There were moments during the past few days when I wondered what most offended me. First came the television images of the burning Danish consulate in Beirut, and the placards waved by demonstrators in London calling for the decapitation of those who challenged their fundamentalist brand of Islam. Next were the reports that franchises in the Middle East of the French Carrefour supermarket chain now carry signs proclaiming their own boycott of Danish products. Then there was Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, condemning European newspapers for exercising the right to free speech. Where, I wondered, were the tolerance and mutual respect?

The storm over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed has taken secular Europeans and Muslims on to ground where all the boundaries are perilously thin. The right to offend is a vital pillar of western democracy. So, too, is an obligation to eschew insult to fellow citizens. Respect for “otherness” demands compromises that challenge cherished values. Self-restraint can drift easily into self-censorship.