Mark Steyn's Muslim Nemesis Sues Another Free Speech Champion

When we last left law student Khurrum Awan and his pals at the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), they’d been turned into international laughingstocks.

That’s a pretty predictable outcome when you sue Mark Steyn and Canada’s oldest newsmagazine for “Islamophobic hate speech” — after Steyn & co. simply quoted some Muslim supremacists in their very own words boasting about their plans to take over the West by “outbreeding” the infidels.

Awan and his fellow belligerents lost, but not until Maclean’s magazine shelled out an estimated $2 million in their own defense.

(The Muslim troublemakers had all their legal fees paid for by Canadian taxpayers.)

I’ve written about that case, and others, in my book The Tyranny of Nice.

Now, another “character” in that book, broadcaster and publisher Ezra Levant, is the one being hounded by Khurram Aman.

You see, Levant attended Steyn’s trial and live-blogged it in his own inimitable — that is, cheeky and candid — fashion to the delight of readers.

Every reader except Awan, who as the leader of the so-called CIC “sockpuppets,” was the target of much of Levant’s tart criticism.

Awan sued Levant for libel back then.

The case is finally in court.

Ezra Levant is no stranger to controversy, of course.

I’ve written before of his famous battles with Canada’s censorious human rights commissions and their kangaroo courts.

Levant’s leadership eventually led to the repeal of our most hated “hate speech” legislation, Section 13.

These days, Ezra — he’s one of the only Canadian public figures who is more commonly referred to by his given name, both by fans and foes — fights other causes as a bestselling author, and as a television host for the Sun News Network.

If he gets in legal trouble for something he broadcasts, his bosses will pick up the tab.

However, Awan sued Levant before he went to work for Sun.

So as he’s been forced to do before, Ezra is asking lovers of liberty everywhere to contribute to his legal defense fund:

Today in a Toronto court, Khurrum Awan is suing me for critical comments I wrote at the Maclean’s hearing in 2008.

I said nothing that hadn’t been said by many critics across the political spectrum, who universally condemned the nuisance suit.

Quite true: To cite just one example, another sharp-tongued Canadian columnist dubbed Awan “the boy extortionist,” but he isn’t being sued.

Ezra continues:

But the rest of the media soon dropped the free speech cause. I turned it into an ongoing campaign. So time to apply the “strategic objective” to me. (…)

I’ll save my comments on the specifics of the lawsuits for the court. But it’s not about specifics.

It’s about silencing political opponents.

The lawsuit was filed before I joined QMI Agency [Sun News].

I don’t have a financial benefactor like Awan does.

So please visit my website StandWithEzra.ca to learn how you can help me fight for freedom.