MARK STEYN ON THE GELLER CANCELLATION
BY CANADA’S SHARIA POLICE
I was scheduled to speak at the Chabad Flamingo Synagogue in Thornhill, right outside of Toronto’s city limits, on May 13. But now Islamic supremacist groups in Canada, with sharia enforcement by the Canadian police, have succeeded in getting the event canceled under police pressure, and the organizers are looking for a new location.
Insp. Ricky Veerappan, of the York Regional Police force’s diversity, equity and inclusion bureau said, “Some of the stuff that Ms. Geller speaks about runs contrary to the values of York Regional Police and the work we do in engaging our communities.” Let me understand this. The “stuff” that I speak about – gender apartheid, creed apartheid, Islamic Jew-hatred, honor killing – runs contrary to their values? What exactly are their values? Imposing Sharia? Because that’s exactly what they’re doing. My value is life. What’s theirs?
Great stuff by the master:
Excluded by the Inclusion Cops By Mark Steyn, National Review
As some readers will know, I’ve fought a long battle in Canada to restore freedom of speech to a country that should never have allowed itself to lose it. So I find this example of naked intimidation by state power especially repugnant:
Pamela Geller, tireless campaigner against Islamic imperialism (and a lady I had the honor of being introduced by at CPAC a few years back), was scheduled to give a speech at a Toronto synagogue on May 13th. Miss Geller is not a convicted terrorist or terrorism-supporter or someone who argues for the execution of all homosexuals. If she were, she could speak at any Canadian venue with impunity. Instead, here’s what happened next:
TORONTO – York Regional Police threatened to remove a rabbi as one of the force’s chaplains if he hosted a controversial anti-Islamist speaker at his Thornhill synagogue.
Insp. Ricky Veerappan, of the force’s diversity, equity and inclusion bureau, confirmed he and officers from the service’s hate crimes unit met with Rabbi Mendel Kaplan of the Chabad Flamingo Synagogue on Tuesday.
They expressed concern about an upcoming talk to be given by Pamela Geller, a vocal critic of radical Islam. She protested past plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City, and has posted anti-Jihad messages in that city’s subway system.
When the York Regional Police Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bureau show up thwacking their truncheons against their palms and saying, “Nice little multifaith advisory committee gig you got going, Rabbi. Shame if anything were to happen to it”, a prudent man gets the message:
Subsequent to his meeting with police, Kaplan cancelled Geller’s May 13 talk.
So that worked. Those who didn’t get the memo about Inspector Ricky Veerappan’s self-enthronement as Greater Toronto Area Speech Commissar are scrambling to find Pamela Geller an alternative venue. If you don’t want the coppers determining whose opinions you’re permitted to be exposed to, give ‘em your support. (Miss Geller has more here.)
I’m tired of being told what I’m allowed to read and hear by statist hacks like Inspector Veerappan. John O’Sullivan likes to call the politically correct British police “the paramilitary wing of The Guardian“. Unfortunately, the “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Bureau” would take that as a compliment.
PS More here. And this line from Inclusion Inspector Veerappan is particularly revolting:
Some of the stuff that Ms. Geller speaks about runs contrary to the values of York Regional Police.
Get lost, creep. In free societies, a constabulary isn’t there to enforce its “values”, it’s there to uphold the law. This man is unfit for his job.
“The holocaust denying screwball Ernst Zundel was hounded by the Canadian courts for decades…”
No he wasn’t. He was hounded by Meir Weinstein and the JDL Canada. The “Canadian courts” allowed him free rein for the longest time. Zundel was most certainly one of your heroes, Good Doctor.
“Please tell us more about what’s going on now between the JDL and authorities, if you can.”
Will be able to tell you more, Canadian Otter, after the 13th, after the Pamela Geller event (they’re holding it now at the Zionist Centre in Toronto). We only communicate by emails, and not too much is being said even then. Just the necessary info about when and where we are supposed to be. My Jewish buddy and I live outside of Toronto, so we only find out about the “good stuff” when we attend meetings or do security for events such as Pamela Geller’s.
Michael Devolin Said:
NOT.
@ Michael Devolin:
Please tell us more about what’s going on now between the JDL and authorities, if you can.
Some of our members (JDL Canada) have been visited by the RCMP and questioned. Meir Weinstein, the leader of JDL Canada, was visited and asked how long he’s lived in Canada. Meir replied that he was born here. In the “good old days” JDL Canada were treated with respect by the police and the RCMP, now we’re being treated like WE are the terrorists. Unbelievable.
@ Eric R.:
I agree.It’s David vs. Goliath all over again, but this time little David has nuclear weapons rather than a slingshot. The question is can Netananyu be trusted to play the role of David? I doubt it.
Eric R. Said:
The events in Boston and Canada who several things for certain:
1 A pervasive undercurrent and Community of Jihadist nurturing thought has been established adn entrenched in North America.
2 A WMD attack from the most daring representatives and products of this community is guaranteed in the near future.
3 Nothing is being done to clean up that Jihadist Nurturing Community – the question of a WMD attack is only “when” not “if”.
If this were so, then why are Islamist and leftist groups being given every opportunity to speak on campus and publicly (denouncing Israel) but Jews are the only ones not allowed to engage in free speech (they sometimes say for our own safety)?
Yes, there are also problems when anti-abortion people want the stage to speak, especially on campus, but I cannot think of any other examples in Canada actually prevented from speaking (not to say definitely – for the sake of the lawyers out there – that there are absolutely no other examples)
Jews always seem to be a special case. If we say we want free speech (even to the point where it becomes of hate speech against us) then we open up the kind of propaganda Pandora’s box that will overwhelm the community (the general community and the Jewish community) with hate and the potential for that hate to metastasize and to turn into violence.
If we say that we want hate speech laws enforced, then we will be accused of damaging free speech.
This is not a free speech debate in my opinion. It is about police overstepping their bounds and taking sides by entering into politics and, more frighteningly, entering into the politics of supporting jihadis. For public safety reasons, this should not be happening – especially with Canada so fraught with Islamist cells poised to do us harm here in Canada as the Via Rail incident brought to our attention a few weeks ago.
CSIS needs to be taking the police forces aside and telling them that pandering to jihadis is counter to Canadian values, because the values of the York Police force is skewed and distorted by political correctness gone bad.
Frankly, I read stuff like this and I know that the West is finished, the Islamofascists will win, and the final extermination of us Jews is inevitable.
It makes me believe that if Israel has a reason to go to the Samson Option, she should do so. Better that she start a global nuclear war where we Jews at least all go down taking our enemies with us, than to be dragged on trains to the rebuilt Auschwitz, with “Allahu Akbar” being chanted in lieu of “Sieg Heil”.
I think you have natural immunity to islamofascism.
She’s going to speak at JDL Toronto Zionist Centre at 7:30 pm May 13.
So who’s going?
Sorry I can not get there to Toronto right now.
Fiddlesticks!
Only 20 bucks for an inoculation against islamofascism – a bargoon. listening to her will be a good lesson in how to counter Islamofascsit propaganda – she’s got it all down pat.
http://jdl-canada.com/2013/04/27/jdl-canada-welcomes-pamela-geller-to-toronto-may-13-2013/
Exactly true!
Hate crime laws do not protect Jews, they now protect Muslims.
Michel Houellebecq, Orianna Fallaci, Bridget Bardot have all been sued for criticizing Muslims.
Yes, it is looney. She should be allowed to speak.
But in the last 10 years …
Christians have been fined for refusing to work with homosexual groups.
The holocaust denying screwball Ernst Zundel was hounded by the Canadian courts for decades; often at the behest of some – not all – Jewish groups.
Now, Zundel was a genuine loon bird; but as I have said many times, if you touch free speech it will backfire.
Had Zundel been allowed to speak to his small audience, Gellar could now speak to a much large and more influential audience.
This is utterly tragic. TRAGIC!
Hate crime laws do not protect Jews in the end. They will protect Muslims.
Too late. Political correctness, as interpreted here, is too entrenched. The problem is that Jews and well-meaning people approve whenever anti-Semitic speakers are muzzled, which is understandable. But this comes at the cost of sacrificing our own freedom of speech. ~~~ Muslims and other social and ethnic minorities now impose their rules in the name of “tolerance for diversity”, and they have launched a war on freedom of speech. ~~~ One of their rules is that expressing facts (not just opinions) that offend a minority is not allowed. A Nanaimo BC newspaper was forced to apologize recently for publishing a letter to the editor critical of Aboriginals. Neither media organizations nor the public stood up in firm defense of freedom of speech. ~~~ When pro-life groups are banned from campuses and just about everywhere else, we remain silent. ~~~ We have willingly disempowered ourselves. ~~~ BTW, watch as the EU tries to ban neo-Nazi parties. Their real agenda is to ban all groups opposed to the Islamization of Europe.