Is Free Speech Truly Alive and Well in the Western Nations?

Western countries look upon freedom of the press and free speech as somewhat of a sacred cow, which apparently must be defended no matter what. Currently the editor of a low-circulation Danish newspaper is basking in his fifteen minutes of fame following his publication of a series of grotesque cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, even after expressing a lukewarm apology for the offense those have caused throughout the Muslim world.

Some of his colleagues in Norway, France, Spain, Germany and Switzerland took the view that their papers should also be martyrs to the “freedom” cause and reprinted, while many more have published links to the caricatures on their websites.

The questions people are asking now are these: Where does free speech end and incitement begin? When it comes to humiliation and insult, have Muslims become fair game since 9/11 and is the West guilty of double standards purporting to hold free speech as an inviolable principle when in reality its media harbors its own red lines.

As many of my media colleagues have already pointed out, the greatest taboo in Europe is discussion of the Holocaust. In Holland, it’s a punishable offense to sell Hitler’s memoir “Mein Kampf” and the British Holocaust denier David Irving today sits in an Austrian jail awaiting trial for his views. When Prince Harry dressed up in a Nazi uniform to attend a fancy dress party, British and European papers were outraged.

Certainly, anything which encourages the rise of neo-Nazi groups and right-wing fascist parties, demonizes an entire people due to their religion or race, or hurts the sensibilities of those who survived a policy of genocide and still have numbers tattooed on their arms should be a no-no. But the European media can’t have it both ways, and should admit it is, indeed, bound by certain restrictions. Free speech throughout the continent is, therefore, by no means absolute.

Another taboo for the Western press is deviation from the official line over 9/11, about which there are still unanswered questions, and although such are hotly debated on the Internet, the mainstream press won’t touch them with a bargepole. Indeed, there is almost a reverence shown to the families of victims as was evident by the sickening deference shown by Oprah Winfrey to a woman who had lost her husband in one of the twin towers and had since got through millions in compensation monies buying designer clothes, cars and luxury items, which had angered contributors to 9/11 charities.

Blair’s Britain showed its disdain for the concept of free speech when burly guards dragged an 82-year-old Holocaust survivor out of a Labour Party rally for calling out that obscenely offensive word “nonsense”, coincidentally just as the prime minister was telling his audience how lucky they were to live in a free country.

More recently, the US peace campaigner Cindy Sheehan was rudely marched away from the presence of George W. Bush as he was giving his State of the Union address and arrested simply for wearing a T-shirt showing the number of US troops killed to date in Iraq.

Moreover, the Western media and its governments, while trumpeting its own supposed freedoms, has criticized those of other countries. They have blasted Al-Jazeera for showing US troops captured in Iraq and bodies of limbless children lying in their own blood.

And if there is any veracity to a recent memo leaked by the British press, George Bush actually contemplated the bombing of that network’s head office. In that case, the press was slapped with a gag order. At the same time, the Pentagon freely admits it has paid Iraqi newspapers to publish US propaganda under the by-lines of local journalists. Why aren’t Europe’s newspapers screaming about these infringements of their stated sacrosanct principles?

The fact is Western networks and papers are influenced by government as well audience/reader sensitivities whether they like it or not. So, to my mind, their recent cause célèbre touting their freedom to publish over the deep hurt cause to Muslim communities is a red herring when the underlying issue is nothing more than a cover for old-fashioned bigotry and incitement.

Muslims have a right to be angry over the ugly characterization of their beloved Prophet, which many view as the last straw after years of being demonized, marginalized and viewed with suspicion, and they are correct in expressing this anger via the tools of peaceful protest and boycotts.

Sadly, though, these demonstrations have become violent with attacks on Danish and European interests in Gaza, Damascus and Beirut, while there are calls to specifically target Danish troops in Iraq. These only serve as grist to the mill of Islamophobics out to paint Muslims as “terrorists in waiting”.

Ironically, the Danes are some of the most tolerant and peace-loving people on earth and the majority are genuinely shocked that their flag is being burned on the streets of cities from Indonesia to Istanbul, while advisories put out by their government urge them to flee the affected regions. A middle-aged Danish woman interviewed on the BBC expressed her fear of events spiraling out of hand.

It seems that for even moderate Muslims the cartoons represent the last straw. Unfortunately, the Danes are now unfairly shouldering the brunt of anger, which might be better directed at those big powers that have seriously and consistently humiliated Muslims in recent times.

In truth, this contretemps doesn’t spring from Danish attitudes or European governments but is down to the irresponsibility of one man. The editor of Jyllands-Posten has succeeded in putting his paper on the map and defended his country’s press freedoms — which weren’t under attack in the first place — but at what cost?

As Danish-owned dairy companies close down, their workers laid off; Danish expatriates quit their jobs in Muslim lands, embassies burn and Iraqi Christians fearing retribution flee to Syria, we are reminded of the power of the pen and the necessity for those who wield these weapons to show wisdom, sensitivity and restraint. Jyllands-Posten and the cretin who calls himself an editor should be ashamed.