”. Muslims say no image of Mohammed should be produced or shown. And by that they mean by anyone, not just Muslims, which is of course ridiculous.

Their fatuous response has led to far more exposure for the cartoons throughout the world – but for some reason they don’t see that. They prefer to march in the streets, threaten, set fire to things, kill and incite violence, thus spurring bloggers and other media to show the cartoons again and again.

You’ll see that we’ve found a rather nice way of showing the cartoons for your viewing and listening pleasure, set to the tune of the Danish national anthem.

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether the BBC does go ahead with the interview.