Heh, this thing all over again. I have no sympathy for either party. The extermists deserve to be shot for being stupid. And Westergaard deserves a bounty on his head for being a dick.
Islam prohibits pictures and depictions of Muhammad because it's akin to turning him into an idol, which means that you're worshipping him. It's a direct insult to everything the religion stands for. They take it seriously. They developed a whole new style of art that prevents the depiction of any living thing.
Drawing, even joking about it as a grave cultural insult.. a simple joke picture is more offensive than publishing the picture of one's father getting raped by dogs. Imagine it being in newspapers, who are doing it just for the sake of controversy.. not for information, but as a deliberate middle finger to millions of people. It's a taunt saying "Fuck you. We are a peaceful democracy. Violence is not the answer, so you can't do anything about it. I can say whatever I want, and if you try to kill me, the police will protect me."
Really, this whole deal with terrorism would be over if people said "What's wrong?" instead of "Fuck off. We have bigger guns." When you say you have a bigger gun, they try to shoot your back, or even your granddaughter with a small one. Hey, Westergaard said he doesn't care about his own life. What about that of his granddaughter?
I'm not saying I agree with it, but that's just how people on the other side of the world think.