The Mayor of Brussels decided to ban a parade on 9/11 against Islamo-fascism.
In reaction, the organizers decided to hold the parade to commemorate 9/11. The Mayor was not to be denied. Brussels Journal has the story and specifically a quote from the Mayor.
[A quote from Freddy Thielemans, the Mayor of Brussels, in an op-ed piece in the Brussels newspaper De Standaard, 20 August 2007:
I decided to forbid the September 11 demonstration “against the islamicisation of Europe.†[…] Since 2001 I have allowed over 3,500 demonstrations. This is only the sixth one which I forbid. […] The right to demonstrate exists only inasmuch as it does not cause a disturbance of the public peace and order. […] First and foremost the organizers have chosen the symbolic date of 9/11. The intention is obviously to confound the terrorist activities of Muslim extremists on the one hand and Islam as a religion and all Muslims on the other hand. […] Such incitement to discrimination and hatred, which we usually call racism and xenophobia, is forbidden by a considerable number of international treaties and is punished by our penal laws and by the European legislation. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly pronounced judgements condemning this type of acts. […]
Our society has long fought to achieve that certain codes of behaviour connected with the Catholic religion are no longer enforced as civil law upon everyone. To my knowledge not a single rule specific to the Islamic religion is being enforced in similar fashion. And I see no indication that a large majority of our Muslim population is demanding any such thing.
Let us not forget that Brussels has always shown tolerance and openness towards everyone who lives here or seeks refuge here. Diversity, compromise, tolerance and rejection of extremes remain the foundation of the Brussels identity. […] With regard to the planned demonstration of September 11 “against the Islamicisation of Europe†my mind is made up. And my decision is final: it will not take place.
Well put. One of the reasons it took me longer than it should have to recognise the dangers inherent to Islam, is that most sources of information on this which I stumbled across seemed more interested in sandbagging Muslims for being Muslims and in endorsing the more reprehensible elements of our own culture, than in promoting the elements of our culture which Sharia threatens and proposing constructive solutions.
Fortunately, the “Islam-aware community” is maturing and hopefully will continue to do so.
Letting the Brussels mayor frame the issue of Islamic Jihad in the context of prejudicial thinking and discrimination against peace-loving Muslims is the crux of the issue. What needs to happen is to find an alternate context. It would seem to me that the demonstrators should take the tack that they wish to free good Muslims from the shackles of concepts that require the taking of life, theirs or ours, in order to make the world right. There are, of course, other contexts to place the argument. Living in the West requires modification of behavior so that diverse groups can live together. Or: Post-modern Europe requires a recognition of the damage that intergroup conflict can bring and thus requires mutual acceptance. Jihad in the political arena cannot be accepted in a multicultural society.