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April 3, 2009

UN Continues Its Jihad Against Free Speech

Topics: Political News and commentaries

In the featured article at FrontPage today, Robert Spencer discusses the UN's ongoing attempts to criminalize criticism of Islam that essentially destroys the freedom of speech. As Spencer points out in his article, we are told (by Muslims, our politicians and well meaning but highly misinformed, naive non-Muslimss) that Islam is a religion of peace, and anyone who argues otherwise had better watch out - if the UN, with which Obama wants to work so closely, gets its way:

[...] In a crushing blow to the freedom of speech worldwide, the United Nations Human Rights Council last Thursday approved a resolution calling upon member states to provide legal "protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from defamation of religions and incitement to religious hatred in general."

While the resolution speaks of religion in general, the proposal came from Pakistan and had the backing of the powerful 57-government Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the UN's largest voting bloc - so it was clear that Islam was the only religion the drafters of the resolution had in mind. This is underscored by the fact that Muslim states have worked energetically to make "Islamophobia" the focus of Durban II -- the UN's upcoming second World Conference on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance. A draft declaration declares that "defamation of Islam" should be a criminal offense, even when it takes place under the "pretext" of "freedom of expression, counter terrorism or national security."

In other words, if the OIC and the drafters of the Durban declaration get their way, any honest examination of how jihadists use Islamic texts and teachings to make recruits will be illegal. So not only does this herald the death of free speech, but it also leaves us mute and defenseless before the advancing global jihad.

This has been a long time coming. The UNHRC resolution and the Durban II draft are part of an international agenda agreed upon at the March 2008 meeting in Senegal convened by the OIC. At that convocation the OIC developed what the Associated Press called "a battle plan" to defend Islam - but not from the terrorists who, as we hear all the time, have "hijacked" their religion. Rather, the OIC declared its intention to craft a "legal instrument" to fight against the threat to Islam they perceived "from political cartoonists and bigots."

The OIC was referring, of course, to the "notorious" Danish cartoons of Muhammad that appeared in 2005, touching off riots and murders all over the Islamic world. "Muslims are being targeted by a campaign of defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance and discrimination," explained Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC's secretary general. The AP reported that OIC "delegates were given a voluminous report by the OIC that recorded anti-Islamic speech and actions from around the world. The report concludes that Islam is under attack and that a defense must be mounted."

The offensive would take the form of a "legal instrument" that would criminalize what the OIC and other Islamic entities perceive as criticism of Islam. "Islamophobia," Ihsanoglu declared, "cannot be dealt with only through cultural activities but (through) a robust political engagement." This is a careful euphemism calling for restrictions on freedom of speech. Abdoulaye Wade, the President of Senegal and chairman of the OIC, made this point explicit: "I don't think freedom of expression should mean freedom from blasphemy. There can be no freedom without limits."

[...] The only victors can be the jihadists themselves: Western authorities, already mired in politically correct myopia, will grow even more afraid to speak openly about what they're trying to do and what we can do to stop it. The losers can only be those who value freedom of speech and understand why it is so important in a genuinely pluralistic society. The UN measure moves the West one step closer to submitting to the hegemony of Islamic norms.

Take the time to read the entire article. It's important to understand that, as Spencer points out, stealth jihadists need to convince us to relinquish our attachment to our traditional freedoms in order to Islamicize the West. One would have never thought that westerners would give up free speech of their own accord, but we are now in the process of carving out a major exception for Islam. Meanwhile, the media is giving virtually no coverage to this dangerous action of the UN, and the only way the word can get out is by the Internet. So it's important that readers pass the word and help generate an outcry against the UN action to our politicians, particularly Obama.

Posted by Hyscience at April 3, 2009 9:21 AM

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