OTTAWA - The Western Standard magazine has republished the controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, which have ignited riots and protests around the world.
Reprinting the cartoons, which many Muslims consider to be blasphemous, increases the risk to Canadian embassies and troops, especially those serving in Afghanistan, said Peter Marwitz, a retired RCMP and CSIS agent.
"The troops in Kandahar already have an entire set of issues to deal with," Marwitz said Monday. "At the end of the day, Canadians are going to discover that there are a lot of agendas out there that are going to be similarly pointed at Canadians’ interests abroad. Look out there’s going to be trouble."
The Calgary-based magazine stood by its decision to publish eight of the 12 cartoons - which first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September - as a necessary defence of press freedom.
One depicts the Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban that’s shaped like a bomb.
"It would seem to me that if we were to do our readers a service and report the news, . . . perhaps we ought to show the most important news item of the month," publisher Ezra Levant said Monday.
Levant admits he fears for his personal safety, but stands by his decision to print the cartoons. He has hired security and taken other personal safety precautions, which he declined to describe in detail, in case there is any violent response to the Standard’s latest edition.
While Canadians have a right to free speech, it’s unfortunate that the cartoons have been republished here, considering the controversy and outrage they have sparked worldwide, said Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Kim Girtel.
"Canada attaches importance to both freedom of speech and to respect for cultural diversity and ethnic and religious differences," she said. "The government of Canada does not determine the content of media publications. The cartoons are offensive to many, and given the impact they may have, it is regrettable that they’ve been republished."
The Canadian Islamic Congress has vowed to seek hate-crimes charges against the magazine because they feel the cartoons incite hatred and portray Muslims in a negative fashion.
"I think there is a fine line between freedom of the press and freedom to incite hate. These cartoons cross that line," national president Mohamed Elmasry said. "Canada has a hate literature law and we will be able to test it to see indeed if the law protects the well-being of minorities."
Considering the cartoons have sparked violence and riots around the world, Indigo Books and Music Inc., Canada’s largest bookstore chain, is refusing to put the latest issue of the Western Standard on its shelves.
Air Canada, which normally carries the Western Standard in its lounges and on some flights, has also decided pull this issue of the magazine.
