Saturday, March 31, 2007 | Reason : Political | print version

U.N. Panel OKs Measure on Islam

by Eliane Engeler, AP

Thanks to Mark for the link.

Reposted from:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070330/un-islam

GENEVA — Islamic countries pushed through a resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday urging a global prohibition on the public defamation of religion _ a response largely to the furor last year over caricatures published in a Danish newspaper of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad.

The statement proposed by the Organization of Islamic Conference addressed what it called a "campaign" against Muslim minorities and the Islamic religion around the world since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The resolution, which was opposed by a number of other non-Muslim countries, "expresses deep concern at attempts to identify Islam with terrorism, violence and human rights violations."

It makes no mention of any other religion besides Islam, but urges countries "to take resolute action to prohibit the dissemination of racist and xenophobic ideas and material aimed at any religion or its followers that constitute incitement and religious hatred, hostility, or violence."

The resolution was adopted by a 24-14 vote with nine abstentions. Canada, Japan and South Korea joined European countries in opposition, primarily citing its excessive focus on Islam and incompatibility with fundamental rights such as the freedoms of speech and thought.

"The problem of religious intolerance is worldwide and not limited to certain religions," said Brigitta Maria Siefker-Eberle of Germany, speaking on behalf of the 27-nation European Union.

There are 17 Muslim countries in the 47-nation human rights council. Their alliance with China, Cuba, Russia and most of the African members means they can almost always achieve a majority.

Human Rights Watch said the resolution could endanger the basic rights of individuals.

The council, which last year replaced the discredited U.N. Human Rights Commission, has no power beyond drawing international attention to rights issues and scrutiny of abuses in certain countries.

The move at the council was initiated last year after protests across the Islamic world drew attention to caricatures of Muhammad first printed in Danish paper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.

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1. Comment #28864 by Pieter on March 31, 2007 at 11:52 am

This is absolutely ludicrous. I guess this is what you get when you include coutries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Russia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Jordan on the bloody Human Rights council.

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2. Comment #28865 by WilliamP on March 31, 2007 at 11:54 am

Maybe now I'll go and start my own religion, where my followers have deep faith in the practice of making fun of every other religion on the planet. When people complain about my bashing their religion, I can claim that they are discriminating against my religious beliefs.

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3. Comment #28868 by Fishpeddler on March 31, 2007 at 12:01 pm

"urges countries 'to take resolute action to prohibit the dissemination of racist and xenophobic ideas and material aimed at any religion or its followers that constitute incitement and religious hatred, hostility, or violence.'"

It would be interesting to see if this would criminalize the behavior of the guys who ran around drumming up outrage over the cartoons, some of which they had added themselves completely out of context. They violated the spirit of this resolution far worse than the Danish newspaper did.

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4. Comment #28871 by Janus on March 31, 2007 at 12:15 pm

*laughs* Humanity is so f*cking screwed.

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5. Comment #28872 by He'sAVeryNaughtyBoy on March 31, 2007 at 12:28 pm

I don't understand what this resolution is trying to achieve. Well ok, maybe I can, but there are already laws in most countries which prevent the publication of material intended to incite religious hatred.

The publication of those cartoons was within the law. The publication of those cartoons even falls within the guidelines that this resolution puts forward;
"to take resolute action to prohibit the dissemination of racist and xenophobic ideas and material aimed at any religion or its followers that constitute incitement and religious hatred, hostility, or violence."

This realy made me laugh however;
"expresses deep concern at attempts to identify Islam with .... human rights violations."
Sorry, I must have been thinking about that "OTHER" Islam which identifies itself with human rights violations.

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6. Comment #28873 by Friend Giskard on March 31, 2007 at 12:30 pm

Everyone should see this electrifying video of UN Watch director Hillel Neuer's damning speech (March 23, 2007) before the UN human rights council:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhWgZu6tcZU

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7. Comment #28881 by Sam on March 31, 2007 at 1:01 pm

It is time people realized that a set of ideas cannot possibly be a victim of intolerance. Intolerance toward individuals or ethnic groups is another matter. But ideas are free game, as they must be in a functioning democracy. We should all write angry letters to the council and let them know how badly they f**ked up in this case.

The only mitigating circumstance here is that the "council, which last year replaced the discredited U.N. Human Rights Commission, has no power beyond drawing international attention to rights issues and scrutiny of abuses in certain countries."

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8. Comment #28883 by Civilized Worm on March 31, 2007 at 1:08 pm

I assume muslims are still free to defame christians, jews, atheists, women and homosexuals? I guess that would fall under their freedom to express their religious beliefs.

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9. Comment #28887 by BenK on March 31, 2007 at 1:27 pm

It makes no mention of any other religion besides Islam, but urges countries "to take resolute action to prohibit the dissemination of racist and xenophobic ideas and material aimed at any religion or its followers that constitute incitement and religious hatred, hostility, or violence."

Umm, so what does the Koran say to do to non-believers in Islam? Surely, they've just made a resolution against dissemination of their own holy book.

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10. Comment #28889 by Sam on March 31, 2007 at 1:34 pm

I stongly recommend listening to the Point of Inquiry episode with Salman Rushdie where he deals very eloquently with the myth of "Islamophobia":
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/?p=80

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11. Comment #28891 by Bremas on March 31, 2007 at 1:45 pm

Yup, we're f**ked.

Friend Giskard, that was a disturbing video.

Going back to work on my bomb shelter now. bye.

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12. Comment #28898 by Civilized Worm on March 31, 2007 at 2:15 pm

I'd be phobic of them if were out to kill me!

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13. Comment #28920 by dmcr35 on March 31, 2007 at 3:41 pm

"The council, which last year replaced the discredited U.N. Human Rights Commission, has no power beyond drawing international attention to rights issues and scrutiny of abuses in certain countries."

No need to panic just yet. The resolution is meaningless for all intents and purposes. None-the-less, non-Islamic countries, especially in the EU and North America need to wake up to the dangers imposed by Muslims attempting to change the character of the country from democracy to theocracy. They have no qualms about using the democratic process for their own ends while at the same time denouncing Western values.

Dave

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14. Comment #28924 by Fouad Boussetta on March 31, 2007 at 3:51 pm

Disgusting.
I like the UN even less now.

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15. Comment #28941 by Jessie on March 31, 2007 at 6:07 pm

Canada, Japan and South Korea joined European countries in opposition, primarily citing its excessive focus on Islam and incompatibility with fundamental rights such as the freedoms of speech and thought.

Yeah! This makes me glad to be Canadian.

This is incompatible with freedom of speech. If I think Islam, as a belief system, is wrong, oppressive, and brutally insulting to women or any thinking person, then I should be able to say so. And Muslims can think that I'm a Hell-bound heathen for thinking that. That's what freedom of speech is about!

It's ridiculous to exempt any idea from being critically examined just because we label it "religion."

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16. Comment #28942 by Rtambree on March 31, 2007 at 6:33 pm

Luckily, the council has no power in this case, so it's not the end of the world.

But it's sad to see in the 21st century. One step forward, three steps backwards.

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17. Comment #28943 by MelM on March 31, 2007 at 6:44 pm

Re: UN video
I also watched the video about some comments where the speaker was "thanked." Wow!

Bad news from Romania.
I sometimes go to the American Atheists site and this post reminded me of something I saw months ago about an ominous law being pushed in Romania.
http://www.atheists.org/action/alert-29-oct-2006.php
The article starts with:

Across the world, religious groups and their supporters are attempting to muzzle any remarks which criticize, question or "mock" their beliefs. They cite a number of disingenuous rationales � everything from combating "hate speech" to the claim that we must "respect" religious opinions.
The Romanian Humanists (http://www.humanism.ro/) are asking for international support in their campaign to stop the latest effort by government and religious authorities to muzzle criticism of religion. That country's Chamber of Deputies may soon adopt a rule that stipulates: "Any form, means, act or action of religious defamation and enmity, as well as any public offense against religious symbols, shall be prohibited in Romania."

I e-mailed them (AA) asking for a pointer to information about the muzzling attempts cited in the first paragraph but I received no reply and I haven't seen anything else. I don't know whether the Romanian legislation was stopped or not.

UN vote seems just what the Pope wanted.
I'm also reminded of a Vatican spokesman I saw on video during the Pope's trip to Turkey. The spokesman said something like: "...we don't see the fundamental clash today as a clash of civilizations. We see it as a clash between belief and unbelief and we would want to see Islam as an ally..." I guess the Pope is getting what he asked for. This was one of the most outrageous statements I've ever seen; it seemed like a betrayal of Western civilization itself. I had not thought even the Pope would stoop so low. (I've tried to find this video but with no luck.)

Defiance was needed but didn't happen.
Considering the disgusting response to the cartoon jihad by Bush (as I recall, he was sympathetic to Islam's view),and just about everybody else, I'm afraid freedom of speech got hit rather hard. Mass defiance was needed, not submission--which is what happend.

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18. Comment #28986 by Katana on April 1, 2007 at 3:53 am

This is an April fools joke right?
If not i just lost a lot of respect for UN.

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19. Comment #28993 by fonex_86 on April 1, 2007 at 5:23 am

This is absolutely ludicrous. I guess this is what you get when you include coutries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Russia, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Jordan on the bloody Human Rights council. [emphasis is mine]

Hey, what else would you expect from a nation with the largest muslim population in the world? If you're interested in more horror stories from here, I can give you a new one every single day.

To me, this event gives an entirely new meaning to the phrase "infinite regress". Shame on the UN.

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20. Comment #29041 by kkant on April 1, 2007 at 9:57 am

This is EXACTLY what Christopher Hitchens was warning us about in his speech on Free Speech which was posted here recently.

http://richarddawkins.net/article,731,Free-Speech,Christopher-Hitchens

Islam wants to outlaw any speech opposing them or ridiculing them, while at the same time they are free to spread their own messages of hatred and violence.

This is a recipe for disaster. If we want neanderthal religious madness to take over society, the UN is going about it the right way. I'm glad at least to see Japan, Europe, and other sane countries opposing this, and NOT kowtowing to religious bullshit just because it is a matter of faith.

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21. Comment #29046 by A on April 1, 2007 at 11:05 am

Absolutely awful.

"to take resolute action to prohibit the dissemination of racist and xenophobic ideas and material aimed at any religion or its followers that constitute incitement and religious hatred, hostility, or violence."

As Muslims can live in both Bolton, Boston and Bagdad, criticism of religion is not 'racism', nor is it 'Xenophobia'.

So would saying a passage from the Koran promotes the subjugation of women be labeled as racist or xenophobic - when those who live by its word are neither a single race nor a single nation ?

We are fucked.

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22. Comment #29074 by macronencer on April 1, 2007 at 1:59 pm

It strikes me that one side-effect of this "respect for religion" idea will be an increase in rudeness from the irreligious, probably (and understandably) out of frustrated fear for their own freedoms. I wouldn't normally go out of my way to insult religious people, but when I read news like this, I feel more than ever that constant exercise of free speech is required if we are to hold on to it. The innocent "moderate" bystanders will get burnt, once again, in the flames fanned by extremism.

Unless it really IS an April Fool (I hope so too). :(

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23. Comment #29117 by Stand on April 1, 2007 at 5:55 pm

The UN is useless. When is the Organization of Islamic Conference going to support measures for a global prohibition against the deformation of human beings from religious fanatics blowing things up? When is this same group going to push for a measure to end genocide in Darfur? When is this group going to push for an end to honour killing of women?

These things aren't important. Let's end cartooning. Everyday I hate religion more and more.

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24. Comment #29519 by Tintern on April 3, 2007 at 8:36 am

We need Monty Python's Life of Brian more than ever these days, but thank goodness they made it when they did.
"the guys who ran around drumming up outrage over the cartoons, some of which they had added themselves completely out of context."
Good point, Fishpeddler. It's sad to point out that the level of organisation that went into drumming up this hatred was something I only found out after more research, as most news organisations wimped out of pointing out this reality. Is it any wonder that fundamentalists are emboldened? Victory after victory against free speech. Why stop when you're winning?

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25. Comment #29754 by HunterZolomon on April 4, 2007 at 2:57 pm

"to take resolute action to prohibit the dissemination of racist and xenophobic ideas and material aimed at any religion or its followers that constitute incitement and religious hatred, hostility, or violence."

I was left speechless after reading that. We all know where the hatred, hostility and violence originated in the cartoon incident.

Absolutely horrible.

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26. Comment #30316 by vicparsons on April 7, 2007 at 2:20 pm

Look on the bright side. If Muslims were secure in their faith it would be difficult to offend them. This quickness to take offense, hopefully, means that Islam is cracking up. Let us support anyone who finds personal inspiration in Mohammed, it's their free choice. But; let us work towards the end of Islam as an organisation. This perverted use of the UN is a classic attempt to resist the inevitable influence of common sense.

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