Interviews

The Atlantic: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

“Flemming Rose is a marked man. To his liberal-left detractors, he is a bigoted Islamophobe, stirring up racial and religious hatred against an already embattled minority. To his defenders, he is a brave and unflinching advocate of Enlightenment values. To his jihadist persecutors, he is a blaspheming infidel fit for slaughter.
With all that symbolic baggage freighted to him, it’s easy to forget that Rose is actually a living, breathing human being, whose interior world can no more be reduced to an abstract noun than a person’s life story can be written on a postcard…”
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TẠP CHÍ TIN TỨC & VĂN HÓA – VIETNAMI KULTURÁLIS FOLYÓIRAT: VƯỢT QUA NỖI SỢ HÃI ĐỂ LỰA CHỌN TỰ DO

“(NCTG) “Chủ nghĩa Hồi giáo với thế giới Phương Tây sẽ là một thách thức, tuy nhiên không nên quá sợ hãi” - nhà báo Flemming Rose, người đang bị truy đuổi và phải sống từ hàng chục năm nay dưới sự che chở của cảnh sát vì đã cho đăng những tranh biếm họa về Đấng tiên tri Muhammad…”
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Yle Forum: Free speech in Finland

“Flemming Rose, Jyllands-Postenin ulkomaantoimituksen päällikkö, on ensimmäistä kertaa puhumassa Suomessa. Työskennellessään Jyllands-Postenin kulttuuripäätoimittajana vuonna 2005, Rose tilasi 40 pilapiirtäjältä profeetta Muhammadia esittäviä pilapiirroksia kokeillakseen, miten islaminuskoisten läsnäolo Tanskassa vaikuttaa sananvapauteen. Kaksitoista pilakuvaa julkaistiin Jyllands-Postenissa 30.9.2005, jonka jälkeen kohu levisi ensin Tanskassa ja myöhemmin maailmanlaajuisesti, kun ulkomaiset lehdet alkoivat myös julkaista pilakuvia. Mikä sai hänet tekemään julkaisupäätöksen, mitä siitä seurasi ja miten Rose nyt näkee sananvapauden ja oman vastuunsa?”
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Gates of Vienna: Flemming Rose - We Need “Insensitivity Training”

“I will talk about free speech in the globalized world. Let me start by saying that I believe that we find ourselves in a new situation when it comes to the global debate about freedom of speech, because the debate is being driven by two new factors that didn’t used to be part of the framework within which we talked about free speech.
The new factor is technology, the digital technology. That means what is being published in a small language, in a small country that very few people would read and have access to, is now being published immediately, everywhere, and people can not only read and access it, they may also react to it even five thousand kilometers away, as we experienced it during the cartoon crisis...”
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Al Jazeera America: Flemming Rose - People too easily take offense

Flemming Rose: People too easily take offense
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El Mundo: 'Los musulmanes también están fallando a la hora de integrarse'

Hace diez años tomó una decisión que le cambió la vida. Una de tantas que a diario forjan las señas de identidad de un periódico. Flemming Rose (1958), entonces jefe de Cultura del Jyllands-Posten, quería un boceto de la autocensura en Europa y envió un e-mail a la asociación de viñetistas daneses:«Dibujad a Mahoma como lo veais». La publicación de las caricaturas incendió el planeta y dejó escaldada su propia vida, obligándolo a una rutina de escolta y semiclandestinidad. La matanza de Charlie Hebdo le devolvió primera línea de combate por la libertad de expresión, que ha protagonizado su intervención en el campus FAES y en cuya defensa justifica la publicación de los dibujos.

¿Se arrepiente de haber publicado las viñetas?
No. No creo que una caricatura valga una sola vida humana. Si te rindes a la intimidación y a la violencia, envías el mensaje de que ambas funcionan. Yo no pedí librar esta batalla, me vino impuesta. Esos dibujos no se publicaron para ofender a los musulmanes, sino para preguntar si existe la autocensura y si está basada en el miedo. Diez años después, la respuesta es sí.
Tras la masacre de Charlie Hebdo, ¿cree que ha aumentado esa autocensura?
Creo que en algunas cuestiones hay más, pero también hay individuos luchando contra ella. En el caso de mi periódico no publicamos caricaturas de Mahoma desde 2008 por cuestión de seguridad. La gente no lo sabe, pero desde hace ocho años el periódico y empleados como yo o Kurt Westergaard [autor de la viñeta de Mahoma con una bomba en el turbante] hemos sufrido entre cinco y diez atentados fallidos.
La policía ha interrumpido dos veces la entrevista para conocer exactamente su ruta de hoy. ¿Vive así todos los días?
Sí, y es muy difícil acostumbrarse a coordinar la vida con la policía. Intento tener presente que esto ocurre porque hay personas que quieren matarme.
Dice que la matanza de Charlie Hebdo no le sorprendió... ¿Hay que acostumbrarse?
No creo que la amenaza se disipe, sino al contrario. Antes venía sobre todo en forma de ataques suicidas; ahora, como hemos visto en Túnez, llega de alguien que arranca a disparar en la playa o una tienda. Habrá más ataques, es parte de una batalla de ideas sobre lo que significa vivir en una sociedad multicultural y multirreligiosa...
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La Nueva España Flemming Rose: "La libertad de expresión es una cuestión común"

Madrid Flemming Rose, el editor del diario danés "Jyllands-Posten", que publicó las caricaturas del profeta Mahoma, ha hecho un llamamiento a salvar la libertad de expresión en "este diverso, digital y complejo mundo" por medio de una conversación global. En una conferencia organizada por FAES en la Asociación de la Prensa de Madrid, Rose subrayó que "la libertad de expresión es una cuestión común" y lamentó que se esté yendo "en la dirección contraria". "Tenemos cada vez menos debate y más fragmentación", afirmó, según informó la fundación que preside el expresidente José María Aznar.
"A lo largo de la historia ha habido dos principios en confrontación, la libertad de expresión y la libertad de expresión con 'peros', que es la que ha prevalecido", advirtió. Las dos características actuales que afectan al debate son, a su juicio, la migración, que hace que "las sociedades sean más complejas y diversas", y la tecnología, que provoca que "lo que se ha publicado en un pequeño país en un idioma que poca gente entiende sea accesible en todo el mundo y conlleva una reacción política".
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The Undercurrent: "There is no society that protects freedom of religion more than secular democracies"

“...Hate speech is a relatively new phenomenon. If you look at history, hate speech becomes illegal after the Second World War. I’m not in favor of hate speech. I try to talk politely with people and appreciate when they speak politely with me, but we’re living in a world that is more diverse than ever before. What is one man’s hate speech is another man’s poetry. What is sacred to one group of people will be blasphemous to another group. Hate speech laws are not actually used to combat hatred. If that was their purpose, then to be consistent they would have to criminalize a lot more speech than they in fact do. The laws are ways to force a certain group’s social conventions upon society-at-large. Hate speech laws become more problematic the more culturally diverse a democracy becomes. You can see that clearly in places like Europe, where I live. Most of Europe has laws criminalizing denials of the Holocaust. That’s one example of a hate speech law. Denying the Holocaust is stupid, it’s insulting, it’s a lie, but I don’t think we should criminalize it...”
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The Dallas Morning News: Our Q&A with Flemming Rose

“Few people in the world know the price of free speech better than Flemming Rose, the editor at Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten who invited illustrators to send in depictions of the prophet Muhammad in 2005. Muslims around the world were enraged, and more than 200 deaths were attributed to protests surrounding what came to be known as the “cartoon crisis.” Today, Rose, 57, lives under guard. He is among figures, including novelist Salman Rusdie and the staff of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, who landed on extremists’ death list. Rose met with Points in Dallas recently to talk about his book, The Tyranny of Silence, published last year, and his thoughts on how the ideal of free speech is evolving around the world.”
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De Volkskrant: 'Ik heb echt alle begrip voor zelfcensuur'

'Ik heb echt alle begrip voor zelfcensuur'
De man achter de Mohammedcartoons laat weer van zich horen. 'Mensen zijn bang,wees daar eerlijk over.’..
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De Morgen: Interview with Flemming Rose "Eén ding is zeker: ik houd mijn mond niet"

“Flemming Rose is de voormalige chef kunst van de Deense krant Jyllands-Posten. Hij was het die in 2005 twaalf cartoonisten vroeg een paar cartoons te tekenen over de profeet Mohammed. Enkelen onder hen stierven begin dit jaar bij de aanslag op Charlie Hebdo. Toch weigert hij te zwijgen.”
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Lampadia.com: “Cada vez más gente cree que tiene derecho a no ser ofendida”

“...¿A qué cree que se debe este fenómeno de autocensura?
Bueno yo lo llamo “fundamentalismo de agravio”. Cada vez más gente sinceramente cree que tiene derecho a no ser ofendida. En una democracia se tiene varios derechos: votar, libertad de religión, de movimiento etc., pero el único derecho que no se debería tener es el de no ser ofendido. Pero más gente cree que tiene ese derecho y ‘juega’ la carta de la ofensa cada vez más. En todo el mundo...

Creo que se basa en políticas de identidad, ya que a las personas en un mundo globalizado les resulta muy difícil responder a la pregunta: “¿Quién soy?”. Todos buscamos identidades para protegernos y tener un sentido propio. Cuando encontramos una identidad, la queremos proteger contra cualquier ofensa. El resultado es que al final se vuelve más importante qué nos distingue de los demás que aquello que compartimos con otros seres humanos. En mi libro exploro mi experiencia con este fenómeno, pero no me limito a Dinamarca o Europa. Se trata de lo que pasa en otras partes del mundo con distintas religiones e ideologías y sobre distintos períodos de la historia. Sobre las guerras de la religión en Europa, sobre el comunismo en Rusia soviética, la Alemania de Weimar y diferentes episodios históricos en los que se revisa la libertad de expresión, las limitaciones de esta y, más ampliamente, de la libertad.”
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WorldPost: Why I Published Cartoons of Muhammad and Don't Regret It

“...Back in 2005, I was trying to cover a story about self-censorship and fear among writers, artists, museums, publishers, comedians and other people in cultural life in Denmark and Western Europe. A children's writer had made headlines when he claimed that he had difficulties finding an illustrator for a book about the life of the Prophet Muhammad; the reason, he said, was fear. That was the starting point for a debate about self-censorship in dealing with Islam. Several other examples followed. In one example, a Danish comedian admitted he was afraid of mocking Islam the same way he did with Christianity. In another, two imams called on the Danish government to pass laws criminalizing criticism of Islam.
This last example added another dimension to the debate. What do you do when people adhering to a faith or ideology insist that others with different convictions submit themselves to taboos outside sacred places?”
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CNN: Danish journalist under threat: I will not give in

Brooke Baldwin speaks to journalist Flemming Rose, culture editor of Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, who published drawings of Prophet Mohammed in 2005.
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The New Yorker: Copenhagen, Speech, and Violence

“Several weeks ago, New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff conducted the following interview with Flemming Rose, the foreign editor of Jyllands-Posten, the Danish daily newspaper known for having published twelve cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005. Rose, who was then the culture editor, made the decision to publish the cartoons, which sparked attacks and violent protests across the Muslim world, and multiple terrorist plots against Jyllands-Posten, Rose, and other staff members.

Rose’s book, “The Tyranny of Silence,” was published late last year in the U.S. Rose and Mankoff spoke about the book and Rose’s views on free speech in person, and continued their conversation via e-mail. This interview is an edited version of their exchanges. Mankoff spoke to Rose today, shortly after a shooting attack on a Copenhagen café. The café was hosting a public event, “Art, Blasphemy, and Freedom of Expression,” featuring the artist Lars Vilks, who has also caricatured Muhammad. One person was killed and three were reported injured. Rose, who said he was not at the event, declined to comment at this time.
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Boston Globe: Can hate speech be eradicated?

“CAN HATE be eradicated from the public arena?
That utopian dream is what’s driving the European Union’s efforts to ban “hate speech,” a difficult-to-define concept that European governments keep trying to apply in more and more contexts. It’s based on an interpretation of the Holocaust that has become the founding narrative for European integration:that evil words beget evil deeds...”
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DR.DE Mediathek video: Dänemark Verzicht auf Pressefreiheit

Das Magazin euroblick hat sich zum Ziel gesetzt, europäische Zusammenhänge am anschaulichen Beispiel zu erklären und dabei die farbigen Unterschiede europäischer Regionen lebendig darzustellen. Der Blick auf Land und Leute innerhalb Europas hat dabei einen besonderen Stellenwert. Ziel ist es, Verständnis für ein zusammenwachsendes Europa zu schaffen.
Moderation: Natalie Amiri Autor: Gerhard Losher Redaktion: Gerhard Losher
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Publishers Weekly: Four Questions for...Flemming Rose

“...The U.S. media have obviously decided to censor themselves when it comes to religion and they insist that it isn’t a free speech issue. It’s just decent behavior. I am not convinced. It’s fine with me when media do not want to offend, but then they should be consistent in applying that principle. .... I think the motive behind editorial decisions not to publish Mohammad cartoons is fear, and it would make the public debate about free speech a lot easier if editors were more honest about their motives...”
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Al Jazeera America: Flemming Rose talks to Antonio Mora

“...Let's go back a decade, when you were thinking about publishing these cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. You had seen self-censorship happening throughout Europe and in different situations. And the straw that broke the camel's back for you was a man who wanted to write this and couldn't find an illustrator to draw the prophet for this children's book. So what was your intent, then? Because you went out and you invited people, cartoonists throughout Denmark, someone to come up with these drawings. What was your intent behind that invitation and then the subsequent publication?
I think there were two issues. In fact, we were not sure about how wide a problem self-censorship was. We had this one case. So one person self-censorship in fact taking place when it comes to dealing with Islam? And if it is taking place, is it based [on] a fiction of the mind or of our imagination, or is it based in real fear? And nine years after the fact, we have to acknowledge that we received an affirmative answer to both questions.”
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Em VEJA desta semana: A expressão não pode ter limites

“Era fim de tarde de uma terça-feira, há seis anos, quando o telefone tocou. Uma voz que havia se tornado familiar, do Serviço de Segurança e Inteligência da Dinamarca, disse que dois homens que planejavam me assassinar tinham sido presos em Chicago. O FBI havia frustrado outro ataque planejado ao meu jornal, Jyllands-­Posten, que tinha como alvos específicos a mim e o cartunista Kurt Westergaard. Os terroristas eram um americano e um canadense, ambos de origem paquistanesa. Um estava ligado a atrocidades no ano anterior em Mumbai. Ele já havia visitado a Dinamarca duas vezes em missões de planejamento e comprado sua passagem de volta a Copenhague. Um ano depois, Westergaard teve a sorte de escapar de outra ameaça a sua vida. O artista, de 73 anos, estava assistindo a um filme com sua neta pequena quando um somali com um machado invadiu sua casa para matá-lo. Ele se refugiou em um quarto de segurança que se vira obrigado a construir. Durante uma década, nós tivemos de viver à sombra de tais ameaças, depois que encomendei uma dúzia de charges retratando Maomé. Foi essa decisão que provocou uma tempestade ao redor do mundo, com a republicação das charges em vários outros jornais. Apesar das tentativas de assassinato, era muito fácil, à medida que a vida seguia, ser levado a acreditar que a ameaça era abstrata.”
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Le site du Journal du Dimanche: Caricatures : "Céder à la violence, c’est prouver qu'elle fonctionne"

“...Vous connaissiez bien l’équipe de Charlie Hebdo, vous avez notamment été témoin à leur procès. Que ressentez-vous?
C’est un énorme choc professionnel et personnel, même si cela ne m’a pas surpris. Il n’y avait pas eu d’incidents depuis plusieurs d’années, l’équipe avait baissé la garde en termes de sécurité. Le policier était attablé avec eux à la conférence au lieu d’être dehors, ils étaient devenus amis. C’est une réaction psychologique compréhensive, humaine, nous avons les mêmes débats au journal… Le Jyllands-Posten a été critiqué parce qu’il n’a pas republié la dernière une de Charlie Hebdo. Beaucoup de mes collègues ont peur car il y a eu plusieurs tentatives d’attentat contre le journal. S’il n’y avait pas ces considérations sécuritaires, nous l’aurions fait. Cela montre que l’intimidation marche, mais nous n’avons pas abandonné la bataille. Tout cela renforce mes convictions...”
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Stern: Angst Frisst Freiheit

stern_4_2015_Interview Rose

Le Figaro: Flemming Rose : «Dès que les médias intériorisent la peur, c'est fini»

“Aujourd'hui chef de la politique étrangère du grand journal danois Jyllands-Posten, dont il était rédacteur en chef pendant la publication des caricatures de Mahomet en 2005, Flemming Rose est l'une des cibles des islamistes radicaux aux côtés du caricaturiste Kurt Westergaard. Il a publié The Tyranny of Silence, sorti en novembre aux États-Unis (Cato Press, 2014).”
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Stars and Stripes: Home/ Opinion Satirists accept the price of pens held high

“...Rose told me that he wasn’t calling for cartoonists to publish “images of the Prophet Muhammad.” Rather, he encouraged honesty about self-censorship. “I understand that people feel intimidated,” Rose said. “I think we should be honest about it. We should not [apologize] it away to be polite. We mock all religions, but we give special treatment to one religion right now. I’m just calling for honesty so we know what we’re talking about.”
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The New Republic: The Danish Editor Who Published Mohammed Cartoons in 2005: "This Idea That Charlie Hebdo Had an Anti-Islamic Bias Is Stupid"

“...Rose has spent the years since then defending free expression against a culture of compromise and conciliation, but he remains deeply pessimistic about the future of free speech in Europe—not just because he knows the journalists killed in the Charlie Hebdo shooting and not just because they were killed for printing cartoons. He’s pessimistic because it’s a continuation of what he calls a decade-long assault in Europe on liberal ideals and freedom of expression. The assault is gradually snaking its way across the continent: Amsterdam 2004, the murder of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh; Madrid 2004, train bombings; London 2005, bus bombing. 
Now France 2015: Twelve journalists and cartoonists murdered. Rose fears that this latest act will make editors across Europe pause before they go to the printers. It will encourage self-censorship; it will bring us closer to a “tyranny of silence.” I spoke with him by phone from Copenhagen about the massacre and where Europe needs to go from here...”
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BBC News HARD TALK: ‘Violence works’ - No to Hebdo reprint

“Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten which controversially published 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad in 2005 has decided to not reprint Charlie Hedbo’s post-attack front cover.
"Sometimes the sword is mightier than the pen," said Flemming Rose, the newspaper’s cultural editor.
Mr Rose explained that their newspaper had been living with death threats and several foiled terrorists attacks since it published the cartoons which were republished by several European newspapers in 2006, sparking worldwide protests among some Muslims.”
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ABC News George Stephanopoulos: Flemming Rose about free speech

“In my view there are two possible responses to a free speech challenge that maintain the principle of equality before the law. The first option would avoid any possible offense by equally protecting the right “not to be offended” for all groups: if you respect my taboos, I’ll respect yours. If one group is to be protected from emotional violation, then all groups must be. If it is against the law to deny the existence of the Holocaust or the crimes committed in the name of Communism, then it should also be forbidden to publish drawings of the Muslim prophet. But this thinking quickly spirals out of control—in such a world not much could be said at all.
The other response is to say that in a democracy no one can claim the right not to be offended. Because we are as different as we are, the challenge then becomes to work out a minimum limitation on freedom of speech, only making restrictions which are absolutely necessary in order for us to live together in peace. It would seem logical to suggest that a more diverse society should be allowed greater freedom of expression than a homogeneous one; however, the opposite is a widely spread conviction. This is where the tyranny of silence lurks. Faced with growing diversity, Europe has recently tended to increase restrictions on the freedom of expression; the majority of laws criminalizing the denial of the Holocaust have been passed since the collapse of the Berlin Wall. The United States, with its tradition of upholding absolute freedom of expression, stands more and more alone on this issue. In my opinion Europe should learn from our friends on the other side of the Atlantic.”
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Die Welt: Es ist kein Respekt, es ist Angst

“Das Problem ist nur: Der Satz stimmt nicht. Wir sind nicht Charlie. Und die Behauptung, der Terror werde nicht gewinnen, ist angesichts der Erfahrungen des letzten Jahrzehnts allenfalls eine Hoffnung. Die Wirklichkeit sieht leider anders aus.
Die Redakteure und Karikaturisten des Pariser Satiremagazins wussten, dass sie mit jeder Mohammed- Zeichnung ihr Leben riskierten. "'Charlie Hebdo' war die einzige Zeitschrift der Welt, die sich noch getraut hat, solche Cartoons zu bringen", weiß Flemming Rose, leitender Kulturredakteur der dänischen Tageszeitung "Jyllands- Posten". Vor fast zehn Jahren wurde das Blatt weltbekannt, weil es eine Reihe von Mohammed- Karikaturen ins Blatt gehoben hatte. Der verantwortliche Redakteur war Flemming Rose. Seitdem lebt er unter Polizeischutz.”
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Daily Mail: Jihadis want to assassinate me. But I refuse to be condemned to a tyranny of deathly silence'

“...By proposing a practical demonstration – Show, Don’t Tell, a time-honoured journalistic principle – we wanted to let readers form their own opinion. As we soon found out, fears of violence for ridiculing a religious symbol were far from fantasy.
I could never have imagined being condemned as a racist and finding myself on an Al Qaeda hit list. I was constantly asked to apologise for subsequent events, finding myself blamed for the lethal over-reaction of others...”
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Finacial Times: Danish journalist does not regret cartoon commission despite plots

Financial Times - Europe
“...The drama culminated in Paris this week with the massacre at Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine whose editor, Stephane Charbonnier, decided to reprint Jyllands-Posten’s cartoons in 2006 out of solidarity and then increasingly made Islam a subject of his sharp-edged pen.
“It’s really sad. It’s a big shock. It’s really, really terrible. It’s a nightmare coming true,” says Mr Rose, himself on a purported al-Qaeda wanted list.
But anybody expecting Mr Rose to be repentant would be wrong. “I don’t regret commissioning those cartoons. I don’t believe that a cartoon is worth a single life. The problem is that there are quite a few people who believe otherwise and then we are confronted with this dilemma: what do we do?”
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Power Line: After Charlie Hebdo: Revisiting “The Tyranny of Silence”

This Saturday’s photo roundup will be be the Charlie Hebdo edition, and we’re currently collecting the most offensive Mohammed images for maximum effect.  In the meantime, it is worth taking note of Flemming Rose’s recent book, The Tyranny of Silence.
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Newsweek: Funny’s Funny: Humor Is An Essential Freedom of Speech

“...Everywhere I go, I seem to provoke controversy. At American universities, I’ve  been met by placards and students protesting against my speaking. When I was  scheduled to lecture at a university in Jerusalem, a demonstration called for my  removal.
When I talked about freedom of speech at a UNESCO conference in Doha in the spring of 2009, local media branded me the “the Danish Satan,”1 the authorities  were inundated with angry emails and the Ministry of Internal Affairs set up a hotline for citizens who complained about my having even been allowed into the  country...”
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"De las caricaturas de Mahoma a la del Brillante Camarada" - "La tiranía del silencio"

“...Flemming Rose acaba de publicar en EE UU The tyranny of silence (La tiranía del silencio), un ensayo sobre los límites a la libertad de expresión en los países occidentales. Rose fue el responsable, como jefe de Cultura del Jyllands Posten, de la publicación de las caricaturas de Mahoma. Desaprueba la decisión de Sony, la semana pasada, de retirar la película, decisión corregida parcialmente al estrenarse ahora en los 300 cines independientes y en Internet.
“Puedes decir que Sony es una corporación de entretenimiento y están en el negocio para hacer dinero. Por tanto, deben decidir en función del negocio, y no de acuerdo con su responsabilidad ante el público como un medio de comunicación que se ve a sí mismo como una institución que defiende un bien público”, dice Rose en una entrevista por teléfono. Pero añade: “Sin la libertad de expresión Sony no sería capaz de hacer muchas de las películas que está haciendo. Si operase en un ámbito como el de Corea del Norte, diría que quizá el 90% de sus películas no podrían producirse. Así que desde un punto de vista del negocio Sony también se beneficia de la libertad de expresión”.
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POLITICO Magazine: The Worldwide War Against Free Speech - Flemming Rose

“Sony’s decision to withdraw its movie The Interview under threat from North Korea—at least temporarily—did not happen in a vacuum. It is part of a rising trend that I call “grievance fundamentalism,” which is, bit by bit, squelching free speech around the world. It’s not just the hyper-sensitive Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang; more and more people and groups think they have a special right not to be offended – from Moscow to Manhattan, from Bombay to Berlin. Dictators and movements with an oppressive agenda are learning the language of grievance fundamentalism and use it with some success.”
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ARI: Is there a climate of self-censorship regarding Islam? Freedom of Speech, “Islamophobia,” and the Cartoons Crisis Freedom of Speech, “Islamophobia,” and the Cartoons Crisis [Podcast]

“...What is the situation like today? That was one of the questions I put to Flemming Rose, the editor who commissioned and published the cartoons. He has written a perceptive and riveting new book about the crisis, the reaction to it, and the future of free speech. The book’s title hints at the direction of the current trend: The Tyranny of Silence. Our conversation ranged widely. A few of the issues we touched on: what incidents prompted the commissioning of the cartoons, how self-censorship operated under the Soviet regime and the parallels to today, what lies behind the push to outlaw “defamation of religion,” and why the invalid term “Islamophobia” is so destructive...”
Podcast
 

Flemming Rose discusses his upcoming book, “The Tyranny of Silence”, on FBN’s The Independents

Flemming Rose discusses his upcoming book, “The Tyranny of Silence”, on FBN’s The Independents
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November 11, 2014
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Newseum: Journalism works - Free Speech, Cartoons and the Prophet

On Nov. 13, 2014, the Newseum Institute’s Gene Policinski was joined by Jyllands-Posten cultural editor Flemming Rose for a discussion about the Danish newspaper's still-disputed decision to publish a series of cartoons satirizing the prophet Mohammed in 2005.
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Cicero Magazine: Free Speech, Self-Censorship, and the Cartoon that Shook the World

“...I disagree that the cartoons provide a text-book example of a Western, Orientalist perspective. The cartoons have as little to do with the Middle East as cartoons of Jesus do. Mohammed and Jesus were both from the Middle East. The context for the publication of the cartoons was Islam in Denmark and Europe, not the Middle East...”
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The Online Library of Law and Liberty’s: Flemming Rose on the Aftermath of the Mohammed Cartoon Crisis

This next podcast is with the Danish journalist Flemming Rose, foreign news editor at Jyllands-Posten, on the controversy he ignited in 2005 when he published cartoons satirizing the prophet Mohammed. His new book, The Tyranny of Silence, offers his reflections on the conflagration that ensued, including a jihadist’s attempt to murder one of the cartoonists with an axe.
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Podcast

The Cato Institute: A Tyranny of Silence: One Journalist’s Battle Against Modern-Day Restrictions on Free Speech

“In their effort to provide the public with information about controversial yet important world events, journalists face constant intimidation. Whether it takes an extreme form—such as beheading or death threats—or a less violent one—like government censorship or enforced political correctness—it nonetheless constricts their ability to convey truthful information about key issues.
No one knows this better than Flemming Rose.
In 2006,  the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 cartoons of the prophet Muhammad, stoking the fires of a worldwide debate about what limits—if any—should constrain freedom of speech in the 21st century.
Rose, then the paper’s culture editor, defended the decision to print the drawings, quickly becoming the target of death threats and more, all of which he recounts in his new book, published by the Cato Institute.”
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The Washington Post: New ‘Tyranny of Silence’ book: Danish ‘Cartoon Crisis’ editor weighs what he’d change — and what he would not

“EDITOR’S NOTE: One of the more ignorant things I occasionally hear people say in my line of work is that a certain artwork is “just a cartoon.” If they had any understanding of the hot thunderclap power of a single image upon the brain’s hard-wiring, they would instead say warily, “Oh my, it’s a CARTOON.” This interview reminds of the potential potency, for good or ill, for right or wrong, of a distilled still image. – M.C.”
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NEWSMAX TV: Malzberg | Flemming Rose to discuss his new book, “The Tyranny of Silence.."

12/11/2014
foreign editor at the Danish newspaper Jillands-Posten joins Steve to discuss his new book, “The Tyranny of Silence: How One Cartoon ignited a global debate on the future of free speech”
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Peter Boyles Show - Nov 14, 2014

Flemming Rose and his book - "Tyranny of Silence"
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CATO Institute: A special one-on-one conversation with the author Flemming Rose

Journalists face constant intimidation. Whether it takes the extreme form of beheadings, death threats, government censorship or simply political correctness—it casts a shadow over their ability to tell a story.
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Bruce Guthrie Photos: Cato Institute -- "The Tyranny of Silence" (w/Flemming Rose and Jonathan Rauch)

1070 WINA News Radio: Flemming Rose talks about the Mohammad cartoon controversy

Flemming Rose talks about the Mohammad cartoon controversy
See more at: http://wina.com/podcasts/hour-2-flemming-rose-ken-cuccinelli-mike-ward/#sthash.vXq1Ovyb.dpuf
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MSNBC: Flemming Rose on THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL

November 10, 2014
Flemming Rose: “While in countries where you have wide free speech, there was no
violence. And I think that speaks to the fact that if you limit the right
to publish these kinds of things, you will not -- you will not prevent
violence. It`s the other way around, you will, may even, provoke violence.”
Read the transcript to the Monday show
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NEWSEUM: Free Speech, Cartoons and the Prophet

Jyllands-Posten cultural editor Flemming Rose defended the decision to publish the 12 cartoons. His new book, “Tyranny of Silence,” discusses his efforts in the years since to explain why. Join Rose and the Newseum Institute’s Gene Policinski for a discussion about the still-disputed decision to publish and the emerging global view on what “free speech” means. - See more at: http://www.newseum.org/event/free-speech-cartoons-and-the-prophet/#sthash.eJbi3xwL.dpuf
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WNYC The Leonard Lopate Show: Setting off a Firestorm by Printing a Cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed

“When the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published the cartoons portraying the prophet Mohammed nine years ago, Denmark found itself at the center of a global battle over the freedom of speech. The paper's culture editor, Flemming Rose, talks about his decision to print the 12 drawings and he the role he played in the debate about the limitations to freedom of speech in the 21st century. In his book The Tyranny of Silence Rose writes about the people and experiences that have influenced the way he views the world...”
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Public Radio International: Cartoons of Muhammad sparked global outrage, but the man who approved them has no regrets

Flemming Rose was the Danish newspaper editor responsible for running the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005 that sparked global outrage. Now he's written a book about the episode and holds fast to his belief that publishing them was the right and necessary thing to do.
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“The sins of being offended is always in the eye of the beholder. There's no such thing as an image that is offensive in and by itself...”
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