The dilemma and the resolution

On Mark Steyn, Ezra Levant and David Irving

Blogs are still buzzing and bloggers are fuming about Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant who were both recently called before the Canadian Human Rights Commission for publishing things offensive to Muslims. Just like when David Irving was arrested and jailed in Austria for holocaust denial, the whole fiasco puts reasonable people in the uncomfortable position of defending unreasonable people. The Canadian case is, of course, less extreme.

There is nothing more counterproductive to their cause that these misguided people could do. It was often pointed out that David Irving was being made a martyr. Some are now calling Ezra Levant a hero. This production gives holocaust denial and Islamophobia a voice, free advertising. It suddenly puts these ridiculous causes on the side of 'free speech'!

With David Irving, many argued that it would be much more effective to ignore him and let him rot in disrepute and obscurity. That is exactly the solution for the current anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim movements. They need to be humiliated and ostracized from the mainstream, and this is one thing that law cannot accomplish.

So frustrated Muslims and well-meaning people on the Left: be more sparing with the law. Suing publishers in Canada, France, Denmark or anywhere else only works against you.

Many viewed the reaction to the Danish Muhammad cartoons also as trying to suppress free speech. This is a perverse misrepresentation that allowed xenophobia to steal the moral high-ground. But Muslims have a right to be offended and to protest. People must realize that their outrage expressed more than religious offense. The violence we saw was not representative of Muslims or the protests as a whole. It is unacceptable for this to be interpreted as an assault on free speech and reason to exercise it at the expense of minorities.