Yesterday was a big day for cartoons, museums, Islam, art freedom and book publishing.
Many of you probably saw THIS NY Times article detailing a decision by Yale University Press to declare themselves wimps and omit/ban images of the Prophet Mohammed in the new book The Cartoons that Shook the World.
The book by author Jytte Klausen will be published by Yale University Press in November.
The decision is highly problematic considering the world-wide response to the 12 cartoons of Mohammed that were published by Danish daily Jylland-Posten back in 2005. Hundreds of people were killed during the weeks of global outrage that followed as Muslims demanded retribution for the blasphemous portraiture.
But now author Klausen — who’s DANISH! — has given in to pressure by Yale to not only omit the 12 offending images, but ALL images of Mohammed in general.
Punks!
Considering the mayhem and drama that followed the 2005 controversy, how could a book detailing “Cartoons that Shook the World” not include the infamous 12?
Although Yale insists an expert panel helped weigh in on the Mohammed ban, we suspect there’s lots of back story here.
1) Prof Klausen teaches at Brandeis University — one of the most Jewish learning institutions on the planet (and our alma mater). We wonder if the folks up in Waltham, MA were willing to compromise art freedom to avoid the wrath of the Muslim world if Klausen’s book was to feature the Prophet.
2) Considering Yale was passed over by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal for $40 million donations in favor of Harvard and Georgetown in 2006, we wonder if the money-men in New Haven are particularly keen not to offend any potential Arab benefactors during this precarious fund-raising period.
3) The biggest and most disheartening issue is how could a big, well-protected and very wealthy institution like Yale cave in to fear and yet the tiny Danish museum Galleri Draupner is brave enough to stand up for artistic expression.
As we reported yesterday, the Gallery is set to show many of the exact same cartoons that Yale has banned from Prof. Klausen’s book in an exhibition later this month.
No panel of experts, no big-budget lawyers, no NY Times profiles — just a retropsective of 74 year-old Kurt Westergaard’s work, including the infamous caricatures.
Long-time Transracial readers are well-aware of our affiniity for Arab culture and our Muslim brothers and sisters.
But censorship and cowardice have no place in publishing or the media public.
Grow up Yale — and grow some balls!