Muslim U.N. Official Warns of Islamic Suicide Bombers if Global Ban on Blasphemy Rejected

"Stop portraying the Prophet Mohammed as a suicide bomber or more Muslims will become suicide bombers and murder you blasphemers." That's pretty much what Algeria's Ambassador to the U.N., Idriss Jazairy, who serves as chairman of the U.N.'s Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards told the Associated Press in an interview about efforts by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to pass a U.N. treaty banning blasphemy against Islam.

"If we keep hitting this glass wall and say there's nothing you can do about Islamophobia — you can do something about anti-Semitism but Islamophobia is out of bounds — you give an ideal platform for recruitment of suicide bombers,"

The blog UN Watch reported on November 12th on a letter dated October 29th sent by the OIC to the Ad Hoc Committee about the proposal. (PDF file of letter here.) The letter was submitted by Pakistani Ambassador Zamir Akram.

The letter says religious insults and ridicule "creates social unrest and is a form of psychological violence."

The letter decries several European nations: Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland for having offended Islam.

In 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a series of cartoons by various artists depicting Mohammed, whose image in any form is prohibited under Islamic law.

The AP reports the Obama administration has been engaging in diplomatic "trench warfare" to "squash the proposal."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out strongly against the proposal last month.

The complaints in the letter and by Ambassador Jazairry that Jews are already protected is laughable--and cynical coming from the one religion with many adherents dedicated to eradicating Jews from the planet.

The OIC letter complains of "negative stereotyping" and "violence" against Muslims. The OIC needs to have a talk with Ambassador Jazairry about his threat of suicide bombers if Islam is not protected by the U.N. He certainly is promoting violence and reinforcing a negative stereotype about Islam.

FORMIDABLE FOE

America is the birthday cake of earth
As the ants march from every direction.
Thank God for all who have sworn to defend her
Serving with love, honor, pride, and affection.

Since the first day George Washington marched off to war
There have been those who have wished our demise.
Their hatred, fueled by jealousy and greed
Was defeated by our brave and the wise.

Once again, we must face a formidable foe
Who have pledged by their God to destroy us all
Misusing their faith as an excuse to kill
As for a worldwide jihad, their leaders call.

Some say we should try to appease them
For if we resist, they’ll hate us even more.
But the David’s among us shall cast our stones
Defeating them, as it was done before.

By Conservative Poet
Tom Zart
Most Published Poet
On The Web

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iX2fakx508zGm4ff4XnCXYK260SwD9C2SQ401

AP Exclusive: Muslim countries seek blasphemy ban
By FRANK JORDANS (AP) – 4 hours ago

GENEVA

SNIPPET: “Failure to agree on a treaty would boost extremists in the Arab world, said Jazairy, a former envoy to Washington now considered a key player in the U.N.’s human rights forum.

“If we keep hitting this glass wall and say there’s nothing you can do about Islamophobia — you can do something about anti-Semitism but Islamophobia is out of bounds — you give an ideal platform for recruitment of suicide bombers,” he said.

On the Net:
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom: http://www.uscirf.gov “

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http://www.uscirf.gov/images/stories/pdf/uscrif_policy_focus_final.pdf

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2819&Itemid=1

11/11/09: The Dangerous Idea of Protecting Religions from “Defamation”

A Threat to Universal Human Rights Standards

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In advance of the upcoming vote on this issue in the UN General Assembly, USCIRF today issued the following Policy Focus explaining the problems with the idea that religions should be protected from “defamation.”

Executive Summary

Over the past decade, countries from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) have been working through the United Nations system to advance the problematic idea that there should be laws against the so-called “defamation of religions.” Although touted as a solution to the very real problems of religious persecution and discrimination, the OIC-sponsored UN resolutions on this issue instead provide justification for governments to restrict religious freedom and free expression. They also provide international legitimacy for existing national laws that punish blasphemy or otherwise ban criticism of a religion, which often have resulted in gross human rights violations. These resolutions deviate sharply from universal human rights standards by seeking to protect religious institutions and interpretations, rather than individuals, and could help create a new international anti-blasphemy norm.

In addition to seeking a new norm through these resolutions, OIC countries have argued in various UN contexts that existing international standards prohibiting advocacy of hatred and incitement already outlaw “defamation of religions.” However, the provisions on which they rely—Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 4 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD)—provide only limited exceptions to the fundamental freedoms of expression and religion. These provisions were intended to protect individuals from violence or discrimination, not to protect religious institutions or ideas from criticism, and they should not be expanded to cover allegedly religiously defamatory speech. Such an expansion, which unfortunately may have been lent support by new language on negative religious stereotyping and incitement in a recent UN Human Rights Council freedom of expression resolution, would undermine international human rights guarantees, including the freedom of religion. It also would undermine the institutions that protect universal human rights worldwide.
Please click here to download USCIRF Policy Focus - The Dangerous Idea of Protecting Religions from “Defamation”

USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission. USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF’s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.

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Deterring Islamic Extremists