8

Supplement

February 22, 2006 + Over the Edge

UPEI administration bans

distribution of student

newspaper over Muslim cartoons

BY DAVE WEATHERALL
CANADIAN UNIVERSITY PRESS

TORONTO (CUP) The University
of Prince Edward Island has ordered
the school's student newspaper—The
Cadre—not to distribute its latest issue
because it contains the Muslim illustra-
tions from the Danish paper: Jyllands-
Posten. ;

The Cadre is believed to be the first
English-language newspaper in Canada
to publish the illustrations—according
to a timeline on the CBC’s website, the
French-language newspaper Le Devoir
re-published the illustrations on Feb.
3. According to the university admin-
istration, the justification for ordering
the removal of the issues is that the
cartoons have already caused enough
uproar overseas,

Ray Keating, editor in chief of The
Cadre, said the decision to re-publish
the illustrations was not designed to
stir the controversy.

-“We decided that it would be a dis-
service to our readers if we didnt run
it with the editorial we wrote on the
subject,’ said Keating.

Two thousand issues of The Cadre
were delivered to the school’s loading
docks when Keating received word of
the university's decision.

“T put all the copies in the back of my
van so they wouldn't be seized or de-
stroyed,’ said Keating.

The Cadre is planning to distribute
the issues off-campus while they chal-

lenge the on-campus ban.

According to Peter Jacobsen, a law-
yer with Bersenas, Jacobsen, Chouest,
Thomson and Blackburn who special-
izes in media law, publishing the car-
toons is not a violation of copyright,
however whether it is covered under
the protection of free speech is more
complex.

“It's a risky venture,’ said Jacobsen.

Section 319. (1) of the criminal code
reads: “Every one who, by communi-
cating statements in any public place,
incites hatred against any identifiable
group where such incitement is likely
to lead to.a breach of the peace is guilty
of

(a) an indictable offence and is liable
to imprisonment for a term not exceed-
ing two years; or

(b) an offence punishable on sum-
mary conviction,

Because of the mass _ protests
throughout the Muslim world the car-
toons have already illicited, Jacobsen
said there is a possibility a newspaper
that chose to re-publish them could be
prosecuted and be found guilty.

“Obviously this bumps right up
against freedom of speech,’ said Jacob-
sen, who added that section 319 has
withstood past legal challenges that it
infringes on freedom of speech.

Meanwhile, the UPEI student
union—which partly owns the, The
Cadre—has come out in support of the
university administration's decision to

ban distribution of the issue on cam-
pus.

Keating appeared in a one-on-one
interview on CTV Newsnet where he
was lambasted by host Don Matheson
who accused Keating : of not having to

“answer to good taste.”

Matheson went on to say that major
daily newspapers in Canada do attack
politicians, business leaders and en-
tertainers, but they don't pick on the
poor, the disenfranchised or people's
religions because it's bad mannets and
it's not necessaty.

“I'm not sure I've understood yet why
you felt it was worthwhile doing,’ said
Matheson.

After a lengthy meeting with UPEI's
administration Wednesday afternoon,
Keating said that initial concerns for
his educational career were abated,

“They're sticking to their guns, won't
let us distribute it on campus,’ said
Keating. “The woman who called me
initially from 'the administration said it
could threaten educational career, that
has been shot down by the president,’
said Keating.

The .pdf document of the issue has
been taken down from The Cadre's
website, but Keating said there are
plans underway to mirror the site and
make the .pdf document available to all
who wish to view it.

Muhammad Cartoon Versus
Freedom of Expression

JEREMY JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER

I am writing about this because this
story has run parallel with a lot about
my life. I am not a Muslim, but I am an

active advocate for freedom of expres-

sion. I am taking English 300 which is
probably the closest I've come to tak-
ing philosophy, so I have studied a little
about philosophy. I also currently TA
a course, so I've had some experience
teaching. At one point, I had written a
comedy series online. Though nota full
blown cartoonist, I have entertained a
few with short text sketches online.

So for those who don't know what
happened, a Danish cartoonist repub-
lished a cartoon that was completely
offensive to the Muslim community. It
sparked violent clashes in the Middle
East.-Recently, a professor by the name
of Peter March who teaches philosophy
at the St. Mary's University in Halifax
posted the same offensive cartoons on
his door. He said he wanted to start

debate on the issue, but the adminis-
trators forced him to take them down.
He threatened to later post them in his
classroom. He also posted them in his
yard, but the cartoons were stolen by
someone.

Personally, I think the professor
should have been fired by this point
in time. His actions are completely in-
excusable. If he really wanted to start
harmless debate about it, he could have
simply moderated, without bias, a de-
bate in the class-room, but even then,
this is a hazardous undertaking in it-
self.

Either way, I think a University
shouldn't allow blatant racism within
its walls. For that philosophy professor
who had the gall to claim freedom of
expression puts the term ‘freedom of
expression to.shame. I commend pro-
fessors for posting cartoons on their
doors to reproduce a message. I've read
quite a number while hunting down a
professor or two and found that many

The opinions expressed in this supplement are those of the individual
_ writers. They do not represent the opinions of Over the Edge News-
paper Society. To submit a letter to the editor, e-mail over-the-edge@

unbc.ca or drop it off at our office in the Wintergarden. Over the Edge
Newspaper Society reserves the right to edit all opinion submissions
~ for length and legal considerations.

are quite good. If I saw that cartoon
on any of those doors, I'd personally
exptess my anger to that professor by
reporting it. In fact, I would tear the
paper off the door, write the professors
name down on the back, and report
the action with the evidence because
enough people has had to put up with
it already.

I personally am baffled as to how |
someone in his position would think |

it's a good idea to do this sort of thing
in the first place. What method of logic
doesn’t have, “Hey, maybe this isn't a
good idea: in the equation? I'd person-
ally like to say to this “professor’, “This
cartoon has made a lot of damage in the
world, dont even think about rocking
the boat here.”

As for the Danish newspaper that
reprinted the cartoon. I say that it
was a complete mistake to do that. If
any newspaper outlets printed that
cartoon, I'd be inclined to believe that
there would be protests on the streets
- and rightfully so. Blatant racism
should never have the right to use the
freedom of expression’ shield and I
certainly hope that this is the last time
Canada sees the likes of that cartoon
ever again.

Don’t Rock the Casbah

BY ANDREW KURJATA
NEWS EDITOR

Arnie Pie, reporter, is in a news
helicopter following a car chase:
Arnie Pie: “| can see them right
below me. I’m going to try to nail
the driver with one of my shoes.’
Kent Brockman: “Arnie, please
leave this to the police.’
Arnie Pie (angry): “I'm sick of
being a reporter. | wanna make
the news!”
Kent Brockman: “Arnie this is not
the time...”
Arnie Pie: “You're not the time
Kent, you're not the time!”

-From the Simpsons episode
1220, “Children of a Lesser Clod.”

You have to wonder. if an exchange
similar to this one occurred before the
Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten
made the decision to solicit 40 cartoon-
ists for drawings depicting the Prophet
Muhammad.

After all,:these drawings have been
central to world news for over four
months now, and the controversy over
them.shaws:no sign of dying down.

It's stirred up debate over freedom.
of speech, racism, public: versus pri-
vate expression: of ideas, and religious
taboos. It’s also. been responsible for
worldwide protests, the destruction, of

-Danish’ embassies i in.the Middle East;
in Afghanistan, :

Dane

me thar occurred ~~

‘in Montre [against 2 4 Muslim resident.
~And to what end? Jylland-Posten

ae even doing what a newspaper is

supposed to do: report on the news. It
was barely even commenting. Instead,
the exercise undertaken by Jyllands-

Posten was akin to a reporter throw-

“ing his shoe at a driver in a high-speed

chase:, sick of reporting on the news,
Jylland-Posten decided to make it.

Ina recent piece written for Time

‘magazine, the editor who commis-

sioned the cartoons says that his put-,
pose was to examine the issue of self-.
censorship, -

And yet he didn't ask for cartoons of

this nature.

What he asked for was interpreta-
tions of Muhammad, fully aware-that
many Muslims the world ver would

“consider this to be blasphemy, The car-
‘toons offer. absolutely no, insight into °

the issue of self-censorship, illuminate
nothing, and have only served to widen
the Islamic/ Western divide.

Now, Jylland-Posten and other pub-
lications are (hopefully) learning some-
thing that Peter Parker learned early on
in his career as Spidernian:

“With great: power comes great re-
sponsibility” ~~

“Yes, we have'freedom of speech, but
it shouldn't be thrown about willy-nilly.
Sure, South Park and Family Guy have
made their careers on being offensive
to anyone and everyone, but these are
comedy shows, not the nightly news.
Context is everything, and, while me
might find a flatulence joke humourous
on the Comedy Network, we expect
more from our news sources.

Had Jylland-Posten published car-
toons ridiculing terrorist activity or
commenting on self-censorship (as
many publications have in the wake of

the controversy), they might have hada
case. But a picture of Muhammad with

a bomb in his turban? All that serves to
do is promote the false belief that Islam
is an inherently violent religion.

This in turn ignites anti-Muslim
stereotypes on one side of the fence and
anti-Western ideology on the other.

Moderates on either side of the de-
‘bate are further forced to choose sides,
and extremists of all stripes are the
ones who betiefit.

‘Irs not like Islamic extremists really

needed further ammunition to stoke
the belief that the West doesn't respect
Muslim values, beliefs, or people. Look
at this situation from the’ point of view
of a Muslim in the Middle East or Eur-
ope.
In the last few years, Afghanistan and
Iraq have been bombed by the West,
killing countless civilians. Meanwhile
Turkey, a secular country with Islamic
roots and an established democracy
since at least the 1950s is continuously
denied membership ‘in the European
Union while Christian countries that
have been democratic for less than a
decade speed ahead of them in the 2 ac-
cession process.

‘Combine that with ” continued dis-
crimination faced by-second- and third-
generation Muslims living in European
countries (including Denmark), and
these caftoons become more than just

“matter of freedom of speech-- they

aré another symbol of what appears to
some to be thinly-veiled-racism. :

It has been said that there havéeen
plenty of cartoons s lambasting Christi-
ead buti it remembered that

Han countries.

It’s one thing to make fun of yourself,
another entirely to. imake fan of some-
one else.

Of course, tione of this: justifies the
use of violence. Need it be said there is
a certain. “irony in réacting violently to
protest the charge that you are violent?
In addition to the obvious tragedy that

“accompanies violent actions, attacks
atid threats against papers that choose

to publish the cartoons .retroactively
transform their editors from misin-
formed intellectual twits into defenders
of democratic values.

If there was nothing to defend free-

dom of expression from, then these
Papers would just be jerks. But if it

‘comes to choosing between defending

-one persons right to say somethin:
P' ig y s

idiotic and another's right to kill him, I

“have to side with the idiot. At the same

time, just because you're exercising of
freedom of speech doesn't mean you're
a hero. I think wed be hesitant to place
a Ku Klux Klan member or neo-Nazi
promoting racist texts on any sort of a
‘pedestal.

Freedom of speech isn't good in and
of itself,it's good when used respon-
sibly.

For example, it might be worth risk-
ing lives to protest genital mutilation or
terrorist bombings. But is it worth pub-
lishing a picture of Muhammad that
contributes nothing simply because
you can, even though-it may result in

sthe loss of life? It’s true that doing sogs

our right-- we are fortunate to live in a
country that allows us to freely express
our opinions.

And since this is the case, here's mine:
even though you can do something,
sometimes you still shouldn't,