The demonstration, which started peacefully outside the Danish embassy in Damascus, escalated when furious protesters broke through police barricades and set fire to the building housing the embassy. No injuries were reported as all staff members were on holiday, but damage to the building was severe.

Demonstrators headed afterwards to the Norwegian embassy about 6 kilometers away, and burned it down as well. The attacks occurred amid chants of “God is great” and “With our blood and souls we defend you, O Prophet of God” and fierce clashes erupted with policemen who fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse demonstrators.

The caricatures included a drawing of Prophet Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse, which was deemed the most demeaning among all, especially that the Islamic Law forbids any depiction of Prophet Muhammad.

The finger of blame was pointed at the Danish media and the incident gave rise to controversy over whether the cartoons should be reprinted in future publications or not. Other newspapers in France and Germany ran the story and drawings, characterizing their publication as a matter of free speech. In the Arab world, arrest warrants were issued for the editors of some Jordanian papers who reprinted the cartoons, as Islamic Law bans any depiction of Prophet Muhammad and offensive images cannot be justified under freedom of expression.

The US voiced its respect of the freedom of expression but reiterated that the publication of cartoons that can ignite religious hatred is unacceptable. The Vatican assured that freedom does not imply the right to offend religious faiths, but deplored the violent acts that swept over the world.

In mid September 2012, six years after the controversial cartoons, angry Muslims took to the streets again, storming into US embassies this time, in condemnation of yet another anti-Islam derogatory movie, which portrayed Prophet Muhammad as a pedophile and a womanizer. So will we ever solve this ever-dragging conflict between religion and freedom of expression and how can we find the balance between two equally fundamental and protected rights and avoid riot and bloodshed?