Do you recall when virtually the entire Muslim world went into delirium
after a Danish newspaper published 12 caricatures of the prophet
Mohammed? How could one forget! After all, mobs rioted and more than 50
people were actually killed in the violence that ensued.
Now, The Art Newspaper reports that a "Danish museum (is) to buy Muhammad
cartoons which sparked global riots." It is, of
course, a very proper acquisition, especially given the fact that the
cartoons and the events that followed their appearance in print are now
part of the political and cultural history of the world. The world of
Islam and the rest of the world, too.
It was a moment of liberal self-definition, as well. The rampages by
Muslims in European capitals, especially, crystallized for many how
imperiled the West was if it continued to kow-tow to those who would foist
their autocratic values on whole societies that had reached a consensus on
free speech and on its obvious corollary, feeling offense by other people's
liberties.