A (Moderate) Muslim Perspective

I spoke with a Muslim friend last night about the controversy surrounding the Pope's speech, specifically, and just freedom of speech in general. During the course of our conversation, the topic of the Danish cartoonists and the backlash against their work, at the beginning of the year, came up. I stated that, while I found their renditions/caricatures of Mohammed distasteful and rather ignorant, I supported and continue to support people's rights to express those sorts of sentiments. It's the lesser of two evils; the alternative would result in the curtailment of the rights afforded by the First Amendment. In response, he asked me when the last time was that I saw something anti-Semitic in any Western media source. It just doesn't happen because the newspaper or magazine or television station would be sued in a heartbeat. Is that not a double standard? I thought that was an interesting point. Thoughts?

Also, he mentioned I should check out the following:

It's an interview of George Galloway, a British Member of Parliament, by Sky News. The topic is the recent Israel-Lebanon conflict. It's very interesting, and entirely unlike anything you would hear from a US Senator.

George Galloway on the Israel-Lebanon Conflict