Free as in Speech

A brief survey of recent MEMRI-TV clips has turned up a nice collection of, how-you-say, presumptuous fundamentalist hatemongers. It turns out that the Mohammed cartoons were a Zionist plot all along. Very related to the last quote in my previous Dawkins post.

Pick your poison...

"It is the responsibility of the heads of state in the World Muslim Congress to demand legislation, that will be binding on the press and the media in the West, that will prevent the humiliation of our Prophet" Hassan Nasrallah Hizbullah Secretary-General
"This is a Crusader Zionist campaign, which is led by the extremist pro-Zionist right, headed by George Bush in America" Ali Muhi Al-Din Al-Qardaghi Statistician (not!)
"That's what this is about. This is the handiwork of the Zionists" Ali Khamenei Leader of Iran Coming soon: Nukes!

I think Ali Khamenei may have had the Faurisson affair in mind when he implied that "the West" is hypocritical when it comes to free speech.

Flemming Rose, the Danish editor who for some reason decided to publish the cartoons in the first place, is facing numerous threats on his life. When asked whether he now regrets the decision, he responded:

That is a hypothetical question. I would say that I do not regret having commissioned those cartoons and I think asking me that question is like asking a rape victim if she regrets wearing a short skirt Friday night at the discotheque.

I see what he's trying to say, but it's a bit repulsive to compare his situation to that of a rape victim.