Islamists' Catch-22.
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Try a little thought experiment. What would have happened in this
country during the Cold War if the Soviet Union successfully
neutralized anti-communists opposed to the Kremlin's plans for world
domination?
Of course, Moscow strove to discredit those in America and elsewhere
who opposed its totalitarian agenda =96 especially after Sen. Joseph
McCarthy's excesses made it fa****onable to vilify patriots by accusing
them of believing communists were "under every bed."
But what if the USSR and its ideological soul-mates in places like
China, North Korea, Cuba, Eastern Europe and parts of Africa had been
able to criminalize efforts to oppose their quest for the triumph of
world communism? What if it had been an internationally prosecutable
offense even to talk about the dangers inherent in communist rule and
the need to resist it?
The short answer is that history might very well have come out
differently. Had courageous anti-communists been unable accurately
and forcefully to describe the nature of that time's enemy =96 and to
work against the danger posed by its repressive, seditious program,
the Cold War might well have been lost.
Flash forward to today. At the moment, another totalitarian ideology
characterized by techniques and global ambitions strikingly similar to
those of yesteryear's communists is on the march. It goes by varying
names: "Islamofascism," "Islamism," "jihadism" or "radical-"
"extremist-" or "political Islam." Unlike the communists, however,
adherents to this ideology are making extraordinary strides in Western
societies toward criminalizing those who dare oppose the Islamist end-
state =96 the imposition of brutal Shariah Law on Muslims and non-
Muslims alike.
Consider but a few indicators of this ominous progress:
In March, the 57 Muslim-state Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC) prevailed upon the United Nations Human Rights Council to adopt
a resolution requiring the effective evisceration of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Henceforth, the guaranteed right of free
expression will not extend to any criticism of Islam, on the grounds
that it amounts to an abusive act of religious discrimination. A UN
Special Rap****teur on Freedom of Expression has been charged with
do***enting instances in which individuals and media organizations
engage in what the Islamists call "Islamophobia." Not to be outdone,
the OIC has its own "ten-year program of action" which will monitor
closely all Islamophobic incidents and defamatory statements around
the world.
Monitoring is just the first step. Jordan's Prosecutor General has
recently brought charges against Dutch Parliamentarian Geert Wilders.
According to a lawsuit, "Fitna" =96 Wilders' short do***entary film that
ties certain Koranic passages to Islamist terrorism =96 is said to have
slandered and insulted the Prophet Mohammed, demeaned Islam and
offended the feelings of Muslims in violation of the Jordanian penal
code. Mr. Wilders has been summoned to Amman to stand trial and, if
he fails to appear voluntarily, international warrants for his arrest
will be issued.
Zakaria Al-Sheikh, head of the "Messenger of Allah Unites Us Campaign"
which is the plaintiff in the Jordanian suit, re****tedly has
"confirmed that the [prosecutor's action] is the first step towards
setting in place an international law criminalizing anyone who insults
Islam and the Prophet Mohammed." In the meantime, his campaign is
trying to penalize the nations that have spawned "Islamophobes" like
Wilders and the Danish cartoonists by boycotting their ex****ts =96
unless the producers publicly denounce the perpetrators both in Jordan
and in their home media.
Unfortunately, it is not just some companies that are submitting to
this sort of coercion =96 a status known in Islam as "dhimmitude."
Western officials and governmental entities appear increasingly
disposed to go along with such efforts to mutate warnings about
Shariah law and its adherents from "politically incorrect" to
"criminally punishable" activity.
For example, in Britain, Canada and even the United States, the
authorities are declining to describe the true threat posed by Shariah
Law and are using various techniques to discourage =96 and in some
cases, prosecute =96 those who do. We are witnessing the spectacle of
authors' books being burned, ministers prosecuted, do***entary film-
makers investigated and journalists hauled before so-called "Human
Rights Councils" on charges of offending Muslims, slandering Islam or
other "Islamophobic" conduct. Jurists on both sides of the Atlantic
are acceding to the insinuation of Shariah law in their courts. And
Wall Street is increasingly joining other Western capital markets in
suc***bing to the seductive Trojan Horse of "Shariah-Compliant
Finance."
Let's be clear: The Islamists are trying to establish a kind of
Catch-22: If you point out that they seek to impose a barbaric,
repressive and seditious Shariah Law, you are insulting their faith
and engaging in unwarranted, racist and bigoted fear-mongering. On
the other hand, pursuant to Shariah, you must submit to that theo-
political-legal program. If you don't, you can legitimately be
killed. It is not an irrational fear to find that prospect
unappealing. And it is not racist or bigoted to decry and oppose
Islamist efforts to bring it about =96 ask the anti-Islamist Muslims who
are frequently accused of being Islamophobes!
If we go along with our enemies' demands to criminalize Islamophobia,
we will mutate Western laws, traditions, values and societies beyond
recognition. Ultimately, today's totalitarian ideologues will triumph
where their predecessors were defeated.
To avoid such a fate, those who love freedom must oppose the seditious
program the Islamists call Shariah =96 and all efforts to impose its 1st
Amendment-violating blasphemy, slander and libel laws on us in the
guise of preventing Western Islamophobia.
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. is President of the Center for Security Policy
and a columnist for the Wa****ngton Times.
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