Entries Tagged 'cartoon censorship' ↓
February 15th, 2008 — Afghanistan, Atlas Shrugs, CAIR, Canada, Doctor Bulldog and Ronin, Ezra Levant, Islam, Michael Savage, Sharia, Turkey, Winds of Jihad, blog censorship, cartoon censorship, censorship, censorware, military, mobile web
Blogosphere Victory over Jihadist Mole
Hesham Islam, if you recall, is the Islamist mole who maneuvered his patron and mentor, Gordon England, into firing Steve Coughlin, the Pentagon’s only expert on Islamic law.
Hesham Islam’s ‘resume didn’t add up,’ official says
Thanx to Weasel Zippers
In a stunning turn of events, a high-level Muslim military aide blamed for costing an intelligence contractor his job will step down from his own Pentagon post, WND has learned.
Meanwhile, his rival, Maj. Stephen Coughlin, a leading authority on Islamic war doctrine, may stay in the Pentagon, moving from the office of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the office of the secretary of defense. However, sources say a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey is trying to block his new contract.
The top Pentagon aide, Egyptian-born Hesham H. Islam, came under a cloud of suspicion after reports raised doubt about his resume and contacts he had made with radical Muslims. He is expected to leave the government next month, officials say.
Islam and Coughlin recently quarreled over intelligence briefings Coughlin presented showing a close connection between the religion of Islam and terrorism. Coughlin’s contract with the Joint Chiefs, which ends in March, was not renewed.
The Power of the Bloggers:
But as a result of the ensuing firestorm that played out in the conservative press – led by Washington Times Pentagon reporter Bill Gertz – Islam was put under a microscope, and questions were raised regarding his background…
Hesham Islam has been in the new recently. Well, not really. He has been covered by conservative news sites like World Net Daily, NRO and The Washington Times but there’s been precious little MSM coverage outside of that. Bloggers have also covered the news.
I wrote about it here. You can catch other stories at 1389 Blog, Atlas Shrugs, The Jawa Report and elsewhere.
Hesham is a close friend, confidant and advisor to Gordon England. England is the #2 man at the Department of Defense. The problem is that Hesham is also something of a mystery. Despite a DoD published biographical profile which described his early life as akin to a Hollywood thriller, there was more to Islam than met the eye. It all came to light after Hesham Islam used his influence to punish Stephen Coughlin, possibly the best Islamic analyst at the Pentagon. Coughlin’s contract was not renewed after Islam described him as a “Christian zealot with a poison pen”. That statement came after Coughlin’s Pentagon reports became increasingly alarmist with respect to Islamic activity which precipitated an ideological conflict with Hesham Islam…
Blogosphere Victory for Ezra Levant
Ezra Levant has been prosecuted by the Alberta Human Rights Commission for having published the Muhammad cartoons.
Excellent! Chalk one up for freedom of speech. Also, Ezra Levant says he is going to sue Syed Soharwardy for the thousands of dollars in legal fees! Go get ‘em, Ezra!!!
Muslim leader drops Ezra Levant cartoon complaint
Western Standard publisher plans to launch a civil lawsuit
Graeme Morton, Canwest News Service February 12, 2008
National Post —CALGARY — Calgary Muslim leader Syed Soharwardy says he is withdrawing his Alberta Human Rights Commission complaint against former Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant.
The complaint was launched in February 2006, after the Western Standard and the Jewish Free Press reprinted cartoons from a Danish newspaper that many in the Muslim world felt insulted the prophet Muhammad. The cartoons sparked violent protests in a number of countries…
This guy is the greatest.
HUDNA! (hat tip Josef)
Today Syed Soharwardy told the Calgary Herald editorial board that he is withdrawing his human rights complaint against me that he filed two years ago when I published the Danish cartoons of Mohammed. (Seriously, if you haven’t done so, you’ve really got to look at his hand-scrawled complaint here. I know dyslexic ten-year-olds with ADD who are more coherent.)
If he’s really withdrawing the complaint, this is the first I’ve heard about it; and when I spoke with my lawyer this afternoon, the complaint was still proceeding against me.
It might be a lie — it wouldn’t be Soharwardy’s first, but then again, lying to an infidel newspaper isn’t immoral to someone like Soharwardy. It’s called taqqiyah.
But even if Soharwardy withdraws his complaint against me, an identical complaint filed by the Edmonton Muslim Council still proceeds.
So why would Soharwardy do this — and why now?
The answer lies in another Arabic word: hudna. A hudna isn’t a peace treaty. It’s a temporary truce called by a Muslim warrior who’s losing in battle. It’s pretty easy to understand how hudnas work by watching Israel fight Hamas and Hezbollah. Those two terrorist groups lob rockets and send suicide bombers into Israel for months; then, every once in a while, Israel deploys its military and flattens Hamas and Hezbollah, who then call for a hudna. The UN intervenes, saving Hamas and Hezbollah to fight another day. That’s a hudna: a tactical truce for a strategic advantage.
Soharwardy wants a hudna because he’s osing badly. Not financially: he hasn’t spent a penny to further the complaint against me — that has been done courtesy of Ed Stelmach’s government and the taxpayers of Alberta, to the tune of $500,000, I’d guess. Nor has Soharwardy had to spend hundreds of hours battling against me at the commission — Alberta government employees do that for him. It’s because over the past two years — and the past month in particular — Soharwardy has become known for what he is: an Islamofascist imam, who’s trying to bring Saudi values to Canada. Though I’m being pummelled in a kangaroo court, he’s being pummelled in the court of public opinion. He didn’t expect it, and he hates it.
He hates that hundreds of bloggers ridicule him. He hates that my video clips, in which I describe his illiberal nature, have been viewed almost 500,000 times. He hates that his own enemies within his mosque have taken advantage of this media coverage to shine a light of scrutiny on the way he runs his mosque - from his financial irregularities, to his abusive treatment of women.
There’s much more. Go!
What does the Afghan Constitution really say?
Does the new Constitution of Afghanistan actually mandate shari’a law – including the death penalty for blasphemy – or not?
By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
February 11, 2008
(CNSNews.com) – The death penalty given to an Afghan journalist accused of insulting Islam has more to do with judges’ interpretation of the country’s laws than with a constitutional provision entrenching Islamic primacy, according to a leading scholar in Islamic law.
The Afghan government has reiterated its assurance that President Hamid Karzai will “find a just solution” to the case of Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh. A statement released by the Afghan Embassy in Washington said that this would be done “in accordance with Afghan law and our nation’s international obligations.”
A three-judge court in northern Afghanistan on January 22 sentenced the 23-year-old to death, after he was accused of distributing to students an online article questioning why Muslim men may have more than one spouse while women may not…
Broadcast Radio Talk Show Censorship
Silencing the truth tellers – run amok.
From my comrade Ron over at Rocket’s Brain:
Need I say more re the political hit and removal of the Mark Fuhrman Radio Show.
Mapleton LLC is the group that bought these stations from Citadel Broadcasting. A key factor in this sale was the termination of the Mark Fuhrman Show.
Not available on the Net yet but from the today’s S-R’s Business
Section:
S-R to broadcast on Mapleton Stations
The Spokesman-Review will begin producing radio news reports that will be broadcast over stations owned by Mapleton Communications LLC in
Spokane under an agreement announced Tuesday.
At least four daily
newscasts, plus a weekend talk show and a week-in-review program, will be broadcast from the Spokesman-Review building . . .
Isn’t it enough that it is estimated the Cowles Co control 80% of the local media in our market? As I write in a reply (draft form) to the new Spokesman-Review Ombudsman:
Because of the significant amount of property that the Cowles Co owns or controls in Downtown Spokane and along the Spokane River to the Idaho border, there inherently is a conflict of interest regarding its involvement in development projects and reporting by the S-R. A close analogy is the period genre movie Chinatown. River Park Square is only one of several projects where there is a similar pattern and practice in quasi public/private developments where the public was defrauded.
Friends of Mark Fuhrman Radio Show
The unofficial fan site of Mark Fuhrman Radio Show that was squelched in my opinion by the "usual suspects." This list is dedicated to pursuing among other things the River Park Square fraud et al in Spokane, WA and other related topics that you will never read about in the Spokesman-Review. Read regular updates from Fuhrman Show regulars, Larry Shook, Tim Conner, Cherie Rodgers, former Spokane Mayor John Talbott, Dick Adams, "Ron the Cop" and others.
nar9350@gmail.com
Recent posts at the blog Rockets Brain:
A complaint for the new S-R Ombudsman
To the Citizens of Spokane – Time to take a stand!
An Army of Davids Strikes – Spokane, WA
"All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing"
As many of you now know the Mark Fuhrman Radio Show was axed by KGA1510 AM (Citadel Broadcasting) in Spokane, WA.
. . .
I have information from a reliable source that the Fuhrman Show was in play from the very first contact by Mapleton representatives with Citadel about purchasing KGA. IMHO this was a "hit" plain and simple by a criminal enterprise to cover its ongoing robbery of the citizens of Spokane. This criminal enterprise has so thoroughly and systemically corrupted the political and governmental bodies in Spokane to a level I’ve never witnessed before in my entire thirty-five year law enforcement career. . .
Other News and Commentary:
February 13th, 2008 — Europe, Islam, Sharia, activism, cartoon censorship, censorship, counterjihad, terrorism
News Roundup
The Mo-toons are back in the news – and it’s all about Islamic terrorism versus freedom of the press:
COPENHAGEN – Danish authorities arrested three people yesterday on charges of plotting a cartoonist’s assassination for his depiction of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban that enraged Muslims two years ago.
Three of Denmark’s largest newspapers said they would reprint the cartoon today to show they would not be intimidated by fanatics. It was one of 12 Mohammed cartoons published in 2005 and then again in 2006 that led to protests in Muslim countries.
Investigators said they foiled the plot in its early stages in a pre-dawn raid in the western Denmark city of Aarhus. The police intelligence agency, PET, said two Tunisians and a Danish citizen of Moroccan origin were arrested.
“The case shows that, unfortunately, there are in Denmark groups of extremists that do not accept and respect the basic principles on which the Danish democracy has been built,” Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems to me that the plotters may be getting away with little more than a slap on the wrist.
By JAN M. OLSEN
Associated Press Writer
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Danish police said Tuesday they have arrested three people suspected of plotting to kill one of the 12 cartoonists behind the Prophet Muhammad drawings that sparked a deadly uproar in the Muslim world two years ago.
Two Tunisians and a Dane of Moroccan origin were arrested in pre-dawn raids in western Denmark, the police intelligence agency said.
The Dane was suspected of violating Danish terror laws but likely would be released after questioning as the investigation continues, said Jakob Scharf, the head of the PET intelligence service. The two Tunisians would be expelled from Denmark, he said…
Danish newspapers stand up for freedom
COPENHAGEN (AFP) — Several Danish newspapers reprinted on Wednesday a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed that caused bloody riots in the Islamic world two years ago, a move that prompted Iran to angrily summon Denmark’s ambassador.
Three of Denmark’s biggest dailies were among 17 that published the cartoon, vowing to defend freedom of expression a day after police foiled a plot to murder the cartoonist.
The caricature, which featured the prophet’s head with a turban that looked like a bomb with a lit fuse, was one of 12 cartoons published in September 2005 by the Jyllands-Posten daily.
The controversy sparked violent protests in a number of Muslim countries in January and February 2006 that culminated with the torching of Danish diplomatic offices in Damascus and Beirut and the death of dozens of people in Nigeria, Libya and Pakistan.
French papers lend their support
Spiegel Online – 16. February 2007
DANISH CARICATURES ON TRIAL IN FRANCE. A French republication of the controversial Muhammad cartoons from Denmark has led to a fierce legal battle. But France’s politicians — in a year when some of them are running for president — are clearly on the side of satire … By Stefan Simons
France’s satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo was taken to court by Islamic groups in France for reprinting the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Sales shot from 60,000 to 400,000.
The style of debate was intellectually on a par with that of any literary salon; the legal arguments will be sure to enter the canon of every lawyer’s professional training; and the appearances made by high-ranking representatives of science and politics were often reminiscent of high theater. When Muslim organizations sued French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, everyone posed — in unexpected ways — as defenders of this or that French tradition. (…)
Norwegian papers, on the other hand…
Norway’s major newspapers have no plans to publish the controversial “Mohammad Cartoons”, following the decision by Denmark’s leading newspapers to reprint them today
The cartoons depict the Prophet Mohammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban, a move that irritated Muslim leaders.
The Danish papers said they wanted to show their firm commitment to freedom of speech after Tuesday’s arrest in Denmark of three people accused of plotting to kill the man who drew the cartoon.
More coverage:
Murder plot against Danish cartoonist
(Jyllands-Posten, English article)
Early Tuesday morning, Danish police arrested several people with a Muslim background suspected of conspiring to kill Kurt Westergaard, a Danish cartoonist with Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten.
Apparently the would-be murderers are two Tunisians (who will be deported) and a 40-year old Danish citizen of Moroccan descent, who’ll be released after interrogation. The police have known about the plans for at least 3 months:
(Danish text, my translation):
“When I came home, three bodyguards were standing with guns. We were told that we could do whatever we wanted. As long as we disappeared from our homes.”
[. . .] the threat has never been as concrete as the information that the Security and Intelligence Service (PET) brought to him 3 months ago: “They want to kill you. They will do it here in your home. They know where you live. And they know your home well enough that they have been able to draw a basic plan over the design of the house.”
Spiegel February 13 2008
Viby: Authorities in Denmark have foiled what came close to becoming the first assassination of one of the cartoonists behind the 2006 Muhammad caricature scandal. SPIEGEL ONLINE spoke to Flemming Rose, the editor responsible for commissioning the caricatures in Jyllands-Posten, who has also been the subject of death threats.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Rose, today three man were arrested who are suspected of having planned the murder (more…) of Muhammad cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. Are you surprised that, two years after the Muhammad cartoon crisis, there are still people under threat?
Flemming Rose: Unfortunately it doesn’t come as a surprise to me. I have known about the threat for a while and last year three young men were convicted of conspiring to plan a terrorist act somewhere in Denmark. Part of their plan was also to attack Jyllands-Posten. And in the first phase of their planning, they also discussed killing me. (…)
But wait, there’s more!
February 12th, 2008 — Israel, YouTube, anti-Semitism, cartoon censorship, enemy propaganda, hate, terrorism, video
The children’s jihad, brought to you by Hamas
Fellow newsblogger Cristy Li passed this along to me:
Yes, it’s that disgusting.
Here’s a screen shot of the video:
Assud, the Hamas propaganda rabbit:
Nahoul, the Hamas propaganda bee
Farfur, the Hamas propaganda mouse
Live-action child abuse, brought to you by Hamas
Know your children’s enemy: Hamas
Our side has been playing whack-a-mole with Hamas kiddie hate propaganda for quite some time.
Palestinian Authority Television For Children, under the control of Mahmoud Abbas, has now introduced ‘Assud the Rabbit’ on its weekly “Tomorrows Pioneers” program.
Farfur Mouse was first introduced but martyred by a Jew, then Nahoul Bee died when the Israeli siege of Gaza prevented him from reaching a hospital. Tomorrows Pioneers have now introduced Assud the Rabbit telling children, “…I Assud will finish off the Jews and eat them…”
What lovable characters courtesy of Hamas, teaching children to hate Jewish people and Israel.
Update: Mo-Toons and Cannibalism
You can’t make this stuff up. Rearing a generation of cannibals. Good luck with that …and Obama wants to talk to these guys right? The West is lost ….. From Palestinian Media Watch.
Hamas Kids TV: Don’t eat Danish food — eat the Danes
Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas) Feb. 22, 2008
By Itamar Marcus And Barbara Crook
Hamas children’s TV dedicated a program to hatred of Denmark, the West and Israel, climaxing with a statement about the West by the co-host, a giant rabbit character named Assud:
“If they repeat it we will kill them … I will bite them and eat them!”
The program focuses on the demand to boycott Danish and Israeli products. Denmark and the West are targeted because of the cartoons featuring Muhammad that first appeared in a Danish newspaper. Israel is targeted because it exists. Saraa, the young TV hostess, describes the publication of the Muhammad cartoons as “the West’s attack against the Messenger [Muhammad].”
[Read the rest.]
More:
January 28th, 2008 — Canada, Ezra Levant, Mark Steyn, blog censorship, blogging, cartoon censorship, censorship, counterjihad
Then be sure to visit these two Canadian blogs!
January 25th, 2008 — Canada, Ezra Levant, Gramfan (author), Islam, Sharia, YouTube, cartoon censorship, censorship, political correctness, video
Ezra Levant is a lawyer, blogger, and journalist who was recently compelled to appear before a “human rights” commission in Alberta, Canada, to account for his decision to publish the Danish cartoons of Mohammed in Western Standard Magazine. Full details on his battle for freedom of speech and the press in Canada are on Ezra Levant’s blog.
(H/T: Winds of Jihad)
Also see:
Want to complain about this infringement on free speech?
Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission
Northern Regional Office
800 Standard Life Centre
10405 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 4R7
Confidential Inquiry Line (780) 427-7661
Fax (780) 427-6013
Southern Regional Office
Suite 310, 525 – 11 Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T2R 0C9
Confidential Inquiry Line (403) 297-6571
Fax (403) 297-6567
humanrights@gov.ab.ca
Free speech for the counterjihad: Why we are all in this together
Ezra Levant is far from alone in confronting the forces of government censorship and “political correctness” that seek to muzzle and strangle every voice in the counterjihad. Here are just a few recent instances of draconian pro-jihadist censorship that seeks only to keep the truth from coming out:
Your favorite blog could be next!
More:
(Also on FHK)
January 23rd, 2008 — Canada, Ezra Levant, Islam, Mark Steyn, Sharia, YouTube, cartoon censorship, censorship, litigation jihad, political correctness
(H/T: Gramfan)
More:
January 20th, 2008 — Canada, Ezra Levant, Foehammer's Anvil, Mark Steyn, YouTube, cartoon censorship, censorship, counterjihad, litigation jihad, political correctness, video
Who is Ezra Levant?
Ezra Levant is a lawyer, blogger, and journalist who was recently compelled to appear before a “human rights” commission in Alberta, Canada, to account for his decision to publish the Danish cartoons of Mohammed in Western Standard Magazine. Full details on his battle for freedom of speech and the press in Canada are on Ezra Levant’s blog.
Ezra Levant has delivered one of the most ringing, eloquent defenses of freedom of speech and the press ever given.
For readers tuning in for the first time, here’s a quick summary of what’s going on.
- Two years ago, the now-defunct Western Standard magazine reprinted the Danish cartoons of Mohammed. I was the publisher.
-
In response, a radical Muslim imam named Syed Soharwardy asked the Calgary Police Service to arrest me. They didn’t, of course. So Soharwardy complained to the Alberta Human Rights Commission, a government agency. Here’s his hand-scrawled complaint [pdf]; here’s my reply [pdf]. For two years, using government lawyers and taxpayers money, they have been pursuing me, infringing on my natural rights of free speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion.
-
On January 11th, a government “human rights officer” interrogated me for 90 minutes. Instead of bowing my head, I used the opportunity to challenge the moral and legal basis of the complaint, and the human rights commission itself.
-
I recorded the interrogation and posted video clips to YouTube. In the past week, they have been viewed nearly 400,000 times and were at one point the fifth most watched videos on all of YouTube. Though Canadian talk radio shows and op-ed columnists have covered the story well, I have seen only one newspaper report on the subject. I can’t understand why mainstream reporters and editors do not think it’s newsworthy that a publisher can be summoned by a government bureaucrat, and grilled as to his political thoughts. I’m pleased, though, that the support from pundits has come not just from the right, but from the enlightened left.
-
I’ve got some ideas of what people can do. Although my case is being prosecuted by the hapless, lame-duck provincial government of Alberta, it is politically more likely that change will come first to the federal Canadian Human Rights Commission. That commission is currently hounding columnist Mark Steyn on similar thought crime charges.
-
The blog posts below expand on various details of the case. If you are interested in the videos, they are all posted below, with commentary [see Ezra Levant's blog]…
What was your intent?
The real violence in Edmonton
I don’t answer to the state
Entitled to my opinion?
Attributes of free speech
How does the commission make decisions?
Closing argument
Details of the complaint
Also see:
Want to complain about this infringement on free speech?
Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission
Northern Regional Office
800 Standard Life Centre
10405 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 4R7
Confidential Inquiry Line (780) 427-7661
Fax (780) 427-6013
Southern Regional Office
Suite 310, 525 – 11 Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta T2R 0C9
Confidential Inquiry Line (403) 297-6571
Fax (403) 297-6567
humanrights@gov.ab.ca
Free speech for the counterjihad: Why we are all in this together
Ezra Levant is far from alone in confronting the forces of government censorship and “political correctness” that seek to muzzle and strangle every voice in the counterjihad. Here are just a few recent instances of draconian pro-jihadist censorship that seeks only to keep the truth from coming out:
Your favorite blog could be next!
More:
January 18th, 2008 — Europe, Lionheart, Russia, cartoon censorship, censorship, counterjihad, litigation jihad
More and more writers, bloggers, and publishers face prison, financial ruin, or death.
BELARUS (Reuters) – Belarus on Friday jailed for three years an editor of an independent newspaper who reproduced cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that first appeared in Denmark in 2005 and caused mass demonstrations across the Muslim world.
The 12 cartoons portraying the founder of Islam, including one showing the prophet with a bomb in his turban, outraged Muslims who saw them as blasphemous. More than 50 people died in protests across the world the following year.
Belarussian authorities shut down the “Zgoda” (Consensus) paper in March 2006, around the time when other European journals began reprinting the cartoons. The security service, still known by its Soviet-era name, the KGB, began an investigation after Muslims in the ex-Soviet state complained.
Editor Alexander Sdvizhkov was sentenced to three years in jail in a closed session of the court for incitement of religious and national hatred.
“May God and the holy cross be with us,” Sdvizhkov said afterwards. His lawyer said she would appeal.
Muslims constitute about two or three percent of the 10 million residents of the country wedged between Russia and three members of the European Union. The Muslim community had called for leniency in the case.
Miklos Haraszti, media freedom representative for the 56-nation Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, protested against Sdvizhkov’s jailing, calling the case against him “shocking” and saying he should be freed.
“Persecution of journalists for trying to inform the public on important issues is a misuse of hate speech laws,” Haraszti said in a statement from Vienna. “In fact the Belarus government has used the international controversy around the cartoons as a pretext to eliminate a critical voice from public life.”
President Alexander Lukashenko is accused by the West of ruling the country with an iron grip, jailing opponents, shutting down independent media and rigging polls, including his own re-election to a third term in 2006.
(Reporting by Andrey Makhovsky in Minsk; writing by Sabina Zawadzki)
Lionheart is NOT the only blogger under threat.
All of us in the counterjihad are in this together!
- Click HERE to see the famous cartoons up close…
- Click HERE to join Michelle Malkin’s cartoon blogburst!
More:
Also at Fort Hard Knox.
