Sympathy for those who draw Anne Frank in bed with Hitler?

There is a strong case for saying that the Danish cartoons of Mohammed, which have caused so much uproar, are fair comment. Certainly those who haven't seen them can rest assured that they are relatively tame in comparison with many cartoons on other subjects which regularly appear in the European press. Even so, non-Muslims might have more sympathy with Muslims who find them offensive, if it weren't for the astonishing double standards and hypocrisy of the Muslim world when it comes to accepting and applauding truly vicious slanders against Jews, and to a lesser extent Christians.

The arguments from Muslims — though not the fanatical, violent manner of many of their protests — would no doubt be taken more seriously if they had also objected to the depiction on Syrian television of rabbis as cannibals. Or if last Saturday, Britain's Muslim Weekly had not published a caricature of a hooked-nose Ehud Olmert.

Tom Gross