Jyllands-Posten editor Flemming Rose has been interviewed by an Israeli newspaper about the Danish cartoons controversy:
“There are even experts on Islam who didn’t see this coming,” he said. “I talked about it with the orientalist Bernard Lewis, who told me there was a long culture of insulting the prophet in Europe. He referred me to Dante, and the cathedral in Bologna where Muhammad is depicted in hell. Muslims didn’t respond to that, because they said it these were heretics that they shouldn’t be concerned with.”
When asked why he thought Muslims reacted so harshly this time, Rose said, “According to Lewis, this is the first time Muslims try to impose Islamic law on non-Muslim countries.”
According to Rose, the riots that broke out following the publications stemmed from “Muslim immigration to Europe and the fact that there are Muslims who don’t want to be integrated… There’s a problem with Muslims in Europe and it must be dealt with.”