***11:20am update…I’ve just learned that the NYSun published two of the cartoons in today’s print edition…will post scans if I can get them…bravo!…scan posted below…***

I have contacted several newspaper op-ed editors urging them to run the Danish forbidden cartoons along with my column this week.

So far, all have declined.

Now, via a tip from Sissy Willis, I learn that the Los Angeles Times (of all papers!) is planning to run the cartoons this weekend.

I’ll believe it when I see them. We’ll see how well the paper’s management stands up to the forces of CAIR and the international Islamist sensitivity police when the news spreads. But if the Times does withstand the furor and proceeds with publication of the cartoons–without alterations, without apologies–I will be the first to raise a Danish Fris Vodka toast to them.

At the Dallas Morning News, editorial board member and columnist Rod Dreher writes:

Are we brave enough to do this?

You might have read about the international row over a Danish newspaper’s publishing cartoon caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. Some Muslims have waged violent protests (in Gaza, gunmen stormed EU offices over the stupid cartoons!) and bomb threats against the Danish paper and Danish interests, and are boycotting Danish goods. Today across Europe, major newspaper[s] stood in solidarity with the Danish newspaper (which, sadly, apologized yesterday for having caused offense) in defending its right to free speech against the Islamofascist threat by publishing cartoon caricatures of Mohammed themselves.

I wish American newspapers, including this one, had the courage to do the same thing. To do so implies no approval of the message. In fact, I wish media were more respectful of religion, as a general matter. Rather, it is to assert, in the face of violent threats to suppress speech, that no religious group has the right to expect no criticism, and in turn to react violently when that criticism has been published in a peaceable way. Free speech is a basic value, and it is under severe attack in the West by some Muslims…

Turns out that the European papers weren’t as brave as initially reported. Overseas, as noted here yesterday, France Soir has sacked its editor for reprinting the cartoons. Barcepundit notes that Spanish media are sympathizing with the Islamist howlers. And a commenter at Harry’s Place reports that the BBC was so afraid of offending Muslims that it partially blacked out some of the cartoons that appeared in France Soir–as if they were pornographic.

Meanwhile, the Arab world continues on its malice-filled way–unscathed by any violent protest or indignant condemnation from Bill Clinton for printing the most vile, bigoted, anti-Semitic, anti-American cartoons imaginable. See this collection from Tom Gross. Stephen Pollard has another.

Jihad Watch reports the latest from Gaza today: Armed militants threaten Europeans in cartoon uproar. Now, they say they will kidnap foreigners until Denmark apologizes. Here’s the latest AP photo of the bullies of Islam:

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On a positive note, Jim Hoft reports that some Mideast bloggers are standing up in support of Denmark.

In addition to joining the Buy Danish campaign, many readers want to know how to contact Danish officials to show their support.

I suggest writing the Danish embassy in Washington, D.C. Contact info is here:

Embassy of Denmark
3200 Whitehaven St. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008
wasamb@um.dk

And here’s a petition in support of the the Jyllands-Posten.

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Update: Via The Editors’ Weblog: Jordanian paper publishes Mohammed cartoons.

Update 2: Thanks to several readers and friends who alerted me to the publication of two of the cartoons in today’s print edition of the NYSun. Here’s a scan via reader Aaron S.:

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Extensive coverage at:

Brussels Journal - First, must-read resource for news, analysis, and commentary on the controversy.

Judith Apter Klinghoffer

Here’s an English-version Danish blog covering the story.

See also:

The Gates of Vienna
Sissy Willis
Riding Sun
Scott Burgess at The Daily Ablution has an excellent rundown of the heroes and zeroes in the European press.

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Previous:

First, they came for the cartoonists
Fight the bullies of Islam
Support Denmark: Why the forbidden cartoons matter
The cartoons Islamists don’t want you to see
The forbidden cartoons

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