While this Chicago Trib article seems to be a few months behind the times with respect to the cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot (Vlad reported on this May 17 2008 http://vladtepesblog.com/?p=160 ) examples given of more recent actions to destroy freedom of expression because of Islamic ‘sensitivities’ are worth the read.
Free to express, but not to offend
By Frida Ghitis
June 29, 2008
It could have been a scene from a frightening thriller. Or, on second thought, from a satirical cartoon.
An armed government team, including a half-dozen police officers and several prosecutors, raids the home of a mysterious artist who goes by a pseudonym, inspires zeal and tackles political themes. They arrest the man and confiscate his computer, telephone, various DVDs and other materials.
A terrorism suspect?
No, the man arrested May 13 in the Dutch city of Amsterdam was Gregorius Nekschot, a cartoonist. And his alleged crime was making drawings that some people found offensive.
This show of force did not come in a faraway land of extremism, or in a country widely known for intolerance or fundamentalism. It happened in the Netherlands, in the heart of Western Europe.
Nekschot’s arrest and 30-hour detention were the latest battle in the war over freedom of expression in the West.