Elmasry under investigation

Canadian authorities are looking into Mohamed Elmasry's comments on Michael Coren Live:

The federal government is reviewing tapes of a TV talk show in which a prominent Canadian Muslim leader said that any adult Israelis are legitimate terrorist targets.

Dr. Mohamed Elmasry, national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, told a panel discussion on terrorism on the Michael Coren Show that any Israeli over the age of 18 is a valid target for Palestinian terrorists. The TV show is broadcast in Ontario.

"They are part of the Israeli army, even if they have civilian clothes. The same, if they are women in the army . . . anybody above 18 is a part of the Israeli popular army," Elmasry, a computer engineering professor at the University of Waterloo, said during an exchange with Coren on the Oct. 19 show.

Coren said Friday that he and the other three panellists on the daily show were stunned by the comments.

"We've done dozens and dozens of shows on the Middle East and I've talked to probably every Palestinian or Muslim leader in Canada," he said. "And I've never heard anyone say something so extreme."

Coren said he was contacted by a representative of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada after Elmasry's remarks were printed in Friday's National Post. The federal government wanted copies of tapes or transcripts of Tuesday's show to review.
[...]
Naseer Syed, a prominent Muslim lawyer in Toronto and another member of the panel on the show, said he was aghast at Elmasry's remarks.

"I don't think that opinion was valid -- not at all. I disassociated myself from it immediately and said so on the air."

On libertarian grounds, I cannot support someone being investigated or charged merely for expressing an opinion (except for recognized exceptions such as uttering threats or slander, of course). Indeed, I'd prefer the likes of Elmasry being allowed to spew whatever nonsense comes into their heads, without fear of legal consequences, so we can actually find out what they really believe. Had he not felt free to defend the killing of Israeli civilians, I might have kept the mistaken belief that he's some kind of "moderate".

I'm still amazed that a prominent Muslim leader would say something like this. Yes, there are radicals and bigots who say the Palestinians should be "exterminated". No society is free of that kind of person. But have you ever seen anyone from the ADL, B'nai Brith, or the Canadian Jewish Congress say Palestinian civilians are legitimate targets?

Posted by damian at October 23, 2004 08:53 AM