Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.
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Islamists’ Catch-22
Monday, July 07, 2008
Try a little thought experiment. What would have happened in
this country during the Cold War if the Soviet Union successfully
neutralized anti-communists opposed to the Kremlin’s plans for world
domination?
Of course, Moscow strove to discredit those in America and elsewhere
who opposed its totalitarian agenda – especially after Sen. Joseph
McCarthy’s excesses made it fashionable to vilify patriots by accusing
them of believing communists were "under every bed."
But what if the USSR and its ideological soul-mates in places like
China, North Korea, Cuba, Eastern Europe and parts of Africa had been
able to criminalize efforts to oppose their quest for the triumph of
world communism? What if it had been an internationally prosecutable
offense even to talk about the dangers inherent in communist rule
and the need to resist it?
The short answer is that history might very well have come out
differently. Had courageous anti-communists been unable accurately
and forcefully to describe the nature of that time’s enemy – and to
work against the danger posed by its repressive, seditious program,
the Cold War might well have been lost.
Flash forward to today. At the moment, another totalitarian ideology
characterized by techniques and global ambitions strikingly similar
to those of yesteryear’s communists is on the march. It goes by
varying names: "Islamofascism," "Islamism," "jihadism" or "radical,"
"extremist" or "political Islam." Unlike the communists, however,
adherents to this ideology are making extraordinary strides in Western
societies toward criminalizing those who dare oppose the Islamist
end-state – the imposition of brutal Shariah Law on Muslims and
non-Muslims alike.
Consider but a few indicators of this ominous progress:
* In March, the 57 Muslim-state Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) prevailed upon the United Nations Human Rights Council to adopt
a resolution requiring the effective evisceration of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Henceforth, the guaranteed right of free
expression will not extend to any criticism of Islam, on the grounds
that it amounts to an abusive act of religious discrimination. A UN
Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression has been charged with
documenting instances in which individuals and media organizations
engage in what the Islamists call "Islamophobia." Not to be outdone,
the OIC has its own "ten-year program of action" which will monitor
closely all Islamophobic incidents and defamatory statements around
the world.
* Monitoring is just the first step. Jordan’s Prosecutor General
has recently brought charges against Dutch Parliamentarian Geert
Wilders. According to a lawsuit, "Fitna" – Wilders’ short documentary
film that ties certain Koranic passages to Islamist terrorism – is said
to have slandered and insulted the Prophet Mohammed, demeaned Islam
and offended the feelings of Muslims in violation of the Jordanian
penal code. Mr. Wilders has been summoned to Amman to stand trial
and, if he fails to appear voluntarily, international warrants for
his arrest will be issued.
Zakaria Al-Sheikh, head of the "Messenger of Allah Unites Us Campaign"
which is the plaintiff in the Jordanian suit, reportedly has "confirmed
that the [prosecutor’s action] is the first step towards setting in
place an international law criminalizing anyone who insults Islam and
the Prophet Mohammed." In the meantime, his campaign is trying to
penalize the nations that have spawned "Islamophobes" like Wilders
and the Danish cartoonists by boycotting their exports – unless the
producers publicly denounce the perpetrators both in Jordan and in
their home media.
O Unfortunately, it is not just some companies that are
submitting to this sort of coercion – a status known in Islam as
"dhimmitude." Western officials and governmental entities appear
increasingly disposed to go along with such efforts to mutate warnings
about Shariah law and its adherents from "politically incorrect" to
"criminally punishable" activity.
For example, in Britain, Canada and even the United States, the
authorities are declining to describe the true threat posed by Shariah
Law and are using various techniques to discourage – and in some cases,
prosecute – those who do. We are witnessing the spectacle of authors’
books being burned, ministers prosecuted, documentary film-makers
investigated and journalists hauled before so-called "Human Rights
Councils" on charges of offending Muslims, slandering Islam or other
"Islamophobic" conduct.
Jurists on both sides of the Atlantic are acceding to the insinuation
of Shariah law in their courts. And Wall Street is increasingly joining
other Western capital markets in succumbing to the seductive Trojan
Horse of "Shariah-Compliant Finance."
Let’s be clear: The Islamists are trying to establish a kind of
Catch-22: If you point out that they seek to impose a barbaric,
repressive and seditious Shariah Law, you are insulting their faith
and engaging in unwarranted, racist and bigoted fear-mongering. On
the other hand, pursuant to Shariah, you must submit to that
theo-political-legal program. If you don’t, you can legitimately
be killed. It is not an irrational fear to find that prospect
unappealing. And it is not racist or bigoted to decry and oppose
Islamist efforts to bring it about – ask the anti-Islamist Muslims
who are frequently accused of being Islamophobes!
If we go along with our enemies’ demands to criminalize Islamophobia,
we will mutate Western laws, traditions, values and societies beyond
recognition. Ultimately, today’s totalitarian ideologues will triumph
where their predecessors were defeated.
To avoid such a fate, those who love freedom must oppose the seditious
program the Islamists call Shariah – and all efforts to impose its
1st Amendment-violating blasphemy, slander and libel laws on us in
the guise of preventing Western Islamophobia.