Abstract
In September 2005, the right-wing Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published specially commissioned cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that were judged, by Muslims and many non-Muslims, to be racist and offensive. Republished in February 2006 in newspapers across Europe (except the UK), they were the occasion for demonstrations and riots throughout both the Muslim and non-Muslim world. In this wide-ranging interview, originally conducted for the Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen, A. Sivanandan reflects on free speech and its relation to other freedoms in an unequal, globalised world. He looks at it in the context both of the ‘war on terror’ and past histories of colonisation.
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