By Robert Spencer
Geert Wilders's film on the Qur'an, Fitna, which had the whole world holding its breath before its release, has been out for over a week now, and the much-anticipated explosion of worldwide Muslim rage has so far failed to materialize. That rage, however, is heating up: 25,000 people rallied against the film in Karachi on Sunday, and demonstrators in Pakistan and Indonesia have already called for Wilders to be killed. While many continue to hope that that will be the crest of Muslim rage regarding the film, there are indications that these demonstrations are actually only part of a larger strategy.
The 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has condemned the film in "the strongest terms," saying that it was "a deliberate act of discrimination against Muslims" designed to "provoke unrest and intolerance." This statement closely follows the OIC's March meeting in Senegal, where they developed what AP called "a battle plan" to defend Islam "from political cartoonists and bigots." Wilders's film is obviously just the sort of thing they had in mind.
At the Senegal conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC's secretary general, declared: "Muslims are being targeted by a campaign of defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance and discrimination." The Associated Press reported that OIC "delegates were given a voluminous report by the OIC that recorded anti-Islamic speech and actions from around the world. The report concludes that Islam is under attack and that a defense must be mounted." Ihsanoglu stated that "Islamophobia cannot be dealt with only through cultural activities but (through) a robust political engagement."
What kind of robust political engagement? Nothing less than restrictions on freedom of speech, of course. Abdoulaye Wade, the President of Senegal and chairman of the OIC, said: "I don't think freedom of expression should mean freedom from blasphemy. There can be no freedom without limits."
These words, and the OIC's "legal instrument" in general, demonstrate why the foundations of a free society cannot take root where Islamic Sharia law prevails. Read more ...
Geert Wilders's film on the Qur'an, Fitna, which had the whole world holding its breath before its release, has been out for over a week now, and the much-anticipated explosion of worldwide Muslim rage has so far failed to materialize. That rage, however, is heating up: 25,000 people rallied against the film in Karachi on Sunday, and demonstrators in Pakistan and Indonesia have already called for Wilders to be killed. While many continue to hope that that will be the crest of Muslim rage regarding the film, there are indications that these demonstrations are actually only part of a larger strategy.
The 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has condemned the film in "the strongest terms," saying that it was "a deliberate act of discrimination against Muslims" designed to "provoke unrest and intolerance." This statement closely follows the OIC's March meeting in Senegal, where they developed what AP called "a battle plan" to defend Islam "from political cartoonists and bigots." Wilders's film is obviously just the sort of thing they had in mind.
At the Senegal conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the OIC's secretary general, declared: "Muslims are being targeted by a campaign of defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance and discrimination." The Associated Press reported that OIC "delegates were given a voluminous report by the OIC that recorded anti-Islamic speech and actions from around the world. The report concludes that Islam is under attack and that a defense must be mounted." Ihsanoglu stated that "Islamophobia cannot be dealt with only through cultural activities but (through) a robust political engagement."
What kind of robust political engagement? Nothing less than restrictions on freedom of speech, of course. Abdoulaye Wade, the President of Senegal and chairman of the OIC, said: "I don't think freedom of expression should mean freedom from blasphemy. There can be no freedom without limits."
These words, and the OIC's "legal instrument" in general, demonstrate why the foundations of a free society cannot take root where Islamic Sharia law prevails. Read more ...
Source: FrontPage Magazine