My latest in PJ Media:
The left and its Islamic supremacist allies are moving in for the kill in all sorts of ways these days, not least in attempting to stamp out the slightest dissent from their dogmas. Professor Nicholas Damask is one truth-teller they have in their sights: he is the Scottsdale Community College (SCC) professor about whom I wrote here at PJ Media several weeks ago when Muslim students threatened his life for observing that Islam teaches violence.
Damask was repudiated by the college, which tried to force him to apologize until it was reminded that punishing a professor for telling unwelcome truths is still a bad look for an academic institution in the United States. Damask, however, is not out of the woods yet: the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has now filed suit against the college for daring to step away from the fictions and fantasies it has foisted on most colleges and universities in their teaching about Islam and terrorism.
The Arizona Republic reported that the Arizona chapter of CAIR “filed a lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court against Scottsdale Community College and one of its professors for teaching material that it says condemns Islam.”
You probably didn’t realize that it was illegal to condemn Islam in the United States. It clearly isn’t illegal to condemn Christianity or Judaism; it happens all the time, and those who do this are celebrated by all the elite classes and glitterati. But condemning Islam, well! That’s another matter altogether. Islamic law (Sharia) forbids criticism of Islam on pain of death, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has been working for years at the United Nations to intimidate Western countries into adopting Sharia restrictions on speech in the guise of restrictions on “hate speech.”
CAIR’s lawsuit against SCC is of a piece with that initiative. The lawsuit asks that SCC and Damask “stop teaching the materials in question until they ‘do not have the primary effect of disapproving of Islam.’”
That’s right: “disapproving of Islam” will get you hauled into court these days, even if your disapproval is based on the facts, as Damask’s was. All this trouble began when a Muslim student took exception to these three quiz questions:
- Who do terrorists strive to emulate? A. Mohammed
- Where is terrorism encouraged in Islamic doctrine and law? A. The Medina verses [i.e., the portion of the Qur’an traditionally understood as having been revealed later in Muhammad’s prophetic career]
- Terrorism is _______ in Islam. A. justified within the context of jihad.
Damask explained: “All quiz questions on each of my quizzes, including the ones in question here, are carefully sourced to the reading material. On this quiz, questions were sourced to the Qur’an, the hadiths, and the sira (biography) of Mohammed, and other reputable source material.” Indeed, the three questions reflect basic facts that are readily established by reference to Islamic texts and teachings and numerous statements of jihad terrorists themselves.
But true to form, CAIR identifies these truths as “hate.” David Chami, an attorney for CAIR, said the lawsuit was designed to prevent Damask from “continuing to poison the minds of students. We have enough hate in this country. We have enough divide. We don’t need our professors inflaming those seeds of hatred in students.” About CAIR’s ties to Hamas, which is really in the business of inflaming seeds of hatred, Chami was silent.
There is much more. Read the rest here.
Buraq says
The way out is multiple choice: Who do Muslims try to emulate? Elvis …….. Jesus ….. a dyslexic, pedophile, desert warlord called Mohamed. (Think carefully before ticking a box!)
CAIR are clowns!
RichardL says
Cute! I would add “imagined” to your list of adjectives.
DiploNerd says
Any Hindus out there want to sue CAIR for “disapproving of” Hinduism?
Frank Anderson says
D., you have every right to your question. I suggest this is a good time to focus on islam instead of spreading resources away from exposing the evil and barbarity that is standard, normal islam.
John Silvis says
Buraq you forgot to mention his genocide and preaching of genocide as a command from Allah.
Frank Anderson says
IF EVER there is a screaming need to support the professor, this is one. His defense is nothing more than presenting the truth. The plaintiffs have failed to think about the old Uncle Remus story about the Tar Baby and have thrown themselves into the briar patch so people can see through the lies they spread. Sooner or later, the teachings, practices and history of islam will have to be presented in court to show that it is by all US legal definitions a criminal conspiracy, regardless of its claimed status of religion. Once that is established the whole situation changes. Fight now or fight later, but fight. Neville Chamberlain sleeps peacefully as long as appeasers follow his example.
It can be as simple as sending affordable contributions to the lawyers defending the professor without intervening. How many of the people writing here would be credible expert witnesses supporting the defense? The plaintiffs have more money than we can imagine to fund their conquest. How much are our lives, liberty and future worth?
gravenimage says
True, Frank.
You can also contact Scottsdale Community College to voice your support.
Frank Anderson says
GI, I recommend, for what my recommendation is worth, that someone ask the professor who is defending him. The article provides the names of the lawyers suing him. I suggest the school may be too quick to sell him out to save money. That would be a miserably bad missed opportunity, comparable in my mind to the sellout of Czechoslovakia at Munich when firm resistance could have ended with a dead Hitler. The professor is making a big mistake if he is leaving his personal defense to the school, meaning we need to pass the hat to help him win a well deserved and earned victory for ALL of US.
I apologize if I am repeating my “pass the hat” story. A long time ago my sweetie and I loved to eat at a local buffet. Their lease expired; with a new tenant bidding higher for the property. Our friends did not have the money to move and could not beat the competing offer. They were faced with closing and ending about 50 jobs. Being the creative person I am, the manager asked me what to do. I gave her the answer often used in my Masonic Lodge, “Pass the hat”. We put the first 2 checks in the hat with the understanding if we could be repaid, it was fine. If not, no problem. Enough other people put money in the hat to move their location, where they remain successfully today, more than 10 years later. About a year later, they were able to repay every penny that went into the hat by all the contributors.
Is the chance to obtain a declaratory judgment that islam is a criminal conspiracy instead of a protected religion worth a few dollars to many of the people who read and write here? It is to me, and I am on disability with my own challenges and limitations. The second highest good deed (Mitzvah) in Judaism is based on the passage, “It is not good for people to be alone.” According to Maimonides who collected and ranked 613 Mitzvot (plural of Mitzvah) that means we are performing the second highest good deed when we bring good people together for a good purpose, including pursuing justice. While I am not welcome in the Jewish community, I admire and respect the teachings.
Please somehow, if it is within your reasonable power, find out the lawyer who is representing the professor.
gravenimage says
Frank, Dr. Damask seems to be working with this group:
https://www.thefire.org/victory-chancellor-affirms-professors-academic-freedom-after-arizona-college-panicked-over-test-questions-about-islamic-terrorism/
FIRE is the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
Terry Gain says
Graven Image
I think a better option is to support Professor Damask. It would not surprise me to see the community college cave.
This lawsuit is a very welcome development as it provides an opportunity to put Islam on trial. It is great that CAIR is the plaintiff and litigation aggressor. If Professor Damask has refrained from hyperbole and has been objective in his presentation of Islam, then assuming that the trier of fact is not corrupt, all that Professor Damask needs to do in order to win this lawsuit is to tell the truth.
My prediction is that CAIR will not let this case go to trial. CAIR can’t afford to have the truth told about Islam in American courts.
If this case does go forward I would be pleased to contribute to the defence once I am satisfied that Professor Damask will not bend a need to Islam.
This lawsuit could go a long way too convincing the public of the reality that Islam is not a religion by Western standards. Frank Anderson correctly describes Islam. America can have freedom of speech or Islamic blasphemy laws. It cannot have both.
David says
I’ll go with freedom of speech. Why can’t we spread the truth about islam, to the general public? These comments are often written by a small handful of faithful regulars. Can we interest our friends? It is an uphill struggle. Either people are not interested, or they think you are being racist, and nasty to the ‘religion of peace’. You risk losing your friends.
gravenimage says
Terry Gain wrote:
Graven Image
I think a better option is to support Professor Damask. It would not surprise me to see the community college cave.
………….
I think we can do both, Terry.
And the college is probably less likely to cave if they know a lot of people around the country–and even around the world–are supporting Dr. Damask.
GreekEmpress says
Mr. Anderson,
I hadn’t seen a post from you (I guess I missed one) and I was a little worried. So good to see your post today—Hope you are safe and well.
Frank Anderson says
G.E. sincerely appreciated. I am not well, fighting high numbers for sugar and blood pressure, with impending glaucoma because of the blood pressure, and pain from a recent injury. I could be a lot worse, and intend to get better. This Chinese confinement is not helping with the little bit of exercise I used to have when I played in the machine shop. Getting older is too tough for young people. We all need prayers.
James Lincoln says
Frank,
I am sure that you are availing yourself to the best possible medical care for your multiple medical issues.
I pray that you maintain the best possible health possible.
God bless you, you are an intelligent and fine man.
gravenimage says
Glad you are hanging in there, Frank–and always good to see you posting here.
Gray says
Above the main entrance to the Arts Faculty building, in one of the older universities in Australia, the following sonorous words from the Apocrypha have been etched in stone: ‘Great is Truth, and mighty above all things.’ I think those words are still there. But, in our Post Modern Age, the eternal Biblical truths are no longer eternal or, for increasing numbers of people, particularly true. To quote Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolf, ‘The Truth is no Defense.’ Hurt feelings will trump the Truth any day of the week. So welcome to the Post Modern Era, Professor Damask, where everything is relative, where Truth is a subjective construct, and where the deconstructive nihilism of Jacques Derrida and Michael Foucault rules. But may God go with you, SIr, and thank you for demonstrating to the unreasoning baying horde what every seat of higher learning should be, but almost invariably isn’t..
mgoldberg says
I’m naive here but…. I would think it might actually be a great thing that they’re willfully arrogant enough to try to sue the Professor. Indeed, all he has to state is the actual doctrines of the Jihad, the laws as clearly enunciated in the Sharia, and the history which is as clear as day.
This is indeed his chance to state his point. The religion of Islam is of no concern to me, a non muslim. What a muslim wishes to practice is their personal business. However, when their religion impacts upon me, then it becomes a public issue worthy of discussion. So, for example, for a religious jew to keep strictly kosher is their own business. If say, one is a cab driver, an uber driver, and you walk in eating a fine pulled pork sandwich and your chowing down and you even offer him some, he will not ever ever throw you out of the cab, or call you a name for eating what you want. Now… if the uber driver is a muslim who decides that your pulled pork sandwich is too disgusting for him to smell in HIS cab, and decides you have to leave promptly that is no longer impacting only himself. That is public religion. That is part of the Jihad.
So the professor only needs to state exactly when Islam becomes something other than a private belief systema and becomes a series of demands upon non muslims that the Jihad becomes understandable and for which the Professor and all others have every right to note the meaning of and to state with clarity what ‘Jihad’ and ‘Jihadists’ are capable of doing.
Frank Anderson says
mg. I humbly ask you to consider this is not only a chance for the professor, but all of us who know what is going on. The professor should no more have to carry this fight alone than any of us if we were in his spot. Please, with greatest respect and courtesy intended, consider what is possible to help. It may be a long time before another chance occurs to make this case in court.
Many years ago, starting in 1982, I had to fight a lone struggle against an entire corrupt state from the supreme court and bar on down. I won at the cost of everything except my life and licenses. Even a little help would have made a big difference.
If Jihad Watch could tell us who is representing the professor, we could make contributions to the expenses of the case and certainly make a difference in its progress.
James Lincoln says
I agree, Frank.
A lot of relatively small contributions can really add up.
Jihad Watch, please tell me where and how to send the money – I will contribute.
GreekEmpress says
I’ve taken it on as a personal mission to garner support for Professor Damask. I have been in contact with him, (Monday) and he said as soon as he talks to his attorney about starting a funding mechanism for his defense he would get back to me. As soon as he does, I’ll post the information.
gravenimage says
Thanks so much, GreekEmpress.
gravenimage says
Frank, as I noted above, Dr. Damask is working with the education rights group FIRE:
https://www.thefire.org/legal/
Frank Anderson says
GI, I went to their site and read their latest tax form. They are a substantial organization with a major budget. They also show handling a large number of cases. I sent a message asking about their ability to accept a designated donation and received an automatic reply directing such inquiry to another address, which then failed to work. Their general mail handling indicates a response in 6 weeks. FIRE is based in Pennsylvania and indicates it is involved in many cases in many states. Until I know more, I would prefer to send a contribution directly to the professor’s lawyer to apply to his fees and expenses on behalf of the professor. According to my understanding of professional rules, the lawyer can accept third party contributions as long as those contributions have no impact on the specific attorney client relationship.
As long as the amount is less than the annual gift tax exclusion, I do not see any tax consequences for making a non-deductible contribution. Of course, somebody always knows something I don’t..
GreekEmpress says
Hi Mr. Anderson,
I was in contact with FIRE right after Professor Damask received death threats and the college tried to pressure him to apologize. I was lucky enough to get through on my first phone call, made a donation, and within a few days received a thank you note and a copy of their newsletter.
I contacted them again last week, but between the Covid19 virus and an enormous new caseload it’s taking them a while to get back to people. But I am sure you will hear from them.
As of last Monday night Professor Damask and his attorney hadn’t called FIRE yet, but he said it was likely he and his attorney would be calling them soon.
In the meantime, stay safe and healthy. It’s great to have your legal expertise on this site.
gravenimage says
Frank, I’m glad my mentioning FIRE here was useful.
And GreekEmpress, thanks for this information and all of your hard work.
GreekEmpress says
?
keith O says
If the professors legal team have any smarts they will counter sue for the students actions which caused the death threats against the professor and his family. Last time I looked, inciting violence against a group or individual is an offence.
gravenimage says
Hamas-Linked CAIR Files Suit: Professor Is ‘Disapproving of Islam’
…………………
Why should *anyone* approve of a creed that enjoins FGM, wife beating. slavery, rape, the systematic oppression of unbelievers, the crushing of freedom of conscience, death for anyone who leaves the creed, the mass slaughter of those who do not submit to Islam, and genocide of the Jews?
Professor Damask is *quite right* for not doing so.
James Lincoln says
No clear thinking person could approve this “creed”, gravenimage…
David says
No one except the judge in the upcoming case. Let us hope the professor is allowed to talk freely in court, and not have his truthful evidence ruled out as inadmissible, on some legal loophole.
In a long debate in the Oxford Union in the UK, “Is Islam a religion of peace?” actually won the motion, despite elegant speeches against the motion, with all the usual truthful statements of fact about the appalling nature of Islam. Probably worth watching, as an object lesson. Look out fro Medi Hassan, a snake tongued muslim lawyer.
“Don’t count your chickens…”
Frank Anderson says
David, there is a possibility if the judge wishes to exclude testimony from a jury, the party that is denied that opportunity can demand making an “offer of proof” where the jury is removed and the testimony taken for the record on appeal. Then the appeal court can review the testimony the jury did not hear to see if its verdict was contrary to the evidence it should have heard and either reverse the verdict or order a new trial.
If the judge denies making the offer, the chance for a new trial on appeal is supposed to be higher.
Kepha says
NIcholas Damask–I wonder if he’s of Middle Eastern Christian descent?
CAIR’s lawyer in this case seems to be part of the nation’s problem. There is precious little examination of historical source material; and our dear Leftists (who are as thick as flies in academia and secondary ejjimakashin) seem determined to keep it this way. The narrative is that Islam gives dignity to the oppressed non-white peoples of the earth (AVERT YOUR GAZE at the revival of the SLAVE TRADE in Islamic Africa since independence!!!!!!!), for Malcolm X tells us so; while Christianity is the “colonizing” whiteman’s religion (don’t you DARE note how so much of Western Asia and Northern Africa becaome Islamic!!!!!).
The zeal against historical memory is such that the rioters have even pulled down the statue of Matthias Baldwin, an abolitionist, thinking that he was somehow connected with the Confederacy. The message is that memory is the enemy of progress; or at least the current vision thereof. I see this lawsuit against Prof. Damask as further evidence of the same. Whatever is “cool” cannot be questioned or examined.
gravenimage says
Kepha, I would imagine it likely that Dr. Damask is of Middle Eastern Christian heritage with a name like his–probably Greek or Syrian Orthodox.
tgusa says
There is a lot of disapproval of most everything these days Christianity being one. Welcome to the party pal now man up and quit with your whining already.
Some Guy says
Keep in mind, SCC is part of a college district; they do not have complete autonomy. My understanding is that SCC initially acted independently, and the chancellor of the district was less than pleased with how they handled things. From what I hear, he supports the professor’s academic freedom.
gravenimage says
Good point, Some Guy.
Giacomo Latta says
”We have enough hate in this country. We have enough divide.”
Funny, things were great before you and your kind showed up. So maybe you are providing the divide.
John Silvis says
How can I give some kind of financial support to this professors’ legal defense against an undeniably psychopathic religion and this unending attack on free speech. For heavens sake this is a college. The professor is being victimized for doing his job. Is our culture totally insane?? Okay, any body know how we can support this man of facts? Ideas? What can we do ?
Frank Anderson says
John, I received an email this morning from a person representing FIRE, who said she would put me in contact with the professor’s lawyer(s). I also wish to assist as I can (within the length of my cable tow) to make sure he is not sold out by a school that has already shown the appearance of cutting and running before. The difference between this man and his message of truth being protected and not can be a number of us just sending what we can to his lawyer helping to pay fees and expenses. In my state the lawyer would deposit our contributions in his trust account designated for the professor and draw from it under normal bar rules of accounting as earned or spent. Each client has a separate ledger, even if the lawyer has only one trust account. It is a good system.
CAIR has unlimited money from muslim sources for the purpose of cramming islam down our throats. How much do we have to turn that around?
gravenimage says
+1
John Silvis says
Frank Do you have info on FIRE website? Or phone numbers I can call to follow up? I am not good at internet research. I tried to look up FIRE but you can guess what I got.
Frank Anderson says
John, GI gives the site in one of her posts in this thread. I predict our contributions will be welcomed.
OLD GUY says
Same old story, islam can not stand up to the truth about itself so it always tries to kill freedom of speech and the media. When you live a lie it is necessary to keep repeating it over and over until you believe it your self, that’s where islam is.