Freedom of Speech?????

I am sure you have all seen the cartoon that have caused the outcry in the Arab world. I have been reading the BBC World News and Aljazeera web pages about what has been going on, and call me naive but I have been surprised.
Firstly, to see that not only did the Danish newspaper print the cartoons but also now a French and German one also. What I found comical-if that is the right word-is how the French and German newspapers have justified reprinting them. The editor of the French newspaper France Soir, Serge Faubert stated unapologetically that : "Enough lessons from these reactionary bigots! There is nothing in these incriminated cartoons that intends to be racist or denigrate any community as such, some are funny, others less so. That's it. That is why we have decided to publish them." The German newspaper, Welt daily, put one of the drawings on its front page on Wednesday, saying the picture was "harmless" and regretted that the Danish Jyllands-Poste daily had apologized for causing offense. "Democracy is the institutionalized form of freedom of expression," the paper said in a front-page commentary.The Danish paper had apologized a day earlier for causing offence to Muslims, although it maintained it was legal under Danish law to print them. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen welcomed the paper's apology, but has rejected calls to punish the paper, saying the government cannot censor the press.
Secondly is Arab reaction to this whole issue has also been amazing, Palestinians protested against Denmark for allowing publication of the cartoons and Arab ministers called on it to punish the newspaper that first printed them. Saudi Arabia and Syria have recalled their ambassadors from Copenhagen and Libya has closed its embassy.
I know that people have been emailing these cartoons to each other-I have gotten this email at least three time in my private inbox, and another 2 times in my office address-telling each other how outraged they are and that we should boycott Danish products. Supposedly the Danish dairy company in Jordan has been sending out pamphlets saying that it is Danish only in name.
I guess what I find interesting about this whole issue, is that both sides are right, and in my opinion they are one side. The Arab street is saying that just as much as these newspapers have the right to publish this kind of material, so do the people how it directly effect have the right to demonstrate against it. How can an organisation as reputable as Reporters Without Borders state that the reaction in the Arab world "betrays a lack of understanding" of press freedom as "an essential accomplishment of democracy"? Is this not also not allowing people to voice their opinion, to say NO we do not find the cartoons funny, nor is the topic a comical one for us. What has the Arab street done that hasn't happened before. When it was found out that Nike used sweat shops, did people not demonstrate against it and boycott the products? When Nestle sold powered milk that was not good to mothers in the Third World, did people not come out in masses on the streets and not eat Kit Kats? Why is it that when this region gets upset, and show it, the people are called emotional, irrational, and worst of all uncivilised? The pictures that are shown of the demonstrations are always of people shouting and screaming. The BBC web page dealing with the cartoons, has a picture of the Satanic Versus's being burned and a list of past issues that Muslims have gotten upset about. It makes it seem as if this community is just unable, or more like unwilling to deal with any other perspective. When I was reading that list I felt like a parent talking to a child telling them all the wrong things they had done...hummiliating!
I think that the cartoons should have been published, and that people who didn't agree-or who didn't find it particularly funny-should show their disapproval. But I also think that this should have been used as an opportunity for both sides to understand each other better. For them to sit and to decide that they would no longer see the 'Other' as the enemy, to try to figure out why did the West feel that it could publish these kind of things, and why the Muslim street reacted like it did. So that the negative is not longer seen, or expected, and that it no longer is we are better than then, or they are worse then us. Instead each side has dug themselves further in their trenches, and are even less willing or able to see what the other is saying.