French Court Rules In Favour Of Charlie Hebdo

Good news on the cartoon-jihad front.

Two Islamic groups tried to sue Charlie Hebdo, a French weekly newspaper, for publishing the dreaded motoons of blasphemy and supposedly "inciting hatred against Muslims". Fortunately, they lost the case.

BBC: [...] A French court has ruled in favour of weekly Charlie Hebdo, rejecting accusations by Islamic groups who said it incited hatred against Muslims.

The cartoons were covered by freedom of expression laws and were not an attack on Islam, but fundamentalists, it said.

The case was seen as an important test for freedom of expression in France.

Applause broke out in the courtroom at the announcement of the verdict, which ruled that the three cartoons published in February 2006 were not insulting to the Muslim community, the AFP news agency reports.

Editor Philippe Val had rejected the allegations, saying the cartoons were not an attack on Muslims, but on terrorists.

He said the ruling was a victory for secular French Muslims.

"This debate was necessary," he said.

The case had been brought by the Grand Mosque of Paris and the Union of French Islamic Organisations. [...]

University Of Leeds Cancels Talk On Islamic Extremism and its Links With Nazi Germany Over "Security Concerns"

The Telegraph: Freedom of speech row as talk on Islamic extremists is banned

A leading university has been accused of “selling out” academic freedom of speech by scrapping a talk on links between the Nazis and Islamic anti-semitism after allegedly receiving emails from Muslims protesting about the event.

Matthias Küntzel, a German author and political scientist who specialises in the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, was told yesterday by the University of Leeds that a talk scheduled for yesterday evening, and a two-day workshop, on Hitler’s Legacy: Islamic Anti-semitism in the Middle East, had been cancelled because of security fears.

In a statement yesterday, two academics in the Leeds German department, which had organised the event, claimed the university had bowed “to Muslim protests”. Dr Küntzel said he had given similar addresses around the world and there had been no problems.

He added: “I was told it was for security reasons - that they cannot shelter my person. But I don’t feel in any way threatened. I know this is sometimes a controversial topic but I am accustomed to that and I have the ability to calm people down. It’s not a problem for me at all. My impression was that they wanted to avoid the issue in order to keep the situation calm. My feeling is that this is a kind of censorship.” ...

Dr Annette Seidel Arpaci and Morten Hunke, both members of the German department, said in a statement yesterday: ”The reason the university gives for the cancellation of the talk and seminars by Dr Küntzel are security concerns. These concerns are founded on emails received by the office of the Vice Chancellor. The sudden cancellation is a sell-out of academic freedom, especially freedom of speech, at the University of Leeds.“

One of the protest emails, from a student who describes himself as ”of both Middle Eastern and Islamic background”, complained that the title of the event was “profoundly offensive”. It added: ”To insinuate that there is a direct link between Islam and anti-semitism is not only a sweeping generalisation but also an erroneous statement that holds no essence of truth.”

However, last night the university denied the claims. It said: "The decision to cancel the meeting has nothing to do with academic freedom, freedom of speech, anti-semitism or Islamophobia and those claiming that is the case are making mischief. Nor are we bowing to threats or protests from interest groups. The meeting has been cancelled on safety grounds alone and because - contrary to our rules - no assessment of risk to people or property has been carried out, no stewarding arrangements are in place and we were not given sufficient notice to ensure safety and public order.”