I feel caught in the same web as you, being both a free speech advocate (Nazis in Skokie, et alia) and also having a distaste for vulgar provocation. However, another thing keeps deviling me. These cartoons depict Islam and Mohammed as espousing violence and intolerance and the reaction to them is strongly re-inforcing that view. It all seems quite childish and self-defeating for all parties in the long run.