TERROR IN COPENHAGEN

There was a terrorist attack in Copenhagen, while I was in London getting my new passport. A meeting was held in the afternoon of Saturday 14 February at Krudttønden to debate culture, blasphemy and freedom of expression. One of those present was a Swedish cartoonist called Lars Vilks, famous (notorious) for cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Partly because of his participation, there was a large police presence; in Sweden, he has round the clock police protection.

Some 30 minutes after the debate had started, a man pitched up with an M95 assault rifle and started shooting through the glass front window. Mr. Vilks was not hit, but a Danish film director was killed and three policemen wounded. The assailant fled in a stolen car. Just after midnight he approaches the Copenhagen Synagogue, shoots and kills a volunteer Jewish security guard, and wounds two more policemen. Later that night he is cornered in a building, comes out with guns blazing and is killed by the police.

Since the episode, Danish newspapers and other media have been full of what many believe is the country's "9/11 moment". Three issues in particular stand out. First, should there be any limits to freedom of expression, notably in regard to religion? Secondly, given that the assailant, a Muslim man of Palestinian origin, was a Danish citizen, what if anything can be done to prevent the sort of radicalisation that leads to terrorist activities? And thirdly, did (and do) the authorities do enough to protect Jews in Denmark, given that the Synagogue had on a number of occasions noted increasing anti-semitism and had formally asked for better police protection?

The Danish elite is firmly convinced that the answer to question one is no. My personal view is that this is misguided; despite Voltaire's maxim, having the right to insult someone doesn't necessarily mean that you should exercise that right time and time again. Not least because it makes the answer to question two much more difficult. There is no easy solution to this problem, only a long, hard slog to try to convince Danish Muslims (and young men in particular) that Danish values can coexist with their religious beliefs.

For politicians anxious to be seen to be "doing something", that leaves question three. The scrap about what exactly the police did or did not do in February, whether they could have done more, and who should be held responsible if it is discovered that they could, has already begun. With a general election due by September at the latest, the chorus of claims and counterclaims will only get louder. It will be inedifying and (whisper it softly) probably irrelevant. But it will take up lots of column inches and TV hours and demand much Government time.    

Walter Blotscher