To censor what he considers to be “racism” and “xenophobia” is “not an attack on free speech or the silencing of controversial ideas or criticism.”
Yeah, sure it isn’t. That’s exactly what it is, and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is likely well aware of that fact. This has been a years-long chess game: first came the charge, ridiculous on its face but relentlessly and indefatigably repeated, that to speak honestly about how jihad terrorists use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and make recruits among peaceful Muslims constituted “hate.” Then came the likewise specious charge that “hate speech” was not “free speech,” and was capable of being identified by neutral, impartial observers, and that it did not deserve the protection that various governments gave to the freedom of speech.
None of that is true. In reality, hate speech is a subjective judgment based on the political perspectives of the one doing the evaluating, and freedom of speech protections were first instituted in order to ensure that speech that was hated by the party in power could still be aired: the freedom of speech is our fundamental bulwark against tyranny, and prevents tyrants from declaring opposition to their will to be “hate speech” and thereby outlaw it.
But I never was any good at chess, and now Facebook and Twitter have blocked 90% of their daily referrals from Jihad Watch, and the site is blocked by many Internet service providers in the UK and Europe. This represents one fulfillment of Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein’s demand, which other members of the political elites, particularly among the EU, have made previously. These clampdowns are a manifestation of those elites’ growing anxiety in the face of the populist movement that caught them unawares in the UK with Brexit and in the US with Trump, and that threatens to overturn their hegemony in Europe in the near future: they’re doing everything they can to make sure that as few people as possible wake up to how they’ve destroyed Europe with their disastrous Muslim migrant policies, and now threaten to destroy North America as well.
The force of events will soon render their censorship useless, for all anyone will have to do in order to see the catastrophe they’ve created will be to look out a window. But will they shut down Jihad Watch, get my books pulled from the shelves, and silence me altogether before their sinister power is definitively broken? Maybe. If they do, look for me busking the soprano saxophone on a streetcorner near you (at least until you see the headline “Racist, Bigoted Islamophobic Saxophonist Driven Off Streetcorner By Tolerant Multiculturalists”), but if that happens, their victory will be hollow. The truth they’re trying to cover up will one day, inevitably, overwhelm them.
“United Nations: Regulating ‘Hate’ Speech ‘Not an Attack on Free Speech,’” by Penny Starr, Breitbart, March 21, 2017:
The United Nations marked the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Tuesday by telling governments around the world that regulating “hate speech” is part of the strategy needed to “stand up for someone’s rights.”
Governments around the world “have a legal obligation to stop hate speech and hate crimes,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein reportedly said Tuesday, adding a call “on people everywhere to ‘stand up for someone’s rights,’” the press release about the event said.
“It is not an attack on free speech or the silencing of controversial ideas or criticism, but a recognition that the right to freedom of expression carries with it special duties and responsibilities,” Al Hussein said in a statement.
“Words of fear and loathing can, and do, have real consequences,” Zeid said.
In his statement, Zeid said that U.N. member states “do not have any excuse to allow racism and xenophobia to fester.”
States “have the legal obligation to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination, to guarantee the right of everyone, no matter their race, color, national or ethnic origin, to equality before the law.”
“At the Summit for Refugees and Migrants in September 2016, U.N. member states adopted a declaration strongly condemning acts and manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance,” the press release said. “The Summit also sparked the UN’s Together initiative to change negative perceptions and attitudes aimed at refugees and migrants.”
The press release said this year’s theme is “ending racial profiling and incitement to hatred, including as it relates to people’s attitudes and actions towards migration.”…