Ezra Levant and Freedom of Speech
Someone quite famous once said that ‘liberty doesn’t defend itself’. It takes people like Ezra Levant to get involved.
Ezra Levant is the publisher of the Western Standard, a Canadian magazine that chose to publish the Mohammed cartoons in 2006. As a consequence of that decision, he is being prosecuted by Alberta’s Human Rights Commission for committing a hate crime.
This is his opening statement to the Commission. It is a simply magnificent defence of the right to free speech.
The case has been brought by Syed Soharwardy, a radical Muslim imam trained at an anti-Semitic Saudi University who advocates Sharia Law for Canada. The Canadian taxpayer is footing the bill for the prosecution, whilst the magazine must pay for its own defence.
When asked why he published cartoons that ‘made life dangerous for Muslims’, he replied that ‘It’s not the cartoons that created hatred, it’s radical Muslims who blow things up. Every time he [Syed] opens his mouth he creates hatred for Islam’.
When asked what his ‘intentions‘ were in publishing the cartoons, Levant upped the ante and rather than apologise or claim he was ‘taken out of context’, he fired back,
‘I will not minimise my reasons so that they are palatable to you. Our intentions were in exercising our inalienable right as free-born Albertans to publish whatever the hell we want no matter what the hell you think.’
Watch the video. It’s creepy. It reminded me of the excellent film ‘The Lives of Others‘ which depicts a writer trying to get a message across to the West of the barbarity of communism in East Germany. Far from presenting the spies as violent torturers, they come across as stupid, lazy and incompetent – ‘the banality of evil‘.
His chances? Slim to zero. In thirty years of trying ‘cases’, the Albertan HRC has never found for the defendant once!
Visit Levant’s website for more information and astonishing videos. And donate to his cause. Because today it’s happening in Alberta, Canada and tomorrow it will be Victoria, Australia.
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The guy is brilliant. I especially like the fact that he simply refuses to acknowledge the authority of the HRC to rule on this issue (more apparent in other videos on his website). That’s exactly how I would feel.
A look at the Alberta government website (http://alberta.ca/home/) suggests PCness is rampant.
Canada seems to be leading the charge against free speech at the moment. I have posted on this recently and was shocked when doing the research.
Hello Down Under
Just wanna make a couple of points FYI, ‘k…
These so-called “human rights” commissions aren’t part of the Canadian justice system at all. They’re rogue moonbat extremist activist bodies which have morphed via leftist interference into the fascist, politically correct kangaroo “courts” they are today. Originally they were mandated to merely act as sort of an arbitrator/mediator for folks who thought they’d been wronged in stuff like housing and employment, etc. Today they’re acting like the kids in “Lord of the Flies”, as y’all can see very well. It’s like the Ninth Circuit Court, but without any legitimacy whatsoever under the law and the constitution. It’s run by mostly brain-dead moonbat activists like the dummy woman in the video.
There’s also no provision in the Canadian Constitution Act, Bill of Rights, nor Charter of Rights and Freedoms for such a commission as we see them acting today.
These commissions have operated for too long under the radar (and still are) of the MSM and the Canadian People. But this is going to change, and start changing… a couple of days ago. The MSM is mostly silent, but I doubt they can ignore this for too long.
Just like the ACLU and the Ninth Circuit Court and other leftist bodies and “judges” and so on in America, these commissions actually violate Canadians’ rights at the pathetic, petulant behest of extremists representing, mostly, GLBTs and Islamoimperialists. There’s no trial. Evidence is irrelevant. Facts are irrelevant. Constitutional rights are irrelevant. All that matters to these left-wing fascists of the commissions is that a special, favored-by-the-Far-Left group member has claimed that someone “hurt his feelings” or something… and then the accused is summarily found guilty and ordered to pay thousands of dollars to the complainant. Holy shee-it, that sounds like a bloody jizya (the tax Muslims make dhimmis pay)!!!!
I can assure you, as a member of the party that governs my country today, we Conservatives don’t want these commissions taking away our right to freedom of expression and other rights. We want them abolished. We have made it clear to the Prime Minister and our MPs. Many, many, many people, including Americans, are donating money to Ezra’s legal fund.
This is a critical crossroads in Canadian and human liberty history.
And, don’t forget, the same liberal fascist forces that affect Canada affect the entire Free World.
Therefore Ezra Levant is essentially making the first stand, taking a leadership role…
We must follow Ezra. We must also fight tyranny and evil as he is.
Sic semper tyrannis!
Let’s roll!
Dave
If they are not part of the Canadian legal system, then why do defendants have to appear before them? And why does a defendant found guilty have to their fines?
sorry – that should be ‘pay their fines’
The Kangaroo Court aka. The Alberta Human Rights Commission in Alberta
and across Canada have the “right” to garnishee wages, seize bank accounts
and put leans on any owned property as well as withhold any taxes due back.
All without the due process that you would normally associate with a
common law system of judicial governance. As for having to appear before
the “Star Chamber” they can proceed and decide the merit of the complaint
without you being present.
Don’t think a similar system of non-judicial governance would ever be set up
in Australia or New Zealand …… Guess again they are trying to set one up in
New Zealand right now and it will only be a matter of time before your
current government will try. What was the first all encompassing thing your
new government said it would do?…… impose a blanket ban on certain “non
government approved” inter-net traffic.
Be afraid Down Under it’s only a matter of time before your “New and
Improved” political leaders from the left will start looking towards Canada for
help to implement the same “Thought Crime Star Cambers”
I noticed discussion of Gresham’s law on another post. Well, I’d say the HRC is an example of a legislative equivalent to Gresham’s law, where over time, bad legislation drives out the good. Once genuine human rights become considered to be conditional or partial, these principles are at the mercy of political and public fads, whims, emotion etc and the slippery slope begins.
This Ezra fellow has made my day. It’s great to see him so un-apologetically standing up for what is right.
Pommy; I have been doing a freedom of speech rant over my last few postings, and this fits right in. Rather than reword what you have said, I am going to pinch it in full and publish it with full attribution to you of course.
On your comment on lionheart I am inclined to think he is a bit strange. He attacked Little Green Footballs for rejecting his BNP links while supporting him.
His criticism has now been pulled without explanation, but he was accusing them of treachery.
We do however have to support him on the basis of free speech no matter how nutty the guy is.
Jim
As i said on your blog, i’m not sure about this Lionheart guy. Unfortunately he is a member of the not-very-pleasant BNP (similar to One Nation). But what he says about Luton is sadly too true.
Without knowing what he has said, it’s hard to know whether to support him. However, if he is genuine and is arrested in February like he says he will be, it will be Britain’s first test case of a blogger tried for saying Islam sucks.
The Economist has a piece in this week’s edition on Canada’s Human Rights Commissions. Interesting background.
As I said I have doubts about him, from my point of view if I was being attacked by a mob of thugs and my worst enemy came to my aid out of a sense of moral outrage, I wouldn’t tell him to piss off. Not at least until the thugs were gone, and I bought him a beer.
LGF were continuing to support him in spite of his connections, so he sounds like a nutter to me.
The problem is that these bastards will try to get a ‘soft’ case to try to get an initial conviction, and if this guy thinks he can be picky about his supporters, he is helping them.
However if we fail to support the rights of the loony fringes, the generally nasty, and the amusing idiots, we are sacrificing our own.
Pommy; Its up if you want to check it out, and thanks. Let me know if you want any alterations.
Finally our Canadian MSM has picked up and started to run with Ezra’s plight.
The story was run today in a right of center paper called “The National Post”.
(Compared to the USA our right of center papers are in the middle of the political spectrum to slightly right on select issues)
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=9f11827a-3d2b-40f7-bf7d-657505842ea6&k=61146&p=1
Canada: Freedom of Speech succumbing to Kangaroo Courts of the Human Rights Commission
Proceedings against Ezra Levant are nothing short of ridiculous, but let’s consider the implications for moderate Muslims. This “investigation” will further divide Muslims and non-Muslims in Canada. It will give credence to radicals’ claims that the West is at war with Islam. It will antagonize non-Muslims and moderate Muslims will be pushed towards radicalization. Regardless of the outcome, once again Islamists skillfully manipulated Dhimmi justice system and came out as clear winners. Thank you, Human Right Commission!
http://muslimsagainstsharia.blogspot.com/2008/01/canada-freedom-of-speech-succumbing-to.html
Sign Free Dominion Against the HRCs Petition
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/a-free-dominion-against-the-hrcs.html
Re: My closing argument
http://ezralevant.com/2008/01/my-closing-argument.html
Watch this in Australia and New Zealand, this is what you are going to have to do to win the fight your “New” governments have in store for you.
In other words, be warned it’s just started for you. The bastards are lining up there political sights ON you…… It’s only a matter of time.
Go a head and think my convictions are misguided, just watch what Ezra just had to challenge.
Be warned and be prepared.
Not only has Ezra stood up for his free speech rights but by documenting the proceedings against him via video he has done a huge public service. Bravo.
I thought that was going to be good. But I didn’t realise it was going to be THAT good.
There is just no substitute for mass-sackings and abolishing whole bureaucracies and departments. Attempts to reform outfits like this are wasted effort when you can just save the taxpayer a ton of money and boost the economy by forcing the oppressors to get proper jobs.
reformislam, I haven’t been back here in a while and missed this. You have a very valid point and one of my main concerns has always been the problem of how to deal with the problems caused by the radical elements without creating hostility among or towards the ones who live happily beside us in peace and harmony.
The HRC is the dead wrong approach, and I personally think you guys can probably do a great deal to help if you can get your information across to the public. Good luck with it.
Jim
‘Muslims against Sharia’ appears to be not all it would seem. Apparently Pam Geller (of Atlas Shrugs fame) is involved. I thought she was a conservative Jew??