U.S. Court of Appeals denies Turkish group's attempt to strongarm University of Minnesota into endorsing its denial of the Armenian Genocide

Islamic supremacist attempts to whitewash unpleasant elements of Muslim history are relentless and all-pervasive, and the foolish kuffar usually do not recognize them for what they are. But in this case they failed. "U.S. Court of Appeals rules in favor of the University of Minnesota in case involving the Turkish Coalition of America," from the University of Minnesota, May 3 (thanks to Winoceros):

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (05/03/2012) —The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled in favor of the university today in a closely watched case involving First Amendment and academic freedom claims. The plaintiff in the case, Turkish Coalition of America, claimed that statements on a university department website that suggested that the Turkish Coalition’s information about the Armenian genocide was “unreliable” violated its free speech rights and were defamatory. A university student also allegedly feared he would be subjected to academic reprisals if he used information from the organization’s website in his own work.
The federal district court had previously granted the university’s motion to dismiss the claims, based principally upon its finding that the university’s website contained statements of faculty scholarly opinion and critique that were protected by the doctrine of academic freedom.

The Court of Appeals today affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s claims. It found the Turkish Coalition free speech claim failed because it could not show it had suffered any restrictions on its speech activities. The Court of Appeals also found that the Turkish Coalition’s defamation claims failed because the university faculty’s statements were either true or were statements of opinion, which cannot support a defamation claim. The Court of Appeals also found the student had no standing to bring any claims because he could not show he suffered any injury.

The case has been watched closely by scholars around the United States and the world because of its implications for principles of academic freedom.

U of M General Counsel Mark Rotenberg stated, “Today’s federal court decision confirms the right of universities and their faculty to offer scholarly criticism and critique on websites without fear of legal exposure. This protection is especially important when the scholarly opinions expressed by the faculty are controversial. We are very pleased to have successfully defended this important academic interest.”

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9 Comments

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Infidel | May 5, 2012 11:42 PM | Reply

What I'm not getting - how did a court get involved in a case like this, which simply involved getting UMN to assert one thing or the other about the Armenian genocide?

Given that MN is probably second only to Dearbornistan as the center of Muslim activity in the US, it's surprising that UMN stood up to them in this case.

billposer | May 6, 2012 12:31 AM | Reply

The court got involved because the Turkish Coalition sued the university.

This is not a purely Islamic issue. Turkish secularists have been as defensive about the Armenian genocide as Islamists because they consider it to be a stain on the reputation of the Turkish nation. Indeed, Turkey has arguably been less tolerant of national minorities than the Ottoman Empire was because Islam served as the unifying force of the caliphate. Minorities like the Kurds could be given some degree of autonomy as long as they stayed within the fold of Islam. With the abolition of the caliphate, the unifying force of Turkey is Turkishness, which has meant the suppression of competing ethnicities.

Ronald W. Carnine replied to comment from billposer | May 6, 2012 3:20 AM | Reply

But that isn't what happened in this case Billposer. Here is a case of an out and out attempt to force a university to be involved in a historical revision. It doesn't argue that there were others involved in this slaughter, but tries to remove Islam from the mixture. Islam has rewritten history when it comes to Israel's homeland, the holocaust, and other proud moments in their sordid and cruel history. Thankfully, the university stood up to it and the court agreed. But the university shouldn't have had to spend money protecting the truth. If Islam had any courage at all they would say, "yes this happened but God willing it will never happen again." However, don't hold your breath waiting!

ebonystone | May 6, 2012 6:34 AM | Reply

The Moslems want only freedom of speech only for their own views, not for anybody else's. They want to be free to say or write that the Armenian genocide never happened (and I agree that they should be free to say so.) But they also want to suppress anyone who says or writes that this genocide did happen (and I'm agin 'em on this.)
They want to be free to lie, but don't want anyone else to be free to call them liars.
Free speech for me, but not for thee.

The Hammer | May 6, 2012 8:35 AM | Reply

Thank you Armenians. . The truth has now caught up with the Turkish lliars.

CGW | May 6, 2012 2:38 PM | Reply

PLEASE HELP:

JOIN THIS EFFORT ! ! !

http://www.change.org/petitions/fire-dr-hatem-elh...

CGW | May 6, 2012 3:50 PM | Reply

Sorry for the bad link. Here's the correct one:

PLEASE HELP.

Albert Lea, MN pediatrician advocates Female Genital Mutilation:

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION:

http://www.change.org/petitions/fire-dr-hatem-elhagaly-and-revoke-his-certifications

vnbushman | May 7, 2012 12:04 AM | Reply

What we are all missing is the fact that certain people really think they are superior to all kaffirs. Really I'm serious as commercial jet full of people being highjacked and flown into the Twin Towers.

It's true that not all Muslims are terrorists. It's also true that all terrorists are Muslim.

How many decades will it take for all of us to learn that?

gravenimage | May 8, 2012 10:46 AM | Reply

U.S. Court of Appeals denies Turkish group's attempt to strongarm University of Minnesota into endorsing its denial of the Armenian Genocide
.....................................

Wow—these supremacist Muslims hoped to have Shari'ah enforced by an American court of law.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (05/03/2012) —The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled in favor of the university today in a closely watched case involving First Amendment and academic freedom claims. The plaintiff in the case, Turkish Coalition of America, claimed that statements on a university department website that suggested that the Turkish Coalition’s information about the Armenian genocide was “unreliable” violated its free speech rights...
.....................................

What absolute crap. Calling someone's information "unreliable" in no way violates their freedom of speech. Also—let me guess—they did nothing to prove that their information *was* accurate. And how could they? The Armenian genocide is abundantly well documented, which has done nothing to prevent Turkish Muslims from denying it outright.

But in Islam that *does not matter*. It can be considered "libelous" to point out something that a Muslim wants to remain hidden. Not only is it forbidden for an Infidel to criticize Muslims, but one of the "99 attributes of Allah" is—unbelievably—the "Concealer of Fault"s.

Not, of course, that Muslims truly consider the slaughter of Christians to be a "fault"—it is, however, something of an embarrassment, at least during a period where Infidels hold power in much of the world. Hence, the temporary denials.

Of course, were Islam ever in full ascendancy, they would likely crow over the Armenian Genocide, and offer it as object less on to uppity Kaffirs.

The Court of Appeals today affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s claims. It found the Turkish Coalition free speech claim failed because it could not show it had suffered any restrictions on its speech activities. The Court of Appeals also found that the Turkish Coalition’s defamation claims failed because the university faculty’s statements were either true or were statements of opinion, which cannot support a defamation claim. The Court of Appeals also found the student had no standing to bring any claims because he could not show he suffered any injury.
.....................................

What's with all this logic? Doesn't the court realize that Muslims have been insulted? sarc/off

The case has been watched closely by scholars around the United States and the world because of its implications for principles of academic freedom.
.....................................

Yes—and this time, at least, the courts reaffirmed Western reason as opposed to Muslim supremacy.

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