The prophet's honour

Further to this post, Dr. Dawg says Ezra Levant is making a mountain out of a molehill:

Folks, I'm pleased to break it to you:

Ezra Levant was not dragged, summoned, compelled or otherwise forced to appear before a thug, a Kommissar, an Inquisitor or a "sleeze-drone," (whatever the hell the last one is--sounds oddly erotic) in a Star Chamber, an Inquisition or a kangaroo court.

Nor were filthy, blood-caked jackboots anywhere in evidence, at least not in Ezra Levant's interminable videos.

A citizen laid a complaint: the Alberta Human Rights Commission is doing a preliminary investigation to see if the complaint should go forward. (My bet is it won't. It certainly shouldn't.)

Levant didn't even have to appear--he could have sent a letter. But it's hard to post letters on YouTube. A letter just doesn't convey his crucifixion martyrdom astounding bravery heroism pretentious huffing and puffing like a live performance.

Dawg has a point about some of the hyperbolic commentary surrounding this case. But I think he misses the main issue, which is that the complaints against Ezra Levant and the Western Standard shouldn't merit an investigation in the first place.

Levant says there were two, "almost identical" complaints made against him, from Calgary Imam Syed Soharwardy and an Edmonton Muslim council. Saharwardy's complaint can be reviewed here (PDF format), and its main argument is that Levant insulted the honour of the prophet Muhammad. Who died in 632AD.

The complainant attached some photocopies from the magazine, including the "offending" article featuring the cartoons (and, ironically, a debate about whether "pro-terror" speech should be criminalized, with Michael Coren and marni Soupcoff taking opposing positions), and also some nasty e-mails he received, allegedly because of the cartoons. Some of the e-mails are indeed vicious, but others simply reiterate the senders' belief in freedom of speech - and it's questionable whether he would have received them at all, had he not screamed bloody murder about the Standard to begin with.

But his argument really boils down to, "he insulted Muhammad, therefore he grossly insulted me." A key excerpt from his letter to the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission, dated Feb. 14, 2006 (any errors in transcription are entirely mine):

It is a well known fact that a person is called Muslim if he/she follows the religion of Islam, which was founded by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). I am openly a practicing Muslim and dearly follow Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). I am proud to be a Muslim and an Albertan Canadian. Moreover, around the world more than 1.5 billion people follow Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and overwhelming majority of Muslims are law abiding and peaceful human beings.

My relationship with Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has two aspects. I am one of the direct descendants of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him); therefore, I am related to him through ancestry. My name "Syed" reflects that relationship. I am also a Muslim and therefore follow Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) religion.

Based upon the teachings of Islam's sacred book Qur'an, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a kind, merciful and a great Messenger and Prophet of God. He was not a terrorist and he neither preached terrorism. However, two Calgary newspapers/journals: Jewish Free Press and Western Standards printed extremely racist, hateful and insulting cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a terrorist, violent and immoral person. This false depiction of my Prophet and my ancestor has publicized me and my family as someone related to a terrorist and the followers of a terrorist. We are not terrorists. We are law abiding Canadians.

These cartoons have sighted violence, hate and discrimination against my family and me. We feel that our human rights have been violated. Our rights as Canadians and Albertans have been violated. Therefore, we request you to help in removing these false accusations against our ancestor and our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). These cartoons have created unbearable stress, humiliation and insult for my family and me. Publishing of these cartoons by Canadian newspapers/journals have caused serious damage to the reputation of all Canadian Muslims as well. I have enclosed the hate mail that I have recently received and some of the statements that the publishers of these two newspapers/journals made in the media. [emphasis added]

Unfortunately, upon receiving the complaint, no one at the commission saw fit to tell Soharwardy that criticism of historical figures and religious beliefs are protected speech, and that his complaint therefore had no merit. And that's very bad news for anyone who expresses controversial, challenging beliefs in print.

I believe (I hope, at least) that the Commission will decide against sanctioning Ezra Levant for publishing the cartoons. But the damage - specifically, the chilling effect this could have on freedom of expression - may already have been done, and I'm disappointed to see so many so-called "liberals" letting their animosity toward Levant get in the way of their alleged principles. If any of them get investigated for criticizing the Pope, they can't say they weren't warned.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at January 14, 2008 09:07 AM