Yale University came into news spotlight recently due to their decision not to include the so-called mohamed cartoons in a book on the same subject. The book was to be a definitive study of the events that unfolded following the publication of the cartoons by a Danish paper. The book is due to come out this Fall and is titled Cartoons That Shook the World. Many observers were surprised by the decision to NOT print the drawings in the book,  given the distance in time and memory.

Wrote NYT:

Reza Aslan, a religion scholar and the author of “No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam,” is a fan of the book but decided to withdraw his supportive blurb that was to appear in the book after Yale University Press dropped the pictures. The book is “a definitive account of the entire controversy,” he said, “but to not include the actual cartoons is to me, frankly, idiotic.”

While most conservative voices felt that Yale went Yellow, at least a few liberals, including the Friendly Athiest, actually used to occasion to republish the cartoons, just as a matter of principle.

The book’s writer Jytte Klausen was frustrated because all she wished for was ‘to have a discussion’ about the matter. Yale on the other hand went so far as to excise all images of the prophet, including those by the great masters Dante, Botticelli, Rodin and Blake. How about that for self-censorship, by using as a cover a panel of two dozen experts!

“We need to calm down and look at this carefully”, NYT quotes Ms. Kausen as saying.

Well, here is a free movie that does just that.

“Bloody Cartoons” is a terrific free movie that looks at the genesis and outgrowth of this entire episode very calmly and dispassionately. It’s a long one, but worth the time.

Click the image below to go to the blog Surind where you can watch the entire movie.

Click image for movie at Surind