Netherlands~Arabs Charged Over Anti-Jewish Dutch Cartoon

We all saw how Muslims across the world were calling for the head of the author of the Dutch Mohammad cartoons. Now the tables have been turned on them in the Netherlands and of course they are playing the victim card.

Hat tip to the Wrath.

Arabs charged over Dutch cartoon

An Arab organisation is to be put on trial in the Netherlands over its publication of a cartoon deemed offensive to Jews, prosecutors say.

The cartoon, published by the Arab European League (AEL) on its website, questions the Holocaust.

It said the decision to prosecute illustrated bias against Muslims.

It said the same standards were not applied to the Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who made a film including cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

Last month prosecutors said they would not put the far-right MP on trial for distributing the controversial Danish cartoons, which caused a storm of protest after their publication in 2005.

However, he is still being investigated separately for inciting hatred against Muslims by making statements comparing Islam to Nazism.

But Dutch prosecutors said the AEL cartoon was "discriminatory" and "offensive to Jews as a group... because it offends Jews on the basis of their race and/or religion".

The cartoon shows two men standing near a pile of bones at "Auswitch" (sic). One says "I don't think they're Jews".

The other replies: "We have to get to the six million somehow."

A spokeswoman for the prosecuting authority said the group could be fined up to 4,700 euros (£4,100), though in theory a prison sentence was also possible.

'Perverse'

AEL chairman Abdoulmouthalib Bouzerda said the charges proved "what Muslims have been saying for decades".

"Freedom of expression is only a pretext to make life bitter for Muslims... and if [they] try to bring this hypocrisy to light, that right is denied them."

The AEL says it does not deny the facts of the Holocaust but posted the cartoon as an "act of civil disobedience".

It said it had agreed to remove it from its site, but reversed that decision to protest over the failure to prosecute Geert Wilders.

"Double standards are being applied," it said in a statement.

But Jewish groups said it was not reasonable for the group to express its opposition to alleged bias against Muslims, by attacking Jews.

Ronny Naftaniel of the Center for Documentation on Israel, said: "Imagine if Dutch Jews insulted Muslims every time they heard an anti-Semitic remark. What kind of perverse world would we be living in?"

Tensions over the Netherlands' Muslim population have increased in recent years, notably since the killing of a controversial film-maker by a Muslim extremist in 2004.

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Muslims Whine About "Hate Speech" From Anti-Islam Church

A group of local Muslims (Florida) have complained about "hate speech and bigotry" coming from the anti-Islamic Dove World Outreach Center. Approximately two dozen Muslims spoke in front of the Alachua County School Board airing their complaints about the "Islam of the Devil" shirts which some of the students have gotten from Dove World and worn to school. One speaker stated,

"There should be no room for this type of hate speech, whether it be directed at Islam or any other religion or creed," she said.

If she really meant that she would leave Islam immediately, but as usual Muslims do not like it when people point out just how hateful Islam is.

When they speak of hate speech are they talking about passages like this?

008.012

YUSUFALI: Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): "I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instil terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them."

008.013

YUSUFALI: This because they contended against Allah and His Messenger: If any contend against Allah and His Messenger, Allah is strict in punishment.

Does this qualify for bigotry?

009.029

YUSUFALI: Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.

Or how about this one?

005.051

YUSUFALI: O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust.

Muslims can complain all they want, but our voices against Islam are only going to get louder. Lets remember who has the numbers here!

CAIR Wants to Silence Internet and Talk Radio Critics of Islam

Just like President Obama and his crew want to silence the opposition, so does the Council on American Islamic Relations, (CAIR). It is very telling that neither Obama or CAIR has said a word about the Islamic preachers of hate in America. Just like in Europe, the left and Muslims will work hand in hand to try and destroy life as we know it.

Muslim organization blames talk radio in attacks
After attacks on Muslims in New York and California, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations is targeting what he says is “growing anti-Muslim rhetoric” on the Internet and talk radio.

CAIR is seeking federal hate crime charges in the attacks on a mother and daughter in Smithtown, N.Y., and a taxi driver in Pleasanton, Calif.

SNIP

In a statement on Monday, CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said “Our nation’s religious, political and community leaders need to address the growing anti-Muslim rhetoric on the Internet and on talk radio that can lead to such incidents.”

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Obama Caves to Cuban Censorship

Back in late April Fidel Castro stated that President Obama had no right to dare suggest that Cuba make even small concessions with the US. Now Castro has bullied Obama in an effort to squash free speech. Good work Mr.President.

EDITORIAL: Sign of the times
America caves to Cuban censorship
Thursday, July 30, 2009

The Obama administration has caved to demands from Fidel and Raul Castro's government to shut down a U.S.-sponsored electronic billboard in Havana. This is a symbolic step backward in America's mission to promote freedom.

In January 2006, American diplomats who work in the U.S. Interests Section, which operates out of the fifth floor of the Swiss Embassy, installed a Times Square-style news ticker to bring the Cuban people the kinds of information and ideas their totalitarian government would never allow them to see otherwise. Twenty-five 5-foot-high panels broadcast such controversial information as quotations from Martin Luther King and key passages from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The billboard also carried news and baseball scores.

The Cuban government responded with a dust-up worthy of the Cold War, denouncing the ticker as a propaganda weapon. The Havana regime forced a million people to march past it in protest. Anti-U.S. billboards were placed nearby, and 138 100-foot-tall flagpoles were erected in front of the ticker in something the communists called Anti-Imperialism Park. Havana also cut off all contact with the American Interests Section until the ticker was removed.

The billboard had its technical problems -- inability to punctuate correctly in Spanish, for example -- but it was a clever means of broadcasting news in one of the few remaining communist dictatorships on earth. The ticker touched a nerve. Those who claim it was ineffective and a waste of money should judge it against the Cuban government's apoplectic response.

In the spirit of the new openness between Washington and Havana, the Obama administration has decided to accommodate the Castros' demands and shutter the ticker. This is a shame. True, the electronic billboard was not going to bring down the communist regime, but its message was as much symbolic as substantive. It said the United States was upholding its historic mission of promoting openness in closed societies and bringing truth to countries where governments rule by lies.

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NY Muslim Ends Free Speech for Harley Dealer

It is very telling that when American Muslims hit the streets preaching for jihad the Muslim community is silent but when a radio show, or even a simple sign says something that they do not like about Islam they are suddenly against free speech.

Hat tip to Creeping Sharia.

No Freedom Of Speech For Harley Dealer
Northern NY News
Written by Nathan Barker
Friday, 12 June 2009

ADAMS, NY - Upstate NY Harley-Davidson dealer Iron Block Harley in Adams was forced to take down a sign facing route 81 behind their store.

The sign has been displaying messages to drivers traveling on Interstate 81 since 2002. Earlier this week, it read "Obama, are you kidding? We're not Muslim. You are not Christian!!" a reference to President Obama's recent speech in the Middle East in which he stressed the details of Muslims living in America as a way of finding common cause with Muslim majority nations.

Owner Erik Dunk believes that Obama would not have won the Presidency if the public was aware of the extent of his Muslim sympathies prior to the election. He indicates that this was a deceit of the American people, and that despite his continued pronouncement that he is a Christian, deceiving the American people to get the office is not a Christian thing to do.

Iron Block's sign has carried messages of a political nature for years. The sign once said "Impeach the Dictator!" but Dunk indicates that no one at Harley-Davidson forced him to remove that message though it was far more politically controversial.

Harley-Davidson's lawyers ordered Dunk to remove the message from his sign or risk losing his Harley-Davidson franchise. They had received one complaint regarding the sign from a Syracuse-area Muslim who told Harley-Davidson that the sign was offensive and derogatory to Muslims.

Dunk contends that the message was in no way derogatory to any religious group and was simply an indictment of President Obama's behavior on behalf of America while he was in the Middle East.

He also claims that liberal media outlets in the area reported the issue with strong bias and several factual errors, pointing out that staff at the Watertown Daily Times are well aware that his sign has been running politically-oriented messages for years though in their coverage of the story, they only talked about the anti-Obama messages.

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Geert Wilders Loses Appeal, Will be Prosecuted

Geert Wilders who is the only politician in Europe brave enough to take on Islam is going to trial for speaking the truth about Islam. In the meantime the Netherlands is slowly falling to Islam.

Hat tip to Shona.

Dutch Anti-Islam Lawmaker Loses Bid To Stop Hate Speech Trial

THE HAGUE (AFP)--Far-right Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders lost a legal bid Wednesday to stop his pending trial for inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

"The attorney general is of the opinion that there are no grounds" for a further appeal, the Dutch Supreme Court said in a statement.

Lawyers for Wilders had sought to overturn a ruling by the Amsterdam Court of Appeals in January that he should be prosecuted for a series of public anti- Muslim statements, particularly for comparing Islam to Nazism.

"It is a political process," Wilders responded in a statement on the Web site of his Freedom Party, or PVV, which has nine out of 150 seats in parliament.

"I am being prosecuted for saying about Islam what millions of Dutch think. Freedom of expression is at risk of being offered at the altar of Islam."

The January appeals court judgment had followed numerous complaints from citizens over the Public Prosecution Service's initial refusal to press charges against Wilders.

Wilders is the maker of a 17-minute film, "Fitna," which has been called " offensively anti-Islamic" by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The screening of the film in the Netherlands last year prompted protests in much of the Muslim world, including Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran and Pakistan.

Wilders has called for the banning of the Koran in the Netherlands, calling it "fascist."

In June last year, the prosecutor's office said "Fitna," though offensive to Muslims, didn't give rise to a punishable offense.

It dismissed dozens of complaints received from around the country, saying Wilders' utterances were made in the context of public debate.

But the appeals court ruled six months later that politicians, given their special responsibility, ought not to be permitted to make "statements which create hate and grief," and ordered the prosecution to put Wilders on trial.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-20-090911ET

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UN Body OKs Call to Curb Religious Criticism

Back in August of 2008 the Islamic catering United Nation "human rights" council had banned all criticism of Islam and Sharia law in regards to human rights. Today the UN has approved a resolution urging the free world to do the same. It is nice to see that the UN is OK with stonings and amputations.

UN body OKs call to curb religious criticism
By FRANK JORDANS – 1 hour ago

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.'s top human-rights body approved a proposal by Muslims nations Thursday urging passage of laws around the world to protect religion from criticism.

The proposal put forward by Pakistan on behalf of Islamic countries — with the backing of Belarus and Venezuela — had drawn strong criticism from free-speech campaigners and liberal democracies.

A simple majority of 23 members of the 47-nation Human Rights Council voted in favor of the resolution. Eleven nations, mostly Western, opposed the resolution, and 13 countries abstained.

The resolution urges states to provide "protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from defamation of religions and incitement to religious hatred in general."

"Defamation of religions is the cause that leads to incitement to hatred, discrimination and violence toward their followers," Pakistan's ambassador Zamir Akram said.

"It is important to deal with the cause, rather than with the effects alone," he said.

Muslim nations have argued that religions, in particular Islam, must be shielded from criticism in the media and other areas of public life.They cited cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad as an example of unacceptable free speech.

"Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism," the resolution said.

Opponents of the resolution included Canada, all European Union countries, Switzerland, Ukraine and Chile.

"It is individuals who have rights and not religions," Canadian diplomat Terry Cormier said.

India, which normally votes along with the council's majority of developing nations, abstained in protest at the fact that Islam was the only religion specifically named as deserving protection.

India's Ambassador Gopinathan Achamkulangare said the resolution "inappropriately" linked religious criticism to racism.

The council is dominated by Muslim and African countries. Its resolutions are not binding, but are meant to act as recommendations for U.N. member states on issues of human rights.

Earlier, a coalition of more than 100 secular and faith groups had called on governments to oppose the resolution, warning that it could lead to accusations of defamation among different faiths.

The United States did not vote on the resolution because it is not a member of the council. The Bush administration announced it was virtually giving up on the body and would participate in debates only if absolutely necessary because of the Geneva body's anti-Israel statements and its failure to act on abuses in Sudan and elsewhere.

U.S. diplomats resumed their observer role in the council after President Barack Obama took office, though it is unclear whether Washington will stand for one of the 18 council seats up for election in May.

Esther Brimmer, Obama's nominee for the job of Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizational Affairs, told a Senate hearing Tuesday that the council was a "major disappointment, diverted from its mission by states with some of the worst human rights records."

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OZ:Film Pulled Because of Brawls

A film about Lebanese gangs called The Combination being shown in Sydney Australia has been yanked because of brawls taking place at theatres. I am sure that these would not be Muslims who once again have a problem with free speech....

Hat tip to Nora the Spanish Pundit.

Local film pulled from cinemas after brawls
Updated Sun Mar 1, 2009
An Australian film about Lebanese gangs has been pulled from Greater Union cinemas in Sydney after violent outbursts at early screenings.

The Combination is the first Australian film release of the year and has been receiving rave reviews for its gritty portrayal of life in Sydney's west.

The distributor for the film was informed of the decision by Greater Union last night.

Allanah Zitserman from Australian Film Syndicate says Greater Union decided to stop screening the film after several brawls occurred at western Sydney cinemas after the movie was shown.

"I understand there has been some isolated incidents at the Parramatta Greater Union by a very small minority group that has forced Greater Union to make the unprecedented decision in the third day of its release to pull the film," she said.

Ms Zitserman says the film's cast and crew are devastated by the decision, but can understand why it has happened.

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Michigan Muslims Attack Free Speech, Again

For the second time in a little over six months American Muslims from Michigan are trying to silence a radio show that is critical of Mohammad and Islam.

Broadcast angers Muslims
Leaders want radio station to stop airing comments by priest they say defame Muhammad.

Gregg Krupa / The Detroit News
SOUTHFIELD -- Muslims and interfaith leaders in Metro Detroit are asking a local radio station owner to discontinue broadcasts in which, they say, a Coptic priest has repeatedly defamed the Prophet Muhammad over the past year.

In an Arabic-language broadcast Wednesday on WNZK 680/690 AM, the Rev. Zakariah Boutros said the Muslim prophet Muhammad had engaged in necrophilia and gay sex, according to the Council on American Islamic Relations.

Boutros has previously come under fire from area Muslims, who say he disparages Islam. The controversial, American-based priest can be heard on purchased time slots on radio stations internationally. His words have stirred controversy in Egypt and Great Britain, and are embraced by a number of bloggers and Web sites that criticize Islam.

Amani Mostafa, who hosts the program "Questions About Faith" on which Boutros spoke Thursday, said Boutros was "reading from an Islamic text" when he said, over the air, that the Prophet Muhammad slept in the grave of a dead woman and allowed a man to kiss and caress his chest.

"I am a former Muslim," said Mostafa, who is now Christian. "I know exactly what I am talking about. These are the things we were taught as children. We are quoting the Quran and the Hadiths, and if the Muslims have a problem with that then they have a problem with their own book."

Hadiths are Muhammad's saying or writings, as reported by his followers.
Muslims say that no such wording appears in the Quran or the Hadiths.

"If that's their excuse, it's lame," said Dawud Walid, of CAIR, which distributed a "national alert" Thursday asking Muslims to contact the radio station to express concerns about the broadcast. CAIR also counseled Muslims to be "firm but polite.

Hostile comments can and will be used to further defame Islam and Muslims."

Sima Birach, who owns the station, said he had received some complaints on Thursday, though he said he did not know how many.

In an interview with The Detroit News last summer Birach promised to end the broadcasts, upon the request of interfaith Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups in Metro Detroit.

Birach went so far as to put people associated with Boutros's broadcasts on conference calls with this reporter, while he berated them for allowing what some consider hate speech.

"It's not right," Birach said at the time. "It's not fair to use some fake or stupid books to accuse someone's religion. Do you hear me?" But on Thursday, Birach said he had since heard from "several prominent people in the community," that what Boutros stated in the broadcasts is true.

"Maybe we need to have more meetings," Birach said, referring to members of the Muslim and interfaith communities.

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Russian Newsweek Warned for Insulting Muslims

Usually we see Muslims trying to stifle our freedom of speech. It happened in Michigan and the United Nations. But this time it was not even Muslims, it was Russian prosecutors. I wonder if these prosecutors find the Koran insulting to non-Muslims? That is if they even bothered to read one.

Russian Newsweek warned for "insulting" Muslims
2 hours ago
MOSCOW (AP) — Moscow prosecutors say they have warned the Russian-language edition of the Newsweek magazine for allegedly insulting Muslims.
The Moscow Prosecutor's Office says the magazine published two stories that could be "insulting or humiliating" to Muslims. It said Tuesday on article also included one of the 2005 Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.
The magazine published the stories on Muslims in the European Union in late October. It could not be immediately reached for comment. About 20 million Muslims live in Russia.
Under President Vladimir Putin and his successor, Dmitry Medvedev, Russian news organizations have come under increasing official pressure. If prosecutors' warnings are ignored, publications can be fined or threatened with closure.

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