The cartoons were commissioned in response to Danish writer Kare Bluitgen's difficulty in finding artists to illustrate his children's books about Muhammed for fear of violent attacks by extremists.

While there have been non-satirical depictions of the prophet by Muslims . . . the Chester Beatty library in Dublin displays depictions of Muhammed in historical documents . . . images of Muhammad are considered blasphemous by most Muslims.

Jyllands Posten claimed that publishing the satirical illustrations, including a picture of Muhammed with a bomb in his turban, was an exercise in free speech. It is a view shared by other newspapers in Norway, France, Germany and New Zealand which have also reproduced the drawings.

The reality is that many people view them as provocative, offensive and Islamophobic. The editor-in-chief of Jyllands Posten now says that, had he realised the outrage he would provoke, he would never have published them in the first place.

It is important to remember the climate in which the original decision was made. Denmark is embroiled in an ugly debate about the integration . . . or lack thereof . . . of the country's 170,000 Muslims. Danish Muslims, like those in many other European countries, are ghettoised. They are one of the most marginalised communities in the country and suffer many social problems; 50% of ethnic Danes admit openly in polls that they don't want anything to do with them.

In that context, the debate appears to be not so much about a clash of cultures but about when free speech borders on incitement to racial hatred.

Freedom of expression is one of the tenets of our democracy. We rightly treasure it but we must remember that with it comes responsibility and an obligation not to insult gratuitously those with whom we disagree. In the western world we often take freedom of speech for granted and regularly push it to the limit. But is it freedom of speech to associate all Muslims with terrorism?

We at the Sunday Tribune are against censorship and believe passionately in freedom of speech. But the publication of cartoons that Muslims find so offensive was not correct. For that reason we are not reproducing them today.

However, the Muslim community must look deep into its heart over its response to the perceived insult and the violence it has provoked. In London last week, protesting Muslims carried posters saying 'Butcher those who mock Islam' and 'Europe is the cancer, Islam is the answer'. This too is an abuse of free speech.

Many of the Muslims protesting so vigorously about this controversy are the same people who support newspapers in the the Middle East that routinely insult Jews and Christians.

All people, all religions, have to be open to criticism, but it must be constructive and sensitive. There needs to be a debate in Europe about Muslim integration in modern secular society. This cannot be achieved by extremism in either culture.