Muslim leaders attempt to "curb" Islamophobia

Tleilaxu

Tleilaxu

Banned
Islamophobia? Muslim leaders say West guilty
Summit report urges creation of 'legal instrument' against defamation

updated 6:56 p.m. CT, Fri., March. 14, 2008
DAKAR, Senegal - The Muslim world has created a battle plan to defend its religion from political cartoonists and bigots.

Concerned about what they see as a rise in the defamation of Islam, leaders of the world's Muslim nations are considering taking legal action against those that slight their religion or its sacred symbols. It was a key issue during a two-day summit that ended Friday in this western Africa capital.

The Muslim leaders are attempting to demand redress from nations like Denmark, which allowed the publication of cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad in 2006 and again last month, to the fury of the Muslim world.

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Though the legal measures being considered have not been spelled out, the idea pits many Muslims against principles of freedom of speech enshrined in the constitutions of numerous Western governments.

"I don't think freedom of expression should mean freedom from blasphemy," said Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, the chairman of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference. "There can be no freedom without limits."

Delegates were given a voluminous report by the OIC that recorded anti-Islamic speech and actions from around the world. The report concludes that Islam is under attack and that a defense must be mounted.

"Muslims are being targeted by a campaign of defamation, denigration, stereotyping, intolerance and discrimination," charged Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the group.

The report urges the creation of a "legal instrument" to crack down on defamation of Islam. Some delegates point to laws in Europe criminalizing the denial of the Holocaust and other anti-Semitic rhetoric. They also point to articles within various U.N. charters that condemn discrimination based on religion and argue that these should be ramped up.

'Going through a difficult time'
"In our relation with the western world, we are going through a difficult time," Ihsanoglu told the summit's general assembly. "Islamophobia cannot be dealt with only through cultural activities but (through) a robust political engagement."

The International Humanist and Ethical Union in Geneva released a statement accusing the Islamic states of attempting to limit freedom of expression and of attempting to misuse the U.N.

Human Rights Watch said in a statement that objectionable depictions of the Prophet Muhammad do not "give them the right under international human rights law to insist that others abide by their views."

Hemayet Uddin, the lead author of the OIC report and head of cultural affairs for the group said legal action is needed because "this Islamophobia that we see in the world has gone far beyond a phobia. It is now at the level of hatred, of xenophobia, and we need to act."

A new charter drafted by the OIC commits the Muslim body "to protect and defend the true image of Islam" and "to combat the defamation of Islam."

Offensive acts posted
To protect the faith, Muslim nations have created an "observatory" that meets regularly to monitor Islamophobia. It examines lectures and workshops taking place around the world and prints a monthly record of offensive content.

But some of the summit's delegates said a legal approach would be over the top.

"My general view would be that the confrontational approach is one my country would avoid," said Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Iftekhar Chowdhruy. Bangladesh is 90 percent Muslim.

While the Muslim world worries about the image of Islam in the West, the U.S. envoy to the OIC attended the summit to try to tackle the thorny question of America's image among Muslim states.

Sada Cumber calls his campaign the "soft power" of the U.S. ? an effort to find common ground with Muslim nations by championing universal values the U.S. holds dear like religious tolerance and freedom of speech.

"America has a deep respect for the religion of Islam," Cumber told The Associated Press. "The freedom of faith that we exercise, that we enjoy in America, that is also a very important aspect of the American core values. Anyone who wants to practice any faith is never stopped or discouraged."

Also during the summit, Chad and Sudan signed a peace agreement to stop incursions of rebels across each other's borders, and the summit delegates committed themselves to addressing the spiraling violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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To me the more apporpriate title would be "Muslim leaders attempt to supress Islamophobia"

What gives them the right to dicate what citizens of other countries can and cannot say?

If this was an attempt to promote understanding and lessen the negitve attitude of the west towards Islam they only made it worse, and went about it the wrong way.
 
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My theory: They're trying to score some easy points in their respective countries' internal politics by pretending to be the defenders of Islam. It's a cheap, and unfortunately effective trick, as the mess around the Muhammad caricatures has shown. Nothing will come of it, aside from random media-stunts, because, as the participants of the summit perfectly know, Islamophobia only exists on the outskirts of European politics, and hardly anyone takes people like Geert Wilders seriously.

In fact, Wade is a very good example of this mechanism. Can anyone tell me why the president of one of Africa's only successful liberal democracies would invest himself in defending Islam, when the state he represents is explicitly secular?

Well, at least this is the only explanation I have for this nonsense.
 
And behaving like immodest children will help Islam how? Blame the extremists who attributes every immoral act to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, rather than the Westerners who are sceptical.

The fact that butthurt Imams and other Leaders is trying to censore the West's free speech is simply improper meddling into other countries internal affairs and hardly makes things better. Maybe most of them should look at themself in the mirror before criticizing others, as many of these Islamic nations have an appaling Human rights records, where any dissent, protest or criticism is met with massive repression. Not to mention that stateowned newspapers write hateful propaganda about Jews, Christians and other minorities.

Hypocricy much?

Ironically, such behaviour just gives more fuel for the people who warns of Sharia rule and Muslim domination in the West.

So the only thing they accomplish is to further empower the same people they try to discredit.

Grats:zaru
 
well in a way isn't this sort of the same thing as trying to suppress hate speech? Isn't that what we kinda do here in America to protect the minorities? I do agree though that by trying to suppress what other countries say just isn't the way to go, that will just reinforce the idea in some people's minds that all Muslims are a bunch of nitpicking tyrants, and I gotta say that most people are alot like donkeys, the more you try and force them to move the more they dig their heels in. Instead of trying to do this like intelligent rational people, these people are acting like spoiled children. *sighs* such is the behavior of humanity
 
They would be more sucessful at that if they criticized the extremists.

This sort of thing they are doing will only increase islamophobia.
 
Islam is still the fastest growing religion, with islamophobia or not.

you mite say "its their right"
theres a fine line between free speach and insults.

Is it OK if i Bully some kid verbally ? no...

can i say its free speach and justify it ?
no because im torturing and damaging this kids life, and attacking him emotionaly.

this mite be a bad example but eh i hope i made my point.

as far as the prison or what not to those cartoonists,
I dont support what they do because all they are doing is poking the lion (another bad example :D) they know it will only result in a fight or whatever yet they still do it, they should be stopped because what they are doing isint helping in the struggle of peace.
 
i think its just there turn to be picked on. Judaism, and Christianity have both been made fun of and still are. Also there faith is more commonly associated with terrorist organizations.
 
Tleilaxu said:


To me the more apporpriate title would be "Muslim leaders attempt to supress Islamophobia"

What gives them the right to dicate what citizens of other countries can and cannot say?

If this was an attempt to promote understanding and lessen the negitve attitude of the west towards Islam they only made it worse, and went about it the wrong way.
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They are simply taken steps to protect the religion they hold dear, but i think they are taking the wrong way about it, they could in fact try to educated people about Islam but i see they would rather play the victim card and try to battle the legal system.

Also if you're practicing freedom of speech it's also in there full right to say and practice anything they want, what gives you the right to tell them what they can or cannot do.

But remember this is Africa they still practice female circumcision over there :oh

also places in Europe it's illegal to say the holocaust never happened and stuff, so i guess there not really fighting a lost cause.
 
"I don't think freedom of expression should mean freedom from blasphemy,"

This is a great example of the complete BS of these people.

My beliefs are blasphemy in Islam, to restrict what I believe because it contradicts their religion is oppression.

Muslims are only shooting themselves in the foot by grouping all criticism of islamic culture together with hate speech. It is like the boy who cried wolf.

Makenshi said:
They are simply taken steps to protect the religion they hold dear, but i think they are taking the wrong way about it, they could in fact try to educated people about Islam but i see they would rather play the victim card and try to battle the legal system.
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No, they are taking steps to persecute people, and oppress them as people are oppressed in muslims countries.

Makenshi said:
Also if you're practicing freedom of speech it's also in there full right to say and practice anything they want, what gives you the right to tell them what they can or cannot do.
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We can say they cannot do it because we have freedom of speech, and we have a democratic government that controls our laws. That is why they we can say "you cannot oppress us with you backwards culture"
 
Makenshi said:
They are simply taken steps to protect the religion they hold dear, but i think they are taking the wrong way about it, they could in fact try to educated people about Islam but i see they would rather play the victim card and try to battle the legal system.

Also if you're practicing freedom of speech it's also in there full right to say and practice anything they want, what gives you the right to tell them what they can or cannot do.

But remember this is Africa they still practice female circumcision over there :oh

also places in Europe it's illegal to say the holocaust never happened and stuff, so i guess there not really fighting a lost cause.
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They are educating people about Islam. It's part of their religion that the sanctity of their faith is more important than any freedom; while, in the West it's viewed that the sanctity of liberty is more important than anyone or group's proposed beliefs. It is an irreconcilable difference, the kind that breeds conflict.
 
Jagon Fox said:
well in a way isn't this sort of the same thing as trying to suppress hate speech? Isn't that what we kinda do here in America to protect the minorities? I do agree though that by trying to suppress what other countries say just isn't the way to go, that will just reinforce the idea in some people's minds that all Muslims are a bunch of nitpicking tyrants, and I gotta say that most people are alot like donkeys, the more you try and force them to move the more they dig their heels in. Instead of trying to do this like intelligent rational people, these people are acting like spoiled children. *sighs* such is the behavior of humanity
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The only time that speech is limited in America is when it either poses a public danger (shouting fire in a movie theater or bomb on a plane) or it actively incites violence against others. Simply stating "JEWS DID WTC LOL" or "all Muslims are terrorists" is still considered free speech, considering it didn't fall into any of the above banned categories.
 
Uchiha Q said:
Islam is still the fastest growing religion, with islamophobia or not.
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I never see any proof to back this up. (Also, high birth rates by poor people stuck in an impoverished country isn't something to brag about. Nor is competing with Scientology for new members.)
 
Its true. no one should be afraid of islam. not even the women who get lashes for driving cars. or the people who are under threat from being excecuted because they named a bear mohamed.
 
Seriously how can they expect us not to express ourself they way we do about Islam, when they don't even respect others. I mean just look at the laws about women and the way they deny Holocaust. And some village even practice the same law that they have in the middle ages.

Ps: this is only directed towards muslim that has a narrow minded view of the world.
like this guy:

[YOUTUBE]http://youtube.com/watch?v=wppjYDj9JUc[/YOUTUBE]
 
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