The Edmonton Journal is kind of behind the times
They’re just reporting now that Syed Soharwardy, the Calgary imam who filed a human rights complaint against Ezra Levant for his (now defunct) magazine’s publication of the Muhammed cartoons, has “open[ed his] heart to freedom of speech.”
And if you buy that, I’ve got a bridge in Whitecourt to sell you.
The MSM is, in this case, only about three weeks behind the blogs — Kathy Shaidle covered this story back in November, and called bollocks on Syed’s newfound embrace of freedom of expression.
Having been internationally humiliated, by a Jew no less, Syed doesn’t think to resign his position and live a life of quiet penitential service, avoiding the public eye at all costs. Nah, too… Christian.
Instead, Syed, who always maintains the imprint of the last person who sat on him, has finally detected the change in the societal air: “victimhood”, if not “out”, is ever so slightly on the skids; now, “free speech” is in (if the Conservative Party resolution is anything to go by.)
Note that he suddenly hasn’t finally discovered Enlightenment principles after living here in Anglo-Saxon Land for 20 years in total oblivion; this is all about ass-covering and faddishness.
Newspapers: we need them why?
I started blogging back in 2004 -- in May, if the Wayback Machine is to be believed. Not that I remember the exact day. To be honest, I didn't take it that seriously then; it was a fun distraction, but nothing more.
That all changed, I think, once the Danish cartoons were published, and the assault on the right to freedom of expression became very visible. With the recent issues in Canada concerning the "human rights" commissions, the gravity of the matter has only increased, and my interest in blogging has increased right along with it.
I used to blog at a domain called Time Immortal, but it seemed to be the right time for a change -- there's been a lot of that in my life of late. Hence this blog: a fresh start, and proof positive that I won't shut up even if I get shut down once in a while.
December 9th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
SOHARWARDY and freedom of…………
Imam undercuts himself by twisting his own words
Licia Corbella, For The Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, February 16, 2008
But here’s what his Jan. 23, 2005, news release actually said: “ISCC . . . strongly condemns the exploitation of tsunami victims by the Christian missionaries. There have been several reports that the Christian missionaries are kidnapping Muslim children in Indonesia. . . . It is now proven that the Christian missionaries do not help people on humanitarian grounds. They help people in order to exploit their needs and convert them to Christianity.”
Even though it was mostly “Christian” countries and organizations that came to the aid of these devastated people, these kinds of news releases caused many Indonesian Christians to be attacked and killed, including three Christian school girls who were beheaded by Muslim men.
Soharwardy explained: “I wanted to use that news to send a message to Muslim governments.” In other words, he knew his news release would find its way overseas. Perhaps he was hoping to join the lecture circuit there, too.
* * * *
Soharwardy is a charmer. He convinced me that I must have misread his columns. But relistening to the tape of our meeting and rereading his original texts, one thing is clear: he cannot be believed.
To us, he said he lodged his complaint with the AHRC because he felt Muslim “youth were getting alienated” not because the cartoons subjected him to hatred.
This man with two master’s degrees in engineering, who has lived in North America since 1980, now says he has just realized how important free speech is. For a fella who practises outrageous forms of it — you would hope so.
To the CBC’s The National on Wednesday, however, Soharwardy gave a different reason for dropping his complaint against Levant, who has spent two years and $100,000 in legal fees fighting this Orwellian battle: “People were looking at Ezra Levant as a martyr of freedom of his speech . . . taking this into a different direction that I did not want.”
Soharwardy wanted to be the hero and martyr in his campaign against Levant.
It backfired on him.
Now he’s the subject of a human rights complaint by women claiming sex discrimination at his mosque, Levant is planning an abuse of process lawsuit against him and he’s being scrutinized on CNN and across Canada.
Soharwardy fell into his own trap. Changing his words, as is his way, won’t likely be the salve to his reputation that he’s looking for this time.
lcorbella@theherald.canwest.com
© The Calgary Herald 2008