I doubt Rushdie would have moved as many copies of his rather average novel if Iran didn't put a bounty on his head. Sensationalism is a b***h, and the Streisand effect is a notion that is entirely lost on muslims. If they let things slide there would be less of a problem, although I don't know, probably not with today's militant atheists...

As for this issue, it should be clear to us that you can talk s**t about anyone and everyone, except the jews. Even a passing remark will incur organized wrath and character assassination. Your public life is effectively over and the only people who will support you openly are those that you really don't want to be supported by (neo-nazis)... This is the modern order of the jungle.