How 57 Muslim Countries Tried To Get The United Nations to BAN Cartoons of Muhammed
With the recent attacks on free speech by Islamist extremists, it’s worth it to take a look at the attempts by 57 Muslims nations in the OIC, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to ban cartoons of Muhammed through the United Nations.
Clinton met Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the head of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), in Istanbul to help set up new international mechanisms both protect free speech and combat religious discrimination around the world.
“Together we have begun to overcome the false divide that pits religious sensitivities against freedom of religion. We are pursuing a new approach based on concrete steps to fight intolerance wherever it occurs,” Clinton said.
Under heavy U.S. pressure, the OIC agreed in March to set aside its 12-year campaign to have religions protected from defamation, a step which allowed the U.N. Human Rights Council to approve a broader plan on religious tolerance.
Western countries and their Latin American allies, strong opponents of the defamation concept, joined Muslim and African states in backing without vote the new approach that switches focus from protecting beliefs to protecting believers.
What’s the aim of this legislation? It’s Muhammed cartoons:
Islamic countries pointed to the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed in Denmark in 2005, which sparked anti-Western violence in the Middle East and Asia, as examples of defamatory treatment of their faith that they wanted stopped.
Whatever you might say about Christianity, there’s absolutely no effort on the part of “Christian nations” to regulate the free speech of others used against our faith.