The Washington Diplomat: Author Slams ‘Tyranny of Silence’ Surrounding Islamic Cartoon Crisis

“...Rose laments that the violence has succeeded in shutting down free speech and scaring journalists. After last month’s Paris attacks, dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites around the world reproduced the very cartoon that had so angered the terrorists who ultimately took the lives of 17 people. Notably, Jyllands-Posten, the Copenhagen paper where Rose works, wasn’t among them.
“We caved in and we’ve been very honest about it,” Rose told BBC-TV on Jan. 14, a week after the carnage in Paris. “Sometimes, the sword is mightier than the pen. We have been living with death threats and several foiled terrorist attacks in my own office for the past nine years. Perhaps if the reaction worldwide had been a little bit different in 2006 — if we had received stronger support from media organizations insisting that this is something we have the right to do, even though you may disagree with what we did — we would not have been in the situation we are now.”
Rose said it’s obvious there’s still a lack of understanding of the reasoning that goes into editorial decisions...”
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