Daily Archives: February 24, 2017

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The annual Manning Centre Conference in Ottawa Canadas answer to CPAC focused on free speech and Islamophobia Friday.

Interim Conservative Party of Canada leader Rona Ambrose began the event with a passionate pledge to continue to fight for freedom of religion and free speech. Ambrose had led the fight the previous week in the House of Commons to stop an Islamophobia motion from an Ontario Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) that could eventually criminalize criticism of Islamic extremism.

The Conservatives were the only political party to oppose Motion M-103, opting to propose their own that would not have granted special status to Islam and its adherents.

At a special session at the event, noted critic of Islamic extremism Raheel Raza, herself a Muslim, warned the audience that radical Islam is dedicated to infiltrating and destroying Western countries like Canada and the U.S. After reading from polling that revealed a majority of Muslim around the world are in favor of Sharia law replacing the secular criminal codes of the countries in which they live, Raza stated that radical Muslims have an ideology that is not in-synch with human rights.

Raza noted that she cant remember how Canada removed the Lords Prayer from schools when she was a child but now in Toronto-area schools there are Muslim prayers on Friday, that has established an ominous double-standard.

She blasted M-103 as akin to a blasphemy law and ridiculed the motions author, MP Iqra Khalid more suggesting that one million Canadian Muslims are victims of racism and bigotry.

Raza asked, Seriously?

She suggested that Canadians are being subjected to a disinformation campaign by Muslim extremists while the Canadian government continues to deny the existence of radical Jihad.

The Muslim Brotherhood, she said, has publicly stated its intention of eliminating and destroying U.S. civilization from within.

Raza was followed by Terrorism and Security Experts Network director Thomas Quiggan, who also said the Liberal Islamophobia motion was a danger to free speech and democracy. Quiggan said that the motions author should be asked, Is it Islamophobic to say that women might not enjoy being beaten, after citing Muslim literature that advocated wife-beating.

Quiggan said the Quebec City mosque shooting was a clear failure of intelligence because the targeted congregation had received threats prior to the fatal event. With that tragedy, Quiggan said, the cycle of violence has come to Canada with terrorist organizations raising money, indoctrinating agents and ultimately breeding more violence and death.

In a question and answer session, Raza contradicted one member of the audience who termed radical Islamic terror as delicate issue, saying, It is an important, not a delicate issue. It has an aura of delicacy around it because of political correctness.

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Canadian Conservatives Vow To Defend Free Speech - Daily Caller

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER The Georgetown University Law Centers policy against campaigning was criticized as anti-free speech.

Georgetown University was included in a list of the 10 worst colleges for free speech compiled by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education based on free speech cases the foundation has worked on during the previous year.

In a report released Wednesday, FIRE a nonprofit focused on defending individual liberties at educational institutions citied an incident last year at Georgetown University Law Center in which students were blocked from campaigning for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on campus.

During the September 2015 primary season, GULCs Office of Student Life rejected students request to table for Sanders outside GULCs McDonough Hall. The group instead used tables inside the McDonough cafeteria to campaign, but Oct. 13, 2015 the day of the first Democratic debate the group was asked to leave by university officials.

The university cited that because of its tax-exempt status as a nonprofit organization under the 501(c)(3) category of the Internal Revenue Code, it could not engage in partisan political campaign activity.

FIRE Director of Litigation Marieke Tuthill Beck-Coon cited the status of the student group H*yas for Choice, which is not formally recognized by the university, as an additional reason behind Georgetowns position on the list.

Georgetown has made some efforts to improve its policies on speech and expression in recent years, but its execution has not always been great, as Im sure H*yas for Choice can attest, considering they are still not a recognized student organization, Beck-Coon wrote in an email to The Hoya. The Law Centers confusing and overly restrictive handling of student partisan political speech this election year is another example of that.

FIRE wrote an open letter to Georgetown University Law Center Dean William Treanor on Feb. 1, 2016, on behalf of Alexander Atkins (LAW 17) and other students who were tabling in support of Sanders.

Additionally, the group spoke on behalf of Atkins at a subcommittee hearing of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, entitled Protecting the Free Exchange of Ideas on College Campuses, on March 2, 2016.

Georgetowns Office of Federal Relations wrote in a letter to the subcommittee hearing on Protecting the Free Exchange of Ideas on College Campuses that it was changing its policies to better protect Georgetown Law students right to political expression.

The Office of Federation Relations wrote in a letter to the Chairman Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) and Ranking Member of the subcommittee John Lewis (D-Ga.) on Feb. 29, 2016, to further explain changes in its policies.

We are adjusting the policies to make very clear that individuals as well as groups are able to reserve tables for organized activity and that all members of our community are able to make reasonable use of University resources to express their political opinions, the letter reads.

Treanor stressed the importance of free speech at GULC in an email to The Hoya.

We share Georgetowns commitment to the fundamental right of members of our community to free expression, dialogue and academic inquiry and are aware of the concerns expressed by our students, Treanor wrote. We are currently exploring the best ways to respond to these issues.

Despite these changes in university policy, some groups still say they encounter restrictions.

2017 marks the second year Georgetown has appeared on FIREs list. Georgetown was first listed in 2014 because of a free speech incident regarding H*yas for Choice in which the group was removed from tabling in Healy Circle and was relocated outside of Georgetowns front gates.

Additionally, two condom envelopes were removed Sept. 23, 2016, from the doors of students who volunteered with H*yas for Choice on the fifth floor of Village C West.

According to a September email interview with Georgetown University Police Department Chief Jay Gruber, the envelopes were removed because GUPD had received a report of vandalism on the fifth floor of VCW and interpreted the envelopes as part of the vandalism.

Georgetown University Student Association and H*yas for Choice cited the incident as a violation of the free expression policy at Georgetown.

H*yas for Choice Co-President Brinna Ludwig (NHS 17) said she believes there has been little policy change in recent years, and free speech restrictions are still a major problem for the organization.

H*yas for Choice has encountered a number of issues related to free speech, Ludwig wrote. We are also restricted by the tabling zone policy, which limits where we are allowed to set up our table.

Georgetown College Republicans President Allie Williams (SFS 19) also highlighted the importance of expanding free speech areas on campus. Williams wrote in an email to The Hoya that because the student body tends to be more liberal, free speech issues occur particularly in regard to GUCR and the speakers the group invites to campus.

As a college campus with a student body that inevitably leans left, Georgetown has had its fair share of free speech issues and, as a conservative organization that often invites controversial speakers, we have absolutely suffered from closed dialogue at GUCR, Williams wrote. The limited areas for free speech on campus is concerning and something that the University should definitely work on going forward.

GUSA free speech policy team chair D.J. Angelini (MSB 17) wrote in an email to The Hoya that students should see the ranking as motivation to continue to fight for free speech improvements across campus.

I look at that rating not as an indication of what Georgetowns doing wrong, but rather to show that we need to constantly regard speech and expression as one of the most important pieces of campus life today, Angelini wrote. I believe Georgetowns administrators and students are committed to these ideals and I hope the rating energizes more students to get involved in promoting a culture of free speech on campus.

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Excerpt from:
Study Ranks Georgetown Low for Free Speech - Georgetown University The Hoya

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The chair of a university Free Speech Task Force bashed what he called the stifling politically correct left and is planning to create content and events pertaining to free speech.

Censoring, just banning someone on campus and saying we consider you dangerous because of your ideas, because of [sic] what you said doesnt have a lot of educational value, said Glenn Geher, Chair of the Free Speech Task Force at State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz. This is a place where all voices can be heard, even if some of them are unpleasant.

The cancellation of SUNYs debate with Accuracy in Media (AIM) director of investigative journalism Cliff Kincaid, yet again puts the university at the center of the national discourse about free speech on college campuses.

What I find troubling, which people dont seem to be talking about that much, is what is the point of bringing people who are essentially hate mongers to a college campus? said SUNY sociology professor Anne R. Roschelle. I disagree with the idea of a university spending money on someone [sic] is a known hate monger.

The discussion was cancelled after Roschelle complained about Kincaids participation during a conversation over faculty email. The would-be debaters were paid $7,500 in total for the unexpected cancellation. The sociology professor later said that she supported the expression of different perspectives.

I have a couple of problems with [faculty resistance to speakers]; one is that makes this presumption that students arent bright enough to come up with their own opinions, said Geher, in response. If were doing a good job educating students, they should be able to listen to something like that and if there are genuine problems with their argument or if the student is concerned about what theyre saying, then they should be able to process it and argue back.

Gehers Free Speech Task Force has already hosted events on campus, one of which was a talk by Dr. Jonathan Haidt on victimhood culture, safe spaces, and political correctness.

Resources offered by SUNY New Paltzs Free Speech Task Force can be accessed here.

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Link:
University Free Speech Chair Slams 'Stifling Politically Correct Left' - Daily Caller