The Thought Police Meet in Istanbul

Over the weekend, the International Conference on Islamophobia was held in Istanbul. The purpose of the conference was to counter a perceived increase in hostility towards Muslims from the Western world. Here's what they said in their concluding statement. Story from ANSAmed.

"Islamophobia should be accepted as a crime, just like anti-semitism". So read the final statement of the The International Conference on Islamophobia", organized by the Union of NGOs of the Islamic World (UNIW), which ended in Istanbul yesterday.

As Anadolu news agency reported, the statement also said that national and international law mechanisms should enact legislations and take decisions against Islamophobia. The fight against Islamophobia should be carried out politically, legally and economically both in the national and international arena and in a systematical and strategical way, the statement said. "The fight against Islamophobia should be a basic duty for everybody, every institution and every government," the statement added.

The head of the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference) was also present at the conference so I thought I'd add part of his statement also. Story from the OIC.

In his address at the occasion, Prof. Ihsanoglu [Secretary General of the OIC] commended the UNIW for organizing the conference and informed the participants of the various endeavours of the OIC in countering Islamophobia.

Prof. Ihsanoglu mentioned that causes of Islamophobia are many and rooted in historical animosity, and currently it is the principle of freedom of expression that is being used as a cover to foment the phenomenon in the West, although many international and national legal instruments do not allow incitement to religious hatred. He also advocated the importance of moral and ethical responsibility in practicing democracy.

This is nothing new, it is part of a recurring pattern of many in the Islamic world trying to criminalize speech that they don't like. The OIC and other nations in the Islamic world have made statements such as these repeatedly, see examples here, here, here, and here.


The concluding statement of the conference clearly shows the agenda of those involved in the conference. They want to criminalize "Islamophobia". What that really means is that they want to criminalize speech that is against Islam. They clearly understand the Western concept of freedom of speech, but they despise it. They like the idea of freedom of speech so long as that speech does not offend them. Such a concept is totally opposed to the idea of freedom of speech enshrined in the US Constitution and descended from the ideas of the Enlightenment.

Voltaire was right 300 years ago, and he is still right today. As he famously stated in the 1700s, "I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write." Freedom of speech is not limited to friendly speech. It extends to all speech, including insults, racism, etc.; granted such speech is not defamation or direct incitement to violence. The idea of freedom of speech enshrined in the US Constitution is what freedom of speech should be, and is worth defending.

The OIC and some of its member nations want to impose their backwards version of freedom of speech upon the rest of the world. It should be clearly understood that their mission is opposed to the idea of Western liberal democracy and especially freedom of speech. Because of that, their demand should be strongly condemned and refused.

(Hat tip: Gates of Vienna)