The Terror Finance Blog

Yusuf Qaradawi’s U.S. minions

The real aim of the Fiqh Council of North America
 
By Alyssa A. Lappen
 
Act for America special report | Feb. 25, 2011
 
Those who believe Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader Yusuf Qaradawi doesn’t threaten Egypt — or the U.S. — should reconsider. The U.S. banned Qaradawi as a terror-sympathizer in late 1999, 1 yet his MB emissaries continue working to implement his brand of sharia in North America.
 
Since its 1963 inception within the Muslim Students of America religious committee 2 the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA), it has been key to MB plans for the U.S. Indeed, the MB so designated FCNA (by an earlier moniker) in an internal 1991 strategic memo. 3 FCNA focuses on implementing sharia: individually and collectively, FCNA advises and educates “members and officials on matters related to the application of sharia,” here.4
 
For at least a decade, FCNA has also espoused an unique version of classical Islamic law. 5 Drawn largely from Qaradawi’s frequently odious rulings, this temporary “fiqh al aqalliyyat” 6 covers Muslim minorities in the West, according to sharia finance adviser and FCNA secretary Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, 7 a Dow Jones Islamic Indexes adviser to date. 8
 
Like classic sharia, fiqh al aqalliyyat is highly illiberal. Unlike classic law, it is only interim: It encourages Muslims to temporarily accept non-Muslim rule but heavily populate the West.ix The thesis posits that Dar al-Islam exists wherever Muslims live. It prefers to call the Muslim world “dar-al ijaba,” land of response, and non-Muslim nations, “dar ad-dawah,” i.e., where Islam “has to be spread.” Traditional fatwas banning citizenship in the West block Muslims from fulfilling dawa requirements and calling non-Muslims “kufir” doesn’t persuade converts. Whether by conversion or war, the MB goal remains conquest of the West. 10
 
Sharia criminal law, for example, demands and routinely applies capital punishment for apostates from Islam, 11 directly contradicting U.S. constitutional rights to freedom of faith. In late Sept. 2009, Former Muslims United sent polite, respectful requests to several dozen U.S. Muslim leaders, that they sign its Freedom Pledge to protect lives, property and rights to freedom of faith for all former Muslims. Pledge recipients included FCNA chairman Muzammil Siddiqi, 12 vice chair Muhammad Nur Abdullah, executive director Zulfiqar Ali Shah, executive council members Mohamad A. El Sheikh, FCNA executive trustee Jamal Badawi, Abdur Rahman Khan and Zainab Alwani and member Ishan Bagby. 13 All falsely attest to moderation. None replied. None signed.
 
Apart from unindicted terror-financing co-conspirator Badawi, a onetime trustee of the U.S. arm of the global Muslim Brotherhood itself — and a decades-long trustee on ISNA’s 18-member board 14 — the FCNA executives and members include many figures whose troubling associations, rulings and deeds are equally difficult to digest:

Since his circa 1976 arrival in the U.S. to head religious affairs at the United Nations office of the terror-linked Muslim World League (MWL), 15 Siddiqi has maintained close ties to Islamic radicals both in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Siddiqi thus serves both the Supreme Islamic Council of Egypt and Mecca’s Supreme Council of Mosques, 16 plus the fatwa board at Islam Online, a website of Qatar-based MB spiritual mouthpiece Yusuf Qaradawi — who returned to Egypt on Feb. 17, 2011 after a 30-year exile to pray for Jerusalem’s conquest. 17 (Siddiqi’s class was first to graduate from the MB’s 1961-founded Islamic University of Medina, after King Saud bin Abdel Aziz welcomed a second wave of Egyptian exiles and funded their spread of orthodox Islam and jihad doctrine, particularly to foreign students.)18

FCNA co-founder, former chairman and president Taha Jabir Alalwani — an unindicted co-conspirator in the case of admitted terror-financier Sami al-Arian 19 — on Oct. 13, 2007 signed “A Common Word,” a declaration of commonality purporting to tie Christians and Muslims more closely. Nevertheless, he supports Islamic law — including the death penalty for apostates. Very few website visitors pierce the facade 20 or recognize the MB goal — buying time to complete their North American conquest. That’s all it is.

In April 2006, Abdullah and Badawi co-authored a fatwa encouraging Muslim proselytizing to Christians and Jews, but finding gross sin in Muslim conversions outside Islam.21 When scholars distinguish apostasy “not punishable by death,” from “apostasy… accompanied by … high treason,” Badawi wrote, the death penalty is still administered — for high treason. The distinction would not comfort the murder victims, in either sort of fiqh ruling.

Alwalani also serves SAFA Group and its suspected terror-aiding and funding network. In 2003, the U.S. Customs and Treasury departments raided FCNA’s Virginia offices within their Operation Greenquest dragnet for terrorist ties and financing. 22 Homeland security’s senior special Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent David Kane, in Oct. 2003 reported strong evidence of al-Arian’s conspiracy with SAFA Group executives to fund and support HAMAS and PIJ. In a late 1988 (or so) fatwa also discovered, Alwalani invoked jihad, invested by Allah’s power in Muslims, as “the only way to liberate Palestine,” where “no person or authority” could give Jews any rights at all, much less let Jews settle or live.23

On Mar. 24, 2003 at Islam Online, Abdullah, Badawi and Siddiqi condoned “Seeking Martyrdom by Attacking US Military Bases in the Gulf,” a ruling of anonymous “muftis” mandating maiming and murder of U.S. troops in the Middle East. “[A]ttacking American soldiers who came to launch war against Muslims is an obligation and Jihad, as they are true invaders,” the fatwa commands. Such obligatory jihad, moreover, would deliver “the highest degree of martyrdom” to Muslims “killed” so doing: 24 Eternity with 72 virgins.

In 2008, a federal jury unanimously convicted five Holy Land Foundation officers of 108 counts of funding Hamas, money laundering and tax fraud. 25 Prosecutors also pronounced FCNA executive trustee Jamal Badawi and FCNA member, trustee and former Islamic Association of Palestine (IOP) director Muhammad al-Hanooti 26 unindicted co-conspirators (with many MB organizations). A circa 1978 immigrant 27 — and unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trace Center attack — Hanooti remains in Washington D.C. 28 A preponderance of publicly accessible evidence prompted the New Orleans 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in Oct. 2010 to leave all HLF unindicted co-conspirator designations unsealed and in tact. 29 Badawi, Hanooti et all remain highly suspect.

—————————————————————
Alysssa A. Lappen, an ACT for America contributing editor and investigative journalist, is a former senior fellow at American Center for Democracy (2005-2008); former senior editor of Institutional Investor (1993-1999), Working Woman (1991-1993) and Corporate Finance (1991), and writes for many print and internet publications. ACT for America commissioned this work.

—————————————————————————
NOTES:
1 Steven Salinsky, “Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradawi and Qatar’s Education City – Hosting American University Students from Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, Northwestern, Texas A&M, Virginia Commonwealth, Cornell & Others,” Middle East Media Research Institute, Feb. 19, 2010, http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/3984.htm and http://www.memri.org/image/IA_Qaradawi.pdf (viewed 2/5/2011).
2 “History of the Fiqh Council,” FCNA, 11/22/2010, http://www.fiqhcouncil.org/node/6 (viewed 2/5/2011).
3 Mohamed Akram, “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America, 5/22/1991,” www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/HLF/Akram_GeneralStrategicGoal.pd f (first viewed 9/18/2007).
4 “Fiqh Council of North America responds to the question: What is the Islamic opinion on the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in September 2001,” reprinted at Islamopedia, undated, http://www.islamopediaonline.org/fatwa/fiqh-councilnorth-
america-responds-question-what-islamic-opinion-terrorist-attacks-unite d-sta (viewed 2/3/2011).
5 Taha Jabir Alwalani, “Towards a Fiqh for minorities: some basic reflections,” occasional paper #10, (International
Institute of Islamic Thought, 2003), pp. 44; Abu Amal Hadhrami, “Muslim Americans need own outlook,” Islamic Horizons, Jan./Feb. 2000, pp. 48-53.
6 Ralph Ghadban, “Tariq Ramadan’s Islamism: a lecturer of unfree thinking,” Frankfurter Allgemeine, Sept. 9, 2009,
http://www.faz.net/s/RubC3FFBF288EDC421F93E22EFA74003C4D/Doc~E8D907A22 43D44E1BB6F26A34B25FD7
9E~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html (viewed 2/3/2011); Alwalani, “Prolegominato (sic, intended “prolegomenon”) the
Fiqh of the minorities: Some basic reflections,” undated, Islam Online,
http://web.archive.org/web/20071212175822/www.fiqhcouncil.org/Default. aspx?tabid=60 (viewed 2/5/2011); Alwalani, “Towards a Fiqh for minorities: some basic reflections,” occasional paper #10, (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2003), pp. 44; Hadhrami, “Muslim Americans need own outlook,” Islamic Horizons, Jan./Feb. 2000, pp. 48-53.
7 Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, “Fiqh and the Fiqh Council of North America,” Islamicity, undated, http://www.islamicity.com/politics/shariah.htm (viewed 2/5/2011).
8 Jeffrey Imm, “Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal and Islamist Financing,” Counterterrorismblog.org, Nov. 14, 2007,
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/wsj_and_islamist_financing.php  (last viewed 2/21/2011); see also Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes rulebook, Dec. 2009,
http://www.djindexes.com/mdsidx/downloads/rulebooks/Dow_Jones_Islamic_ Market_Indexes_Rulebook.pdf (viewed
2/21/2011); http://www.djindexes.com/islamicmarket/?go=supervisory-board (viewed 2/21/2011); “Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo, Chief Shariah Officer and Board Member,” Managing Team / Shariah Supervisory Board, Sharia Capital, undated, http://www.shariahcap.com/about-mt-delorenzo.php (viewed 2/21/2011).
9 Ralph Ghadban, “Tariq Ramadan’s Islamism: a lecturer of unfree thinking,” Frankfurter Allgemeine, Sept. 9, 2009, http://www.faz.net/s/RubC3FFBF288EDC421F93E22EFA74003C4D/Doc~E8D907A22 43D44E1BB6F26A34B25FD7
9E~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html (viewed 2/3/2011); Taha Alwalani, “Prolegominato (sic, intended “prolegomenon”) the Fiqh of the minorities: Some basic reflections,” undated, Islam Online, http://web.archive.org/web/20071212175822/www.fiqhcouncil.org/Default. aspx?tabid=60 (viewed 2/5/2011), a preface; and Alwalani, “Towards a Fiqh for minorities: some basic reflections,” occasional paper #10, (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2003), pp. 44; Abu Amal Hadhrami, “Muslim Americans need own outlook,” Islamic Horizons, Jan./Feb. 2000, pp. 48-53.
10 Hadhrami, “Muslim Americans need own outlook,” Islamic Horizons, Jan./Feb. 2000, pp. 48-53; see also abridged article, available at http://members.fortunecity.co.uk/waseem/fatwa.htm (last viewed 2/20/2011).
11 Yusuf Qaradawi, European Council for Fatwa and Research, “Fatwa on apostasy: apostasy major and minor,” 2006, http://www.islamonline.net/English/contemporary/2006/04/article01c.sht ml (dead link) see Apostasy fatwa and “The Lawful and prohibited in Islam, 1960, reprinted 2006, http://www.amazon.com/Prohibited-translators-ElHelbawy-Moinuddin-al-
Qardawi/dp/8171513735/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253238796&sr=8-1  ; Abul ala Mawdudi, “Punishment of the apostate according to Islamic law,” 1963, translated from Urdu 1994,http://answeringislam.
org/Hahn/Mawdudi/#whya; Badawi, “Apostasy from Islam: any change in the contemporary context?” Islam Online, 2006, http://www.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=Gz 9HCK; Sano Koutoub Moustapha, “Lina Joy’s case and religious freedom,” International Islamic University, Malaysia, undated,
http://www.islamonline.net/livedialogue/english/Browse.asp?hGuestID=yu ha10 (link dead on 2/15/2011); Ahmad Shafaat, “Punishment of Apostasy in Islam, parts I and II,” Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, 2006 and 2007, http://www.islamicperspectives.com/Apostasy1.htm and http://islamicperspectives.com/PunishmentOfApostasy_Part2.html; “A Shiite opinion on apostasy, Kayhan International, March 1986, http://formermuslimsunited.americancommunityexchange.org/apostasy-from -islam/a-shiiteopinion-on-apostasy/; “A Sunni Muslim pronouncement on apostasy from Lebanon,” http://formermuslimsunited.americancommunityexchange.org/apostasy-from -islam/pledge-fatwa-mufti-of-lebanon/; al-Azhr, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, “Fatwa on apostasy,” originally from German Wikipedia, as cited at http://www.atlasshrugs.com/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rechtsgutachten_betr_Apostasie_im_Is lam.jpg
as cited at http://formermuslimsunited.americancommunityexchange.org/apostasy-from -islam/al-azhar-fatwa/ (all fatwas first viewed 9/24/2009) as cited by and with thanks to Nonie Darwish, co-founder, Former Muslims United, http://formermuslimsunited.americancommunityexchange.org/.
12 “Muzammil Siddiqi, past president,” ISNA, http://www.isna.net/ISNAHQ/pages/Muzammil-Siddiqi.aspx; “About us,” NAIT, http://www.nait.net/NAIT_about_ us.htm (all viewed 5/25/2010).
13 Former Muslims United cover letter and Freedom Pledge, Sept. 22, 2009, http://formermuslimsunited.americancommunityexchange.org/the-pledge/co ver-letter-pledge/ (first viewed 9/22/2009).
14 “Dr. Jamal Badawi,” Fiqh Council of North America, undated,
http://fiqhcouncil.org/AboutUs/tabid/175/ctl/Detail/mid/601/xmid/38/xm fid/4/Default.aspx (viewed 6/2/2010); “ISNA
board of directors, http://www.isna.net/ISNAHQ/pages/Board-of-Directors.aspx (viewed 6/10/2010).
15 “Muzammil H. Siddiqi,” Islam Online, undated
http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cid=1119503614805&pagenam e=IslamOnline-English-
Ask_Scholar%2FFatwaCounselorE%2FFatwaCounselorE (dead link) see Muzammil Siddiqi profile; Muslim World League, Saudi Arabia Market Information Resource, http://www.saudinf.com/main/k312.htm (viewed 5/20/2010); Lappen, “A secular market nightmare,” ibid.; “Muslim World League,” History Commons, http://www.historycommons.org/entity.jsp?entity=muslim_world_league (viewed 5/2/2010). Siddiqi remained U.S. MWL director until at least 2005. The FBI and Homeland Security raided MWL’s offices for possible terrorist ties in 2002 and again in July 2005, according to the investigative Pipeline News service. “Terror friendly organizations issue fatuous fatwa against terror,” Pipeline News, Jul. 28, 2005, http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:L_0IwlWft2wJ:www. pipelinenews.org/2007/Terror-Friendly-
Organizations-Issue-Fatuous-Fatwa-Against.html (viewed 6/1/2010).
Siddiqi simultaneously headed the Muslim Student Association religious affairs department, and one recent report suggests that he may still. “Muzammil Siddiqi,” ProCon.org,
http://israelipalestinian.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=004996 (viewed 6/1/2010).
16 “Muzammil Siddiqi,” Islam Online, http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cid=1119503614805&pagenam e=IslamOnline-English-
Ask_Scholar/FatwaCounselorE/FatwaCounselorE, (viewed 5/25/2010).
17 “Yusuf al-Qaradawi in Friday sermon at Cairo’s Tahrir Square: pray for conquest of al-Aqsa,” Feb. 18, 2011, http://www.memritv.org/report/en/5020.htm, as cited, Bostom, “For the De-Nile-ists—Qaradawi-Khomeini in Cairo,” Feb. 18, 2011, http://www.andrewbostom.org/blog/2011/02/18/for-the-de-nile-ists%E2%80 %94qaradawi-khomeini-incairo/ (both viewed 2/18/2011).
18 Alyssa A. Lappen, “A secular market nightmare,” Front Page Magazine, May 9, 2008, http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=C64342C1-C28F-4BED -8658-B69E78684D38 (viewed 4/12/2010)/
19 “Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA),” Investigative Project, undated, http://www.investigativeproject.org/FCNA-CAIR.html (viewed 2/5/2011). Al-Arian funded Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a designated foreign terrorist organization. To avoid a new trial after a jury deadlocked on 9 of his 17 terrorfunding charges in Dec. 2005, al-Arian accepted a 57-month prison sentence, to be followed by immediate subsequent deportation. However, in Oct. 2006, al-Arian defied a subpoena to testify before a U.S. grand jury. He served an added year for contempt and was released on bail, and under house arrest, in Apr. 2008. Meanwhile in Jan. 2008, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Apr. 2006 plea agreement contents did “not establish that the plea agreement immunized al-Arian from future grand jury subpoenas.” Despite that ruling, endless further court wrangling ensued over the terms of al-Arian’s Apr. 2006 plea deal. To date, al-Arian apparently remains under house arrest. “U.S. to deport Palestinian it failed to convict,” New York Times, Apr. 15, 2006, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE5D9163FF936A25757C 0A9609C8B63 (first viewed 4/15/2006); “Judge cancels al-Arian hearing again,” IPT News, Oct. 29, 2010, http://www.investigativeproject.org/2286/hearing-may-determine-fate-of -al-arian-contempt (viewed 2/9/2011).
20 “A common word,” Oct. 13, 2007, http://www.acommonword.com/index.php?lang=en&page=signatories; see also comments at http://www.acommonword.com/index.php?lang=en&page=comments (both viewed 6/2/2010).
21 Abdullah, Jamal Badawi, “Freedom of Belief & Minority Rights in Muslim Countries,” Islam Online fatwa bank, Apr. 18, 2008, http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-Engl ish-
Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaEAskTheScholar&cid=1119503547720 (viewed 6/10/2010); Freedom_of_Belief_&_Minoirity_Rights_In_Muslim_Countries_ISLAMONLIONE_ 4.18.2006.
22 “Terror friendly organizations issue fatuous fatwa against terror,” Pipeline News, Jul. 28, 2005, ibid.
23 “Redacted affidavit in support of application, in the matter of searches involving 555 Grove Street, Herndon, Va., and related locations, (E.D. Va 02-114-MG.), as cited in “Backgrounder on the Fiqh Council of North America and the
Council of American-Islamic Relations,” Investigative Project, undated, http://www.investigativeproject.org/FCNACAIR.html (viewed 4/20/2010). (Now at
http://web.archive.org/web/20050830160244/http://www.justice.gov/usao/ vae/ArchivePress/OctoberPDFArchive/03/sa
faaffid102003.pdf (p. 36, now unsealed, viewed 2/16/2011).
24 A group of muftis, “Seeking Martyrdom by Attacking US Military Bases in the Gulf,” Islam Online fatwa bank, Mar. 24, 2003, http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-Engl ish-
Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503546700 (dead linke) see: Martyrdom fatwa (viewed 6/13/2010).
25 Gretel Kovach, “Five convicted in terrorism financing trial,” New York Times, Nov. 25, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/us/25charity.html?_r=1&pagewanted=pr int (viewed 5/10/2010); Paul J. Weber,
Los Angeles Times, Nov. 25, 2008, http://articles.latimes.com/2008/nov/25/nation/na-muslim-charity25 (viewed 5/20/2010); Convicted HLF officers included former HLF chairman Ghassan Elashi, former chief executive Shukri Abu Baker, Mufid Abdulqater, Abdulraham Odeh and Mohammed El-Mezain. Two more former HLF officers, Haitham Maghawri and Akram Mishal (cousin to Hamas chief Khaled Mishael) had fled and were not tried.
26 Attachment A, in the U.S. District Court for the northern district of Texas, Dallas Division, U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation, http://www.pipelinenews.org/images/2007-05-29-US%20v%20HLF-ListCoConsp irators.pdf (first viewed 6/1/2007); “History of the Fiqh Council,” FCNA, 11/22/2010, http://www.fiqhcouncil.org/node/6 (viewed 2/5/2011); Steven Emerson, “The American Islamic leaders’ fatwa is bogus,” Counterterrorism Blog, Jul. 28, 2005, ibid.
27 “Muhammad al-Hanooti,” Islam Online, undated http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cid=1119503615091&pagenam e=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar%2FFatwaCounselorE%2FFatwaCounselorE (dead link), see Muhammad al-Hanooti profile
28 Paul Sperry, “The great al-Qaeda patriot,” Front Page Magazine, Apr. 9, 2007, http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=26058 (viewed 5/2/2007).
29 U.S. Plaintiff-Appellee v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, et al, Defendants North American Islamic Trust, Movant-Appellant, No. 09-10875, Before Garza and Benavides, Circuit Judges, and Crone, District Judge,” 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, Oct. 20, 2010, http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-5th-circuit/1541806.html (viewed 11/25/2010).

Democracy Can Lead to Dictatorship - Remember Germany and Gaza

February 1, 2011  

By Rachel Ehrenfeld

"Democracy must not begin and end with the elections alone. True democracy actually begins on the day following elections, with the granting of human rights and a concern for citizens' welfare," said Israeli President Shimon Peres, commenting on the current situation in Egypt.

Recalling how a "democratic election" allowed Muslim Brotherhood Palestinian offshoot Hamas to take over Gaza, turning it into a huge terrorist camp subject to Shari'a, Peres added: "If an extremist and dangerous religious dictatorial regime comes to power on the day after elections are held, what good are the democratic elections?"

After the major Hamas victory in the Palestinian Authority's first democratic election in January 2006, a leader of the triumphant terrorist group, Mahmoud Zahar announced: "It will not be just our government...We will work with Fatah and independents and other factions to make it a national government." It didn't take long for Hamas to turn Gaza into Hamastan. 

 When CNN "experts" opine that the "Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood" is non-violent, and the White House declares it "supports"  a role for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt's new government, they clearly ignore statements to the contrary by the group's leaders.

 In an interview with Iranian newspaper Al-Alam, on January 31, 2011, leading Muslim Brotherhood member Muhammad Ghannem promised that once the group gets rid of the Mubarak regime, it will close the Suez Canal, a move which will create serious problems for Europe's already teetering economy. Ghannem also said that once in power, the Muslim Brotherhood would stop the gas flow from Egypt to Israel.

 Peres is right when he says that the threat of the Muslim Brotherhood, Iran, "and international terror is not an Israeli 'monopoly' but a global problem. Only recently, we were witness to a terror attack in the heart of Moscow, and today, no world capital is immune from a terror attack."

 

Time to Reform Denmark's Anti-Hate Speech Law

February 1, 2011

Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, Aylana Meisel

 Danish reporter Lars Hedegaard (pictured) was found not guilty yesterday of hate speech charges by the criminal court in  Frederiksberg, Copenhagen. Hedegaard was prosecuted earlier this year for comments he made in his home in December 2009 about "honor killings," as practiced by Muslims.

 

Hedegaard argued in his defense that when making the statements he was unaware that it would be published on a blog.  Nonetheless, the criminal case against him proceeded and he still faces a libel suit filed by some 15 individuals and organizations, most of whom are Muslim.

 

As liability under the law is based only on the plaintiff's perception or feeling threatened, denigrated or insulted - truth is not a defense.

 

Many European countries have laws similar to Denmark’s Section 266(b) of the Criminal Code, under which Hedegaard was prosecuted. Rather than protecting the people they were intended to defend, these laws are often exploited by plaintiffs seeking to suppress the expression of personal opinions with which they disagree. The Danish law, which is quite broad, penalizes “whoever publicly or with the intent of public dissemination issues a pronouncement or other communication by which a group of persons are threatened, insulted or denigrated due to their race, skin colour, national or ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation…” Offenders may be fined or imprisoned for up to two years.

 

As with many other European laws on hate speech, Section 266(b) was revised to conform to the requirements of the 1971 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Specifically, the convention mandated that signatories criminalize “all dissemination of ideas based on racial superiority or hatred [and] incitement to racial discrimination.” The treaty has 85 signatories and 174 parties, including European countries and the United States.

 

Similarly, the 1966 UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) requires signatories to ban “advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.” The Covenant has 72 signatories and 167 parties including European countries and the United States.

 

Regarding Islam and Muslims, like much of the Western world, Denmark’s interpretation of anti-hate speech law seems to reflect the latest prevalent politically correct speech.  While anti- discrimination/anti-hate speech laws should protect people from discrimination and incitement to violence against them, Danish law seems to have crossed over to favoring Orwellian Newspeak as a mode of expression, thus limiting free speech.

  

Hedegaard’s criminal prosecution seems to have reignited a long-standing debate about whether to abolish Section 266(b) of the criminal code. In its July 2010 report to the UN on the Implementation of the International Convention on All Forms of Racial Discrimination the Danish government reported that:

 

“Two parties supporting the Government has [sic] announced that they supported the abolition of section 266b of the Penal Code and one of the government parties has announced that they will decide on whether they support abolishing of section 266b…” 

 

Danish anti- hate and defamation laws have been used before as a tool to suppress free speech. In 2009, 94,923 Muslims from the Middle East and Australia, claiming to be descendants of Mohammed, threatened 11 Danish publications with lawsuits, unless they removed Mohammed Cartoons from their website. Represented by a Saudi lawyer, the plaintiffs claimed Politiken had offended them by re-printing the Mohammed cartoons. The only newspaper that caved in was Politken, which was quick to settle  and apologize. Encouraged by this victory, the lawyer announced he was preparing to sue the other publications under British libel laws.

   

To guard against the threat to free speech posed by judgments made in British and other foreign courts conducive to frivolous libel suits, the U.S. recently took action against libel tourism - the use of foreign libel laws with lesser protection than afforded by the first Amendment to silence Americans at home. 

 

 In August 2010, as a result of my efforts to fight the enforcement of a British libel judgment in the U.S., the president signed the SPEECH Act, a law blocking the enforcement of unjustified or frivolous foreign defamation judgments. This bi-partisan legislation - initiated by my organization, American Center for Democracy, and supported by major American free speech organizations - passed Congress unanimously. 

 

With the passage of the SPEECH Act, the U.S. reaffirmed its commitment to the protection of free speech within its borders.

 

As Hedegaard’s case indicates, the time is ripe for Denmark to demonstrate a similar commitment, and revise Section 266(b) of its Criminal Code.

 

 Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld  is the Director of the New York-based American Center for Democracy. She is an expert on terrorism and corruption-related topics such as terror financing and narco-terrorism. She has helped to change New York state law, when the Libel Terrorism Protection Act (pdf) was passed. Similar laws have been passed in other U.S. states, and a federal law known as the SPEECH ACT which was signed by the president in August 2010, follows the same principle - that First Amendment guarantees should protect authors and publishers against foreign libel judgments from countries with poor free speech protections.

Aylana Meisel is Legal Fellow at the ACD.

This article was first published by FamilySecurityMatters.org