Today I spoke in Berlin at a rally against antisemitism and Islamization, sponsored by Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa (BPE), the most important German human rights organization, seeking to preserve European values, freedom and democracy. BPE is not tied to any political party, but has members that belong to all the German democratic parties. As an NGO, BPE also participates in conferences of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)'s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
Leftists and their jihadist allies marched by twice in a counterdemonstration, shouting "Nazis raus" -- Nazis, get out. The people assembled for the BPE rally shouted the same thing right back at them. Of course, there were no Nazis among us, and we were standing against antisemitism and in favor of free speech, legal equality, and democratic government, but the facts never stop the Left from making the charge, as we have all learned recently from stateside libelbloggers.
Many people at our rally had Israeli flags, and as you can see from the photo, I had one also. Not long after this picture was taken I got it mounted on a flagpole and waved it around at the beginning and end of my talk. The German police told the BPE organizers that we had to put the Israeli flags away when Leftists and Jihadis passed by. They told the same thing to several people in the crowd, including one man, Florian Euring, who was kind enough to explain the whole situation to me. Apparently the police were afraid that the Israeli flag would "provoke" the Leftist/jihadist demonstrators. But as I am not fond of placating thuggery and kowtowing before Islamic supremacism, I thought, well, if the police really don't want the Israeli flag shown, let them arrest an American citizen, and then things will get even more interesting. So I went out front, close to the counterdemonstrators, waving the big flag, but the German police moved me back. They may also have said to put the flag away, but I have forgotten all my grad-school German, and so the flag stayed. A reporter, demonstrating an objectivity level on par with that of, say, Michael Kruse, passed by with a barrage of sharp words for me and my flag -- but I still didn't understand German.
During my talk, which was translated on the spot by Christine Dietrich of Politically Incorrect (where there are more photos), I spoke about the new Obama-sponsored anti-free speech resolution at the UN, and how it was of a piece with the spurious charges of the counterdemonstrators. Both represent attempts to demonize the resistance to the global jihad and Islamic supremacism as "hatred," "racism," "fascism." I explained why the charges are not and cannot be true, as we were there in defense of Western Constitutional government, freedom of speech, legal equality, etc., and had no race-based issue with Islam or Muslims at all -- or any inclination to look kindly upon white Western Islamic supremacists like Talib Islam, John Walker Lindh, Adam Gadahn, etc. I showed how the Koran actually manifests the religious hatred and incitement to discrimination and violence about which the resolution speaks, but noted that this resolution will never be used against Islamic jihadists. After all, it was crafted not to silence them, but to render the West mute and hence defenseless against the advancing jihad.
The situation is very grave, but as long as there are even just a few lovers of freedom left, the game is not over. And there are more than a few in Berlin; it was a pleasure and honor to meet them.
Leftists and their jihadist allies marched by twice in a counterdemonstration, shouting "Nazis raus" -- Nazis, get out.
Lovely. So very typical of those who hate freedom and the responsibility that comes with it.
On a side note (but still somewhat related), I got my Israeli flag in the mail today and have it hanging on the wall. Je suis excitée! (I am excited!)
The situation is very grave, but as long as there are even just a few lovers of freedom left, the game is not over
Too bloody right Mr Spencer. I for one will back you till my very last breath.
Job well done, keep it going.
Yesterday, September 2nd, Marek Edelman died. He was the last surviving leader of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091002/ap_on_re_eu/eu_poland_edelman_obit
"We knew the struggle was doomed, but it showed the world there was resistance against the Nazis, that you could fight the Nazis."
Thank you Robert, for taking up his banner of freedom.
Riveting!
We're with you in spirit Robert.
How utterly vile that in the land that perpetrated the holocaust, an Israeli flag is considered a sufficient-enough provocation that it must be repressed.
I've said it repeatedly over the years...and I'll say it again: Europe is a goner. This is not to insult our friends and supporters on the other side of the pond....it's just an accurate tea-leave reading of unmistakable cultural and demographic trends over there.
This is sufficiently moving an account, and picture, to call for a musical comment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lznypmG2t6A
Long live Israel!!! ...and what a beautiful flag!
Funny how those yelling "Nazis raus!" would be "provoked" by an Israeli flag.
Almost as if they were fascistic liars trying to sucker their neo-naive neighbors with a pretense of "opposing" what they themselves will bring. And in a far worse form.
Sorta like the Nazis, who pretended to be defending Germany against the dangers of Bolshevism... and managed to dupe the gullible populace into supporting their nation's ruin and the terrorizing of the inhabitants and the collapse and carnage of WW II.
Thugs only bring thuggery, whatever "progressive" slogans they wave to disguise their intimidation and intolerance and brutality and stupidity.
Kudos Robert for standing on the ramparts as Europe slides into 1939, Mark 2.
"let them arrest an American citizen, and then things will get even more interesting. So I went out front, close to the counter-demonstrators, waving the big flag" - RS
Gotta love that moxie. How wonderfully bold. Bravo!
I thought that one doofus cop breaking into someone's apartment and tearing down an Israeli flag was an absurd aberration. I had no idea that this is a German POLICY now to force people to take down Israeli flags rather than deal with the psychos who go beserk seeing it.
Meanwhile the U.S. Supreme Court is considering seriously whether videos of women stepping on and crushing kittens with high heel shoes is 'protected lst amendment speech'. There seems to be a 'sacred American right' to get off on movies of people defecating on each other and torturing animals. But grumbling about Islam will be a crime.
Next time let me know. I'll be there and I'll stand right beside you!
Herr Spencer, Sie sind mein Held!
[Mr. Spencer, you are my hero!]
Meanwhile the U.S. Supreme Court is considering seriously whether videos of women stepping on and crushing kittens with high heel shoes is 'protected lst amendment speech'.
wtf?! That is sick. Who the f*Ck gets off on that?
But grumbling about Islam will be a crime.
It's getting to that point at my university (and most likely, at every other college campus in the US). Anything against Israel and/or the US is lauded, while anything that does not praise the peaceful so-called religion of Islam is frowned upon as "racist" or "bigoted".
I'm not sure how respectful towards the Jewish people it would be, but I'm starting to think my next tattoo will be the Star of David. Any advice on that front would be appreciated. :)
Since when did questioning the status quo become verboten, especially on a college campus? What happened to logic and rational thinking? /sarc
According to al Qaida, Germany has one more week to start getting it's troops out of Afghanistan. Thursday the government suggested they might send even more troops.
One part of the threat did make a bit sense - "Muslims in Germany should stay away from anything not vital"
Was Geertie there? I'm wondering why he's been hiding his Jewish ancestry. On the topic of Germany, I remain concerned about that nation. It was only 60 years ago that the country's population stood by idly while their government murdered millions of Jews and others deemed "undesirables." I see the same mindset emerging again in Europe, but this time we have the descendants of those murdered, like Gisele Littman stoking the flames. What a strange turn of events.
Shhhh... Don't say that you spoke at a rally in Germany, Robert -Charles 'Herrthrowenunderbussenmeister' Johnson may just misconstrue that.
DustonH": It's always the Jews to blame isn't it with you Muslim Jihad supporters, isn't it?
"Not long after this picture was taken I got it mounted on a flagpole and waved it around at the beginning and end of my talk."
Wow!
Go Robert :)
Beautiful seeing lovers of truth and freedom rallying against the encroaching death of all we hold dear.
Robert Spencer wrote:
"The German police told the BPE organizers that we had to put the Israeli flags away when Leftists and Jihadis passed by. They told the same thing to several people in the crowd, including one man, Florian Euring, who was kind enough to explain the whole situation to me. Apparently the police were afraid that the Israeli flag would "provoke" the Leftist/jihadist demonstrators. But as I am not fond of placating thuggery and kowtowing before Islamic supremacism, I thought, well, if the police really don't want the Israeli flag shown, let them arrest an American citizen, and then things will get even more interesting. So I went out front, close to the counterdemonstrators, waving the big flag, but the German police moved me back. They may also have said to put the flag away, but I have forgotten all my grad-school German, and so the flag stayed. A reporter, demonstrating an objectivity level on par with that of, say, Michael Kruse, passed by with a barrage of sharp words for me and my flag -- but I still didn't understand German."
As some of you may know, I have over the years written many critical essays about various aspects of Spencer's methodology. But this testament by Spencer moved me emotionally, almost to tears. He really is a veritable hero of the movement we are all in. I commend him.
Lovely photo.
Calendar-worthy. Poster-worthy.
How about it?
We need a Heroes of the Resistance Calendar.
This photo of Mr Spencer would be a good one for starters.
And one could include a portrait of Frau Suzanne Zeller-Hirzel, one of only two surviving members of the White Rose Society that resisted the Nazis in Germany - she should be posed in full formal evening wear, perhaps against the background of her father's church, holding...a white rose.
Kurt Westergaard? - should he be portrayed at his drawing board, or defiantly marching down the streets of Copenhagen in his red 'Come and Get Me!' hat?
Who should the other nine people be, to make up twelve for a twelve-page calendar?
Suggestions?
Susanne Zeller Hirzel is a member of Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa (BPE) and is also the last surviving member of The White Rose. We were fortunate enough to interview her here: http://sioanetwork.com/?p=289. She understands that the fight against Islam is the same as the fight against Nazism.
The Politically Incorrect blog had its account suspended.
Our enemies play us with every dirty trick...
As for Westergaard, I still haven't forgiven him for suing Wilders for using his cartoon in Fitna, I thought that was despicable.
Why did he come to the US?
Is anybody watching?
Events included a “Blasphemy challenge,” a contest in which participants were invited to submit videos containing phrases, poems or statements that would be considered blasphemous and were required to include the phrase "I deny the Holy Spirit."
The day featured De-Baptisms, where former believers denounced the Christian sacrament, and an artist’s exhibit with an irreverent depiction of the crucifixion of Christ, entititled, “Jesus gets his nails done.”
It was blasphemous, as intended.
“It strikes me as completely cracked,” said Diana West of the International Free Press Society, which sponsored Westergaard’s trip to the U.S. “The probable threat to freedom of expression is not coming out of Christianity.”
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,558901,00.html?test=latestnews
If Westergaard did indeed participate in such a misguided show of lunacy, why do we even bother with him?
daughter of eve - That's the kind of thing that, when I read it, makes me feel that the entire human race should just be wiped out. It's so evil I can't grasp it, and it makes me very, very depressed.
I admire your courage, Robert, and find it inspiring. Stay safe.
What we need is a succinct, effective comeback to the charges of "Nazi" and "fascist." Those labels would for most people, those who don't dig beneath the surface, have a distancing effect. Even the thought of receiving such an accusation is disturbing -- hence, its effectiveness in curtailing the action in question.
We need to think hard -- what would Churchill say? what would Orwell say?
Your comment brought a smile and tears to my eyes. I feel the same way and NO ONE can convince me otherwise.
poetcomic: This is from someone who believes that a kitten should be raised and kept to grow into a mouse-hunter or lap-sitter, but you are spot on. The First Amendment gives us freedom of speech. End of story. On the free speech issue, the US elite is running around with full-grown sequoias sticking in their eyes while trying to remove fragments of dust specks from the eyes of others.
Mr Spencer, you are very dear to us and most of all you are extremely useful to the free world. You show a lot of courage, but please stay safe above all.
I see you are travelling much and I was wondering if you had any plans for an event in India, an english speaking country where you could address the audience directly and effectively. Your ability to convey subtle ideas with clarity is such that you'd be the man to diminish Zakir Naik's tremendous influence.
Thanks for gracing Europe with your indomitable and magnanimous presence Robert. And its great to see you unabashedly and fearlessly coming out in support of Israel.
Hope to see you in Switzerland sometime. We need people like you here, where cultural relativism prevails and the people are being indoctrinated and brainwashed by the liberal/left media to hate Israel and support tyranny.It seems that the rot of dhimmitude is setting in. In November the Swiss will vote in a referendum on whether to allow the construction of minarets. That should be interesting.
Dear Mr. Spencer,
I was the young long-haired guy you spoke with shortly at the demonstration, I don't know if you remember. Nevertheless, I wanted to say two more things.
First, you showed me your Quran/Koran and asked me, if I read it. I said no, because I thought it was a scientific book about or neutral introduction to the Koran (perhaps written by you). Actually I read the Koran in parts, not completely, about 1/5.
Then you told us about sharia courts in UK and asked, if something like this happens in Germany. In fact, there was a trial about a muslimic man who was beating his wife. The judge (I believe it was a woman) stated this was legitimated by the Koran and leaved the man without charge.
Thank you again for your speech and your work. And sorry for my rather bad english.
Part 1 of Robert Spencer's speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNtS-Q-2EPY
Spencer is the best.
Mr. Spencer has written and spoken the truth for years as the other side shouts, screams and litigates lies.
We now have an alternative media to go to for the truth. The truth is spreading and some electeds are listening. Soon, we will have the knowers and the denouncers across the isle in our houses of government, it is here where policy is made that the tide will turn. The knowers will also be pressuring school boards and city councils and state governments. This collective pressure will help turn this tide.
It has been the courageous among us that have given so much in this cause of liberty. I count Robert among those courageous. To Liberty!!!
2nd part of Robert Spencer's speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1r5Pk4YgYk
Dear Robert,
Thank you for your courage and clarity. You have the clarity of a true scholar, and a good lawyer, and a true patriot and leader, and a spiritual leader for the freedom and good of all.
I just bought your book on Muhammad. Very well done. It is a service to humanity at this time. I rarely underline in books - but this time I have been underlining and writing notes in the margins for future reference.
I plan to buy more.
Thank you again,
ML
Great job Mr. Spencer,
Your defiance is admirable, your knowledge breathtaking, and your courage is impressive.
You are the one that pops into my mind when I hear the proverb by Edmund Burke:
"All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
You Sir are definitely doing much to counter the spread of evil.
Robert, I commend you for your courage and commitment to reason, justice, and the preservation of civilization. Your presentations, by the way, just keep getting better and better, and increasingly more effective (a case in point: your recent appearance on the Michael Medved show). I, too, have ordered your new book, and eagerly await its arrival. God bless you, sir.
Good work Robert Spencer
keep up, will back you all
the way...to Normandy...
For Germany to win....
You Robert Spencer an American
is to stop mohammaden islam.. at the Berlin Wall..
May the Angel Gabrieal be at your side...
God Bless You..
There seems to be a strange thing about cops and flags. A few years ago in Toronto the police stopped me for carrying the American flag on the grounds that I would make people angry at me. I chickened out, sad to say.
Mr. Spencer, keep up your great work! May the Star of David and the Stars and Stripes fly forever.
darcy -- I agree, it is so incredibly evil; and yet, it makes me more angry than sad and depressed. The abuse of an animal (or any other innocent) should not fall under the umbrella of free speech or freedom of expression or whatever bullsh*t excuse one wants to whitewash it with.
I have to hope that there is an especially horrific level of hell (or whatever comes after this life) for people who get off on the torture of fellow humans and/or animals. How depraved does humanity have to become before we are, as you put it, wiped out?
Dear Robert, as you probably know by now from my posts, I would also like to re-iterate my complete support for what you are accomplishing. You are one brave man, and it would be a pleasure to sit in my wheelchair when you speak in southern CA. You are opening up more eyes than I think even you know.
Please Keep up the incredibly important work that you and Pamela et al have been doing, as you well know, G-d is on your side, as well as many Christians. We WILL succeed, we must to save ourselves from a fate worth than death in MHO. In the words of Patrick Henry, Give me Liberty or Give me Death! We all stand together in this war on our liberty.
Larry M
Daughter_of_Eve,
As a Jew myself, I would consider your gesture of the tattoo a thoughtful, beautiful thing. While it is true that people with tattoos are not allowed to be buried in orthodox or conservative cemeteries, many Jews I know in today's world do in fact wear them, I do myself and I am 57. What can I say, I was a bad boy.
And my 29 year old youngest child, my sweet, wonderful daughter has both David's Star as well as her Hebrew name tattooed discreetely on her lower back. ( I would have given her a hard time if I knew beforehand, but after the fact I just kissed her. :-)
Thank you again for the solidarity, I would do the same for you and yours.