l****z 发帖数: 29846 | 1 By Andrew Stuttaford
January 9, 2015 7:40 AM
Reuters:
Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which angered Muslims by publishing
cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad 10 years ago, will not republish Charlie
Hebdo’s cartoons due to security concerns, the only major Danish newspaper
not to do so.
“It shows that violence works,” the newspaper stated in its editorial
on Friday. Denmark’s other major newspapers have all republished cartoons
from the French satirical weekly as part of the coverage of the attack which
killed 12 people in Paris on Wednesday. Many other European newspapers also
republished Charlie Hebdo cartoons to protest against the killings.
When Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons by various artists in
September 2005, most of which depict the Prophet Mohammad, it sparked a wave
of protests across the Muslim world in which at least 50 people died.
“We have lived with the fear of a terrorist attack for nine years, and
yes, that is the explanation why we do not reprint the cartoons, whether it
be our own or Charlie Hebdo’s,” Jyllands-Posten said. “We are also aware
that we therefore bow to violence and intimidation.”
Jyllands-Posten decided to tighten its security level in the wake of the
Paris attack.
“The concern for our employees’ safety is paramount,” it said in
Friday’s editorial.
Jyllands-Posten has been in the front line for a long time now (for example,
in 2010 Danish police foiled a major planned attack on the newspaper) so
this decision, however regrettable (and that’s far too weak a word) is
understandable. The paper’s honesty in explaining why it is not
republishing the cartoons is to be commended, and in marked contrast to the
discreet evasions of too many other media outlets.
In its own way too, the paper’s bluntness is a protest, a protest against
the failure of Europe’s governments to give free speech the protection it
deserves (if anything, of course, the authorities have been moving in the
other direction, determined to enforce the ‘right’ not to be offended).
The current wave of republication of Charlie Hebdo covers and the Danish
cartoons is all to the good, but the real test will be in the weeks to come,
in the quiet decisions not to publish, not to write, not to draw that no
one will want to talk about, the self-censorship that is the most corrosive
censorship of all.
Jyllands-Posten 2006: “Free speech is free speech is free speech. There is
no but.”
Jyllands-Posten 2015: “We therefore bow to violence and intimidation.”
Darkness falls. |
|