I had just published an article yesterday entitled, “Google Bans Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) From YouTube: Net Neutrality?” Many other bloggers and passionate supporters of Israel also took action. This morning, I received an email from PMW stating:

PMW wants to personally thank our subscribers and supporters. In response to your many actions - your emails to You Tube, your blogs, tweets, op-eds, and calls to Google - as of this morning the YouTube “Palwatch” account is once again functional.

Just why did Google close PMW’s account? I’m sure the answer is obvious to most of you, but the Jerusalem Post already highlighted the explanation yesterday:

… [PMW director Itamar] Marcus said that he suspected that the complaints [against PMW's videos] came from Palestinian or Arab activists who didn’t like the fact that the hateful messages were being exposed.

“These types of videos are usually only viewed in Arab society, since they are aired on Arab-language channels. They want to hide the things they only allow themselves to say amongst themselves in Arabic, but we watch it, translate it and send it around the world to decision-makers and the general public,” said Marcus. …

Note that Google claims it doesn’t have time to pre-screen video uploads, so it lets its user community do it for them. Blah, blah, blah… The truth hurts, especially when people (portions of the Arab/Muslim world) want to lie — in a society where lying (”Taqiyya”) is blessed by its predominant religion. But ya’ can’t hide from the truth in the Internet age.

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I just received an urgent email from Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) entitled, “YouTube closes down PMW account.” YouTube is owned by media giant Google, which has once again taken the side of censorship, even though the company espouses the term “Net Neutrality.” Remember that Google eagerly helps Chinese dictators censor their citizens’ web access — all for money and not missing out on a very large market. Watch for announcements from netwmd.com on starting a campaign of opposition to Google’s censorship. For now, please contact Google to express your concerns about its banning of PMW. Here’s the PMW email I received:

YouTube closes down PMW account

PMW needs your help. YouTube has closed down PMW’s main video account - PALWATCH - for “violating YouTube terms of use”, by supposedly propagating hate speech. Of course PMW does not promote hate speech, but exposes the hate speech of the PA and the Hamas, in order to bring about its elimination.

YouTube stated that the account was henceforth terminated “due to repeated or severe violations of our Terms of Use” and they specified the following PMW videos from Palestinian sources, promoting the killing of Jews:

1. “Hamas TV teaches kids to kill Jews” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwN2M6ZIIRU
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 10/02/2009.
2. “Jews are a virus like Aids” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYaGl3KjPUw
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 01/18/2010.
3. “Farewell video before suicide attack of Hamas suicide bomber Adham Ahmad Hujyla Abu Jandal” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYdTudQhWM4
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 06/10/2010.
4. “Hamas suicide farewell video: Jews monkeys and pigs; Maidens reward for killing Jews” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryc7RqXlVdE
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 08/14/2010.
5. “PA cleric: Kill Jews, Allah will make Muslims masters over Jews” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjuDTO8fgqM
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 12/12/2010.
6. “Hamas suicide terrorist farewell video: Palestinians drink the blood of Jews” formerly at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSftYIGH6-w
   Removed for violating our Terms of Use on 12/15/2010.

PMW urgently seeks to have this account reopened, since some of these videos have accumulated hundreds of thousands of viewings and the exposure is critical to our ongoing work.

If any of our subscribers could help, it would be much appreciated.

Thank you,
Itamar Marcus

The fact is that PMW’s videos were doing too good of a job exposing Palestinian hatred of Israel. Google is part of the problem, not the solution to Internet censorship. It has chosen the path of political correctness over dissemination of truth — true “Net Neutrality.”

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A briefing by Daniel Huff*

Daniel Huff is director of the Middle East Forum’s Legal Project, which defends the free speech rights of authors and activists commenting on radical Islam and related issues. A graduate of Columbia Law School, he previously served as counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee to then Ranking Member Arlen Specter, handling a host of national security, civil and criminal matters. On October 28, he addressed the Middle East Forum via conference call on the twin assault Islamists have launched against free speech rights.

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by Johanna Markind*

If you were arrested for speaking on public streets, where would you turn for help? These days, the answer may depend on what you were saying.

Suppose you were arrested for marching through the streets of Dearborn, Michigan, protesting Israeli policies against Palestinians. Unquestionably, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) would support your rights, even filing suit on your behalf.

Suppose, instead, you were arrested for preaching Christianity on the streets of Dearborn. Would you ask the ACLU for help? Would it help you? Well, maybe.

Consider the four people arrested on June 18, 2010, for proselytizing passersby at Dearborn’s Arab International Festival. Certainly the ACLU agreed that the arrests had violated the missionaries’ constitutional rights. The state ACLU chapter’s legal director told the Michigan Messenger that “the man encouraging others to convert to Christianity was engaged in speech protected by the First Amendment.” But that is all. The organization did not issue any press releases to that effect, address the matter on its website, or reference it in listserv emails.

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by Daniel Huff*

Court documents filed last week reveal Islamic extremists have obtained personal contact information on members of the defiant Facebook group “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.” Zachary Chesser, who provided the information, pled guilty to “communicating threats” and renounced jihad, but the damage was done. Prosecutors say he “seriously endangered the lives of innocent people who will remain at risk for many years to come.”

This lasting effect makes it all the more frustrating that authorities did not charge him sooner. He had made very similar threats against the producers of South Park weeks before. The case highlights the urgent need for better legal tools to protect free speech from extremist intimidation.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

While I admire the courage of brave Russians standing up to Stalin, er, ah, Putin, the below-detailed story, “Rare anti-Putin rally held in Moscow,” is not a significant sign of liberalization:

Up to 500 protesters from left wing and liberal anti-Kremlin opposition groups gathered on Moscow’s Pushkin Square to call for Vladimir Putin’s removal, kicking off what they said was the start of a campaign to oust him. …

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

While I still wonder, “What Drives Gays and Lesbians to Bash Israel?,” the times, they may be a’ changin’ — at least tangentially. Driving home from work, I was listening to This Way Out, a gay and lesbian radio show, and they reported on a story documenting Muslim anti-LGBT activities, specifically, an bigoted outcry against a simple event to, “screen 150 films related to sexual minorities and HIV/AIDS” in Jakarta, Indonesia:

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by Daniel Pipes*

Reciprocal death sentences raging between Yemen and the United States offer a glimpse of warfare in the internet age.

The topic opens with South Park, an iconoclastic adult cartoon program on Comedy Central, which in April mocked the prohibition on depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. An obscure website, RevolutionMuslim.com (whose proprietor was subsequently arrested on terrorism-related charges), responded by threatening the show’s writers, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Panicked, Comedy Central censored further mention of Muhammad.

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by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Daniel Huff*

Earlier this year, after Comedy Central altered an episode of “South Park” that had prompted threats because of the way it depicted Islam’s prophet Muhammad, Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris proposed an “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day.” The idea was, as she put it, to stand up for the 1st Amendment and “water down the pool of targets” for extremists.

The proposal got Norris targeted for assassination by radical Yemeni American cleric Anwar Awlaki, who has been linked to the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight and also to several of the 9/11 hijackers. This month, after warnings from the FBI, Norris went into hiding. The Seattle Weekly said that Norris was “moving, changing her name, and essentially wiping away her identity.”

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by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi*

Where is Turkey heading under Erdogan’s ruling party, the AKP? The question becomes urgent following the approval of a constitutional referendum on 12 September with a majority of 58% in favor as opposed to 42% against.

In theory, the referendum is in many ways an advancement of liberal democratic rights in compliance with membership requirements of the European Union (EU). For instance, the revision of article ten upholds the principle of gender equality, whilst article twenty now ensures the protection of personal data and the right to privacy. It was for these reasons that the Enlargement Commissioner of the EU, Stefan Fule, praised the constitutional reforms as “a step in the right direction … towards fully complying with the accession criteria.” Meanwhile, the European Parliamentary deputy Richard Howitt affirmed that the referendum was a “sign of the population’s support for reforms that will prepare the country for European Union membership.”

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by Daniel Pipes*

Pastor Terry Jones’ plan to burn copies of the Koran at his church in Gainesville, Florida, let it be emphasized, is a distasteful act that fits an ugly tradition. That said, two other points need be noted: Buying books and then burning them is an entirely legal act in the United States. Second, David Petraeus, Robert Gates, Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama pressured Jones to cancel only because they feared Muslim violence against Americans if he proceeded. Indeed, despite Mr. Jones calling off the Koran burning, 5 Afghans and 14 Kashmiris died in protests against his plans.

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by Phyllis Chesler

Muslim groups have just called for “tolerance.” They “decry bigotry.” The Muslim leaders said: “We stand for the constitutional right of Muslims and Americans of all faiths to build houses of worship anywhere in our nation as allowed by local laws and regulations … Ground Zero belongs to all Americans.”

Technically, these words are both true and stop short of an outright endorsement. However, given the situation, these are also fighting words. Given the groups which attended the meeting and issued this statement, (e.g. Council on American Islamic Relations, the Islamic Society of North America, etc.), these are disingenuous words meant to falsely pacify, confuse, and disorient the infidel listener. They are words of “taqiyya.” This approach is but one example of how belligerent Islamists — not peaceful Muslims — use Western laws about tolerance in order to justify an era of anti-infidel intolerance. …Continue reading…

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

In a rare moment of clarity, the BBC published an article explaining why Americans can burn Korans, Bibles, Torahs, or American flags as expressions of free speech. Maybe a few people around the world will read this article and get a better understanding of the values we cherish and make us strong — time better spent than blaming the U.S. for every problem under the sun. Perhaps the “teaming masses” will get a clue as to why millions of immigrants, probably emigrants related to/known to most of these masses in some way (family, friendship, neighbors, etc.), have flocked to our great nation. And if new immigrants to the U.S. don’t understand our values, we’re pretty good at assimilation — or at last resort, there’s always police, riot police, the FBI, or the National Guard. For foreign entities who wish to destroy our cherished values, as in 911, that’s why we have aircraft carriers, Marines, F-16s, and cruise missiles. In other words, if you don’t like Americans’ right to free speech — e.g., the many “progressives” who would suspend free speech when it suits their cowardly agendas — you can just piss off. From the Beeb:

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by Raymond Ibrahim*

In a recent article, I argued that the Ground Zero mosque is counterproductive to Islam. The following day, on August 5, the Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm reported that none other than Al Azhar — one of Sunni Islam’s most authoritative institutions — agrees. My translation of the relevant excerpt follows:

A number of Al Azhar ulema expressed their opposition to building a mosque near [where] the events of September 11 [occurred], convinced that it is “a conspiracy to confirm a clear connection between the strikes of September [11] and Islam.” Dr. ‘Abd al-Mu’ti Bayumi, a member of the Islamic Research Academy [of Al Azhar] told Al Masry Al Youm that he rejects the building of any mosque in this area [Ground Zero], because the “devious mentality” desires to connect these events [of 9/11] with Islam, though he maintains that Islam is innocent of this accusation. Instead, it is a “Zionist conspiracy,” which many are making use of to harm the religion. Likewise, Dr. Amna Nazir, professor of doctrine and philosophy at Al Azhar, expressed her rejection that a mosque be built near the World Trade Center, saying: “Building a mosque on this rubble indicates bad intention — even if we wished to shut our eyes, close our minds, and insist on good will. I hope it is a sincere step, and not a new conspiracy against Islam and Muslims.”

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One day, President Obama “forcefully” supports the planned Ground Zero mosque, and the next day he backs off, straddling the fence. Well, that’s a definite maybe; he’s a regular push-me-pull-you of politics.

Before:

After skirting the controversy for weeks, President Barack Obama is weighing in forcefully on the mosque near ground zero, saying a nation built on religious freedom must allow it. …

“That includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances,” he said. “This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable.” …

After:

… “I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there,” Obama said. “I was commenting very specifically on the right people have that dates back to our founding. That’s what our country is about.” …

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