Posted on 04/22/2009 2:41:52 PM PDT by TaraP
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member-states at the Durban II gathering in Geneva is pushing for "a new world order" that would expand and impose "nondemocratic and illiberal values on the West," says the Danish editor who in 2005 commissioned and published a series of cartoons, one of which depicted the prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban that led to worldwide Muslim rioting....
Flemming Rose, editor of Jyllands-Posten, Denmark's largest-circulation newspaper, is visiting Israel under the auspices of the Hebrew University's Shasha Center for Strategic Studies, headed by former Mossad director Efraim Halevy. He's here to lecture on how nations need to find the right balance between religious sensitivities and freedom of expression.
Rose says the OIC is trying to use Durban II to rewrite the rules of human rights and international law in a way that undermines the values of liberty enshrined in the Western canon - including the US Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It's all part of an ongoing Muslim campaign that has been making significant strides, says Rose.
European liberal values, which dominated United Nations voting following the fall of the Soviet Union, are now in retreat. Muslim states attending Durban II are pushing the conference to say that criticizing Islam is a form of incitement.
"We're seeing an erosion of support in the West for freedom of expression in the guise of preventing incitement against Islam," says Rose
He wants the West to stop being so defensive, pointing out that "Muslims in Demark enjoy far more civil and political rights than they would have in their home countries."
Rose would distinguish between criticizing Islam as a theological and political idea and insulting its adherents.
"I spent many years in the former Soviet Union as a foreign correspondent and married a Russian woman. I am a strong anti-communist, but my late Russian father-in-law was a staunch Stalinist. I abhorred his convictions, but felt love and tenderness for him as an individual."
His experience in the Soviet Union gave him a "very strong antagonism against self-censorship and intimidation of people because of what they are saying."
In Muslim society, he notes, the rights of the dominant religion and culture are paramount. In the West, it is the rights of the individual that reign supreme.
Rose argues that in a globalized world, the idea that Westerners conduct their lives according to Western values while Muslims conduct theirs according to Muslim values simply does not work - because globalization involves both technology and human migration.
"When you publish in Denmark, you can read it within minutes in a totally different political and cultural context. At the same time, every European society is getting more complicated culturally and ethnically. Different taboos and moral codes are forced to live together."
Within their own world, says Rose, Muslims "do not see their own minorities. And when they come to the West, they continue to behave as if they were in the majority."
In this context, the West has no choice but to stand firm on its values - because Muslims are constantly pushing theirs. In our interconnected world, the old model of live and let live simply doesn't make sense.
What Rose would really like to see is reciprocity. He dreams of challenging Muslims: "Accept my taboos, and I will accept yours. If it is a crime to build a church in Saudi Arabia, then it should be illegal to build a mosque in Europe."
But such an approach, he readily admits, is unacceptable because it would lead to an intolerable decrease in freedom.
He talks about "sleeper" blasphemy laws - statutes that have long been on the books in European countries, and that Muslims are trying to reinvigorate. He argues for a "redefinition" of the concept of blasphemy so that it is not exclusively about religion but includes values, classical liberal ones as well.
Were it up to Rose, the only free speech restrictions he'd allow are those that prevent incitement to violence, and discourage libel and infringement on privacy.
"All other restrictions - like blasphemy laws, some of which date back to the 1930s - I'd get rid of."
The key, says Rose, is for the West to continue to emphasize individual rights and not, as in Muslim society, collective rights.
Sure looks that way.......
Were getting close F15!
I guess that’s what any dedicated loyal Muslim would do...
He is just being true of what and who he truly is....
...
Please visit this thread I have updated too:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2232556/posts
“US to boycott ‘Durban II’ racism conference, ‘with regret’”
Jerusalem Post ^ | April 19, 2009 | By ALLISON HOFFMAN AND HILARY LEILA KRIEGER
Posted on April 18, 2009 8:15:21 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.