Angry in the Great White North

If the vendor is a Muslim and has pulled the copy, make it clear to him, politely and firmly, that while he has every right to choose what he wishes to sell in his shop, you have every right to take your custom to another store, where the owner respects your right to choose your reading material, and won't impose his views on you.

But already the forces of repression are on the move:

A local Muslim leader has filed a police complaint and will be seeing a lawyer over the running of controversial political cartoons in two Calgary-area publications.

Alaa Elsayed of the Muslim Council of Calgary (MCC) said he will also be asking The Jewish Free Press, which published the cartoons Jan. 9, and the Western Standard, which is expected to feature them in tomorrow's issue, to apologize for the slight.

But Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant said he and his editorial staff have nothing to be sorry for.

"This is the story of the month," Levant said last night. "We think our readers would want to know what all the fuss is about ... It's simply a news call."

Ezra makes it clear what Muslims should be doing:

"In Canada, we don't call the police when our religious sensitivities are offended -- we write letters to the editor."

Needless to say, security has been stepped up at the Western Standard office, in case the letter is wrapped around a rock.

Still, there are signs of hope:

Syed Soharwardy of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada and Muslims Against Terrorism said he encourages people with questions about the furor to attend an information session today.

But, Soharwardy said he hopes to use the cartoon flap to educate people about Islam, and why the images of the Prophet Muhammad are so offensive.

"People can ask me any question they want, even offensive ones, and I will answer them with patience," he said. "There are many reasons and people in the western world, they still don't fully understand what Islam is."

People wishing to discuss the cartoon controversy are invited to the Al Madinah Calgary Islamic Centre, 5700 Falsbridge Dr. N.E., at 1 p.m.

Meanwhile, MCC has two discussions on tap which will touch on the cartoons and their impact, one an information session still in the works, and the other, an inter-faith round-table planned for next Sunday.

The irony is that these Muslim leaders have not acknowledged that if weren't for the cartoons and the controversy they generated, these round-tables and discussion panels would not be happening, and people would not be asking questions what Islam is all about.

Which is why the freedom to do satire is important.

Which is why we have to make sure we do our part to send a message that we won't be intimidated out of exercising this freedom.