As the
totalitarian left advances ever more successfully toward amending or abolishing
freedom of speech, it is crucial to keep in mind that hand-in-hand with curtailing
the speech of those who hold “incorrect” opinions comes the enforcement of Islamic
blasphemy laws, the ulterior motive of which is to shield Islam from any
criticism whatsoever. This has been the longstanding goal of the Organization
of Islamic Cooperation, the world’s largest Muslim collective, which has worked
closely with leftist allies such as Hillary Clinton to promote and implement
such censorship. This already has been largely embraced among the multiculturalist
elites in Europe; think, for example, of today’s England, where jihadist stabbings
are rampant but complaining about them in a tweet will earn you a visit and stern
lecture from the police, if not actual arrest.
To grasp just how unacceptable
it is to speak the truth about Islam in a multiculturalist society, read Elisabeth
Sabaditsch-Wolff’s jaw-dropping account of her legal ordeal in Austria, titled The
Truth is No Defense, recently published by New English
Review Press. Ms. Sabaditsch-Wolff is an Austrian human rights and anti-sharia
activist who, as the daughter of a diplomat and then later as an ambassador’s assistant,
had extensive experience living and working in Muslim countries (she was even
held hostage during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait). She came to the unfortunate conclusion
that sharia and Western values aren’t compatible.
In 2009 she found
herself charged with “hate speech” in Austria over factual statements she
made during a seminar she gave on Islam. Thus began a Kafkaesque legal odyssey resulting
in her conviction for “denigrating the teachings of a legally recognized
religion” – i.e. Islam, of course, because can anyone imagine that someone would
ever be convicted of denigrating Christianity? Ms. Sabaditsch-Wolff subsequently
took her appeal before the European Court for Human Rights, but Europe
tragically has no First Amendment and therefore, “the truth is no defense” when
it comes to critiquing Islam. “This is what totalitarianism looks like,” the
Freedom Center’s own Robert Spencer has said of her miscarriage of justice (Spencer
is one of more than half a dozen notable experts who present insightful analyses
of her case at the book’s conclusion).
Ms. Sabaditsch-Wolff
was recently in Los Angeles promoting her book, and graciously made the time to
answer some questions.
Mark
Tapson: You preface
the book by juxtaposing the lives of two 9-year-old girls, “Emma” and “Aisha,”
who might be very much alike except for the contrasting cultures in which they live:
Western and Islamic. Why did you choose to begin the book this way?
Elisabeth
Sabaditsch-Wolff: I chose these two girls
and their stories for one reason only: there are millions of Aishas in the
Islamic world and millions of Emmas in the Western, non-Islamic world. We still
have a choice: do we want the Emmas to turn into Aishas? Or do we protect the
Emmas from a life as Aishas? My choice is clear. What is yours?
MT: When did you first realize that, for the multiculturalist
European elites who are determined to shield Islam from criticism, the truth is
truly no defense?
MT: You tell a story of your time in Kuwait when
you asked a young Kuwaiti woman, who was about your age, a question about her abaya,
her Islamic garb, and you write that her answer has guided your criticism of
Islam ever since. Can you tell us about that?
ESW: This Kuwaiti woman indeed has guided my
criticism in that I believe we are making a grave mistake in thinking that the
hijab (headscarf) or even the abaya (the full garb) is just a piece of
clothing. It is not. It is a way of life, a part of a Muslim woman’s body.
Demand she take it off and you essentially chop off a part of her body. There
is no compromise when it comes to women’s Islamic clothing: either it is
prohibited or it is allowed, which in turn allows a non-Islamic country to
gradually turn into an Islamic country. Just look at European cities like
London, Brussels (especially the suburb of Molenbeek, the Jihadi capital of
Europe) or Berlin (with its now-rampant anti-Semitism). The hijab paved the way
for the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1978 and 1979; it has been doing the same
in Europe for more than two decades.
MT: You mention that your experiences living in
Islamic countries had already convinced you there was something seriously wrong
with Islam, but what really “red-pilled” you was Gabriel’s
Whisperings by Jaya Gopal, a
book about Islamic doctrine that you read in 2006 or 2007. Can you briefly
describe what you learned that so terrified you?
ESW: I was terrified that everything I had
experienced in the Islamic countries I lived in, what I thought was “just” a
human abnormality was actually rooted in Islamic doctrine. For instance, I knew
and had seen many Muslims who do not like associating with non-Muslims, but
also Muslims of non-Arab origin, but to find out that this is part and parcel
of the Islamic religion shocked me deeply.
MT: You end the book on a note of optimism and
Churchillian determination, but considering the rising tide against the First
Amendment here in the United States, how optimistic are you that America will
remain a beacon of free speech for the world?
ESW: I am optimistic only because America still has
the freedom to fight for freedom, as my friend Eric Metaxas so succinctly
phrases it. America, together with Israel, is the world’s last hope. America’s
freedoms are the gold standard of freedom. Therefore, America must not fall. My
deep hope is that in 2020, the American people will vote with this knowledge in
mind. Freedom-loving men and women depend on you!
MT: What is the next stage for you in carrying on
this fight, and what can ordinary American citizens do to fight for their own
freedom of speech?
ESW: Legally, the fight in Europe is over for me. I
have done my part and I have lost, to the detriment of Europeans’ free speech
rights. My focus now is on America, to educate Americans about their First
Amendment and its importance. I stand side by side with you, the American
people, to fight for your freedom of speech because your loss is also my loss.
America must not fall as we in Europe has fallen. You still have your freedoms
and you must exercise your God-given rights to freedom! Do not take them for
granted, ever!
From FrontPage Mag, 12/6/19
