Recently in free speech Category

Dangerous

The dangers of speaking one's mind in what is rapidly becoming a Sharia state. "Amina Tyler, Tunisia’s ‘topless jihad’ activist, caught and under arrest," from Al Arabiya, May 21:

After months of reportedly going into hiding, the outspoken Tunisian feminist who sparked a trend of “topless jihad” has been found and arrested by Tunisian authorities earlier this week and may be charged for conducting “provocative acts.”

Amina Tyler, 19, was found in the midst of police scuffles with hardline Salafist group Ansar al-Shariah in the central Tunisian city of Kairouan on Sunday.

Tyler previously described herself as a member of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen, which uses nudity in protests.

Witnesses said she allegedly scrawled “Femen” on the wall near the main mosque and may have intended to hang a banner on the building before an angry crowd gathered and started shouting at her to leave, according to The Associated Press.

Video posted by the Tunisian online Nawaat news site shows Tyler, with dyed blonde hair, clutching a banner and being hustled away by police and put into a van as residents chased her.

A local resident shouts at the camera: “She is dishonoring us. We will protect our town, but a dirty girl like her shouldn’t come among us.”

Mohammed Ali Aroui, the spokesman for the Tunisian interior ministry, described her acts as provocative and said she was under investigation and may be charged for her behavior on Sunday. He added that he understood the angry reaction of local residents to her appearance.

The ministry had banned Ansar al-Shariah’s annual conference, citing it as a threat to security and public order, and sent 11,000 soldiers and police to prevent hardline Muslims, known as salafis, from entering Kairouan.

In March, Tyler posted pictures of her topless body with the phrase “my body is my own” scrawled on it, and she went into hiding after receiving death threats. Her family took her to stay with relatives outside the capital before she escaped and hid with friends.

A month later, Tyler had been trying to leave Tunisia, her former lawyer said after a video surfaced in which the woman recounted being drugged and given virginity tests by relatives.

“Free Amina” rallies held by bare-breasted Femen activists hit Paris last month as Tyler’s supporters feared she would soon face criminal prosecution.

The "moderate" Palestinian Authority has a grievance against free journalists, and in the U.S., it is our cultural custom to satisfy Muslims who have grievances. A dedicated team of pro-jihad, pro-Islamic supremacist journalists, including Christiane Amanpour, Spencer Ackerman, Lisa Wangsness, Manya Brachear, Bob Smietana, Kari Huus, Dave Weigel, Michael Kruse, Eli Clifton, Alex Kane, Alex Seitz-Wald, Adam Serwer, Max Blumenthal and others, should relocate to Baghdad. Then Mahmoud Abbas and other PA leaders could be assured of warmly favorable coverage.

"PA continues crackdown on journalists in W. Bank," by Khaled Abu Toameh for the Jerusalem Post, May 18 (thanks to Maxwell):

Despite promises to honor freedom of the media, the Palestinian Authority is continuing its crackdown on Palestinian journalists in the West Bank.

In the past week, PA security forces interrogated and detained two journalists: Haroun Abu Arrah and Omar Arqoub.

Abu Arrah, who was born in Jenin and lives in Ramallah, was detained by the PA’s General Intelligence Security [GIS] for interrogation.

“I went to the headquarters of the GIS two days after receiving a summons,” Abu Arrah told the SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom.

“They asked me provocative and personal questions, such as whether I was having or had sexual relationships. I told the interrogator that this was none of his business. He replied: You better answer the questions.”

Abu Arrah said he was also questioned about a comment he had posted on Facebook about the summons he received to report to the GIS.

He said the interrogator presented to him a printed copy of the Facebook comment.

“The interrogation lasted for two-and-a-half hours after which I was released without knowing why I had been summoned in the first place,” Abu Arrah said.

Earlier this year, Abu Arrah, who is also a film producer, was arrested for 10 days by the GIS for insulting PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

“There was a press conference in Oslo, Norway, where I asked President Mahmoud Abbas directly whether he was aware that people were dying in PA and Hamas prisons,” Abu Arrah said. “The president replied that he did not know about this. So I told him that he should stop it.”

The journalist said that shortly after he returned to the West Bank he was arrested for “extending my tongue” against Abbas.“I spent 10 days in solitary confinement,” Abu Arrah recalled. “In the first two days they confiscated my mattress and prevented me from sleeping.”

He said that the PA security forces have since been harassing him and asking his employers to fire him.

The second journalist, Arqoub, was arrested for 11 days by the GIS, whose agents also confiscated his laptop. He was questioned about a documentary film on Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails that he is working on....

A severe blow for the freedom of speech, and victory for the advance of Sharia blasphemy laws here. "Michigan Federal Judge Allows Muslim Violence to Suppress Christian Speech; Immediate Appeal Filed," from the American Freedom Law Center, May 14:

A Michigan federal judge today dismissed a civil rights lawsuit brought by several Christian evangelists who were violently assaulted by a hostile Muslim mob while preaching at an Arab festival last year in Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest Muslim population in the United States. Video of the Muslim assault went viral on YouTube.

The American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) filed the lawsuit against Wayne County, the Wayne County Sheriff, and two Wayne County Deputy Chiefs for refusing to protect the Christians from the attack and threatening to arrest the Christians for disorderly conduct if they did not halt their speech activity and immediately leave the festival area.

Judge Patrick J. Duggan, sitting in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, granted Wayne County’s motion for summary judgment, dismissing the lawsuit. The judge also denied AFLC’s motion requesting that the court issue an order preventing the Wayne County Sheriff and his deputies from restricting the Christian evangelists from displaying their banners and signs on the public sidewalks outside of this year’s Arab Festival, which will be held in June. In the ruling, the judge stated the following: “The Court finds that the actual demonstration of violence here provided the requisite justification for [the Wayne County sheriffs’] intervention, even if the officials acted as they did because of the effect the speech had on the crowd.”

Robert Muise, AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel, commented: “The First Amendment was dealt a severe blow today as a result of this ruling. Indeed, this ruling effectively empowers Muslims to silence Christian speech that they deem offensive by engaging in violence. And pursuant to this ruling, the Christian speakers are now subject to arrest for engaging in disorderly conduct on account of the Muslim hecklers’ violent response to their speech. In short, this ruling turns the First Amendment on its head.”

David Yerushalmi, AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel, added: “This fight for our fundamental right to freedom of speech does not stop here. We have filed an immediate appeal of this ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. While Judge Duggan may have been the first judge to rule on this issue, he won’t be the last. Indeed, we are prepared to take this case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary because it is imperative that our free speech rights not be subject to mob rule. This is the United States, not Benghazi.”

At least for now.

Watch the video above. It is not "hate speech," it is speech on behalf of justice and human rights. But the Thought Police were out in force anyway.

Pamela Geller notes: "I condemn Islamic Jew-hatred. Is that what these Rabbis find "disgraceful and profoundly disappointing"? I am a fierce supporter of Israel. Is that what these Rabbis find "disgraceful and profoundly disappointing"? I oppose gender apartheid, creed apartheid, ethnic cleansing, honor violence and honor murder, FGM, etc. Is that what these Rabbis find "disgraceful and profoundly disappointing"?"

"Geller takes on Toronto Board of Rabbis," by Joanne Hill for the Jewish Tribune, May 14 (thanks to Blazing Cat Fur):

TORONTO – Pamela Geller struck back at the Toronto Board of Rabbis (TBR) for a critical statement it issued just hours before her appearance Monday night at the Zionist Centre.

In a press release, the TBR said it considered Geller’s views “distasteful” and expressed “profound disappointment that a local Jewish organization” [the Jewish Defense League of Canada] had invited her to speak here. It described Geller as “a blogger who is known for her extreme criticism of Muslims in language that is intended to shock and ridicule.”

Geller was unaware of the TBR statement until the Jewish Tribune brought it to her attention. The TBR said it is “a strong supporter of freedom of speech for all, including Ms. Geller. Ms. Geller’s voice and message are already well known here in Canada and beyond. There was no sense in inviting her here to speak before a Jewish audience.”

The 400 people who purchased tickets, and the numerous people who were turned away at the door, may beg to differ. The main room where Geller spoke was standing room only and another room was filled with people who paid to watch her on a screen.

The audience reacted audibly with shocked gasps and exclamations when Geller announced, “Today the Toronto Board of Rabbis came out with a statement condemning me.”

She continued, “Now, let me tell you what’s most egregious about this: they never contacted me. They didn’t cite one quote from me: not one. I have [authored] three books, I have [written] hundreds of articles, I have written 26,000-plus [blog] posts: not one quote. But they will give chum to the sharks by pitting Jew against Jew….

“To the Toronto Board of Rabbis, I say it is the mission of the yehudim to speak the truth. Shame on you; shame on you. They’re guilty of lashon hara, the evil gossip that is a lie.”

Geller spoke about a range of topics, including Islamic jihad (holy war against non-Muslims); all with the central theme of defending individual rights and freedoms which, she said, are under attack by people on the radical left as well as adherents of extremist Islam.

“My line in the sand is freedom of speech because I know my ideas are better,” she said. “Mine is not a religious issue. The premise, the font, of all of my ideas is individual rights…. Anyone that says that I am anti-Muslim is…implying that all Muslims support jihad.”

Although the Toronto Police Service (TPS) had not received any complaints about Geller’s appearance, members of its hate crimes unit were in the audience monitoring what was said, TPS Spokesperson Mark Pugash confirmed.

Nothing Geller and her hosts said crossed the line into hate speech, according to police.

“There was nothing that they heard that leads them to believe any action is necessary,” said Pugash.

There were no protests against the event either outside or inside the building.

Don't miss the nation's premier chat hour, the infamous, the notorious, the Glazov Gang, as Jamie chats up Michael Chandler, a Black American Patriot, Borek Volarik, an anti-Communist Czech defector, and Morgan Brittany, a conservative TV and movie star. The Gang gathered to discuss a very important topic: Pamela Geller Banned By a Canadian Synagogue. The dialogue occurred in Part II and explored why a freedom fighter who stands up for oppressed Muslim women isn’t welcome in Canada — while Islamic jihad terrorists are. In Part I, the Gang focused on The Journey of a Black American Patriot and What Does It Mean To Become An American?

Don’t miss the Evening Event With Jamie Glazov coming up on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 from 7-9pm in Los Angeles CA. Everyone is welcome. For more information, click here.

The implications of the fact that the Obama Administration blamed the YouTube video about Muhammad have never been explored in the mainstream media. Not just Rice but many other Obama officials, including Hillary Clinton, blamed the video -- and this was tantamount to blaming our freedom of speech. The filmmaker is still in prison -- he is still the only person in prison for the Benghazi jihad attack. He is in for a minor probation violation: he uploaded the video to YouTube when he was supposed to be not using the Internet. This is such a minor thing that it is clear that he is a political prisoner, in prison for angering Muslims and transgressing Sharia prohibition on criticizing Muhammad.

"Benghazi whistleblower: ‘I’ve been demoted’ for challenging Susan Rice’s claims," by Joel Gehrke for The Washington Examiner, May 8 (thanks to Jerk Chicken):

Gregory Hicks, former deputy chief of mission in Benghazi, told Congress today that a State Department official began criticizing his job performance, and he was ultimately demoted, after he asked why U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice attributed the Benghazi attack to an anti-Islamic Youtube video.

“In hindsight, I think it began after I asked the question about Ambassador Rice’s statement on the TV shows,” Hicks said of the criticism during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the attack today.

Hicks said he asked Assistant Secretary Beth Jones why Rice made the statements that she did on the 9/16/13 Sunday talk shows.

“Her reaction was ‘I don’t know,’ and it was very clear from the tone that I should not proceed with any further [questions],” he told lawmakers.

On September 12, Jones had emailed Hicks and several other State Department officials stating that she told the Libyan government that the Benghazi attack had been carried out by a terrorist group.

“I spoke to the Libyan ambassador and emphasized the importance of Libyan leaders continuing to make strong statements,” Jones wrote in the email, from which Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., read during the hearing. “I told him that the group that conducted the attacks, Ansar al Sharia, is affiliated with Islamic terrorists.”...

David Wood has the story at Answering Muslims:

In June of 2010, a few of us were on our way out of Dearborn's annual Arab International Festival, when some young Muslims began asking us questions, which we were happy to answer. Here's unedited footage of our last 20 minutes or so at the festival:

Nearly three years later, thanks to our lawyers Robert Muise and David Yerushalmi, the City of Dearborn has apologized for arresting us.

Detroit, Michigan (May 6, 2013) — After more than two years of intense motion practice and discovery, the City of Dearborn has agreed to enter into a settlement that includes a public apology for arresting several Christian missionaries who were peacefully preaching to Muslims at the Dearborn Arab International Festival in 2010. The American Freedom Law Center (AFLC), a national nonprofit Judeo-Christian law firm, is representing Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, David Wood, and Paul Rezkalla, who were thrown in jail on June 18, 2010, and charged with “breach of the peace” for their free speech activity.

In September 2010, Robert Muise, AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel, represented the Christians during a five-day criminal trial. At the end of the trial, the Christians were acquitted by a unanimous jury verdict. Following the acquittals, fellow AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel David Yerushalmi and Muise filed a 100-page, civil rights lawsuit against the City, its mayor, John B. O’Reilly, its chief of police, Ronald Haddad, 17 City police officers, and two executives from the American Arab Chamber of Commerce on behalf Qureshi, Wood, and Rezkalla. The lawsuit was later amended to add the Arab Chamber as a defendant. The civil rights complaint alleged that the Christians’ constitutional rights were egregiously violated during the Arab festival.

Just this past week, the City agreed to enter into a settlement, which includes a public apology that will be posted on the City’s website for three years; the removal from the City’s website of a press release and letter from the mayor that contained derogatory comments about the Christians; and a payment to the Christians, the amount of which is confidential. The legal claims against the Arab Chamber defendants will proceed.

The City’s public apology states as follows:

On June 18, 2010, David Wood, Nabeel Qureshi (co-founders of Acts 17 Apologetics) and Paul Rezkalla were arrested by Dearborn police officers at the Dearborn Arab International Festival (“Arab Festival”), while they were engaging in a peaceful dialogue about their Christian faith with several festival attendees. Wood, Qureshi, and Rezkalla were subsequently charged with breach of peace, a misdemeanor offense.

The decision to arrest these individuals was based in part on information provided to the Dearborn police by Arab Festival attendees, workers, and volunteers. When all of the information—including the video captured by Wood, Qureshi, and Rezkalla—was presented to a Dearborn jury, the jury found that these individuals were not guilty of the criminal offense of breach of peace.

The City of Dearborn regrets and apologizes for the decisions to arrest and prosecute David Wood, Nabeel Qureshi, and Paul Rezkalla and the hardship caused to everyone involved.

Through this apology and its acceptance by David Wood, Nabeel Qureshi, and Paul Rezkalla, the parties seek to build a bridge and to confirm to the community that members of all faiths are welcome in Dearborn to peacefully share their views and to engage in religious discussions.

Read it all.

Sharia double standard in Canada: speech critical of jihad and Islamic supremacism is forbidden, but Islamic supremacist and jihadist hatemongers are warmly endorsed. Canadian authorities should remove and investigate Insp. Ricky Veerappan (who is himself a Muslim) and Imam Abdul Hai Patel immediately.

"York Regional Police Pamela Geller Double Standard: YRP Chaplain Attended Conference Organized By Terrorist Supporting World Muslim League," from Blazing Cat Fur, May 6:

The YRP's Ricky Veerappan is on record stating that it is they YRP's duty to represent "community values", translated into real world action that means strong-arming YRP Chaplain Rabbi Kaplan into rescinding his offer to host a talk by Pamela Geller at his synagogue.

Let's see what other "community values" the YRP upholds.

Imam Abdul Hai Patel is a chaplain with the York Regional Police. Patel, along with other members of the Canadian Council of Imams attended a conference in 2012 sponsored by the World Muslim League.  The World Muslim League as detailed below has a long and sordid association with terrorists. Do note well that the World Muslim League operates WAMY - the World Assembly of Muslim Youth. WAMY was stripped of status as a Canadian charity last year after it was discovered to have funded terrorists:

"Canadian Muslim youth group tied to al-Qaeda stripped of charitable status" - 12/03/06

About the Muslim World League - Link

Read it all. And be sure to attend the rally this Wednesday!

Prominent Muslim leaders in the U.S. and elsewhere have called for restrictions on the freedom of speech, including the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, and the Muslim Brotherhood – and in the U.S., Sheikh Husham al-Husainy of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center in Dearborn, Michigan and Imam Mohammad Qatanani of the Islamic Center of Passaic County, New Jersey. Given Sharia prohibitions on free speech, that is to be expected. So is the violence that Bangladesh is experiencing -- it will come here, too.

An update on this story. "Ten dead and hundreds injured as police battle hardline Islamist group demanding death penalty for those who insult Allah," by Amanda Williams for the Daily Mail, May 5:

Ten people were killed and hundreds more injured in Bangladesh today in fierce street fighting between police and Islamic hardliners demanding the death penalty for blasphemy.

Rioters chanting 'God is greatest!' torched shops and vehicles, blocked roads and fought bloody battles with police in the capital of Dhaka and its suburbs.

Seven people were killed in the early morning clashes in the city centre and another three died in Kanchpur on the city's outskirts, local media reported.

Tiny Minority of Extremists

"Do not insult Islam" -- or else

Teach your children well

Soon Sharia blasphemy laws will come to the West as well, if the clueless and/or complicit such as Eric Posner, Sarah Chayes, and Nathan Lean (aka "Garibaldi") get their way.

"Police say 1 killed as Islamic group demonstrates in Bangladesh for anti-blasphemy law," from the Associated Press, May 5:

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Police in Bangladesh’s capital fired rubber bullets to disperse stone-throwing Islamic activists Sunday during a protest to demand that the government enact an anti-blasphemy law.

The activists were among thousands demonstrating around Dhaka, blocking roads and cutting off the city from the rest of the country.

Police said protesters also set many shops and at least 30 vehicles on fire. Authorities deployed more than 15,000 security forces in the capital.

Clashes broke out in central Dhaka as activists started pelting police with stones, a police official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity under local briefing rules.

An unidentified man was killed and at least 45 people were injured, the official said. He provided no further details.

Thousands of activists from Hefatjat-e-Islam, a newly formed group, gathered in Dhaka’s Motijheel commercial district to press for their demands.

The group says some Internet users have recently used their blogs to spread atheism and lies about Islam.

The government in this Muslim-majority nation has rejected the groups’ demands, saying Bangladesh is governed by secular liberal laws.

We'll see for how much longer.

I was so impressed by Pamela Geller's initiative to get a tombstone for Aqsa Parvez that that is when I began working with her. Here is a spirited and informed defense of her work, and of the freedom of speech, from another titan of free expression and resistance to Islamic supremacist thuggery, Ezra Levant. "Free speech? It appears guest speakers at synagogues now have to register their opinions in advance with police," by Ezra Levant in the Toronto Sun, May 4:

Pamela Geller is a New York liberal, concerned about shariah law.

Most Canadians don’t know who she is, but she did something for us that no Canadian did: She arranged for a proper gravestone for Aqsa Parvez, the teenaged Canadian girl murdered by her father and brother in a so-called honour killing in 2007.

Aqsa was murdered for daring to dress like a Canadian, instead of wearing a punishment sack, as women in shariah countries like Saudi Arabia are required to do.

But Parvez was also victimized even after she died. No Muslim cemetery would agree to have her buried there. Nor would they allow a marker of any sort to commemorate her.

It’s almost as if the leaders of the Muslim community blamed Aqsa and tacitly agreed with her murderers, that she was dishonourable.

For two years, until her family arranged for an inscribed stone, Aqsa was buried in an unmarked grave, in a public cemetery.

For two years, all that was on her tomb was a number, 774. Her murderer father must have been pleased; he got his wish, didn’t he? His daughter was erased from life and, for a time, erased again in death.

This did not sit well with Geller. She set about raising funds for a proper memorial for Aqsa.

Once the Muslim cemetery refused, she proposed to have a small memorial built at the University of Guelph’s arboretum, with the simple inscription: “Aqsa Parvez: Loved, Remembered, Free.”

Tasteful and understated. A small gesture of justice and freedom for a murdered girl. Paid by donors.

And the university refused.

Eventually, Geller found the one place that would accept a memorial — not in Canada, but in Israel.

Geller has a tough side, too. She organized New Yorkers, especially firemen and cops, to oppose a massive Ground Zero victory mosque proposed for the site of the 9/11 attacks. And she raises funds for ads on American subways and buses warning against jihad and terrorism.

She’s an enormously popular speaker — partly because she’s an energetic doer, too.

Which is why she was invited to speak in north Toronto next weekend, at a Jewish synagogue.

But then Insp. Ricky Veerappan of the York Regional Police got wind of Geller’s speech. Veerappan is with something called the diversity, equity and inclusion bureau of that police force. You’d think he’d want to meet Geller, to learn about honour killings

Geller’s a bit of an expert in that.

But Veerappan didn’t want to meet Geller.

Nor did he want anyone else to meet her. He contacted the rabbi at the synagogue, and told him to cancel Geller’s speech — and that if he didn’t, the rabbi would lose his position as a police chaplain. The rabbi caved.

What crime did Geller commit?

Veerappan was happy to tell QMI Agency: “Some of the stuff that Ms. Geller speaks about runs contrary to the values of York Regional Police and the work we do in engaging our communities.”

Really? Like what — offering a proper burial for girls killed in honour killings? Standing up for women’s rights, against shariah law? Warning against terrorism? But even if her values were “wrong,” what business is that of a cop? Do guest speakers at synagogues now have to register their opinions in advance with the police?

So that’s who’s banned. But who’s welcome?

As I write this, a student group not affiliated with the University of British Columbia is scheduled to host a conference on campus with a guest speaker, named Leila Khaled, appearing via Skype.

Unlike Geller, Khaled doesn’t believe in peace and security. Khaled is a Palestinian terrorist, convicted of hijacking planes, twice.

That’s Canadian “diversity, equity and inclusion.” Our police will bully a Jewish rabbi into cancelling a speech from a Jewish New Yorker whose chief contribution to our country was to give Aqsa Parvez a proper gravestone.

But a convicted terrorist? No problem! Help yourself to our leading universities, paid for by public tax dollars. Maybe police will even provide security — to keep out any troublesome Jews.

Islamic supremacists and their willing dhimmi enablers strongarm a rabbi into giving them yet another victory over the freedom of speech. This shows yet again how much Islamic supremacists fear the truths that people like Pamela Geller tell: they know they cannot prove her wrong or refute her, so they do everything they can to shut her down. And it is the same story with me and everyone else who dares to tell the truth about jihad and Islamic supremacism. "Free Speech Under Fire in Canada," by Pamela Geller in the American Thinker, May 3:

Here is yet another instance of the Islamic supremacist/leftist war on free speech -- particularly egregious in the wake of the Boston Marathon jihad bombings. The message is all the more crucial now. For years, my colleagues and I labored under the most heinous circumstances. Anyone who opposes the jihad and the Sharia must endure a constant withering attack on one's name, reputation, integrity, and even spirit.

I was scheduled to speak at the Chabad Flamingo Synagogue in Thornhill, right outside of Toronto's city limits, on May 13. But now Islamic supremacist groups in Canada, with willing aid from the Canadian police, have succeeded in getting the event canceled under police pressure, and the organizers are looking for a new location.

Insp. Ricky Veerappan, of the York Regional Police force's diversity, equity and inclusion bureau: "Some of the stuff that Ms. Geller speaks about runs contrary to the values of York Regional Police and the work we do in engaging our communities."

Let me understand this. The "stuff" that I speak about -- gender apartheid, creed apartheid, Islamic Jew-hatred, honor killing -- runs contrary to their values? What exactly are their values? Imposing Sharia? Because that's exactly what they're doing. My value is life. What's theirs?

And they acted on smears from the ADL. The Police Department had concerns about the event because an Islamic supremacist group had complained to them, citing some of the smears and libels that are circulating about me on the Internet, including the Anti-Defamation League's denunciation of me.

The capacity for humiliating, destructive behavior from the ADL's Abraham Foxman (and those Jews who fund the ADL) continues to astound and repel proud Jews across the world. This is the same ADL that has condemned Jews including Joan Rivers, Seth MacFarlane, and Israel itself.

The ADL is more dangerous to the Jews than her avowed enemies, because they appear to be on our side -- and yet undermine the staunchest and fiercest Zionists. The enemies of freedom use the compromised Jews of the AFL to defame and destroy a Jew who is truly standing up for Israel and for the principles of freedom and human rights that the Jewish State represents. It's inexcusable.

But this time the police met repeatedly with the rabbi and warned him not to host the event, and finally threatened him that if he held the event, he would be removed from his position as chaplain of York County.

The rabbi wasn't prepared to go up against the police, or to give up his chaplaincy, so he bowed to the threat and canceled the event. It's unfortunate that Chabad could not withstand the pressure from the police department, particularly in light of the brutal and horrifying murders and mutilations of their fellow Chabadniks Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, his wife Rivka and their children in the Mumbai jihad massacre in November 2008.

The police also told the rabbi that Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, has been asked to keep me out of Canada. They are trying to ban me fresh on the heels of an Islamic attack targeting the passenger train between New York and Toronto. Does this make any sense to any of you?

So the police are kowtowing to the Islamic groups, who are demanding that the government do so as well, and the rabbi is kowtowing to the police to insure his York chaplaincy.

Meanwhile, the convicted terrorist and airline hijacker Leila Khaled, who is known as the "poster girl of Palestinian militancy," is scheduled to speak at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Khaled has been convicted of terrorism for participating in airline hijackings for the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist group. She is scheduled to speak via Skype this Saturday, May 4, at a conference hosted by a group supporting the Palestinian jihad....

Read it all.

Pamela Geller notes: "Meanwhile, the convicted terrorist and airline hijacker Leila Khaled, who is known as the 'poster girl of Palestinian militancy,' is scheduled to speak at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Khaled has been convicted of terrorism for participating in airline hijackings for the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a terrorist group. She is scheduled to speak via Skype this Saturday, May 4, at a conference hosted by a group supporting the Palestinian jihad."

That alone demonstrates that this isn't about opposing "hate crimes" in the name of "diversity, equity and inclusion." Leila Khaled can spew her antisemitic hate, Tariq Ramadan can air his soothing, complacency-inducing deceptions, but Pamela Geller can't speak up in defense of the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience and equality of rights for all people. This is not about opposing "hate"; it's about Islamic supremacists in Canada moving to shut down a foe of jihad and Islamic supremacism, so that the jihad can proceed unimpeded, and dhimmi police eagerly complying.

Here's the thing: Islamic supremacists in the U.S. and Canada are desperately afraid of Pamela Geller, and of me, and of everyone who stands up against jihad and Islamic supremacism. That's why they move to shut us down wherever and whenever they can. That's why Islamic supremacist spokesmen in the U.S. such as Reza Aslan, Ahmed Rehab, Omid Safi and so many others run from debate from me. They know that what we say is true. They know they can't answer us.

"York Regional Police threaten rabbi's role as chaplain over Pamela Geller speech," by Terry Davidson for the Toronto Sun, May 1 (thanks to Pamela Geller):

TORONTO - York Regional Police threatened to remove a rabbi as one of the force’s chaplains if he hosted a controversial anti-Islamist speaker at his Thornhill synagogue.

Insp. Ricky Veerappan, of the force’s diversity, equity and inclusion bureau, confirmed he and officers from the service’s hate crimes unit met with Rabbi Mendel Kaplan of the Chabad Flamingo Synagogue on Tuesday.

They expressed concern about an upcoming talk to be given by Pamela Geller, a vocal critic of radical Islam. She protested past plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, and has posted anti-Jihad messages in that city’s subway system.

Subsequent to his meeting with police, Kaplan cancelled Geller’s May 13 talk, which was sponsored by the Jewish Defence League (JDL) — a hard-line advocacy group that had rented space in Kaplan’s synagogue for the event.

“I think the police are turning a blind eye to who they should be keeping an eye on,” said the JDL’s Meir Weinstein, referring to radical Islamists. Weinstein said another location will be chosen for Geller’s appearance.

Veerappan said he told Kaplan that Geller’s speech “would not be endorsed by York Regional Police” and that the rabbi’s role as a force chaplain would be thrown into question if he were to permit the event.

“If he did (host Geller), then we’d have to reassess our relationship with (Kaplan),” Veerappan said. “We serve the needs of the entire community. Some of the stuff that Ms. Geller speaks about runs contrary to the values of York Regional Police and the work we do in engaging our communities.”

Veerappan said a member of York Region's Muslim community, whom he wouldn’t identify, brought Geller’s scheduled talk to the attention of police.

York Regional Police enlist eight chaplains of different faiths to counsel police officers and their families. Among them is a Muslim chaplain, Imam Abdul Hai Patel.

A Geller speech scheduled for early April at the Great Neck Synagogue in Long Island, N.Y., was also cancelled.

In March, the University of Toronto hosted controversial Muslim lecturer Tariq Ramadan, who has also spoken in Toronto at the annual Islamic faith conference, Reviving the Islamic Spirit. In October, Pakistani politician Imran Khan, a controversial critic of the U.S. war on terror, spoke in Brampton. Leila Khaled, a Palestinian revolutionary from the 1970s, is set speak at University of British Columbia on May 4.

I just received this message from Imran Firasat:

Hi friends. As you all know that a few months ago my refugee status was revoked by the Spanish government over producing a movie on Islam´s prophet Muhammad´s life.

After that I was also accused of hate crime (hurting religious sentiments of Muslims) and was being prosecuted. There was a huge pressure on me to leave Spain or to be prepared for deportation or detention. But I decided to stay here and fight for my right to freedom of expression.

The appeal I have lodged against the decision of the ministry to revoke my refugee status is still in the process in the Spanish high court. But today I have got great news which is a landmark victory for the freedom of expression in Spain and in Europe.

The public prosecutor and the acting judge have acquitted me of the hate crime. They have said that there are no indications of having committed a crime. They said that after having a look at my declaration and all the documentation, they have found that I always had informed the government about my actions on Islam and that I never had any wrong intention to hurt someone´s feelings or threat the national security of Spain.

Friends, do you know what does this mean? This means that our western politicians can be afraid of Islamism and ignore the rights of a western citizen in order to appease radical Islam but the justice never favors anyone and always goes with the truth. I am happy that my country´s judicial system has respected my right of freedom of expression. I am thankful to the Spanish judges for giving me justice and leaving a great message that the justice can never be oppressed by the politicians, radical Islamic organizations or by the Islamic violence.

I hope that I will also recover my refugee status soon as I have been acquitted by the Spanish court of the hate crime. If by expressing my opinion, I haven´t committed any crime according to the Spanish law, then why should my refugee status be revoked.

Thanks to those who have opposed me and a very special thanks to those who have helped and supported me during the hard moments of my life. I specially want to appreciate the help which I got from “The Legal Project”, “Discourse Institute UK”, “Mr. M.A.Khan” and many other individuals and organizations. A very special thanks to Dr. Daniel Pipes for his love, care and attention towards me.

But I think I still should not be too happy as I still have to fight to get back my refugee status. I still have to set an example in Spain and in Europe that in the western democracies anything can be criticized including Islam as Islam is not an exception and that we are not going to shut our mouths because of the fear of unnecessarily Islamic violence.

I request all of you to please sign the following petition to the Minister of interior of Spain, asking him to reinstate my refugee status.

Ministro del Interior del Gobierno de España, Jorge Fernández Díaz: Mantenga la condición de refugiado del ciudadano Imran Firasat
http://www.change.org/es/peticiones/ministro-del-interior-del-gobierno-de-espa%C3%B1a-jorge-fern%C3%A1ndez-d%C3%ADaz-mantenga-la-condici%C3%B3n-de-refugiado-del-ciudadano-imran-firasat

Thank you very much
Yours sincerely
Imran Firasat

Saturday evening I spoke to a coalition of conservative groups on the Leftist/Islamic supremacist war on the freedom of speech and how it interfered with prevention of the Boston Marathon jihad bombing. Southington, CT, April 27, 2013.

Soon it will not be acceptable in the once-free West either, if the clueless and/or complicit such as Eric Posner, Sarah Chayes, and Nathan Lean (aka "Garibaldi") get their way.

"Morocco’s Islamist prime minister warns criticism of Prophet Muhammad ‘not acceptable,’" from the Associated Press, April 28:

RABAT, Morocco — Morocco’s Islamist prime minister says it’s unacceptable to criticize the Prophet Muhammad, entering a war of words between a secular activist and hardline Salafists that has strained the balance between freedom of expression and religious sensitivities.

Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane took a not-so-veiled swipe at secular activist Ahmed Assid at a party rally late Saturday in Rabat. While not mentioning Assid by name, Benkirane said respect must be given to the overwhelmingly Muslim country’s values....

At least one Salafist leader retorted that Assid was trying to paint Muhammad as a terrorist — a claim Assid denies — and called Assid an “unbeliever,” which could be seen as an incitement to violence.

Behold the future of Great Britain. And worst of all are the Western journalists such as Eric Posner, Sarah Chayes, and Nathan Lean (aka "Garibaldi") who would happily accommodate them in their quest to destroy the freedom of speech and make Muslims a protected class, immune from criticism.

Tiny Minority of Extremists Update: "Thousands rally in UK to demand end to anti-Islam speeches," by Murtaza Ali Shah for The News International, April 23 (thanks to Andrew Bostom):

BIRMINGHAM: Up to 25,000 British Pakistani men, women and children from across the UK gathered in Aston Park here to express their love for Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him) and to call on the British government to introduce legislation that bars Islamophobes from insulting Islam under the garb of the freedom of speech.

The participants, who also travelled from several parts of European cities, were led in a peaceful and colourful mile-long march by Hazrat Peer Alauddin Siddiqui. This is the fourth consecutive gathering for the biggest Melaad-un-Nabi (PBUH) of British Pakistanis in Britain but this year it was dedicated to “protect the honour and legacy of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH)”. Speakers included interfaith leaders from Christian, Hindu, Sikh, and Jewish religions and parliamentarians from Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats. Sardar Attique Khan, former Azad Kashmir prime minister, was the chief guest of the rally.

Hazrat Peer Alauddin Siddiqui, who is a renowned Sufi scholar, told Geo News: “Thousands have come together to show peacefully to the western world that the production and promotion of a recent film insulting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) has caused hurt to Muslims all over the world. We are a peaceful community and we will do everything to protect peace and respect for all on equal basis. It’s not fair that some people insult Islam everyday and preach hatred through their actions and words but the lack of legislation encourages such elements. We want to tell our government that we welcome debate and constructive criticism of our religion but insults are unacceptable and inflammatory language is contributing to the rise of extremism amongst youth in western countries where youth mistakenly believe that the West hates Islam and Muslims.”

He announced that a rally of tens of thousands of Muslims will be held soon in Hyde Park to profess loyalty to Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) as well as to condemn the crudely made “Innocence of Muslims” movie which was recently released in the US and caused outrage in the Islamic world, including leading to a ban on Youtube in Pakistan.

Peer Siddiqui told the audience that relations between Islamic and Western countries have improved in recent years and these years need to be strengthened but that is possible if all religions are respected and there should be law in place to ensure that Islam and Muslims are not singled out.

“There is resentment amongst Muslims over the continuing failure of the western government for not doing enough to protect Muslims. Attacks on Muslims have increased and while we are law-abiding and peace-loving citizens of this country, we want our government to take our concern into account,” he added and appealed to Muslims to stay peaceful against provocations.

Speakers said that freedom of speech was a cherished value but abusing Islam is not freedom of speech. They said the best way forward is to engage constructively with Muslims about their religion. They said Muslims were making a great contribution towards everyday life in western countries and it is important that their contribution is recognized.

Swedish Muhammad cartoonist Lars Vilks is famous for his Roundabout dog: the Islamic prophet depicted with a dog body. The Danish counter-jihad blogger and founder of Free Speech Europe, Hans Erling Jensen, and Vilks have started the performance "The Roundabout Dog TOUR", in which a plywood model of Muhammad with a dog body is touring several countries to promote free speech.

The tour started April 1st and is planned to continue until September 30th. See pictures and follow the tour updates on en.freespeech.nu. It is also possible to support Free Speech Europe and the tour by buying copies of four beautiful Vilks paintings depicting Muhammad as a dog on a table, as a dog on a bed with a naked lady, on a t-shirt on a lady and his chopped off head in the hand of what looks like a androgyn version of the Goddess of Justice. From Dispatch International, "Roundabout dogs will be barking for free speech" (login needed):

Muhammed the Dog in front of Islamic Center in Malmö

Come April 1st, the Roundabout Dog starts touring Europe. Based on a design by the Swedish artist Lars Vilks, the organization Freespeech Europe has build plywood models of the dog, which will pay surprise visits to a variety of European cities.

"Due to security concerns, we cannot disclose our tour plan, but the Roundabout Dog was always about surprise, so we will continue in that spirit," says Hans Erling Jensen, the initiator of the project.

The Roundabout Dog was a form of street art that appeared in Sweden during the year 2006. It started with the art installation Cirkulation, placed in the Nygård roundabout in Linköping, Sweden, a white dog staring at a hula hoop nine meters tall. When someone sawed the head off the dog, the artist Stina Opitz was given the task of creating a new dog, this time made out of metal.

It is not really known why the Swedes then started to mass manufacture roundabout dogs, to clandestinely place them in all kinds of traffic circles. It became a moderate-sized public movement during the next few years.

Then, when Lars Vilks made a drawing of a roundabout dog with the head of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, the idea went down the drain and the roundabout dogs died out. Death threats were raining on Vilks, who nowadays lives with round-the-clock bodyguards. ...

"We plan to visit seven countries: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It is our hope, of course, to start discussions about freedom of speech. Do we Europeans really want the artists to continue their self-censorship, or do we want a society where everything can be criticized and made fun of?"

After Leftists and Islamic supremacists succeeded in getting Pamela Geller's talk at the Great Neck Synagogue canceled, two other synagogues stepped up to counter the escalating campaign of smears and defamation directed against anyone and everyone who dares to speak out against the global jihad and Islamic supremacism. The Chabad event this morning was astonishing, with 300 people inside and another 400 to 500 watching outside on the jumbotron.

Pamela Geller gives the details:

"Her April 14 appearance at Great Neck Synagogue was canceled amid liberal protests, but anti-Islam blogger Pamela Geller got the last laugh: The next morning, two other area synagogues invited her to speak the same day as the canceled speech." -- Shul Axes Pamela Geller, and 2 Others Invite Her, Jewish Daily Forward

Today I spoke at a free speech rally in Nassau County, Long Island, calling for the resignation of the Islamic supremacist Habeeb Ahmed, the member of the Nassau County Human Rights Commission who used his position and influence to get Pamela Geller's talk at Great Neck Synagogue canceled. I spoke about how we must not acquiesce to the demonization and defamation of those defending the freedom of speech and equality of rights before the law. Also speaking were Ashraf Ramelah of Voice of the Copts, Helen Freedman of Americans for a Safe Israel, and my AFDI colleague Pamela Geller.

Pamela Geller has more photos and details here.