The deafening silence and the hypocrisy of the left
Outspoken and controversial Dutch filmmaker/author/actor Theo Van Gogh was a champion of free speech. Recently, he chronicled the harsh treatment of women in Islamic societies in a film called Submission along with a female collaborator, Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Ali, who wrote the film's screenplay, escaped to the Netherlands in 1992 after growing up in an upper-class Muslim society in Somalia. Though no longer a Muslim, she has campaigned to make the plight of Muslim women known to the west, bringing to light the practice of Female circumcision in her book de Zoontjesfabriek. Dutch Muslims were highly critical of the film which shows four abused, half-naked women with texts from the Qur'an in Arabic painted on their bodies. Death threats soon followed. The text of the Qur'anic quotes translated are as follows:
- (As for) the fornicatress and the fornicator, flog each of them, (giving) a hundred stripes, and let not pity for them detain you in the matter of obedience to Allah, if you believe in Allah and the last day, and let a party of believers witness their chastisement.
- And they ask you about menstruation. Say: It is a discomfort; therefore keep aloof from the women during the menstrual discharge and do not go near them until they have become clean; then when they have cleansed themselves, go in to them as Allah has commanded you; surely Allah loves those who turn much (to Him), and He loves those who purify themselves.
- Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.
- And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments except to their husbands or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or the male servants not having need (of women), or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women; and let them not strike their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may be known; and turn to Allah all of you, O believers! so that you may be successful.
Wow, how incredibly intolerant of women the "religion of peace" sounds. It amazes me that one never hears any of this from the feminist movement, nor do the Dan Rathers, the Peter Jennings, or the Tom Brokaws expose this.
After not taking the threats to his life seriously, Van Gogh was brutally murdered by Muslim extremist Mohammed Bouyeri on the morning of November 2, 2004. He was shot 8 times, had his throat slit, and was stabbed with two different knives in the chest, one pinning a five page manifesto (not thought to be written by Bouyeri). ridiculing the West, Ms. Ali, Jews, and containing references to Islamic Egyptian terrorist group Takfir wal-Hijra.
From the Boston Herald:
The five-page letter, which was neatly typed and written in Dutch and Arabic, appears to be "not from one person, but a movement.'' Titled "Open Letter to Hirsi Ali,'' it threatens Jihad, or Islamic holy war, against "infidels'' everywhere, particularly in America, Europe and the Netherlands. "Saifu Deen alMuwahhied,'' apparently a signature, is written at the bottom of the last page. "It is worrying because it gives the impression that it is not the message of an individual, but a wider organization,'' Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner said. Security has been increased for individuals considered possible targets, including Hirsi Ali and members of her right-wing party, he said. "Islam will be victorious through the blood of martyrs,'' said the letter, which contained apparent quotes from the Q'uran and verses of poetry. "Only the death will separate the truth from the lies,'' it said.
From Wikipedia.com:
Van Gogh was murdered in the early morning of Tuesday November 2, 2004, in Amsterdam in front of the Amsterdam East borough office (stadsdeelkantoor) on the corner of the Linnaeusstraat and Tweede Oosterparkstraat streets. He was shot with eight bullets, that came from a HS2000 (a handgun produced in 2000 in Croatia) and died on the spot. His throat was slit, and he was then stabbed in the chest. Two knives were left implanted in his torso, one pinning a 5 page note to his body. The note threatened Western governments, Jews and Hirsi Ali (who went into hiding). The note also contains references to the ideologies of the Egyptian organization Takfir wal-Hijra.
From Arnaud de Borchgrave, Editor At Large for the Washington Times:
What Dutch filmmaker and columnist Theo Van Gogh saw as the shabby treatment of females throughout the Muslim community led him to produce documentaries that portrayed Muslim men as tormentors of women, especially their wives. One recent scathingly critical Van Gogh film carried the message that Islam promotes violence against women. Last week, Van Gogh, a grandnephew of the painter, was shot as he cycled to work. He managed to get up and stagger across the street to his building where he collapsed. The assailant followed him and slit his throat before pinning to his chest with a knife a five-page manifesto that called on Muslims to rise against the "infidel enemies" in the West.
Now one would have to agree that the Martin Sheens, the Barbra Streisands, and the Michael Moores of the world espouse the cause of free speech, particularly when it calls into question the so called right-wing Christian religious zealotry that they claim reigns supreme in the Bush Administration. Why then are they silent when a religious fanatic ruthlessly murders a controversial filmmaker? Imagine the outrage from the left coast if a similar fate, God forbid, befell Michael Moore at the hands of a Christian right-wing conservative outraged by Fahrenheit 9/11.
The dictionary defines a hate crime as "a crime that violates the victim's civil rights and that is motivated by hostility to the victim's race, religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender." Not one mention of Van Gogh's death being a hate crime. Oh, I forgot. Even though Van Gogh was murdered because of his beliefs contrary to those of his Muslim killer, Van Gogh happened to be Caucasian. And, as we all know, Caucasians can't be considered the victims of hate crimes. They only commit them. My mistake.
- (As for) the fornicatress and the fornicator, flog each of them, (giving) a hundred stripes, and let not pity for them detain you in the matter of obedience to Allah, if you believe in Allah and the last day, and let a party of believers witness their chastisement.
- And they ask you about menstruation. Say: It is a discomfort; therefore keep aloof from the women during the menstrual discharge and do not go near them until they have become clean; then when they have cleansed themselves, go in to them as Allah has commanded you; surely Allah loves those who turn much (to Him), and He loves those who purify themselves.
- Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.
- And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments except to their husbands or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or the male servants not having need (of women), or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women; and let them not strike their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may be known; and turn to Allah all of you, O believers! so that you may be successful.
Wow, how incredibly intolerant of women the "religion of peace" sounds. It amazes me that one never hears any of this from the feminist movement, nor do the Dan Rathers, the Peter Jennings, or the Tom Brokaws expose this.
After not taking the threats to his life seriously, Van Gogh was brutally murdered by Muslim extremist Mohammed Bouyeri on the morning of November 2, 2004. He was shot 8 times, had his throat slit, and was stabbed with two different knives in the chest, one pinning a five page manifesto (not thought to be written by Bouyeri). ridiculing the West, Ms. Ali, Jews, and containing references to Islamic Egyptian terrorist group Takfir wal-Hijra.
From the Boston Herald:
The five-page letter, which was neatly typed and written in Dutch and Arabic, appears to be "not from one person, but a movement.'' Titled "Open Letter to Hirsi Ali,'' it threatens Jihad, or Islamic holy war, against "infidels'' everywhere, particularly in America, Europe and the Netherlands. "Saifu Deen alMuwahhied,'' apparently a signature, is written at the bottom of the last page. "It is worrying because it gives the impression that it is not the message of an individual, but a wider organization,'' Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner said. Security has been increased for individuals considered possible targets, including Hirsi Ali and members of her right-wing party, he said. "Islam will be victorious through the blood of martyrs,'' said the letter, which contained apparent quotes from the Q'uran and verses of poetry. "Only the death will separate the truth from the lies,'' it said.
From Wikipedia.com:
Van Gogh was murdered in the early morning of Tuesday November 2, 2004, in Amsterdam in front of the Amsterdam East borough office (stadsdeelkantoor) on the corner of the Linnaeusstraat and Tweede Oosterparkstraat streets. He was shot with eight bullets, that came from a HS2000 (a handgun produced in 2000 in Croatia) and died on the spot. His throat was slit, and he was then stabbed in the chest. Two knives were left implanted in his torso, one pinning a 5 page note to his body. The note threatened Western governments, Jews and Hirsi Ali (who went into hiding). The note also contains references to the ideologies of the Egyptian organization Takfir wal-Hijra.
From Arnaud de Borchgrave, Editor At Large for the Washington Times:
What Dutch filmmaker and columnist Theo Van Gogh saw as the shabby treatment of females throughout the Muslim community led him to produce documentaries that portrayed Muslim men as tormentors of women, especially their wives. One recent scathingly critical Van Gogh film carried the message that Islam promotes violence against women. Last week, Van Gogh, a grandnephew of the painter, was shot as he cycled to work. He managed to get up and stagger across the street to his building where he collapsed. The assailant followed him and slit his throat before pinning to his chest with a knife a five-page manifesto that called on Muslims to rise against the "infidel enemies" in the West.
Now one would have to agree that the Martin Sheens, the Barbra Streisands, and the Michael Moores of the world espouse the cause of free speech, particularly when it calls into question the so called right-wing Christian religious zealotry that they claim reigns supreme in the Bush Administration. Why then are they silent when a religious fanatic ruthlessly murders a controversial filmmaker? Imagine the outrage from the left coast if a similar fate, God forbid, befell Michael Moore at the hands of a Christian right-wing conservative outraged by Fahrenheit 9/11.
The dictionary defines a hate crime as "a crime that violates the victim's civil rights and that is motivated by hostility to the victim's race, religion, creed, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender." Not one mention of Van Gogh's death being a hate crime. Oh, I forgot. Even though Van Gogh was murdered because of his beliefs contrary to those of his Muslim killer, Van Gogh happened to be Caucasian. And, as we all know, Caucasians can't be considered the victims of hate crimes. They only commit them. My mistake.
posted by kjungleboy at 3:56 PM
