Blackmail

Interesting developments in the "freedom-of-speech" case involving Maclean's magazine:

The Canadian Islamic Congress yesterday offered to withdraw human rights complaints about allegedly Islamophobic journalism in Maclean's magazine in exchange for the publication of a rebuttal within three months by a mutually agreeable author.

It should be noted that the case has already been dropped by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, so it's likely that it won't get anywhere with the other commissions it has been filed with.

This part of the "offer", however, is nothing short of outright blackmail (emphasis added):

"If Maclean's is ready to consider an opportunity for the Muslim population to have its say, we are ready for reasonable conciliation," said Faisal Joseph, lawyer for the CIC. "One way or another it's going to be dealt with, either by agreement or by an imposed decision."

I have said it before: This whole complaint was bogus from day one. A magazine is private property, and no one has a right to force its owners and editors to publish third-party material. The complainants, however, are free to exercise their right of free speech by starting their own magazine, if they want to become writers and journalists, rather than lawyers (they're law-school students).

Sure, the excerpt Maclean's printed from Mark Steyn's book America Alone can be offensive to Muslims. But as I have argued many times before, while I don't agree with the style in which Steyn delivers his messages (which is the reason complaints like this one and others are filed in the first place), there is absolutely no arguing about the accuracy and veracity of his material.

Some perspective is in order. Steyn writes primarily about the situation in Europe, and Europe is, indeed, overrun by radical and extremist Islamists, rather than Muslims who simply want a better life. The continent has become a hotbed of extremism and potential terrorism in the name of Allah – the real offensive elements are those Islamists who sully the Islamic religion by associating their vile thinking and acts with the religion. Every decent Muslim should be offended by those radicals who take their God's name in vain.

Like Steyn, I have travelled extensively across Europe and have lived in several places, so I know first-hand what goes on there. One thing that sticks in my mind is TV footage of a young Turkish boy in Germany, probably four or five years old, who said on national TV that he wanted to "kill infidels" when he grew up. Unfortunately, he is not an isolated case: Germans and Austrians get to hear such things (and much worse) from their Turkish co-inhabitants on a daily basis.

Canada, fortunately, does not have this problem. Yes, we have imported dangerous and radical elements as well (though still more than the US), but overall, the vast majority of Muslims making a home for themselves in Canada are decent, honest and hardworking people who would never dream of killing even a fly.

Steyn's use of sensational language notwithstanding (something he considers witty and humorous, apparently), he wrote about Europe in his book, and it is completely wrong to read into it that his statements also reflect his views on Muslims in Canada. He may think that, perhaps, because having fled to the tax shelter of New Hampshire and spending little time in Canada, he probably does not have a really good idea of the situation in this country anymore.

Be that as it may, there are no grounds for a human rights complaint, no matter how offensive his book may be to some. But to the complainants, clearly, it was never about human rights, but, instead, about their 15 minutes of fame and getting published in a national magazine – even if it means resorting to extortion (see quote above).

Maybe I should try that. I think I should make it my belated New Year's resolution for 2008: To get my own weekly column in Maclean's. If the magazine turns me down, I'll drag them before every human rights commission in the country. And once I have my steady gig at the magazine, I'll do the same thing with the Globe and Mail for a daily column.

See? And aspiring writers are always complaining about how difficult it is to break into the industry and to get published. Wusses.

Update: Also read this.