Muslim Nations Call for U.N. to Track ‘Islamophobia’

[T-Rock]

Islamophobia = the Ikhwan code for “Don’t criticize Islam or we will kill, intimidate, or sue your a$$….”

Muslim Nations Call for U.N. to Track ‘Islamophobia’

U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navanethem Pillay has agreed to consider the proposal, according to the OIC, a bloc of Islamic nations.

Friday, September 24, 2010

The Quran-burning controversy in the United States has prompted the Islamic bloc at the United Nations to revive its call for the U.N. to set up an “international monitoring mechanism” to track incidents of “Islamophobia.”

Five years after establishing an “Islamophobia Observatory” of its own, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is now calling on the U.N.’s top human rights official to set up a comparable body at her Geneva office. According to the OIC, human rights commissioner Navanethem Pillay has agreed to consider the proposal.

At the U.N. Human Rights Council this week, OIC members are also seeking support for a resolution condemning Florida pastor Terry Jones’ abortive call to burn copies of the Quran on September 11.

Introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the OIC, the text condemns “the recent call by an extremist group to organize a ‘Burn a Koran Day’” and says it was among “instances of intolerance, discrimination, profiling and acts of violence against Muslims occurring in many parts of the world.”

When it comes to a vote -- before the Council’s session in Geneva ends next Friday -- the measure almost certainly will pass. The OIC controls more than one-third of the Council’s seats, and its resolutions are routinely backed by non-Muslim allies such as China, Russia, Cuba and South Africa.

Moreover, Western democracies which usually oppose OIC “Islamophobia” and “religious defamation” measures at the HRC – on freedom of expression grounds – will not likely do so in this case, having strongly condemned Jones’ threats earlier this month.

U.S. ambassador to the HRC Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe wrote to Pillay in late August, deploring Jones’ threatened action and telling her that the U.S. “supports the full use of your office and moral authority to speak out against intolerance and instances of hate speech where they occur.”

The new resolution was circulated in Geneva after OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in an address to the Council, urged Pillay to set up an “observatory” in her office to monitor and document acts like threats to desecrate the Quran, and to report back to the HRC annually.

Ihsanoglu in his speech also said national government should take specific steps to combat religious intolerance and stereotyping, including “adopting measures to criminalize the incitement to imminent violence based on religion.”

Ihsanoglu met separately with Pillay and, according to an OIC statement, told her that incidents like Quran desecration “posed grave danger to global peace, security and stability.”

He pressed for her office to set up an “observatory” or “international monitoring mechanism” to monitor and document such acts.

The OIC said Pillay has given Ihsanoglu her assurance that she would “look into reviving the issue of the observatory” proposal.

Asked to confirm this account, a spokesman for Pillay said he would look into the matter, but did not respond by press time.

The call for the U.N. to set up an “Islamophobia monitoring mechanism” was made as early as 1997, when Iran’s ambassador raised the issue at a General Assembly committee meeting. It was repeated during the controversial Durban conference against racism in 2001 and on occasions since.

The OIC set up its “Islamophobia Observatory” at its headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as part of a 10-year plan of action adopted in 2005. The observatory issued its first report in March 2008, covering the period May-Dec. the previous year.

It has since issued two further reports, the most recent of which documented incidents in Western countries ranging from the Swiss ban on minaret building to complaints that pork was served in a supposedly vegetarian dish at a Christmas buffet for postal workers in Britain.

The same report cited President Obama’s June 2009 speech in Cairo, pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and dropping of terminology seen as offensive to Muslims as optimistic indicators.

‘A critical juncture’

The OIC has become increasingly assertive at the four year-old HRC, where the absence of binding entry criteria and regional seat allocation have enabled it to control a significant proportion of seats – currently 18 out of 47.

With support from China, Russia and others it has used its clout to pass multiple resolutions condemning Israel and to get annual resolutions passed on the “defamation” of religion – both at the HRC and in the broader U.N. General Assembly.

The decade-old campaign has prompted mounting opposition in recent years from religious freedom, free speech and other advocacy groups. Critics accuse the OIC of trying to export to the West blasphemy laws in place in some Islamic states, and to restrict free expression to shield Islam and Islamic practices from legitimate scrutiny.

As awareness has grown, the OIC has seen annual support for its resolutions wane (see graph), with more countries – especially in Latin America in the Asia-Pacific – moving to the opposition column.

But the OIC’s activism in Geneva this week signals that it plans to use the Quran-burning controversy to breathe new life into the campaign and stem to declining support.

While visiting Geneva, Ihsanoglu met with Islamic ambassadors, praised them for “enhancing the visibility and credibility of OIC as the second largest international organization.”

“He emphasized the need for improved coordination and greater unity in the ranks with a view to presenting a unified stance on issues of importance to the OIC, including the defamation of religions,” the OIC said in a statement.

“We are at a critical juncture,” Agnes Callamard, executive director of the free expression campaign Article 19, told a panel on the subject in Geneva on Monday.

“There had been a decrease in support for prohibitions on religious defamation here at the U.N. But recent events – the Florida pastor’s plan to burn copies of the Quran, bans on wearing the veil in Europe, the ban on the construction of minarets in Switzerland – mean there is again pressure to entrench this concept in international law.”

‘Thin-skinned’

One of the U.S.-based organizations leading opposition to the religious defamation drive is the American Center for Law and Justice.

ACLJ director of international operations Jordan Sekulow said Thursday that while he “fundamentally disagreed with Jones” he hoped the world would see through the OIC’s actions in Geneva that the Islamic bloc members “enjoy a chance to condemn freedom of expression.”

“ Instead of condemning Quran burning that didn’t happen, the OIC should be condemning Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran for their terrorism and financing of terrorism,” he said.

“For … such tough guys, these Islamic leaders sure do have thin skin – cartoons and a single, crazy pastor push them off their rocker.”

Sekulow said the ACLJ’s international affiliate, the European Centre for Law and Justice is accredited non-governmental organization at the U.N. and was reaching out to big and small countries on the defamation issue.

“As we explain to countries without large Islamic populations what defamation of religion would mean to Christian and other religious minorities, they understand how this resolution would be a green light for U.N.-sanctioned persecution of religious minorities,” he said, noting that this includes persecution of Muslims whose theology differs from the mainstream.

Sekulow expressed optimism that countries would continue to reject the defamation resolutions, and added that “education is the key to defeating the OIC’s propaganda machine.”

Source: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/75750

[The Reaper]

What about persecution and actual physical assaults on Jews and Christians, if they have any spare time?

TR

[longrange1947]

That is my question, when will they track "Christianaphobia" in the land of Peace and Islam? I would love to see that report.

Similar to the Mexicans decrying our immigration policies when theirs are 10 times harsher, Islam is calling the kettle black.

[Thomas Paine]

A balanced report of Muslims killed by non-Muslims and the reverse...would help put things in perspective...let's start with say the year 632AD...

[T-Rock]

"...More people are killed by Islamists each year than in all 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition combined..."

"...More civilians were killed by Muslim extremists in two hours on September 11th than in the 36 years of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland..."

"...Islamic terrorists murder more people every day than the Ku Klux Klan has in the last 50 years..."

"...Islamists killed more Buddhists in Thailand since 9/11 than the KKK killed in the 100 YEARS from 1865 to 1965..."


"...Mohammed preached his religion for 13 years and garnered only 150 followers. But when he turned to politics and war, in 10 years time he became the first ruler of Arabia by averaging an event of violence every 7 weeks for 9 years. His success did not come as a religious leader, but as a political leader..."

"...In short, political Islam defines how the unbelievers are to be dealt with and treated..."


"...Approximately 270 million nonbelievers died over the last 1400 years for the glory of political Islam. These are the Tears of Jihad which are not taught in any school..."

* 120 million Africans

* 60 million Christians

* 80 million Hindus

* 10 million Buddhists

Source:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2007/02/th...cal-islam.html
http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/20...-genocide.html