Led by a newspaper publisher, Muslim activists will call for putting limits on American free speech at a Dearborn rally this evening. You can’t make this stuff up.
Nearly a decade after Dearborn’s streets celebrated America for bringing down Saddam Hussein and opening a door to democracy in the Mideast, the same city will be the epicenter today of calls to squelch free speech. Protesting the film, “Innocence of Muslims,” that has sparked protests in the Mideast, rally organizer Tarek Baydoun says that so-called blasphemy laws are necessary to prevent speech that hurts the “the religious feelings of Muslims.”
This assault on the First Amendment in the name of the prophet Mohammed is a sad day in America - and confirms fears that Muslim-American activists do not understand the fundamental separation of church and state in the American Constitution.
“There is a need for deterrent legal measures against those individuals or groups that want to damage relations between people, spread hate and incite violence,” said Arab-American News publisher Osama Siblani, a self-proclaimed “moderate” who is apparently oblivious to how gutting the First Amendment would affect his own business.
The Dearborn organizers seek an international law banning what they define as anti-Mohammed speech that would supersede American law. The rally comes just days after President Obama reaffirmed America’s commitment to free speech in a U.N. address.
But the rally also comes as Fox News reports that the Obama Administration knowingly lied about the deadly attack on the Libyan embassy. Contrary to claims that “Benghazi-gate” was a spontaneous rally protecting the anti-Mohammed film, officials now admit that the rally was a pre-panned terrorist attack. Siblani & Co. say they condemn the violence - which ABC News now says had nothing to do with the film - but are using the film to advance their anti-free speech agenda.
“The gathering will stress that the rise of Islamophobia is hurting America’s national interests, its image abroad and inciting worldwide violence,” say the rally organizers. Ironically, the rally comes at a time when hate crimes toward Muslims in America have dropped more 50 percent in a decade.