Westergaard’s Yale visit stirring controversy
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Kurt Westergaard, who drew the famous Muhammad cartoon, will be speaking tomorrow at Yale on the same day as the author of “The Cartoons that Shook the World” (the one that won’t reprinting the cartoons). The two events were organized independently of each other. For security concerns, Westergaard’s speech was moved off campus. The Yale Muslim Student’s Association has issued a disapproving statement that Westergaard was invited to speak.
“As an institution purportedly committed to making our campus an educational environment where all students feel equally comfortable, we feel that by hosting Kurt Westergaard Yale is undermining its commitment to creating a nurturing learning environment by failing to recognize the religious and racial sensitivity of the issue,” the group said. “Certainly, it would be unlikely for a white supremacist or a holocaust denier to be a distinguished guest speaker at Yale; hosting individuals who propagate hate is not only a disservice to the minorities that hate is directed towards but to the campus community as a whole.”
Another Muslim group is planning a protest of their own, citing that the issue has more to do with hate speech than free speech.
A Yale spokesperson responded that a speaking invitation does not denote university support. Extra police and safety precautions are being readied for the event.
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