Will Conservative Media Elites Defend Lars Hedegaard?
This past Friday I received a plaintive appeal on behalf of my colleague, Danish journalist and historian Lars Hedegaard — President of the Danish Free Press Society and The International Free Press Society (IFPS). My response to the appeal is included at the end of this essay as a succinct guide to Islamically perplexed, high-profile U.S. conservative media elites who, until now, have entirely ignored the burgeoning crisis epitomized by Lars Hedegaard’s current plight. It is well past time for these self-anointed champions of free speech to weigh-in publicly and offer a robust defense of my colleague –and theirs.
Whom am I addressing in conservative media, specifically? All of the best-known and “highest-rated” (as they are constantly reminding us, at any rate) radio and television personalities: Mr. No Spin, what say you? Dittos to you, Rush. Don’t continue to be a mute mime clown on this matter, Glenn. You’re not ringing in support of freedom of speech, Sean, and I’ll indeed bite you if you don’t open your loud — but highly intelligent — mouth in support of Hedegaard, Mark.
As for the conservative or “center-right” print/online media icons — the editorial boards of the National Review, Weekly Standard, and Wall Street Journal – your continued silence is craven and hypocritical, not golden.
Here is the crux of Mr. Hedegaard’s case, and some background. As the IFPS appeal notes:
Those who have been following the Danish cartoon crisis and several subsequent attempts by radical Muslims to kill and bomb Danes and Danish institutions may be excused for believing that Denmark is in the forefront of the battle for free speech. And indeed it used to be that way. No longer. For the past year the Danish public prosecutor has been waging a lawfare offensive against outspoken critics of Islam and Muslim practices.
On December 3 following a Kafka-esque prosecution in Denmark, Member of Parliament (MP) Jesper Langballe was convicted and indeed confessed to the “crime” of so-called “hate speech” — or as the judge in the lower court of Randers characterized it, “racial discrimination” — for having called attention to honor killings in Muslim families.
Lars Hedegaard’s prosecution is next. He is slated to stand trial in the lower court of Frederiksberg on January 24, 2011. Mr. Hedegaard’s apparent “crime” was to draw attention to the extensive (and disproportionate) number of family rapes in areas dominated by Muslim culture. As the IFPS appeal further notes:
This well-documented fact has brought him an indictment under the Danish penal code’s “racism” clause: Article 266b. Both MP Langballe and Lars Hedegaard have long ago emphasized that they did not intend to accuse all Muslims or even the majority of Muslims of such crimes. This has made no impression on the public prosecutor.
In late September 2010 Lars Hedegaard recalled that at the inaugural assembly of the Danish Free Press Society (the mother organization of the IFPS) in March 2005 he observed:
Present attempts to crush freedom of expression come from several actors: national governments, supranational organizations such as the EU and the UN, and, not least, Islam. And not only from so-called “Islamists” or “terrorists” or “Islamic radicals.” They are inherent in the very core of Mohammedan ideology.
Hedegaard’s September 2010 statement continued, laying out the IFPS’s — and his own — Weltanschauung, and real world activities, for which he is now, incredibly, being prosecuted:
That has been our position all along. We have made no bones about the fact that we consider Islam — as it is presently being preached by all influential clerics and ideologues — a deadly threat to all our freedoms among which are freedom of expression. For this consistent stance we have been vilified and called every name in the book, but we will not budge.
I’m aware that some of my friends think that Islam can be reformed, domesticated, and civilized. I welcome that day, but must relate to the fact that it hasn’t happened yet — though Muslims have had 1,400 years to complete the project.
So the International Free Press Society has decided to live in the real world. And the real world demands robust defense of free speech, repeal of all blasphemy and hate-speech laws, and unwavering support of everyone who is being bullied and threatened by adherents of the caliphate. All this we have done to the best of our ability and with a fair degree of success. Whenever the likes of Geert Wilders, Kurt Westergaard, Robert Redeker, Gregorius Nekschot and so many others have come under threat, we have been the first to give them a platform and stand by them through thick and thin.
Just a few days ago, the Free Press Society received a mail from Gregorius Nekschot thanking us for the fact that after many years of harassment, the Dutch prosecutor has dropped the criminal charges against him for drawing offensive pictures. Nekschot is in no doubt that the solidarity shown by the IFPS has been instrumental in securing this happy outcome.
The January 7 IFPS statement concluded with this clarion warning, and appeal, which all U.S. media conservative elites should heed. Simply put, unabashedly supporting Lars Hedegaard is required to defend our most fundamental Western freedom — freedom of speech:
We fear that the public prosecutor intends to stifle open debate on Islam and Muslim culture. And we fear that he is doing so with the tacit approval of the governing parties, which first signaled their intention to remove the racism clause from the penal code but have recently recanted.
If the authorities succeed in silencing such critics as Jesper Langballe and Lars Hedegaard, who will dare speak out?
We must put a stop to these attempts to undermine free speech if we wish to preserve Denmark as a free country. And where Denmark — that former beacon of free speech — goes, the rest of the West may follow.
What follows is my own response to the IFPS appeal on behalf of Lars Hedegaard—a potential guide for Islamically perplexed U.S. conservative media elites:
The prosecution of Lars Hedegaard is a doubly obscene violation of the very foundations of Western freedom and the rule of law. By apparent illegal design, it a priori deliberately ignores the factual content of Mr. Hedegaard’s presentation — critical to his defense –while championing, exclusively, mendacious, bowdlerized portrayals of living Islamic doctrines — rooted in the Sharia, or Islamic “law” — and their historical consequences, past as prologue to the present.
Denying Mr. Hedegaard’s fundamental Western right to a full rational, evidence-based self-defense — including a critical examination of Islam — is nothing less than a complete capitulation to Islamic blasphemy law. The independent existence of objective universal truths is not acknowledged by normative Islamic doctrine. Thus, antithetical to Western conceptions, Islamic religio-political doctrine does not recognize individual liberties, even as an abstraction.
Is this now Denmark’s “standard” as well?
Notwithstanding Denmark’s denial of Mr. Hedegaard’s right to a fair defense, a collective wealth of unambiguous evidence — readily available — reveals the breathtaking shallowness and intellectual dishonesty of this prosecution: objective, erudite analyses of the Sharia by leading Western scholars of Islam; the acknowledgment of Sharia’s global “resurgence,” even by postmodern, “anti-colonial” (i.e., against Western colonialism, not Islamic jihad colonialism!) academic apologists for Islam, combined with an abundance of recent polling data from Muslim nations, and Muslim immigrant communities in the West confirming the ongoing, widespread adherence to the Sharia’s tenets; the plaintive warnings and admonitions of contemporary Muslim intellectuals — freethinkers and believers alike — about the incompatibility of Sharia with modern, Western-derived conceptions of universal human rights; and the overt promulgation of traditional, Sharia-based Muslim legal systems as an integrated whole (i.e., extending well beyond mere “family law aspects” of the Sharia), by authoritative, mainstream international, European, and North American Islamic religio-political organizations.
Finally, has Denmark voluntarily abandoned modern human rights ideals — a unique product of centuries of the West’s agonizing, self-critical struggles — and retrogressed to the era of Beaumarchais’ Marriage of Figaro, written at the close of the 18th century? The text included this freedom of speech monologue in Act V, Scene 3:
I cobble together a verse comedy about the customs of the harem, assuming that, as a Spanish writer, I can say what I like about Mohammed without drawing hostile fire. Next thing, some envoy from God knows where turns up and complains that in my play I have offended the Ottoman empire, Persia, a large slice of the Indian peninsula, the whole of Egypt, and the kingdoms of Barca [Ethiopia], Tripoli, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. And so my play sinks without trace, all to placate a bunch of Muslim princes, not one of whom, as far as I know, can read but who beat the living daylights out of us and say we are “Christian dogs.” Since they can’t stop a man thinking, they take it out on his hide instead.
First they came for…
/crickets/
Sad.
Our freedom and human rights are given to us by G-D-the Creator. Men in their insatiable lust for power and control over all humanity seek to take that away. The unjust and horrific actions of Denmark’s leaders’ reveal that they are as determined as the global jihadists to destroy our lives and utterly destroy all of our freedoms. The freedoms many millions fought for, and gave their lives for. Every non-Muslim is betrayed.
We must do everything to defend Lars Hedegaard. Is there a petition that we can sign? Besides signing a petition, what else can we do?
Does Denmark have a Constitution? If so, what does it say about this sort of thing?
The Leftists, in Holland and Denmark, have obviously been successful in getting “hate speech laws” passed………. and now they are using them on their political enemies (i.e. anyone right of center). This is what they have done in the UK….. and in Canada, and what they will do in the U.S. if allowed. All of this and they (Leftists) would be the first Islamists will behead once they are allowed to take over. They must never be allowed to take over. In fact, they must be resisted wherever they utter an Islamic thought. Ridiculed until they are ashamed to show their faces in public. Challenged wherever they seek to gain authority over others. Fought wherever they would raise a knife, sword or weapon against their enemies…. for their enemies are all those who respect and desire to be part of a civilized humanity.
I shake my head in dismay that those brave leaders, in countries we in the West have historically held such romantic feelings for, are being treated so disdainfully by citizens in their own homeland. My hope is they will someday be recognized for the courage and patriotism they display in the face of the pernicious threat Islam poses for their… indeed our… future.
“On December 3 following a Kafka-esque prosecution in Denmark, Member of Parliament (MP) Jesper Langballe was convicted and indeed confessed to the “crime” of so-called “hate speech” — or as the judge in the lower court of Randers characterized it, “racial discrimination” — for having called attention to honor killings in Muslim families.”
The author may have included that langballe went a bit further and stated that incest was common and acceptable in muslim families. This was decided by the danish courts, who are not socialist at all, to constitute hatespeech. It may also be noted that Hedegaard has associated closely with various figures far far out on the extreme right, such as SIAD who uses neo-nazis as guards. Hedegaards position on islam has become increasingly hatefilled, this is a fact. He states that muslims are incapable of discerning between good and evil, between wrong and right, and are completely different creatures from “us”. Several of his supporters and friends are pure White Pride activists, demanding a genetical base for the immigration politics in order to maintain the white race pure.
Wether this should be illegal is another question. But please dont give the man praise, unless you include the fact that the man *is* a hater.
Fnord,
Is it possible to have a discussion about whether incest is in fact common or acceptable in Muslim communities….. without risking being jailed for uttering such thoughts? You say the Danish courts are not socialistic. How would you describe them? Are one’s personal associates admissible into evidence in Danish Courts when determining whether ones actions have been illegal? Have you read the Koran? If you had, I think you would be hard pressed to claim that Muhammad knew the difference between good and evil, or right and wrong. He was a power seeking war lord antithetical to Christian civility for anyone opposed to his word. Is it possible that his followers might struggle some with Western values? Just because someones utterances about certain people sound repugnant to us, and paints them in a negative light relative to our valuations, does not mean he is speaking hatefully. It could be that he is speaking truthfully.
I find the European disdain for Free Speech repugnant. In America, true Hate Speakers abound. They marginalize and discredit themselves with regularity. I feel fortunate that I live in a country where I can see them do it. Because they are allowed to speak with impunity, I know who they are…. and I can avoid them if I wish.
Fnord,
Just because YOU hate what someone else is saying, does not make THAT person a hater.
I think you’re a hater. It’s the duty of citizens to point out torture, brutality, and oppression of other citizens who are being honor killed, or sexually molested as a matter of custom or ritual. The same people that criticized water boarding of terrorists are now happy hypocrites, and are aiding and abetting worse things being done to their innocent fellow citizens. Muslims do not have a right to do such things and no one has the right to remain silent about it. It is fascism to prosecute the messengers and is done to chill free speech and open discussion. If you can’t see that then there is something wrong with your head and you are no better than a suicide bomber. The socialists seem to have gone mad and turned into stark raving totalitarian sociopaths these days alongside their new BFF, the radical muslims. Sue me.
.
Islamists and Leftists are natural allies. The left is out to demonize good Americans – again….. How do they do it…. watch this , start with part 2…. get answers here- http://www.marcrubin.com/dada2.ivnu
Funny how Islam is so proud of their culture and history that they don’t want anyone really drawing attention to it but themselves since they try and make a better case. However this week’s 50,000 strong rally in Karachi, Pakistan in favor of death penalty blasphemy laws and also in support of the man who assassinated a provincial governor against such laws ain’t exactly “Gidget Goes Hawaiian”. I’m surprised they didn’t commit mass ritual suicide for allowing it to be in public since it made Islam look stupid. Oh, but wait! It’s only stupid if I talk about it.
This summer in Egypt some folks got together and tried to ban publication in Egypt of “A Thousand and One Nights”; probably someone is holding hands in it which is jail time in some enlightened areas of Islam. I guess it’s an “Islamic Thing” no one quite understands – kinda like the “New York Thing” where you don’t look a stranger in the eye on pain of death. Plus there’s that holding hands leads to blindness thing.
By the way the French title is “Tell Me A 1001 Stories Before I Kill You My Darling”. Kinda catchy.
I’m writing an updated version called,”Baby You Can Drive My Car As Long As I’m In It and You’re Veiled (And Maybe I Love You – Maybe)”.
aren’t all the european counrties adopting the UN version of hate speech which favors islam at the expense of all others??
truly shocking that islamist aren’t charges with hate speech as generally they are the only ones using it.
The reason the Muslims who utter hate speech are not being charged is that the authorities are afraid that the Muslims will run amok and start rioting and killing people if any of them are indicted.
I hope Mr. Hedegaard finds some support. But in the end, the Danes are going to have to stand up and fight. Too many years of the most fashionable liberalism has left them weak and confused. If people act like dogs, Christian or not, someone will treat them as if they are.
I find it it difficult to understand why the West will not take action against Islam. The list of atrocities and perversions committed by Islam has grown larger every single day for nearly 1400 years, and still we as civilized people do nothing to seriously combat this menace.
Islam’s intentions are well known and well documented. There is no need to continually list more of them; the time has come to talk about the actions that must be taken to reverse the gains this perverse “religion” has made against civilization.
Couldn’t agree with you more. We must first support strong leaders like Geert Wilders who understand the Islamic threat. Also, women like Brigitte Gabriel and Aayann Hirsi Ali are important voices on the world stage. They must be supported. Purchase their books. Attend their speaking engagements. They are rational, well informed and credible speakers whose influence will spread if they are allowed to be heard. Join organizations that keep an eye on Islamists in our midst (the true enemies within). There is much we can, and must, do.
This is a battle we dare not lose.
Horrifying and Evil. The utter horror of kidnapped Christian children. Their lives forever destroyed by excessively cruel Islamo Fascists who are determined to make the children exactly like they are. The children whose G-D is the Creator; the G-D whose infinite mercy and compassion is beyond words to express and whose Biblical requirement for all humanity is KINDNESS.
Bible, Micah 6:8 And what does the L-RD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your G-D.
Why the silence from moderate Muslims? Why the silence on this crime against innocent humanity from the pro-Islam, anti-Free World UN?
Quran School
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jwii8QihT0&feature=player_embedded
G-D help these innocent, defenseless children.
It doesn’t hurt to let the Danish consulate in your city know how you, as a US citizen, object to this behavior in Denmark. Although the persecution of free speech in Denmark is an internal matter and a question that Danes must resolve for themselves, diplomatic channels provide an official venue to convey the knowledge that their canted laws are abhorrent to free people. You can also let them know that until they make it right, you are foreswearing further consumption of havarti and aquavit.
Who knew that statments of statistical facts was “hate speech”? Lunatic eurotrash weenies
Islam will be defeated. It will be too late for many. Yes, the world is is a fast down hill slide. Islam is of the Devil. Laugh if you want, I am telling you the truth. Pray and find comfort knowing that the God of Israel wins in the end. But oh the misery and death that are yet to come.
“It could be that he is speaking truthfully.” In Canada, where Orwellian-named ‘Human Rights Commissions’ are accruing more power almost daily, the truth of what is said or written IS NOT A DEFENCE. Beware, Yankee friends, because your elites want to establish similar institutions in your endangered country.