Posted on 04/11/2013 7:21:41 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
The Great Neck Synagogue has cancelled a planned talk Sunday by activist Pamela Geller, Geller announced Wednesday.
"Due to relentless intimidation, bullying and threats, the Great Neck Synagogue is cancelling my talk," said Geller to Patch. "It is a very sad day for freedom-loving peoples when fascist tactics trump free speech."
A coordinated campaign by prominent officials to cancel Geller's appearence has been underway since last month.
Geller said she received the following statement from synagogue officials, cancelling her invitation to speak to the synagogue's men's club on the “Imposition of Sharia in America.”
"As the notoriety and media exposure of the planned program this Sunday have increased, so has the legal liability and potential security exposure of our institution and it's [sic] member families. In an era of heightened security concerns it is irresponsible to jeopardize the safety of those who call Great Neck Synagogue home, especially our children, even at the risk of diverting attention from a potentially important voice in the ongoing debate. Accordingly, the Great Neck Synagogue Men's Club will no longer be sponsoring the appearance of Pamela Geller this coming Sunday, and no event will be taking place in our facility."
Geller said while she understands the synagogue's action, she deplores the cancellation of her "message of freedom."
"This incident shows how urgently this topic needs to be discussed. Leftist thugs, pushed and prodded by Islamic supremacist Habeeb Ahmed and his co-conspirators, threatened a march on the shul (among other things)," said Geller to Patch.
Labeling Geller the "personification of an Islamophobe," Ahmed, a Nassau Commission on Human Rights member, recommended a petition of the Stationary of Council of Churches, The Interfaith Alliance and Holocaust Center against Geller, according to emails from the interfaith group posted on Geller's Atlas Shrugs blog.
"In mosques and Islamic centers, the most vitriolic jihad supporters and preachers of hate speak freely, said Geller, but "my work that has been consistently in defense of human rights is not allowed to be given a hearing."
Geller was set to be introduced by Greg Buckley, Sr., whose 21-year-old son, Marine Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley was killed in August while serving in Afghanistan. Buckley Sr. is calling for justice in the murder of his son and is seeking prosecution on American soil.
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