The soft Jihad

[HOZ]

Freedom of Speech Under Attack


Many Canadians believe the nation's human rights commissions (HRCs) are motivated by high ideals and good intentions. But in conspiring to silence what a handful of Muslims deem "hate speech," these good intentions are paving the way for the hell of global "soft jihad."

The soft jihad is gradualistic and law-abiding, but no less desirous of Islamic domination of the West than its violent counterpart. Soft jihad strategy exploits liberal discourse and weaknesses in our legal system to induce guilt about a largely mythical "Islamophobia."

The list of complaint-triggering speech offences is long in all Western countries, and ranges from the trivial to the politically existential: A decoration on a lid of ice cream distributed by Burger King offends because it resembles Allah in Arabic script; Fox Entertainment's drama 24 portrays South Americans, Bosnians, Germans and Muslims as terrorists, but only Muslims complain; a Turkish lawyer sues an Italian soccer team because the red cross on their jerseys reminds him of the Crusades.

More alarmingly, this spring a report from the 57-nation strong Organization of the Islamic Conference announced that leaders of Muslim nations "are considering legal action against those that slight our religion or its sacred symbols." This offensive has the potential to rival the frighteningly successful phenomenon of "libel tourism," in which Muslim litigants seek out friendly jurisdictions for launching HRC-type fatwas against writers critical of Islamic practices like shariah, or even certifiably Islam-related terrorism.