Thursday this week, 29 November, the Freedom of Expression Foundation, together with Norwegian PEN and Culcom, University of Oslo, host a meeting at the new Literature House on ‘Freedom of Expression and Clash Philosophy’. More specifically, the purpose of the meeting is to shed light on how the strife following in the wake of the publication of the cartoons about the Prophet unfolded in different parts of the world. (25-NOV-07)
Based on the invitation distributed by Norwegian PEN, this article has been prepared for publication here by HRH F / Niels Jacob Harbitz.
Was this controversy mainly about freedom of expression? Why did so many – people and communities – see the cartoons as provocations? And why did so many shy away from publishing them? A network of researchers from 14 different countries have studied the press coverage of the cartoons. They find significant different even between neighbouring countries. In the panel, you will meet Peter Hervik form Denmark, Ibrahim Saleh from Egypt, Angela Phillips from the UK, Risto Kornelius from Finland and Elisabeth Eide from Norway. The debate will be chaired by Lars Gule and Oddbjørn Leirvik.
