In a troubling incursion by Iran into Britain, the UK government has summoned “Iran’s most senior diplomat in London… to protest what it said were serious threats against journalists living in Britain, as ministers launched a new security review into Iranian activities.”
Iran’s threat to the UK is astonishingly direct against journalists, yet the UK, and more broadly the entire West, chose a path of appeasement in the face of Islamic supremacist aggressiveness that was bound to lead to increasing reductions in the freedom of expression overall. This is now having a major impact upon journalists in Britain. Many of those journalists pointed the finger at critics of Islam, and those whom they deemed to have made statements that were insulting to Islam, without recognizing that they were next, after the greatest defenders of human rights and freedoms were marginalized or shut down altogether. This will worsen over time; appeasement always makes bullies more belligerent than they were already.
A few current examples of offenses (and there are scores more): for Iran, the offense is speaking out against its abuses of women and supporting the protests. For Turkey and other Islamic countries, the offense is burning the Qur’an. To multitudes of Muslims globally, the offense is Muhammad cartoons. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters, and all those who deem the Sharia to be divine consider all these to be “Islamophobic.” The West has been bullied and tricked into accepting the “Islamophobia” subterfuge as it sinks further into compliance with Islamic supremacist demands; this is a consequence of its own appeasement. What did Britain expect from the Islamic regime of Iran? Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement:
I am appalled by the Iranian regime’s continuing threats to the lives of UK-based journalists and have today summoned its representative to make clear this will not be tolerated.
Those threats are real to anyone who crosses the line into what some Muslims insist violates Islamic sensibilities. Cleverly is himself also an appeaser who advised anyone attending the 2022 FIFA World Cup Games, particularly gays, to show “a little bit of flex and compromise” and “respect the culture of your host nation,” amid Qatar’s threats against gays. Cleverly, like so many others, thinks that he can appease and thereby control the direction of Islamic supremacists.
Tehran accuses Western adversaries of stoking the nationwide unrest ignited by Amini’s death.
The West’s views about human rights and freedom stand in stark contrast to those of Iran and other Sharia-adherent countries. The UK and every Western country has every right to point out human rights abuses in the Islamic world, and should have stood firm in doing so. Mahsa Amini was killed for not wearing her hijab right in accordance with Islamic tenets:
(Quran 24:31) And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only what is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment except to their own husbands or fathers or hus- bands’ fathers, or their sons or their husbands’ sons, or their brothers or their brothers’ sons or sisters’ sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack desire, or children who know nothing of women’s nakedness. And do not let them stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn to Allah together, O believers, so that you may succeed.
If a woman does not cover, she is fair game to be assaulted. In the case of Amini, she was murdered.
(Quran 33:59) O prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their veils close around them. That will be better, so that they may be recognized and not molested. Allah is always forgiving, merciful.
Islamic supremacists blast Western societies from their mosques, yet oppose the right of infidels to speak out against Sharia abuses.
The point that has escaped Western leaders is that to allow Islamic supremacists any leeway to shut down the freedom of speech, including criticism of Islam, opens the door for Iran, and in fact all those who defend Sharia to dictate to the West what its citizens and journalists should and should not say. Since Iran is now offended, mainstream journalists in Britain — many of whom have kowtowed to Islamic lobbies in past — are now physically threatened.
The more Western leaders demonstrate weakness and a lack of resolve in protecting their free societies, the more Iran and others will threaten freedom. Iran was in essence given an opening and permission for its aggression via the West’s political correctness and appeasement.
“Britain summons Iranian envoy, launches security review,” Reuters, February 20, 2023:
LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – The British government summoned Iran’s most senior diplomat in London on Monday to protest what it said were serious threats against journalists living in Britain, as ministers launched a new security review into Iranian activities.
On Saturday, a London-based television station critical of the Iranian government said it was moving its live broadcasting studios to the United States after threats it faced in Britain.
“I am appalled by the Iranian regime’s continuing threats to the lives of UK-based journalists and have today summoned its representative to make clear this will not be tolerated,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.
Earlier, the government imposed sanctions on three Iranian judges, three members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and two regional governors over what it said were human rights violations.
Britain, along with the European Union and the United States, has strongly criticised a widespread and often violent crackdown on popular protests after the death of young Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody in September.
Tehran accuses Western adversaries of stoking the nationwide unrest ignited by Amini’s death…..
Hoi Polloi says
Following as this does on the heels of Britain’s efforts to have Tommy Robinson murdered while wrongfully imprisoned, one can hardly blame others of this supremacist ideology for feeling safe in their comparable actions.
Burnaby Lad says
007 would know how to deal with a bond girl
Janet says
I would like to take a moment to thank Robert Spencer for his investigative reporting and attention to detail in shedding light on the atrocities committed by Muslim extremists. His commitment to journalism and his dedication to informing the public concerning these important issues is truly admirable. THANK YOU, Robert for your important work! Your contributions are invaluable, and I am grateful for the effort and courage you put into bringing us these important stories each day. You are a treasure!
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