No cartoon is worth a human life. But what is happening has more to do with the situation in the Middle East than 12 cartoons in a Danish newspaper.
I feel sorry if Muslims feel offended and that was not the intention. But the cartoons were within the acceptable boundaries of free speech in Denmark.
My newspaper is trying to establish a contact with the Iranian newspaper and we would run the cartoons the same day as they publish them.
The furor over the cartoons has been a wake-up call for Danes. We are used to seeing ourselves as a permissive and open society on the side of the good, and it is shocking to see Danes as objects of hate.
The furor over the cartoons has been a wake-up call for Danes.
The cartoons did nothing that transcends the cultural norms of secular Denmark, and this was not a provocation to insult Muslims.
We would run these cartoons the same day as they would publish them.
I commissioned the cartoons in response to several incidents of self-censorship in Europe caused by widening fears and feelings of intimidation in dealing with issues related to Islam.