“They’re basically labelling me a racist and an extremist for speaking out against Islam and Islamism.” Oh, this is rich. There is a coterie of self-proclaimed opponents of jihad terror who have tried to avoid the inevitable charges of “racism” and “bigotry” — charges that Leftists and Islamic supremacists always level against any and all foes of jihad — by denouncing me and declaring that their opposition to jihad terror is different from mine, because, you see, I’m the one who is “racist” and “bigoted” and they aren’t.
They claim this even though there isn’t any significant substantive difference between what I say and what they say about Islam and jihad; it’s just a cynical tactic to try to gain for themselves some credibility with the mainstream media and the Leftist establishment, at my expense. Then, in an apex of cynicism, their followers follow up their denunciations of me with claims that I am insisting on some ideological lockstep and denouncing them for having different views, when in reality I would have been their ally and defender had they not denounced me. Among those who have done this are Tarek Fatah and Selim Mansour in Canada and Maajid Nawaz, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, Sarah Brown and other writers at the blog Harry’s Place, and Maryam Namazie in the United Kingdom.
Now, having said that I don’t have any significant differences with any of them on Islam and jihad, I must make an exception for Namazie. I do have differences with her, as she isn’t really a foe of jihad at all, but is a Marxist, i.e., the supporter of an oppressive totalitarian ideology that has led to the murder of millions and millions of people, and a supporter of the “Palestinian” jihad against Israel. No one can genuinely oppose jihad without supporting the state that is on the front lines of that jihad, and so I have nothing but contempt for Maryam Namazie.
It is a bit of poetic justice that Namazie, having denounced me on spurious grounds as a “racist” and “bigot,” has not thereby managed to save herself from the same accusation. However, the weaselly little Leftist authoritarians at Warwick University should let her speak, and remember for once that a university should be a place where all perspectives can be heard and discussed, and evaluated on their merits. It is ironic that the only ones defending Maryam Namazie’s right to speak are her enemies on the “far-Right,” and that should tell her something. But it won’t.
“Maryam Namazie: Secular activist barred from speaking at Warwick University over fears of ‘inciting hatred’ against Muslim students,” by Serina Sandhu, Independent, September 25, 2015:
A prominent secularist and activist has been barred from speaking at a student union event due to fears her speech would “incite hatred” against Muslim students.
Maryam Namazie had been booked by the Warwick Atheists, Secularists and Humanists (WASH) group to speak about secularism to Warwick University’s Student Union on 28 October.
However, the group was notified last month that Ms Namazie’s speech had been cancelled. The decision has led campaigners to raise concerns about student bodies across the UK thwarting freedom of speech on their campuses.
The union said that “after researching both [Ms Namazie] and her organisation, a number of flags have been raised. We have a duty of care to conduct a risk assessment for each speaker who wishes to come to campus”.
Articles written by Ms Namazie indicated she was “highly inflammatory” and “could incite hatred on campus”, according to the union.
Ms Namazie, who fled Iran with her family in 1980 after the revolution, said she was likely to have spoken about apostasy, blasphemy and nudity in the age of Isis. She told The Independent she was “angry” her talk had been blocked.
“They’re basically labelling me a racist and an extremist for speaking out against Islam and Islamism,” she said.
“If people like me who fled an Islamist regime can’t speak out about my opposition to the far-right Islamic movement, if I can’t criticise Islam… that leaves very [few] options for me as a dissenter because the only thing I have is my freedom of expression.
“If anyone is inciting hatred, it’s the Islamists who are threatening people like me just for deciding we want to be atheist, just because we don’t want to toe the line.”
Ms Namazie, who considers herself an anti-racist campaigner, added: “To try to censor me, does a double disservice to those people who are dissenting by denying people like me the only opportunity we have to speak.”
WASH appealed against the union’s decision earlier this month. The group’s president, Benjamin David, said: “The infringement of free-speech is becoming insidiously ubiquitous, and many universities, including Warwick, are circumventing the freedom of speech in pursuit of inoffensive, sanitary narratives.”
The move has also been criticised by the National Secular Society, which said it would be writing to Warwick University “to remind them of their legal duty to promote and protect free speech”.
“Unfortunately it is part of a worrying wave of censorship that we’re seeing across British universities under the guise of ‘safe spaces’… it’s utterly disheartening,” said Stephen Evans, the society’s campaigns manager. The concept of “safe spaces” had a “chilling effect on free speech,” he added.
Isaac Leigh, president of Warwick Student Union said: “The initial decision was made for the right of Muslim students not to feel intimidated or discriminated against on their university campus… rather than in the interest of suppressing free speech.”…
What’s the difference?