Jekk fhimtek sew Immanuel qed tghid li jekk nafu minn qabel li xi hadd (nghidu ahna Lou Bondi, jew Gonzi, jew il-kappillan tal-Marsa, suq) se jwegga' jekk naghmlu parodija tieghu f'xi wahda mill-istejjer li jfettlilna nhazzu, tirrendina 'infantili', 'kowbojs' u 'bla sens'.
Life of Brian nassumi li wegga' lil hafna nies meta hareg. U fl-ahhar mill-ahhar konvint li hemm min sejjahlu 'infantili'. U 'bla sens' ukoll.
Nahseb taqbel mieghi li kieku dak kollu li jinkiteb kellu jghaddi mill-gharbiel ta' x'inhu 'mod serju kif wiehed juza l-liberta ta' l-espressjoni', hafna letteratura kienet tibqa' timmoffa fil-kexxun.
U ma ninsewx ukoll li r-religjon tokkupa l-ispazju pubbliku daqs kemm jokkupawh il-politikanti. Jekk mhux izjed.

U haga ohra - l-Ewropej mhux qed jghidu "kunu bhalna". Qed jghidu biss "tigux tghidulna kif ghandna nesprimu ruhna go darna."

An apology was demanded, 12 ambassadors requested to meet the Danish Prime Minister. It was after these requests were refused that all hell broke loose. Essentially, the Danes couldn't see why they should apologise. And certainly couldn't fathom how a PM could apologise for the actions of a newspaper. Still less castigate that newspaper. Following the massive reaction, the Danes have tempered their stance but certainly even a 'diplomatic apology' can never really satisfy the claims being made.

I think the 'race to publish' is a sign of European solidarity in action. Perhaps upholding the one European value which defines us best: freedom of expression. And it will be highly interesting, and very telling, to see who follows suit and who doesn't as well as the reasons given for opting to republish or not to republish.

Kpiepel. I'm also very curious to see what the Maltese papers will have to say. I expect the overwhelming stress will be on the "we must pay attention to the limits of freedom expression" line of argumentation. I hope to be proved wrong. This incident could also put the "Malta as a bridge between Europe and North Africa" claim to the test. It's been used time and time again. I always thought it was a tad over the top but, again, I'd be pleased to be proved wrong.