French Newspaper Enters the Muslim Cartoon War

Leave it to the French to finally show some backbone...in a battle against religion. A French newspaper has decided to reproduce the Danish cartoons that created such an uproar in the Islamic world, and added a few of their own featuring all the world's deities (from Powerline):

A French newspaper has reproduced a set of Danish caricatures depicting the Prophet Muhammad that have caused outrage in the Muslim world.

France Soir said it had published the cartoons to show that "religious dogma" had no place in a secular society.

Their publication in Denmark has led to protests in several Arab nations.

Responding to France Soir's move, the French government said it supported press freedom - but added that beliefs and religions must be respected.

Islamic tradition bans depictions of the Prophet Muhammad or Allah.

Under the headline "Yes, we have the right to caricature God", France Soir ran a front page cartoon of Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Christian gods floating on a cloud.

It shows the Christian deity saying: "Don't complain, Muhammad, we've all been caricatured here."

Michelle Malkin has a piece called "Fighting the Bullies of Islam" which recounts the battle currently underway in Denmark. She also mentions some of the battles going on right here in the U.S.:

On the Internet, supporters of free speech have launched a "Buy Danish" campaign in solidarity with the nation under siege. But this isn't just about Denmark. American-based Muslim activists are on an angry campaign to stifle the speech of talk show hosts (most recently, KFI morning host Bill Handel in Los Angeles) who offend their sensibilities. And on Tuesday afternoon in advance of the State of the Union address, the Council on American-Islamic Relations issued an ultimatum warning President Bush to "avoid the use of hot-button terms such as 'Islamo-fascism,' 'militant jihadism,' 'Islamic radicalism' or 'totalitarian Islamic empire'" in his speech -- in other words, advising Bush not to identify our enemies for the sake of tolerance and diversity.

UPDATE: French revolution fizzles as editor is fired for running the Muslim cartoons:

France Soir originally said it had published the images in full to show “religious dogma” had no place in a secular society.

But late on Wednesday its owner, Raymond Lakah, said he had removed managing editor Jacques Lefranc “as a powerful sign of respect for the intimate beliefs and convictions of every individual”.

Mr Lakah said: “We express our regrets to the Muslim community and all people who were shocked by the publication.”

The president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), Dalil Boubakeur, had described France Soir’s publication as an act of “real provocation towards the millions of Muslims living in France”.

What's the French word for groveling? Oh yeah, all their words are groveling.

I'm getting a lot of hits from all over the world where people are searching for more information on the Danish situation (I had a post on it here). I also saw a report which stated that certain Islamic groups are planning attacks against Danish interests, even though the newspaper in question apologized for insulting Muslims.

Will the same groups now go after the French, or others who offend their sensibilities? Michelle sums it up this way:

First, they came for the cartoonists. Then, they came for the filmmakers and talk show hosts and namers of evil. Next, who knows?

The blogosphere doesn't tend to back down (as you can see here). How will others respond?