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British Government Sacrifices Free Speech
On the Altar of Islamist Appeasement
Every time one thinks that surely, the British government will not go anotherstep backward in surrendering to the demands of Islamists, our heads spin as wewatch them take one more step backward.
The latest is the outrageous detention of Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilderswhen he entered London’s Heathrow Airport, after which British authoritiesdeported Wilders back to Holland.
Why? Wilders flew to London after being invited to show his documentary Fitnain Britain’s House of Lords, in spite of being warned by the British HomeOffice that his presence in the UK would “threaten community harmony andtherefore public security.”
In other words, Islamists were protesting and there were those in the Britishgovernment who were afraid that Wilders’ visit would set off Muslim rioting or,worse yet, terrorist attacks. What’s more, as the article below notes, the UKis now deeply entrenched in Shariah-Compliant Finance – which means Islamistsnot only have demonstrations, riots and terrorism with which to threaten theBrits. They also have the power of money.
As we have pointed out many times before, Britain has shown us the path we cannottake if we want to roll back the rising tide of the supremacist ideology knownas Islamofascism. Every capitulation emboldens and empowers the Islamists, whopredictably ratchet up their demands. Concerned Brits, far too many of whomhave been silent during the past 30 years as Islamist demands and Britishappeasement have escalated, are no doubt wondering today what has happened totheir country – and if there’s still time to win it back.
Ironically, it was the great British statesman Edmund Burke who stated “Allthat is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
No society or culture – including ours – is exempt from the truth of Burke’swords. If the travesty of what has happened in Britain can occur there, it canoccur anywhere – including here – unless informed men and women of conscienceand concern choose to act.
AChamberlain Moment
By Stephen Brown
FrontPageMagazine.com| 2/13/2009
It was a watershed moment of capitulation.
On Thursday, February 12, visiting Dutch politician Geert Wilders washumiliatingly bundled back on to a plane to his native Holland shortly afterarriving in London. Wilders had been invited to show his controversial,17-minute documentary film, Fitna, in Britain’s House of Lords but waswarned in a letter from the British Home Office last Tuesday he would be deniedentry to the country. As reasons for his being declared persona non grata,Wilders was told in the letter he would “threaten community harmony andtherefore public security.” The directive never stated, however, that thestatements Wilders made in Fitna are false or misleading in any way.
A Muslim lord, Nazir Ahmed, and other Muslim leaders had vigorously protested Wilders’ visit, causing an initialinvitation to be rescinded. It was reported that Ahmed had even threatened tomobilize 10,000 fellow Muslims to block Wilders from entering Westminster, areport Ahmed now denies. A cooler-headed peer, Lord Pearson, appalled at thisattack on free speech, reissued the invitation to Wilders.
Daring the British government to put him in handcuffs, Wilders defiantly flewto Heathrow airport with the new invitation in his pocket. During the flight,Wilders expressed his opinion of Britain’s Labour government and its attempt toblock his entry, telling the TimesOnline that it was now “moreChamberlain than Churchill.”
“I am a democrat, I am serving free speech,” said Wilders. “They are not onlybeing nasty to me, they are being nasty to freedom of speech.”
But even Chamberlain would have been dismayed to see an elected democrat likeWilders, the leader of Holland’s liberal Freedom Party and the first EuropeanUnion politician ever denied access to Great Britain, escorted by twoplain-clothed guards across the tarmac to the border agency office. Accordingto the Times story, the British security men were holding Wilders sotightly, one of Wilders’ personal bodyguards asked them to relax their grips.Wilders was subsequently put into a detention center for two hours before beingunceremoniously deported back to Holland.
Many people in Britain, among them those who disagree with Fitna, areoutraged that a democratically elected member of European parliament wasrefused admittance to their country after having been invited by the House ofLords. If free speech does not exist there, in Britain’s highest democraticinstitution, some have asked, then where does it exist in Great Britain?
Those opposing the Labour government’s decision to ban Wilders also believe itis not the Dutch politician who represents a threat to “community harmony” and“public safety” in Great Britain. Wilders, after all, is a peaceful man who neverhas broken any laws but instead must have 24-hour protection himself due todeath threats from Muslim radicals. Rather, the danger to “public safety”exists in the crowd(s) that would take to the streets in response to Wilders’presence. As a result, the Dutch politician’s supporters regard his banning asrewarding the thugs and aggressors like Lord Ahmed and others of his ilk andpunishing those who would stand up for free speech and democracy.
What disturbs Wilders supporters even more is the hypocrisy surrounding theDutch filmmaker’s expulsion. In the past, Great Britain has allowed in truepreachers of hate like Muslim Brotherhood personage Yusuf al-Qaradawi, invitedby London mayor Ken Livingstone in 2004. Al-Qaradawi has justified suicide bombingsand condoned the killing of Israeli women and children because they are“militarised.” A more recent example is Ibrahim Moussawi, who was allowed toenter England last November despite his describing suicide bombers as martyrsand his having broadcast a 30-part series on the Protocols of the Elders ofZion on the television station he heads.
British columnist Melanie Phillips also points out the Britishgovernment also allows huge, pro-Hamas demonstrations and does not prevent Hizbut Tahrir from recruiting on British campuses for the jihad against theWest.
Many in Britain are disheartened and angry at their government’s unwillingnessto stand up to the Muslim extremists who threaten mass, anti-democraticintimidation. Rather than stare down that threat, the Labour government hastried to appease it, causing one British observer to comment he now knows whatit was like in the mid-1930s when Nazism was on the rise.
One reason for such disgraceful appeasement is that London is regarded as theheadquarters for Europe’s jihadists. The Labour Party’s Home Secretary,whose department issued Wilders the persona non grata letter lastTuesday, said there are so many Islamist terrorist plots in preparation inGreat Britain, the security services are having difficulties in keeping tabs onthem all. It is feared a Wilders visit would have provoked the extremists at atime the Labour government is trying to “reach out” to Muslims to the pointwhere it is even running television ads in Pakistan, essentially askingyoung Muslims not to hate Britain and the West.
Another is that Muslim voters now form large constituencies in Labour ridings.Few politicians, as everyone knows, are willing to take tough stands when votesare at stake. And besides losing votes, it is believed the British governmentis also afraid of losing Muslim money. Great Britain now has five“sharia-compliant” banks that contain $18 billion in assets, more than Muslimstates like Pakistan. Prime Minister Gordon Brown once said his goal was tomake London the center of world Islamic banking. Allowing Wilders into thecountry would not have helped in this respect.
By banning Wilders from England, the Labour government has sent a clear messagethat Islam cannot be criticized. But by stifling free speech, the cornerstoneof freedom and democracy, in this manner and appeasing a thuggish minority, ithas set itself up for far worse consequences. But hopefully by then, theBritish people will have decided to take action themselves, reverse this trendtowards humiliation and disaster, and re-establish the great legacy of theirancestors.
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