Last Thursday, the Daily Illini reprinted six of the 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad as it originally ran in the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, Sept. 30, 2005.

Most major newspapers in the U.S. decided not to publish the cartoons; cartoons that have caused deaths, riots and protests across the world.

The Islamic faith forbids any depiction of prophets to prevent idolatry.

“These cartoons are based upon ignorance,” said Reem Rahman, junior in LAS and communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations University chapter. “Spirit of free speech is to protect what is true and what is good. Hatred is the anti-truth.”

The drawings included one of the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban.

“The function of a newspaper is to report news, not create it,” Rahman said. “It was inconceivable to me that this horrible decision can be made in our local newspaper. It was pretty clear that newspapers nationwide recognized it as a poor choice to print.”

Flemming Rose, the culture editor of Jyllands-Posten, commissioned the cartoons after he received many reports of self-censorship in fear of Islamic extremists’ reactions.

“There was a story out there, and we had to cover it,” Rose said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We just chose to cover it in a different way, according to the principle: Don’t tell it, show it.”

Hebah Ahmed, the outreach committee director for Muslim Women’s Outreach, said the cartoons are not an issue of free speech, but an issue of life and death for Muslims.

Ahmed’s sister, who lives in Houston, received the cartoon of Muhammad standing between two veiled women in the mail. The clip had Ahmed and her sister’s names written above the heads of the two women, along with a mysterious phone number. The Houston police are investigating, Ahmed said.

The community’s reaction is divided between supporters of free speech and protesters against hate speech.

“Congratulations to the Daily Illini for taking a principled stand for freedom of expression, and shame on those newspapers that lacked the courage to show their readers the newsworthy cartoons behind this international story,” said Tom Bruno, Champaign city councilman. “Freedom of speech implies the right to offend. Non-offensive speech needs no protection.”

It is incumbent on the rest of the world’s free press to demonstrate the courage to not be silenced by the offended because the right to speak freely is at stake, Bruno said.

“It is unacceptable to use free speech as a platform for Islamophobia,” according to a press release sent to the Daily Illini on behalf of 15 organizations protesting the depiction. “Free speech is not a license to propagate content that is deliberately incendiary and serves no constructive purpose. We are not asking for censorship. We are asking for responsible journalism.”

Phil Bloomer, press secretary for Congressman Tim Johnson (R-15), agreed free speech is a power that must be exercised conscientiously.

“Free speech is a sacred right that comes with responsibility, and part of that responsibility is not offending people unnecessarily,” Bloomer said. “The whole genius of the First Amendment is that in the clash of ideas, the best and most compelling ideas should prevail, and that’s how we ideally resolve our differences.”

Ahmed said this type of free speech is a mouthpiece to hate, and it is irresponsible of the editor to allow the publication of hate in his paper under the veil of free speech.

“I also have a cartoon, have the editors draw this one,” Ahmed said. “A group of people beating up some Muslim woman, while one person stands back looking at the DI cartoons, thinking, ‘Well, it’s better to get them before they get us,’ and then the DI editor watching and saying, ‘Hey, it’s freedom of speech, it’s not my problem.'”