“In his superb book, The Tyranny of Silence, Mr. Rose recounts the backstory and global fallout of the “cartoons crisis.” Despite widespread criticism, intimidation, and death threats — he has been featured on an Al Qaeda hit list — Mr. Rose refused to apologize for the decision to publish the cartoons. And he continues to be outspoken about the vital importance of freedom of speech — a principle that I and my colleagues at the Ayn Rand Institute regard as essential to a free society.

The Milton Friedman Award is presented by the Cato Institute, and kudos the members of the committee for their selection. I hope the prize brings greater attention to Flemming Rose’s work and particularly his book. He’s one of my intellectual heroes, and I was delighted by the news of this award.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Debate

“Both around the world and here at home, free speech is under assault. From the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris to the “unexplained” deaths of critics of Russian president Vladimir Putin, people who express unpopular opinions or report the truth are in danger. Worldwide, more than 110 journalists were killed in 2015, bringing the total to 787 since 2005, according to Reporters without Borders. The threats to free speech in this country don’t rise to that level, of course. But Hillary Clinton wants to change the First Amendment to limit political speech, and Donald Trump wants to rewrite libel laws so that he can sue media critics. Meanwhile, colleges routinely punish those who take unpopular stands and reject speakers who might challenge student orthodoxy. That’s one reason why it is significant that the Cato Institute will award the eighth biennial Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty to a true champion of free speech, the Danish journalist and author Flemming Rose. Rose came to the world’s attention in 2005, when, as an editor at the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, he published a series of twelve cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Rose did so, not because he sought to be offensive, he said, but to challenge the growing wave of “self-censorship in Europe caused by widening fears and feelings of intimidation in dealing with issues related to Islam.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Debate, Cartoons, Milton Friedman Prize , The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

Flemming Rose discusses freedom of speech on FBN’s Kennedy
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Tags: Flemming Rose, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Free speech, Debate

“Free expression is in danger across the globe. Protestors who are offended by the ideas of others have a chilling effect on the publication and dissemination of speech — and some of those protests aim for a violent suppression of ideas they don’t like. Danish journalist Flemming Rose found himself at the center of controversy in 2005 after the newspaper he worked for at the time, Jyllands-Posten, published a set of editorial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. His recent book, The Tyranny of Silence: How One Cartoon Ignited a Global Debate on the Future of Free Speech, recounts that period and explains why it’s important to take an active role in defending the right to speak and publish. For his work advancing the cause of free speech, the Cato Institute has awarded Rose the 2016 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, presented on May 25 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Tyranny of Silence, The Cato Institute

“…I find it disgraceful that the Vice-Chancellor Mr. Max Price puts the blame on me instead of taking responsibility for his decision. He is afraid that some people might react in certain ways to my presence. That’s not my responsibility. If they choose to act in a way that concerns the VC, it’s their decision, not mine. The VC has to hold them responsible for their actions, not me. It’s the heckler’s veto. Mr. Price talks about “the harm that unlimited freedom of expression could cause.” I don’t know any person including myself who is in favor of unlimited free speech, that’s a caricature of free speech activists. What I oppose is the kind of “I am in favor of free speech, but”-position that Mr. Price provides a classic example of. His approach to free speech would make it possible to ban any speech…”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, University of Cape Town, Freedom of expression, self-censorship, The Tyranny of Silence, secularism

“…Index on Censorship is appalled by the decision by the University of Cape Town to rescind an invitation to Danish editor Flemming Rose to deliver the annual TB Davie lecture on academic freedom – especially at a time when academic freedom is under threat around the world – and considering recent events in Turkey.
Rose, the editor responsible for publishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005, was invited last year to give the August 2016 lecture, which UCT describes as a “flagship lecture to promote academic freedom and freedom of speech” and which is organised by the university’s academic freedom committee.
However, in a letter sent by UCT Vice-Chancellor Max Price on 12 July, Price tells the committee that the university executive had decided “it would be extremely unwise to proceed with the address.”
What follows in the letter is an attempt by Price to justify a decision that makes a mockery of the university’s supposed defence of free speech and academic freedom.”
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Tags: First Amendment , Free speech, University of Cape Town, Freedom of expression, Flemming Rose, The Tyranny of Silence

“…War is peace, freedom is slavery, and disinviting a controversial speaker is academic freedom.
South Africa’s University of Cape Town is drawing international condemnation from freedom-of-expression groups for yanking back a speaking invitation to Flemming Rose, the former editor of the Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2005.
In a July 12 letter to the university’s Academic Freedom Committee, which organizes its annual lecture on academic freedom, Vice Chancellor Max Price says UCT must nix Rose as the lecture speaker…”
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Tags: First Amendment , Free speech, Flemming Rose, The Tyranny of Silence, The Cato Institute, Milton Friedman Prize , Cartoons, censorship

“We need a noninstrumental or nonutilitarian argument for free speech. Freedom of speech is a good in and of itself. It has intrinsic value.”
From remarks by Danish journalist Flemming Rose upon receiving the Cato Institute’s Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty…”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, Freedom of expression, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Debate

Flemming Rose, Danish journalist and author of The Tyranny of Silence, is the recipient of the 2016 Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty. In 2005, Rose, then an editor at the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, sparked worldwide controversy when he commissioned and published 12 cartoons meant to depict the prophet Muhammad. The illustrations, intended to draw attention to the issue of self-censorship and the threat that intimidation poses to free speech, provoked deadly chaos in the Islamic world and put Rose in the center of a global debate about the limits to free speech in the 21st century.

The Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, named in honor of perhaps the greatest champion of liberty in the 20th century, is presented every other year to an individual who has made a significant contribution to advance human freedom.
Learn more at:
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Milton Friedman Prize , Freedom of expression, The Tyranny of Silence

“…In Denmark, as in Europe more generally, there is a serious lack of confidence in the power of free speech to cope with ideological threats to a free and democratic society. According to an opinion poll in Jyllands-Posten, 55 percent of Danes are in favor of criminalizing religious speech that is seen as undermining Danish values.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen made it clear that he plans to criminalize speech that goes against Danish law. This latest initiative breaks with 70 years of fighting extreme ideologies without curtailing civil liberties.
There were calls to ban Nazism after World War II, and the Danish government considered censoring a Communist daily paper and limiting the speech of Communists during the Cold War. In both cases, the government backed down and Denmark’s strong democratic institutions and a vibrant civil society prevailed.
Of course, criminalizing religious hate preachers’ anti-democratic speech and denying them access to the country will not turn Denmark into a repressive dictatorship. What it will do, however, is blur one of the crucial distinctions between a liberal democracy and a dictatorship…”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Tyranny of Silence, censorship, self-censorship

“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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Cartoons, censorship, The Atlantic

“(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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons, Free speech, Terror, Tyranny of Silence

“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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Tyranny of Silence

About
The Freedom Project at Wellesley College is dedicated to the exploration of the idea of freedom in all of its manifestations, but especially in the tradition of Western classical liberalism. This tradition, in its broadest sense, emphasizes the sanctity of individual rights, freedom of contract and economic rights, constitutional democracy, and the rule of law. It includes, as well, an appreciation of the spirit of individualism, the free marketplace of ideas  and the struggle against arbitrary power, both in the form of political domination and the stultifying influence of ideological dogmas – cultural, political or religious – and social conformity.
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Tags: First Amendment , Free speech, Wellesley College, Freedom of expression, Tyranny of Silence

“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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Terror, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

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Tags: Flemming Rose, Die Welt Kompakt, Free speech, Terror, Charlie Hebdo, Debate, Die Welt, The Tyranny of Silence, The Cato Institute

Flemming Rose: People too easily take offense
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Tags: First Amendment , Flemming Rose, Free speech, Tyranny of Silence, The Tyranny of Silence

“Fritt Ords Honnør tildeles avisredaktørene Flemming Rose og Vebjørn Selbekk for deres prinsippfaste forsvar for ytringsfriheten gjennom ti år med karikaturstrid.
Flemming Rose og Vebjørn Selbekk er blitt selve symbolene på karikaturstriden. Gjennom kontinuerlig og modig deltakelse i offentligheten har de fremmet forståelsen av ytringsfriheten som den mest fundamentale menneskerettighet, og grunnlaget for andre friheter. De har begge betalt en meget høy personlig pris for sin innsats og har fått sitt liv forandret. Der mange andre har sviktet, har Rose og Selbekk utvist stort mot i kampen for liberale prinsipper...”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Tyranny of Silence, Cartoons, Fritt Ord, Jyllands-Posten

“...First of all, in a time when people seem increasingly comfortable with book banning, blasphemy laws, hate speech laws, and amending the Constitution to limit the First Amendment, it’s important to take every opportunity we can to correct common misconceptions and explain some of the basics of the deep and profound philosophy behind free speech and the wisdom inherent in First Amendment law. Second, it’s important to take on the growing tide of critics, including authors and even journalists, who rely on freedom of speech but want to dismiss it as something unsophisticated or even dangerous. Whether from Eric Posner, Gary Trudeau, or Noah Feldman, there is a push to dismiss freedom of speech that seems to lionize the fact that other countries limit it. Every single one of these critics should sit down and read Flemming Rose’s book on international censorship, The Tyranny of Silence, before assuming that “enlightened censorship” is either justified or working out well for anyone.”
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Tags: First Amendment , Flemming Rose, Free speech, censorship, self-censorship, Freedom of expression, Greg Lukianoff , The New Yorker, The Tyranny of Silence, Terror

“...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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Tags: First Amendment , Free speech, Flemming Rose, Terror, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Tyranny of Silence, Debate

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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Tags: La autocensura, la libertad de expresión, Charlie Hebdo, Flemming Rose, Free speech, Terror, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Tyranny of Silence, de la libertad de expresión

“...The cartoons became a lightning rod. Rose says, “I cannot exercise my profession without freedom of the Press. My safety? I will always have a security problem for the rest of my life. I’m in the top 10 Al Qaida hit list...”
Rose travels debating these issues and has arrived at the conclusion that this is a global issue and a growing problem. He wrote his book Tyranny of Silence, to explain his decisions and offer a perspective on free speech and censorship...”
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Tags: First Amendment , Flemming Rose, Free speech, censorship, Freedom of expression, Terror, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“...Flemming was in Den Haag om het eerste exemplaar van het boek 'Freedom of Speech under attack’ (de Vrijheid van het woord in gevaar) in ontvangst te nemen, samengesteld door rechtswetenschapper en publicist Afshin Elian en rechtsfilosoof Gelijn Molier van de Universiteit van Leiden.
Flemming zelf schreef het boek 'The Tyranny of Silence’ (de Tirannie van de stilte) waarin hij onder andere stelt dat hij na de publicatie van de Mohammed -cartoons, wereldwijd als de Deense Satan werd beschouwd. Hij ondervond weinig sympathie van onder andere Bill Clinton en de universitaire wereld kort na publicatie van de cartoons in zijn krant. 
Flemming Rose is nog steeds één van Europa’s prominente doelwitten van Al Qaeda. Hij heeft hierdoor beperkte bewegingsvrijheid. Het maakt hem niet minder strijdbaar, integendeel.
In EenVandaag een interview met Flemming Rose.”
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Tags: Debate, Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Tyranny of Silence, Terror

“...In zijn boek Tyranny of Silencevertelt Flemming Rose - chef buitenland van Jyllands-Posten, de Deense krant die de Mohammedcartoons plaatste - een interessant verhaal over een Iraanse man.
Een 76-jarige Iraniër gooide in februari 2006 een molotovcocktail naar de Deense ambassade in Teheran. Dat deed hij omdat hij boos was over Westergaards Mohammedcartoon. Hij had die bewuste tekening zelf niet gezien...”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Tyranny of Silence, Kurt Westergaard, Muhammed cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Terror, The Cato Institute

“...What is important is that the mere possibility of sharing ideas has been seriously limited due to terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, terrorism works in this way. Terrorists hate freedom. Their attacks target our culture of equality, religious freedom, freedom of expression, and tolerance.
In The Netherlands, the 4th of May is a day on which we remember those who lost their lives during World War II. After World War II, Europeans pledged to defend freedom. It’s a dark coincidence that on this year’s 4th of May we witnessed a terrorist attack at an event dedicated to free speech, where a Dutch politician made use of one of his rights: the right to speak freely, even about controversial matters. In his brilliant book The Tyranny of Silence, Flemming Rose—whose newspaper published the Danish Muhammad cartoons years ago—asks politicians and intellectuals to join a quest for freedom and to offer protection to those who live under threat. Tyranny can only win when we accept its victory; it takes courage to be free...”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Terror, The Tyranny of Silence, Debate, Jyllands-Posten

“In last Sunday’s Toronto Sun, columnist Alan Shannof wrote a "J'accuse" of sorts. In a piece entitled "The silence is deafening," Shannoff accuses the Canadian media of all but ignoring The Tyranny of Silence, the book written by Flemming Rose, the Jyllands-Posten editor who commissioned those now-infamous cartoons of Islam's founder. As Shanoff points out:
“Although the book was published in November, 2014, there has been silence from most Canadian media sources on it. 
“There have been no references to the book, for example, in the four Toronto daily newspapers until my column, today.”
Shanoff further observes that the cartoon have appeared in a Canadian publication exactly once - when Ezra Levant printed them in The Western Standard. (Shanoff doesn't mention that the 'toons appearance in the now defunct magazine led to two "human rights" complaints and Levant's two-year-long persecution/prosecution at the hands of the Alberta Human Rights Commission.)
Since the book, an account of Rose's experiences pre-and-post publication of the cartoons, "isn't anti-Muslim," Shanoff wants to know why it has been so steadfastly ignored. What's behind the apparent "self-censorship?" he asks.”
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Tags: First Amendment , Flemming Rose, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Tyranny of Silence, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Debate

“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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Tags: First Amendment , Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Tyranny of Silence, Terror

“Afshin Ellian sprak bij de uitreiking van het eerste exemplaar van de bundel ‘Freedom of Scpeech under Attack’ aan Flemming Rose in Den Haag de volgende rede uit: Waarom worden we hier zo zwaar beveiligd? Wie zijn wij eigenlijk? Wij allen zijn hele gewone mensen. En dit boek is een heel gewoon academisch boek. Onze gast, die wij vandaag eren, is eveneens een heel gewone man. Flemming Rose is een intellectueel uit Denemarken.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Tyranny of Silence, The Cato Institute, Terror, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons

'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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Tags: Flemming Rose, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, zelfcensuur, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Terror

“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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Tyranny of Silence, The Tyranny of Silence, Terror, Charlie Hebdo, Jyllands-Posten, Debate

Flemming Rose "Free Speech in a Globalized World" at the European Students for Liberty in Berlin 2015
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Debate, Terror, Tyranny of Silence

“La Tiranía del Silencio”, del danés que publicó a Mahoma con un turbante-bomba
La autocensura se impone en Europa, Cajamarca y Arequipa
“Yihadistas quieren asesinarme. Pero me niego a ser condenado a una tiranía del silencio sepulcral”, sostiene con serena valentía Flemming Rose, el editor danés que publicara el 2005 en la revista Jyllands-Posten unas caricaturas satíricas sobre el Islam, entre ellas, una en que se ve a Mahoma escondiendo una bomba en su turbante. Esta decisión le valió a Rose que fuera sentenciado a muerte por Al Qaeda y por grupos radicales islamistas.
Pero aparte de estar en esta lista negra y vivir temiendo ser asesinado, “Rose ha sido llamado un nazi, un odiador de musulmanes y un Satanás danés. Ha convivido de manera simultánea con las amenazas de muerte y cargado con las ‘culpas’ por la muerte de 200 o más personas en todo el mundo musulmán que protestaron por la publicación de las caricaturas. Desde entonces, el periodista danés ha estado en el centro de las discusiones entre el respeto a la diversidad cultural y la protección de las libertades democráticas, en especial las de la libertad de expresión”, señala en la introducción.

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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, La autocensura, Tyranny of Silence, La Tiranía del Silencio, Jyllands-Posten, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Terror

“...Toen Salman Rushdie ter dood werd veroordeeld door imam Khomeini, richtten intellectuelen Rushdie-comités op. Tegenwoordig heerst er een dodelijke stilte over de bedreiging van journalisten en cartoonisten die de islam op de hak durven nemen.

Flemming Rose is een zachtaardige man. Hij praat bedachtzaam. Ik sprak hem enkele jaren geleden al eens, maar ik herinnerde me weinig van dat gesprek.
In gezelschap van zwaarbewapende mannen heb ik hem letterlijk uit het vliegtuig gehaald. Nu is hij chef buitenland van de grootste krant van Denemarken, Jyllands-Posten...”
“...In zijn boek Tyranny of Silence vertelt hij dat in de Sovjet-detentiekampen, na de dood van de Jozef Stalin in 1953, minstens driehonderdduizend gevangenen zaten die wegens het vertellen van een (incorrect) grapje tot een gevangenisstraf waren veroordeeld.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Salman Rushdie, Jyllands-Posten, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“...Though I have been concerned about the international scene for free speech for some time (especially as American academics often like to use free speech restrictions in other countries as a way of arguing that America is somehow behind the times and less sophisticated), my concerns gained new urgency after reading Flemming Rose’s important, and, at times, frightening, new book The Tyranny of Silence. If you are concerned about threats to free speech both abroad and also on the horizon in the U.S., Rose’s book is a must read..”
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Tags: First Amendment , Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Terror, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Cartoons

“Published before the Islamic attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo, this book takes on even greater relevance in the massacre’s wake.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Charlie Hebdo, Terror, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“...¿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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Terror, Tyranny of Silence

“Prawie 10 lat temu duńska gazeta “Jyllands-Posten” opublikowała kilkanaście karykatur Mahometa. Dziennikarze i graficy dostali wyroki śmierci od różnych islamistycznych ugrupowań. Aresztowano ludzi, którzy chcieli przeprowadzić zamachy na redakcję.
Niedawno Flemming Rose, ówczesny redaktor działu kultury “J-P”, który podjął decyzję o publikacji karykatur, wydał w USA książkę „ The Tyranny of Silence”, w której broni prawa do wolności słowa, wypowiadając się przeciwko przepisom o tzw. mowie nienawiści, obowiązującym we wszystkich państwach europejskich, w tym w Polsce.
Wprowadzenie tych przepisów było wynikiem Holocaustu – uznano w Europie, że dla zapobiegania aktom ludobójstwa należy ograniczyć możliwość publicznego nawoływania do nienawiści wobec pewnych zbiorowości, bo następstwem tej nienawiści może być fizyczna przemoc, być może śmiercionośna, wobec tych grup...”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Debate, The Tyranny of Silence, Terror, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons

“...Il faut se souvenir, comme le rappelle Flemming Rose dans son livre dont rend compte Michèle Tribalat dans la dernière revue de l’Institut d’histoire sociale, que les violences suscitées par les caricatures danoises (singulièrement celle de Kurt Westergaard représentant le prophète avec une bombe dans son turban) avaient été tout sauf spontanées. Le monde musulman et l’Organisation de la conférence islamique (OCI) en tête, y avaient vu l’opportunité de faire avancer leur campagne contre le blasphème. La Commission des droits de l’homme de l’Onu y prêta son appui en recommandant aux Etats de "combattre et punir toute tentative visant à assimiler l’islam à la violence et au terrorisme". L’Union européenne emboîta le pas, avec le commissaire aux affaires étrangères, Javier Solana, qui négocia avec l’OCI un accord appelant au bannissement de la diffamation des religions. Heureusement, des désaccords internes empêchèrent l’Europe d’être représentée au Qatar pour la signature (février 2006) de ce document avalisé par l’Espagne, la Turquie et Kofi Annan, secrétaire de l’ONU. Quand, mardi, le président d’honneur du Conseil français du culte musulman, Mohamed Moussaoui, reproche au président du Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France, Roger Cukierman, d’avoir dit la veille que les islamistes qui prennent les juifs pour cibles sont des musulmans, c’est cette même dialectique du déni qui est appliquée. Elle vise à rendre l’islam intouchable et à réduire la liberté d’expression. Cette mise en scène d'une culpabilisation dans l'usage du mot juste est une autre forme d’intimidation, qui dépasse la seule caricature du prophète. Une démocratie digne de ce nom oblige chacun à résister à cet engrenage... “
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Charlie Hebdo, Terror, The Tyranny of Silence

“...Another important idea connected to a more accessible medium of news has been mentioned by Flemming Rose, the Danish editor who made the decision to publish cartoons depicting Muhammed in 2005, igniting a global debate that left protesters around the world dead. Publishing the cartoons has led to threats from Muslim governments, a fatwa issued against Rose, and repeated terrorist attempts against the paper itself. In a recent interview, he said the most important thing he had learned from the ten-year debate on the cartoons was that in this age of widely accessible Internet, contexts are lost.[
Without making a judgment on his actions in 2005, he brings up a critical point about the broader audience that can now be reached by local publications. Rose had allowed the cartoons to be published through his Danish magazine and for the Danish debate on free speech. The cartoons were interpreted differently in every country they reached, because they arrived solely as pictures, without the environment in which they were originally published. Many were unaware that in addition to mocking Islam, Charlie Hebdo cartoons mocked Catholicism, the French government, and Judaism. Cross-cultural media have stifled the debate on the limits of “free speech.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Charlie Hebdo, Terror

“Flemming Rose, el editor del diario danés Jyllands-Posten que se atrevió en el 2005 a publicar una serie de caricaturas satíricas del profeta Mahoma, publicó recientemente un libro titulado La tiranía del silencio: cómo una caricatura encendió un debate global acerca de la libertad de expresión (2014). Los argumentos presentados en este libro son de particular relevancia para defender la libertad de expresión en América Latina.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, caricaturas satíricas, la libertad de expresión, The Tyranny of Silence, La tiranía del silencio, Cartoons, Muhammed cartoons

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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Terror, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, CNN

“...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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, Terror, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Jyllands-Posten, Kurt Westergaard

“...Though the Copenhagen attack was a shock, it didn’t come as a surprise. As French cartoonist Plantu told me recently when we were chatting in his office at Le Monde in Paris: “This is just the beginning. There will be more attacks.” Unfortunately, I think he is right. This will be a long battle, first and foremost a battle of ideas. The erosion of the crucial distinction between words and deeds – between an image that some may find offensive and actual violence – has created a climate in which “blasphemers” are required to bear responsibility for violent attacks subsequently directed against them. I experienced that myself in 2006 after commissioning drawings of Muhammad published in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Denmark, and I have tried to explain the mechanisms at work in my book The Tyranny of Silence: How One Cartoon Ignited a Global Debate on the Future of Free Speech. There are people who seriously believe that the organisers of the Copenhagen debate asked for trouble. This is partly due to a new grievance fundamentalism. It heightens the sense of insult and offence, according it enormous social power.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Terror, Cartoons, Jyllands-Posten, Tyranny of Silence

Danish editor: We must grow thicker skins
Jyllands-Posten is a Danish daily newspaper known for having published twelve cartoons of the Prophet. Editor Flemming Rose made the decision to publish the cartoons, and he joins Morning Joe to discuss.
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Cato Institute, Terror, The Tyranny of Silence, Muhammed cartoons, MSNBC

“...Since Flemming Rose made the decision to publish the cartoons, we discuss the decision to hold a public event “Art, Blasphemy, and Freedom of Expression” in a Copenhagen café with the controversial Swedish Cartoonist Lars Vilks who also caricatured Muhammad, that provoked a terrorist attack which left a film director at the cafe and a Jewish guard at a synagogue dead. In discussing freedom verses censorship, we look into whether restrictions should be put into place to prevent young European Muslims from being radicalized in prison as was the case with the terrorists responsible for the recent massacres in Paris and the young Danish-born terrorist who was just released from jail two weeks ago...”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Terror, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Jyllands-Posten

“Recientemente, por motivo de la triste masacre en París de gran parte de quienes hacían la revista satírica Charlie Hebdo, el debate acerca de la libertad de expresión ha recobrado actualidad alrededor del mundo. De manera más específica, se discute hasta qué punto debe la ley limitar la expresión para proteger a todos aquellos grupos y/o individuos que se sienten ofendidos. Flemming Rose, editor del diario danés Jyllands-Posten y quien autorizó en septiembre de 2005 la publicación de la notoria caricatura en la que sale el Profeta Mahoma con una bomba en su turbante, considera que el momento que debatimos esos límites hemos abierto la puerta a un sinnúmero de excusas para que los estados autoritarios e incluso totalitarios restrinjan el derecho de hablar libremente y persigan a minorías. Rose agrega que:
“Uno casi se siente tentado a pedirle a los Estados de Bienestar de Europa que gasten algo de dinero no en la ‘capacitación de sensibilidad’ —aprender qué es lo que no se debe decir— sino en la capacitación para ser menos sensible: aprender a tolerar. Es que si la libertad y la tolerancia han de tener una oportunidad de sobrevivir en el mundo nuevo, todos necesitamos desarrollar una piel más gruesa”.
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Tags: Jyllands-Posten, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Debate

“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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Tags: The New Yorker, Flemming Rose, Free speech, Terror, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Freedom of expression, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons, Bob Mankoff

By Brooke Goldstein - - Sunday, February 8, 2015
“Islamists are winning their war to silence critical commentary in the West about Islam. So says Flemming Rose, culture editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, which originally published the now-infamous images of Muhammad, in his recent book, “The Tyranny of Silence.”
Whether motivated by a cowardly nature or by an obsequious desire to be nice, much of the media and the Obama administration now adhere to a common vocabulary when discussing violence motivated by Islamist theology. There is simply no reference to the theological motivations so relevant to the perpetrators of religiously inspired terror...”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Tyranny of Silence

“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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Freedom of expression, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Charlie Hebdo, Cartoons

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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Tags: Dänemark, Flemming Rose, Kurt Westergaard, Charlie Hebdo, Cartoons, Muhammed cartoons, Debate, Terror, The Tyranny of Silence, Free speech, Freedom of expression

“...Before Charlie Hebdo, Flemming Rose authored The Tyranny of Silence: How One Cartoon Ignited a Global Debate on the Future of Free Speech. Flemming is fighting against the growing psychosis of victimhood where, “it can be difficult to figure out the difference between an offensive cartoon or movie and committing mass murder. . . . It amounts to giving people who feel like reacting with violence a free hand to decide whether speech incites terror.”
Rose coins the phrase “grievance fundamentalism” to describe the syndrome where victims of assault are “deemed to have been asking for it.” Claiming we need more “insensitivity training,” he writes, “The only right we do not and should not have in a liberal democracy is a right not to be offended.”
Walter Olson, known best for his advocacy of tort reform, argued, “One way we can honor Charb, Cabu, Wolinski, Tignous, and the others who were killed Wednesday is by lifting legal constraints on what their successors tomorrow can draw and write.”
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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Terror, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Flemming Rose, Muhammed cartoons, Free speech, Freedom of expression

“...Freedom of expression worldwide is under attack from identity politics, the Danish newspaper editor who first published cartoons of Mohammed 10 years ago told a Rutgers University event Thursday night.
Flemming Rose is promoting his new book, The Tyranny of Silence, which illustrates the greater debate surrounding free speech in light of religious extremism, political power and an increasingly globalized world. It was published less than two months before the massacre of journalists at French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.
The anti-religion bent of the panel discussion, which featured other free-speech activists, rubbed some students the wrong way. Though there were no visible protests, security was tight at the event...”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Terror, The Cato Institute, Freedom of expression, The Tyranny of Silence, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons

“...“My newspaper did not republish Charlie Hebdo cartoons as many of the newspapers about the world didn’t do, especially in the United States,” he said. “It is not a decision that I am proud of.”
Rose said he would have been happy to see republication of the cartoons, but understands the decision.
The staff of the newspaper and the writers face great challenges when publishing controversial subjects, Rose said. In attempt to promote unconventional thoughts, they are putting themselves in danger, he said.
“It’s a huge pressure for the employees. People have to go to psychologists. They cannot sleep at night,” Rose said. 
Many newspapers in the United States, such The New York Times, refuse to publish cartoons because they do not want to fuel a spark, Rose said. Publishing such controversial cartoons may cause more terrorist attacks, uprisings and riots. 
Another reason the cartoons should be republished is because they are news, Rose said. 
“Publication does not mean endorsement. We publish things that I find offensive, but nevertheless, I publish them,” Rose said.”
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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Free speech, Flemming Rose, The Tyranny of Silence

“...Hosted by the new "Objectivist Club" at Rutgers and funded by the California-based Ayn Rand Institute, the event's tagline was “Freedom of Speech vs. the Tyranny of Silence.”
The panel of speakers included Flemming Rose, the editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, the daily paper that, in September 2005, published cartoons that sparked protests and rioting in Europe and the Middle East.
The publication of the cartoons led to widespread protests and rioting, attacks on newspaper offices, and even the jailing of editors who republished the cartoons in some countries.
Much of the discussion touched on the recent "Charlie Hebdo" massacre, where two men allegedly killed twelve people at the satirical newspaper’s Paris office, sparking the largest protest in the country's history.
Rose said the journalists at Charlie Hebdo there paid the highest price just for publishing cartoons.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Charlie Hebdo, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Cartoons

“...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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Muhammed cartoons, Debate, Terror

“...This logic is both weasely and contradictory.
If freedom of speech means anything, it means having the right to mock ideas that are open to mockery – whether Christianity, Islam, fascism, communism, Euroscepticism or EU federalism. It also means having the right to offend those who offend you – whether representatives of religions that preach peace while sanctioning slaughter or those that eulogise equality while enslaving women.
“It’s impossible to know all the limits and taboos of every individual in society if you want to follow the ‘do not offend’ rule,” Flemming Rose told me earlier this week.
“It will lead to a tyranny of silence.” Rose, who first commissioned cartoons of Mohammed almost 10 years ago when an editor at Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten, adds: “I think respect, like tolerance, is one of the most abused words. People turn these concepts on their heads in order to intimidate people with whom they disagree.”
It is a tactic that appears to be working...”
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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Free speech, Flemming Rose, The Tyranny of Silence, Muhammed cartoons

“...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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Tags: Debate, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Charlie Hebdo, Cartoons, Muhammed cartoons, Terror

“...Most striking was the case of Jyllands-Posten, the paper that published the original “Danish cartoons” of Muhammad in 2005. Whereas many Danish papers republished the Charlie Hebdo ones, Jyllands-Posten did not, citing its “unique position” and concerns for employees’ safety. Flemming Rose, the man who commissioned the original cartoons and is now the paper’s foreign editor, told the BBC frankly, “We caved in.” “Violence works,” he added, and “sometimes the sword is mightier than the pen.”
He thus strikingly answered an appeal made by the British columnist Nick Cohen in a panel discussion at The Guardian: “If you are frightened, at least have the guts to say that. The most effective form of censorship is one that nobody admits exists.” As if in response, the Financial Times columnist Robert Shrimsley would next day write: “I am not Charlie, I am not brave enough.” (In the meantime, there has developed a rather tiresome subgenre of “I am not Charlie” prose.) While accusations of cowardice whizz around the Internet, I would like to see the person—probably an anonymous blogger, personally risking nothing—who charges Flemming Rose with cowardice. Whatever you think of the wisdom of his commissioning the Danish cartoons back in 2005, cowardly it was not...”
Timothy Garton Ash
February 19, 2015 Issue
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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Terror, Free speech, Flemming Rose, Muhammed cartoons, The New York Review of Books, The Tyranny of Silence

“...It wasn't always that way. There was a time when speech was protected from death threats, when physical force was the only way an individual's rights could be violated; when as children, we were taught "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me."
In the book "Tyranny of Silence" by Flemming Rose, the editor who published the controversial Danish cartoons writes about the history of free speech. He describes some of the atrocities committed when religion had full control of our lives. And when finally, in the 16th century, the English enlightenment provided us with the legal framework for freedom of speech, showing there is a vast difference between force and words. Most of the Islamic extremist-lead atrocities have occurred since Iran's religious leader called for the death of "Satanic Verses" author Salman Rushdie.
They fear our free speech, not our retaliatory defence. If the Muslim extremist world valued life they would stop brutalizing and killing their own people. They find our criticism intolerable...”
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Tags: Charlie Hebdo, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Terror, Cartoons, Muhammed cartoons

“...It’s disconcerting for a publisher to discover that a horrific tragedy has made one of its current titles more relevant. But that’s what happened to the Cato Institute when 11 journalists at Charlie Hebdo and a police officer were murdered by Islamist extremists.
In November, we published The Tyranny of Silence, by Flemming Rose, the editor at the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.Rose stirred up controversy in 2005 by publishing cartoons of Muhammad that led to protests, petitions, and an investigation by Danish prosecutors. More tragically, there were death threats to Rose and the cartoonists, an armed intruder in cartoonist Kurt Wester-gaard’s house, and more than 200 deaths in riots and violence in the Middle East and Africa.
Rose published the Danish edition of Tyranny of Silence, a book about the controversy and the future of free speech, in 2010. I was surprised to discover in 2013 that the manuscript had been translated into English but had not found a publisher. I brought it to the attention of John Samples, the editor-publisher of Cato Institute Press, who began to explore publication.
We had three questions in mind: safety, of course; the quality of the manuscript; and whether Rose was anti-|Muslim or genuinely an advocate of free speech and provocative journalism.
We determined that the publication of the book had not generated any violence in Denmark, and that the controversy over the cartoons had generally subsided in the nine or so years since they had been published. The manuscript was compelling, well written, and well translated. And my contacts in Denmark and Europe assured me that Rose was a genuine liberal with a strong anti-authoritarian bent, sharpened during his years as a reporter in the Soviet Union.
Given all that, the book was a natural fit for the Cato Institute. Since our founding in 1977, we’ve been committed to the libertarian values of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace. We take our name from Cato’s Letters, a series of 18th-century newspaper essays by John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon that were enormously influential in shaping the ideas of the American Revolution. In essay #15, they set out one of their basic principles: “Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as publick liberty…. In those wretched countries where a man can not call his tongue his own, he can scarce call any thing else his own.”
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Tags: Terror, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Flemming Rose, Free speech, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo

“...First, the misunderstandings. Sensitivities vary but mine is that Charlie Hebdo has never been racist or anti-Muslim; anticlerical, certainly. But there has been a great deal of incomprehension about it based simply on ignorance. One example: the cartoon representing the prophet Muhammad lying naked on his stomach, saying to a cameraman, “Do you like my bum?” Some saw this as pornography, even sodomy. The reference is, in fact, to a scene from a 1963 Jean-Luc Godard movie featuring a naked Brigitte Bardot. Anyone who knows the movie knows the cartoon is about a softly erotic scene, with no aggressive pornography involved. The artist who drew it – and cartoons do stand somewhere between comment and art – was trying to say, “Dare I do this? Yes, I do.” I can see a problem from a religious standpoint – that of blasphemy: Muhammad is depicted. Yet this is one case where Charlie Hebdo is judged to have been outrageous and beyond decency.
Sensitivities can be inflamed by misunderstandings, but sometimes by deliberate manipulation. In his book Tyranny of Silence Flemming Rose, the editor who commissioned 12 cartoons depicting the prophet for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005, describes how that episode began. After the cartoons were published a delegation of Danish imams travelled to the Middle East with a dossier intended to arouse hatred and anger. The file included drawings that were never run, nor commissioned by Jyllands-Posten, including some pornographic ones and a picture of a man disguised as a pig, which was taken at a French rural festival. This aroused public anger, and subsequently there were violent incidents and dozens of deaths. Had the dossier been a faithful representation, would that have been the case?”
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Tags: The Cato Institute, Terror, The Tyranny of Silence, secularism, Flemming Rose, Free speech, Charlie Hebdo, Cartoons

“...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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Charlie Hebdo, Cartoons, Muhammed cartoons, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“...The ‘cartoon wars’ — which began when the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten published a set of cartoons in 2005 — are part of that. But as Flemming Rose, the man who commissioned those cartoons, said when I sat down with him this week, there remains a deep ignorance in the West about what people like the Charlie Hebdo murderers wish to achieve. And we keep ducking it. As Rose said, ‘I wish we had addressed all this nine years ago.’
Contra the political leaders, the Charlie Hebdo murderers were not lunatics without motive, but highly motivated extremists intent on enforcing Islamic blasphemy laws in 21st-century Europe. If you do not know the ideology — perverted or plausible though it may be — you can neither understand nor prevent such attacks. Nor, without knowing some Islamic history, could you understand why — whether in Mumbai or Paris — the Islamists always target the Jews...”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Muhammed cartoons, Cartoons

“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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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Tyranny of Silence, A Tirania do Silêncio, Muhammed cartoons, Terror

“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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Tags: Charlie Hebdo, Cartoons, Muhammed cartoons, des caricatures de Mahomet, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Le Figaro, de la libertad de expresión

“...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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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Muhammed cartoons

“...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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Muhammed cartoons, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“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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Tags: The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Flemming Rose, Charlie Hebdo, Cartoons, Muhammed cartoons, Free speech, de la libertad de expresión

“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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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, ABC News

“...One way those in the West can make this clear to our enemies is to put our own house in order. That means several things, starting with the mainstream U.S. media dispensing with the fiction that they didn’t run the Danish cartoons—and won’t run the Charlie Hebdo cartoons even now—because they are loath to offend their readers. They offend readers all the time, and happily. They aren’t running them because they’re afraid to do so, a quite rational fear. In addition, it’s long past time to dismantle the witless university speech codes championed by feminists, gay right advocates, identity-politics mavens—and even the Obama administration.
It also means, and this is counterintuitive given the anti-Semitism embedded in modern Islamic society, dismantling Europe’s “hate speech” laws. These statutes were enacted with Nazi Holocaust-denial in mind, a noble goal. But they undermine the principle that free speech should be inviolate and that all other freedoms flow out of it. Certainly, the enemies of free thinking know this.
In his book, “Tyranny of Silence,” Danish editor Flemming Rose quotes a Saudi cleric and TV preacher Muhammad Al-Munajid—a man who has said Mickey Mouse should be killed—who revealed candidly what radical Muslim clerics and their violent followers really fear. They fear that people think about their own faith instead of being told what they must believe.”
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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“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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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons, Flemming Rose, Free speech, Die Welt

DEBATE SOBRE LA LIBERTAD DE EXPRESIÓN
¿Qué clase de civilización somos?
DERECHO A OFENDER. Su decisión de publicar unas viñetas de Mahoma para denunciar la autocensura encendió el debate sobre el futuro de la libertad de expresión. Flemming Rose, jefe de Internacional del ‘Jyllands-Posten’, el principal diario danés, reflexiona sobre el uso de la sátira como respuesta de una civilización sana ante la barbarie.

Philippe Val, entonces redactor jefe de Charlie Hebdo, no podía ocultar su irritación cuando, en 2007, con motivo del juicio celebrado contra la revista satírica de izquierdas por publicar unas viñetas de Mahoma, se le preguntaba si realmente había sido necesario, si no se trataba de una provocación innecesaria y un ataque a una minoría débil y oprimida. Charlie Hebdo había reproducido unos dibujos del diario Jyllands-Posten, junto con otras viñetas del profeta hechas por sus caricaturistas, como reacción a los ataques contra las Embajadas danesas y las amenazas al diario. “¿Qué civilización seríamos si no nos pudiésemos burlar, mofar y reír de los que vuelan trenes y aviones y asesinan en masa a inocentes?”, se preguntaba indignado Philippe Val. La pregunta resurge con fuerza tras la matanza en la redacción de Charlie Hebdo.
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Tags: EL PAÍS , Flemming Rose, Free speech, LA LIBERTAD DE EXPRESIÓN, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Muhammed cartoons, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo

...I spoke by phone to Rose in Copenhagen. (He recently published a prescient book in the United States titled The Tyranny of Silence: How One Cartoon Ignited a Global Debate on the Future of Free Speech.) "Today cannot be a surprise to anyone who has followed events over the past 10 years," he said, sadly.
"Charlie Hebdo was maybe the only paper in Europe that, didn't cave in after what we went through or after the fatwa against Rushdie," Rose continued. Most other media in Europe accepted self-censorship due to intimidation or fear of violence, but "Charlie Hebdo kept making fun of all kinds of religions, including Islam, despite the death threats. Today they paid the price for not being willing to shut up."
By Trudy Rubin, Inquirer Opinion Columnist
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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Tyranny of Silence, The Cato Institute

“We are censoring ourselves. How and why is laid out in The Tyranny of Silence, a book by Flemming Rose, the editor who green-lighted the Danish Muhammad cartoons. Most news agencies would not show the offending cartoons then and most news outlets (including this one) today won't show Charlie's cartoons in any detail. Cowards.
Self-censorship is insidious.
Charlie Hebdo refused to do it, and paid the price. The editors and writers and cartoonists are martyrs to freedom of speech.”
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Tags: Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons, Cartoons, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Tyranny of Silence

“...If we believe in equality, it seems there are two available responses to threats against freedom of speech. One option is, basically, “If you accept my taboos, I’ll accept yours.” If one group wants protection against insult, then all groups should be so protected. If denying the Holocaust or the crimes of communism is against the law, then publishing cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet should also be forbidden. Butthat option can quickly spiral out of control: before we know it, hardly anything may be said.
The second option is to say that in a democracy, there is no “right not to be offended.” Since we are all different, the challenge is then to formulate minimum constraints on freedom of speech that will allow us to coexist in peace. A society comprising many different cultures should have greater freedom of expression than a society that is significantly more homogenous. That premise seems obvious to me, yet the opposite conviction is widely held, and that is where the tyranny of silence lurks. At present, the tendency in Europe is to deal with increasing diversity by constraining freedom of speech, whereas the United States maintains a long tradition of leading off in the other direction. Following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, many European countries have outlawed Holocaust denial, for example, and it appears that the United States will increasingly stand alone with its tradition of upholding near-absolute freedom of expression on that issue.”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, ABC News

“...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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Muhammed cartoons

“Na de massamoord in Parijs wordt Europa met hernieuwde kracht voor het dilemma van de multiculturele democratie gesteld. Het is de diepe overtuiging van Flemming Rose dat we moeten vasthouden aan het recht om te beledigen als we als beschaving willen overleven...”
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Tags: Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“I prefer to die standing up than live on my knees.”
Those are the lasting words of Stephane Charbonnier, the editor of the French satirical publication Charlie Hebdo, who on a brutal Wednesday morning in Paris did, in effect, die standing up. Charbonnier — who as a cartoonist went by the nickname “Charb” — was among the 12 people, including three other cartoonists, who were slain by masked gunmen who struck during an editorial meeting at Charlie Hebdo’s offices.
What Charb’s rallying cry speaks to, really, is a decision — the decision for provocative commentators. Today, as much as ever, each true satirist makes a choice: How far will I go to stand up for my commentary?
Where, in other words, does each cartoonist draw the line when drawing potentially “blasphemous” lines...
(By Michael Cavna
The Washington Post)
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“...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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Cartoons, Charlie Hebdo

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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Charlie Hebdo, Cartoons, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“...One need only look to the "tyranny of silence" now enveloping Europe, where courageous Flemming Rose is calling for the  "equivalent of a worldwide First Amendment."
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“...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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, de la libertad de expresión, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, La tiranía del silencio

“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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, Muhammed cartoons, The Tyranny of Silence, The Cato Institute

“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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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, POLITICO Magazine

“Sony’s decision to pull “The Interview” — an enormous act of self-censorship under threat of violence — somehow comes as no great surprise to me. It is the culmination of an insidious trend of self-censorship in the face of intimidation that has plagued Western culture for more than a decade.”
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Tags: Sony, self-censorship, Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

Sony cinema crisis and free speech debate
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Tags: Sony, Free speech, Flemming Rose, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“...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...”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

“...Some commentators are calling the shutdown of a major motion picture by foreign enemies an unprecedented act against American freedom of expression. But that is far from true, as Flemming Rose demonstrates in his recently published book, “The Tyranny of Silence."
In 2005, Rose, an editor at the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, published a series of caricatures lampooning the idea that Islam is a religion of peace. One drawing depicted Muhammad with a lit bomb on head. Rose’s purpose was to test whether Danish Muslim citizens were ready to accept the same kind of satirical criticism as their fellow citizens...”
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Tags: Flemming Rose, Free speech, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence

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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Tags: Flemming Rose, The Cato Institute, The Tyranny of Silence, Free speech, Muhammed cartoons, Newseum