May 13, 2012

Should critically discussing Islam be a form of hate speech?

By Benjamin Bull
Several days ago, I noted with interest that Danish journalist and historian Lars Hedegaard has been acquitted by a unanimous Dutch Supreme Court of charges that he violated Holland's notorious "hate speech" laws.  His crime?  He made a public utterance that state prosecutors concluded was "denigrating" of Islam. Hedegaard dared say that Islam should be criticized for  referencing a Norwegian book concerning the high frequency of sexual abuse in Muslim families, stating, "We hear about that all the time."  The prosecutor never alleged that anything Hedegaard stated was untrue.  Truth under the Dutch hate speech law is largely irrelevant. The acquittal follows on the heels of the more widely publicized dismissal of charges against flamboyant Dutch politician Geert Wilders for violating the very same law.  Wilders' crime was the production of the film Fitna, which had the audacity to draw a connection between certain passages of the Koran and Islamist...(Read Full Article)