The Daily Collegian's editorial, "Depictions of Muhammad: Violent response unwarranted by Islamic world," Feb. 7, missed one key point of this growing problem -- many European newspapers republished the cartoons after violence broke out. Some did this to simply show the public the cartoons, but some purposely did it as a slap in the face to Muslims.

While I in no way, shape or form condone the violent acts taking place throughout much of the Muslim world, I do understand the outrage many Muslims feel after their beliefs were mocked by some European newspapers. While these newspapers have a right to publish freely, they also have a responsibility to not publish any material for pure shock value, especially when they know there is a very good chance of violent repercussions.

The newspapers that did this bear some of the responsibility for the wave of protests and violence.