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2006-02-14

A Canadian magazine, Western Standard, has published 8 of the 12 cartoons. Publisher Editor Ezra Levant called the caricatures "innocuous," and said he's "ashamed" that more Canadian media outlets, including CTV, have chosen not to run them.

Canadian magazine reprints Mohammed cartoons

We're not publishing them for their editorial merits or because we share their views. They're actually boring compared to normal political cartoons, they're bland," he said.

"We're running them because we think the cartoons are the central artifact in the largest news story in the world this month, namely Muslim riots in response to them."

Levant claimed that most Canadian and US newspapers have not published the cartoons "out of fear", not out of respect for Islam.

In Canada, only one Francophone, one Jewish and one student newspaper published them. University officials quickly pulled the student tabloid off news stands.

Levant said that the continent's newspapers would not hesitate to print material offensive to Christians or Jews because they would only write letters to the editor to express their disapproval.

"They don't bomb embassies and behead journalists," he told the public broadcaster CBC, noting that security at the magazine's offices had been beefed up for the launch of this issue.


Most Canadian publications including The Globe and Mail have chosen not to print the cartoons, opting instead to describe the images.
A typical description is "One of the cartoons depicts the prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a burning fuse".

Yes, one of the cartoons? How about the 11 others? What happened to "a picture says more than a 1,000 words"?

Results have been predictable: Muslims want magazine charged. Several bookstores said yesterday that it will not sell the current issue of Western Standard magazine. McNally Boschmann has two stores in Winnipeg and one in Saskatoon. None will carry the controversial Western Standard issue. Boschmann said "the Danish cartoons are readily available on the Internet for anyone who wants to look at them".

You are right, Mr. Boschmann. they are available on the Net. In fact I don't see any reason for buying newspapers and magazines these days.

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