Muslim Challenges Canadian Freedom of Press

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You Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone
Or, as the old saying goes, ‘You never miss the water 'til the well runs dry.’ - Mark
FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS: "The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable." James Madison

My mother used to say that it’s better to go from being poor to being rich than from having been rich and become poor because you don’t yearn for what you’ve lost. However, my experience has been that if you’ve always been free from want, you might not ever gain an appreciation for what was taken for granted. In any event, it wasn’t until I reached middle age that I began to understand what for me truly constitutes being rich and it wasn’t until 9/11 that I really gave much thought to how quickly it could be taken away.

During World War II, when peace and stability were shattered by acts of physical aggression initiated by the axis powers, Franklin Roosevelt gave a speech on what he referred to as the four freedoms.

“In the future days which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression...The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own...The third is freedom from want, which...means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants...The fourth is freedom from fear, which...means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor.” You Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone >>> By Nancy Silvato | September 24, 2008

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Islamophobia Accusations Spark Debate on Canada Press Freedom
AFP: OTTAWA — A complaint by Canadian Muslims against a leading local news magazine has sparked a national debate on the limits of press freedoms in this country often cited as a beacon of multiculturalism.

"Protest while you still can," shouted this week's edition of Maclean's, a publication similar to US magazines Time or Newsweek, saying in an editorial that human rights boards are undermining free speech in Canada.

The controversy dates back to October 2006, when Maclean's ran an article excerpted from noted author and journalist Mark Steyn's book "America Alone," entitled "Why the Future Belongs to Islam."

A self-described agitator, Steyn argued that demographics and Muslims' global ambitions ensured Islam's eventual world domination and that Europe was "too enfeebled to resist its remorseless transformation into Eurabia."

For four Toronto law students, Maclean's had crossed the line by proposing that "Muslims are part of a global conspiracy to take over Western society and impose an oppressive form of Islamic law," Khurrum Awan, one of the students, told AFP.

"We did some research and realized that Maclean's had published 19 articles with such a tone," he said, adding that his group asked for but was denied the opportunity to publish a response when they met with the magazine's editors.

Maclean's, which is defending itself against accusations at a human rights tribunal that its articles incited hate, said the students' demands for a 5,000-word rebuttal and to direct the magazine cover art were unacceptable.

"This is a complete fabrication," said Awan, insisting the editor-in-chief told them he would rather see the magazine go out of business than publish a response, or, according to the magazine, hand over editorial reigns.

The students, backed by the Canadian Islamic Congress, lodged a complaint with the federal human rights commission and two of its provincial counterparts in Ontario and British Columbia.

The federal and British Columbia tribunals are still mulling over the case. Islamophobia Accusations Spark Debate on Canada Press Freedom >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Canada)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Canada)

Jed Babbin: “Free Speech and Freedom of the Press are Dead in Britain”
HUMAN EVENTS: Under assault by Muslims and multiculturalists, free speech and freedom of the press are dead in Britain. The same sorts of people who killed them in Britain are killing them in Canada. They and their allies are using the British and Canadian courts and tribunals to bury our First Amendment rights in America.

Muslims -- individually and in pressure groups -- are using British libel laws and Canadian “human rights” laws to limit what is said about Islam, terrorists and the people in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere who are funding groups such as al-Queda. The cases of Rachel Ehrenfeld and Mark Steyn prove the point.

Dr. Ehrenfeld is a scholar and author of the book, ”Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed, and How to Stop it.” In that book, Khalid Salim bin Mahfouz -- a Saudi who is former head of the Saudi National Commercial Bank -- and some of his family are described as having funded terrorism directly and indirectly.

Ehrenfeld is American, her book was written and published in America and she has no business or other ties to Britain. Under American law, the Brit courts would have no jurisdiction over her. But about two-dozen copies of her book were sold there through the internet. Bin Mahfouz sued her for libel in the Brit courts where the burden of proof is the opposite of what it is in US courts: the author has to prove that what is written is true, rather than the supposedly defamed person proving it is false.

Think about that for a moment. Under the US Constitution political writing -- free speech -- is almost unlimited. To gain a libel judgment a politician -- or someone suspected of terrorist ties -- would have to prove that the story or book was false. If that person were a public figure such as Mahfouz, in order to get a libel judgment he’d not only have to prove that what was written was false, he’d also have to prove it was published maliciously.

Those American laws and standards of proof protect political speech. The First Amendment is intended to protect political speech that people find objectionable. In the landmark 1969 case of Brandenburg v. Ohio, the Supreme Court overturned an Ohio statute which would have outlawed hate speech by the Ku Klux Klan. That’s why Mahfouz sued in Britain, not here.

Ehrenfeld refused to fight the case, saying the Brit courts have no jurisdiction over her. Mahfouz got a default judgment against her for ₤10,000 (for himself, and in equal amounts for his sons). The judgment also requires that there be no further “defamatory” statements published in England and Wales. Islam vs. Free Speech >>> By Jed Babbin

Mr. Babbin is the editor of Human Events. He served as a deputy undersecretary of defense in President George H.W. Bush's administration.

Hat tip: Mosque Watch

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

The Saudi Understanding of ‘Freedom of the Press’
BBC: Saudi Arabia has reportedly banned an influential pan-Arab newspaper after it criticised government ministries.

Sources at the al-Hayat daily said it was banned after refusing to abide by information ministry orders, including scrapping a column by a Saudi writer.

The paper, owned by a top Saudi prince, was not distributed this week in the conservative kingdom, officials said.

Recent columns by Abdul Aziz Suwaid had tackled health care problems and a wave of mysterious deaths among camels.

The government has blamed about 2,000 camel deaths on poor feed, denying the presence of an infectious disease.

Other reports say the ban followed al-Hayat's disclosure that a Saudi extremist had played a key role in al-Qaeda in Iraq. Saudis 'ban' pan-Arab newspaper (more)

Mark Alexander

US-UK ‘Ally’ in Gulf, Kuwait, Demonstrates Its Commitment to Freedom of Expression!
KUWAIT TIMES: KUWAIT: All newspapers, magazines, publishing houses and printing presses in Kuwait were yesterday issued a list by the government of the types of articles, advertisements and banners that can no longer be printed or published without official approval. Government limits freedom of expression (more)

Mark Alexander

Press freedom on the wane throughout the world
KUWAIT TIMES: NEW YORK: Press freedom around the world deteriorated last year due to coups, attempts to stifle political opposition and regulate use of the Internet, a leading watchdog said in a report yesterday. US-based Freedom House outlined what it said were particularly troubling trends in Asia, the former Soviet Union and Latin America, in a report that warned that democracy as a whole would likely suffer. "Press freedom is like the canary in the coal mine," the group's executive director Jennifer Windsor said in a statement. Press freedom around the world in decline (Read on)

Mark Alexander

Do Muslims Belong in a Secular Europe? Indeed in a Secular West?

If a cartoon such as this one bothers them so much, then I guess the answer is 'NO'!


It is heartening to note that the European press is making a firm stand on this matter. Die Welt went ahead today and published the cartoon in defiance of the Muslims living in Germany, as did France-Soir in defiance of the Muslims living there.

The New York Times: European Papers Publish Cartoons in Stand for Press Freedom

CNN: Papers reprint Islam row cartoons

Die Welt: Mohammed-Karikaturen: Dänische Zeitung gibt sich geschlagen

The Moscow Times: Cartoons of Mohammed reprinted

Die Neue Zürcher Zeitung: Streit um Mohammed-Karikaturen geht weiter

Le Figaro: Caricatures de Mahomet : la polémique gagne la France

Le Monde: La polémique sur les caricatures de Mahomet s'invite en France

WARNING! Freedom of expression, once lost, will be lost forever!

Mark Alexander