By Grant LaFleche

(Forwarded by Zafar Khizer)

In an editorial in support of freedom of speech, especially when it is very offensive, Mr. LaFleche writes:

“There are two views on freedom of speech, noted linguist and political commentator Noam Chomsky once said, and you can decide which view you want.

It’s a starkly simple and important perspective on a freedom that, more than any other, defines what Western society is. And the real test of this principle is whether we uphold it in the face of views that might make you squirm.

“Goebbels was in favour of free speech for views he liked. So was Stalin,” Chomsky said. “If you’re really in favour of free speech, then you’re in favour of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise. Otherwise, you’re not in favour of free speech.”

It’s worth remembering Chomsky’s words when we consider the uproar over a 13-minute anti-Muslim film mocking the prophet Muhammad made in the U.S. that triggered a wave of violence in the Middle East, including attacks on American embassies recently” Click on link below to read full editorial;
http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2012/09/18/defend-free-speech-regardless-of-the-violence

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Published: September 18, 2012

Thomas Friedman is senior NYT columnist and frequently writes about Muslims and Israel. He is very critical of Israel’s present policies. His columns are read widely and also by many Muslims. He is responding to present violent protests in Muslim countries and writes: 

“On Monday, David D. Kirkpatrick, the Cairo bureau chief for The Times, quoted one of the Egyptian demonstrators outside the American Embassy, Khaled Ali, as justifying last week’s violent protests by declaring: “We never insult any prophet — not Moses, not Jesus — so why can’t we demand that Muhammad be respected?” Mr. Ali, a 39-year-old textile worker, was holding up a handwritten sign in English that read: “Shut Up America.” “Obama is the president, so he should have to apologize!”

“I read several such comments from the rioters in the press last week, and I have a big problem with them. I don’t like to see anyone’s faith insulted, but we need to make two things very clear — more clear than President Obama’s team has made them. One is that an insult — even one as stupid and ugly as the anti-Islam video on YouTube that started all of this — does not entitle people to go out and attack embassies and kill innocent diplomats. That is not how a proper self-governing people behave. There is no excuse for it. It is shameful. And, second, before demanding an apology from our president, Mr. Ali and the young Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans, Yemenis, Pakistanis, Afghans and Sudanese who have been taking to the streets might want to look in the mirror — or just turn on their own televisions. They might want to look at the chauvinistic bile that is pumped out by some of their own media — on satellite television stations and Web sites or sold in sidewalk bookstores outside of mosques — insulting Shiites, Jews, Christians, Sufis and anyone else who is not a Sunni, or fundamentalist, Muslim. There are people in their countries for whom hating “the other” has become a source of identity and a collective excuse for failing to realize their own potential.”

Click on the link below to read full article.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/opinion/friedman-look-in-your-mirror.html?_r=0