THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume X, Issue # 263, October 11, 2008
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
LAWFUL ISLAMISM'S GREATEST ATTACK YET:
THE OIC RESOLUTION AGAINST DEFAMING RELIGION
By Supna Zaidi
THE WEST & THE INTERNAL ISLAMIST THREAT: ISLAMISTS INFILTRATING WESTERN SOCIETIES & EMPLOYING
NON-VIOLENT & LEGAL STRATEGIES TO UNDERMINE WESTERN CULTURE -- THE ISLAMIST ENDEAVOR TO SPREAD SHARIA
IN THE WEST -- ISLAMISTS ATTACKING THE VERY FABRIC OF CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY IN FAVOR OF ISLAM IN THE
PUBLIC SPHERE -- VIOLATING THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF SEPARATION OF GOVERNMENT & RELIGION -- SEEKING TO
DENY CHRISTIANS & OTHER NON-MUSLIMS THE BASIC RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH & RELIGION & TO EQUAL STATUS &
TREATMENT UNDER THE LAW -- THE "DEFAMATION OF RELIGION" RESOLUTION & THE WEST'S ISLAMIST ENEMIES IN THE
UNITED NATIONS & ITS AGENCIES
FULL STORY:
Have you seen the little old lady who passes out Jehovah's Witness literature in your neighborhood? Some people stop
and show interest. Others roll their eyes, and keep walking. But, would you ever expect anyone to threaten her? Call her a
racist, and try to get her arrested?
Islamists would. And that is exactly what happened to two English Christian ministers who had the nerve to proselytize
on a street corner in a predominantly Muslim immigrant area in the United Kingdom in 2007.
Such freedom of speech violations won't be an anomaly if the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which has a
permanent delegation to the United Nations, succeeds in passing a UN resolution against "Defamation of Religion"
Noboby in a Western country will be able to discuss the socio-political consequences of Muslim immigration, for fear of
being labeled "Islamophobic" and slapped with a fine, or even jail time.
Islamists are increasingly using lawful Islamism, i.e., employing non-violent and legal strategies to spread Sharia, (Islamic
law) in the West, thereby encroaching on non-Muslim life everyday. Other examples of Islamists' efforts to undermine
Western culture include:
Sharia Finance;
Islam in public schools;
Violations of basic hygiene policy by Muslim medical staff;
Workplace violations in the name of religious freedom;
Censorship of literature.
Under the banner of "religious freedom," Islamists attack the very fabric of constitutional democracy in favor of Islam in
the public sphere. The above examples are not examples of pluralism, but a violation of the separation of church and state
doctrine meant to keep people of all faiths, or no faith, equal under the law. Liberals have forgotten that secularism is not a
free-for-all, but has boundaries in order to remain meaningful.
Freedom of speech has already been attacked repeatedly. Islamists tried to censor criticism of Islamist terrorism when the
Muhammad cartoons were published in Jyllens-Posten in 2005. Strangely enough, the "cartoon intifada" arose 5
months after their original printing, but only weeks before the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) was due to consider the OIC's resolution on "Combating Defamation of Religion."
Such a coincidence caused the National Secular Society to state in its Memorandum (Section E, point 2) to the UK
Parliament that --
". . . the Danish cartoon crisis was manufactured … to exploit
sensitivities around racial discrimination and to promote (or
even exaggerate) the notion of "Islamophobia" in order to
restrict possibilities for open discussion or criticism of Islam.
. . . measures calling for legislation banning 'defamation of
religion' …. aim to remove religion, especially Islam, from
public scrutiny and public debate."
If any religion is to be integrated into the daily social, economic, and political life of a nation, it must open the door for
evaluation of its goals and application. Otherwise, OIC nations will be able to govern unilaterally without respect to
international law. Consider the following precedent.
Saudi Arabia ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in
2000, with reservations, stating, "In case of contradiction between any term of the Convention and the norms of Islamic
law, the Kingdom [of Saudi Arabia] is not under obligation to observe the contradictory terms of the Convention."
Thus, Saudi Arabia confirms that it will only offer lip service to human rights by signing documents like the CEDAW
charter. It will not actually improve the status of women, because it is a theocracy, and every move a woman makes is
governed by Islamic law. CEDAW can do nothing for them. Moreover, if the Defamation of Religion resolution is passed,
all human rights activists will feel even greater censorship, since protests from abroad will be construed as racism.
Consider the "Qatif girl" case. A Saudi girl was gang-raped in 2005 and blamed for it, since she was in the presence of
unrelated men when it happened. Her attorney lost his license for challenging the Saudi courts. Only after generating
global media pressure, did the situation change in her favor. The Saudi King pardoned her and the attorney got his
license reinstated. In a post- Defamation of Religion world, the attorney would have been trapped, unable to help the girl,
and would have been disbarred, if he dared to challenge Saudi Islamic law.
Lastly, the OIC resolution must fail because it is patently hypocritical. While professing great sensitivity toward religion,
OIC member-states ironically regularly fail to show any respect for other faiths:
Saudi Arabia continues to use bigoted textbooks, and export
them to American Islamic schools, despite promises to change.
Iran sponsored a Holocaust cartoon contest in retaliation for
the Danish cartoons of Muhammad in 2005. Yet, Jews had
nothing to do with the Jyllands-Posten newspaper.
Pakistan's blasphemy laws attack Christians as a pretext for
personal disputes.
The Defamation of Religion resolution is a free pass for Islamists to continue denigrating other religions and minorities
through lawful Islamism. It ties the hands of any politician that questions the spread of Islamism in the West, and
prevents critical evaluation of the treatment of women and minorities in Muslim societies.
Liberal and Conservative citizens of the West must work together to prevent this resolution from passing in the UN.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Fifth Column -- America's Internal Enemies:
Disloyalty, Subversion, Sedition, & Treason
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Supna Zaidi is Editor-in-Chief of Muslim World Today and Assistant Director of Islamist Watch at the Middle
East Forum.
The foregoing article by Supna Zaidi was originally published in Muslim World Today, October 10, 2008, and
can be found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank which seeks to
define and promote American interests in the Middle East, defining U.S. interests to include fighting radical Islam,
working for Palestinian Arab acceptance of the State of Israel, improving the management of U.S. efforts to promote
constitutional democracy in the Middle East, reducing America's energy dependence on the Middle East, more robustly
asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia, and countering the Iranian threat.
(Article URL: http://www.meforum.org/article/1994)
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
October 11, 2008
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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