Two French Muslim organisations are planning to re-open the Muhammed Cartoons Controversy by suing Paris based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which printed the cartoons last February.

The Paris Grand Mosque and the Union of French Islamic Organisations (UOIF), who are bringing the action, appear to be a litle confused as to the difference between a race and a religion. They are claiming that reprinting the cartoons is a racist act on a par with anti-Semitic violence or Holocaust denial.

Publisher Philippe Val rejects the charge that his magazine was racist against Muslims. “It is racist to imagine that they can’t understand a joke,” he told the weekly L’Express.

A Paris court will hear the case on Wednesday and Thursday and issue its ruling at a later date. Hopefully that ruling will be to recognise that Islam is a religion, not a race. It’s a set of ideas that one can accept or reject, not something you’re born with. It has no more right to any special pleading than any other set of ideas.

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