Dhimmi Broad: Sexapalooza OK - Mark Steyn BAD
"How can a room full of people listening to a guy making a speech be any more disturbing than, say, an Amway rally or ‘Sexapalooza – The FUN show for Adults‘ which the LCC hosted in February 2009?"
Insecurity about 'Security' Code for Dhimmitude
"How do you curtail the free speech of those who don't genuflect before the great, ghastly false god of multiculturalism?
Centre refuses to host Steyn lecture on free speech
"London Convention Centre general manager Lori Da Silva said denying next month's Mark Steyn speech was a "business decision" in part due to concerns for security, and fairness for the centre's other clients who might not enjoy a "rowdy" crowd at the same time. Asked if the content of Mr. Steyn's work had anything to do with the Convention Centre's decision, general manager replied, "No, we're looking at the security risk."
...
and the reason we need to LIMIT immigration now.
This makes me think of the controversy surrounding Greg Felton's appearance at the Vancouver Public Library during Freedom to Read week in February 2008. Felton read from his recently published book The Host and the Parasite: How Israel's Fifth Column Consumed America (Dandelion, 2007). The Vancouver Public Library stuck to its guns in this case.
City Librarian Paul Whitney responded to the op-ed in a letter to the Sun, noting that the library did not endorse Felton’s position: "In reviewing Felton's request to read at the library, it appeared to us that his book was provocative but not hateful and we have found no information indicating the book is subject to any legal action… The role of the public library, however, is to provide a forum for an open and public exchange of contradictory views and to make materials available that represent a wide range of views, including those that may be considered unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable."
Too bad the people who manage the London Convention Centre do not subcribe to this standard of intellectual freedom.
Uhh, the difference with Felton is that he was given a room for free, by the library on behalf of taxpayers, to spout his total nonsense, the most bizarrely unrealistic and involved Judeophobic conspiracy theory. Steyn's promoters are paying for the room. I don't recall anyone who were enraged by the Vancouver Public Library's choice on how to spend its public resources saying that Felton didn't have a right to speak elsewhere on his own dime.
anyone who was.
The point is, the library, a public entity that is assumed to have standards that guide its conduct, gave intellectual credibility to a total fruitcake. No one assumes a convention centre is anything but a business that provides a product to anyone who can pay.
If you check the online catalogue of the Vancouver Public Library you will find there is a copy of the Protocols of the meetings of the learned elders of Zion / translated from the Russian text by Victor E. Marsden, published in 1931, held in the library reference collection. The library also holds several copies of Mein kampf in the open shelves.
Would you demand that these materials be removed from the public library collection too?
No, these are historical documents of great importance that should be open to students of history and antisemitism. By having such materials on their shelves, the library is not promoting their truth value, just their historical value. However, when it invites a speaker who has yet no or little historical value, and gives him a free room and labels him a dissident writer in need of the library's protection, the library is implying that he *should* be accorded historical value and, since he is in the present and no one else is making Felton into a historical figure, that also implies there is some amount of truth value in his message. With Felton, the library is promoting a Judeophobic nobody. It's actively sharing part of the library's own public status with Felton. This is not the case with housing historical documents that the world recognizes whether Vancouver ever existed or not.
There is no shortage of critics who denounce Mark Steyn as an Islamophobic nobody, despite the fact he is well-known internationally. These same critics no doubt applaud the decision to deny him rental of space at the London Convention Centre.
As for Felton, I do not disagree with you that he is an anti-semitic crackpot. The fact remains he is a local author and had a book in print. Freedom to read includes the freedom to read the kind of bilge Felton publishes. In spite of his appearance at the Vancouver Public Library during Freedom to Read Week in 2008, he remains a Judeophobic nobody relegagted to the lunatic fringe. One hundred years from now people will still know of Mein kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, but nobody will remember Greg Felton and his putrid scribblings.
It seems to me there's something different in a library doing what it usually does - providing books and av materials - and inviting a speaker. The invitation implies a kind of special judgment, a higher standard, that doesn't pertain to choosinging books that people might want to read. If the library had simply bought Felton's book (or even put it on a special display for the week) I wouldn't care much and would probably have never heard about it. That's life. When Felton somehow convinced them to invite him to speak, they did something unusual - provided a rare public resource that most writers never get. Why? Is Felton banned or harrassed by the Canadian state? No, unless we want to believe he lives in fear of the hate speech laws. So just why is our "Freedom to read" threatened in his case? The only answer I can think of is that it's because 1) he has a hard time making a living as a writer because many don't want to publish him, which is surely the right of newspaper owners; 2) the implication is that the "Jewish lobby", or the "Israel lobby" if you prefer - the focus of Felton's conspiracy theory - is somehow making it impossible for people to read him or hear his message. Since it is #2 that I think was the issue in the library's mind, I can only read that being on their part a Judeophobic decision in inviting Felton as an appropriate highlight for "Freedom to read week". And that's why I protested.
This is the answer I received from Lori Da Silva today about the cancellation -- which seems somewhat different from what you've posted, BCF:
We didn't have a contract to host this event so no actual contract to cancel. Contract terms were never even discussed. We require all organizations to complete background information and this form was never completed which is step 1 in our process. We never moved beyond the initial inquiry.
Lori
Lori Da Silva
LCC
Hmmmm.
Gosh, Lori thanked another commenter on another thread for writing but she didn't thank me.
What is her problem?
Yup alot of conflicting signals being sent by Lori, as SMW noted, Lori also made reference to possible student disruptions, meaning what exactly? Did students make noises? Which students?
and the reason we need to LIMIT immigration now.
I hope people realize that antfrm isn't being racist or bigoted or ethnoculturally centric with this statement.
He's just looking at the security risk.
I may be mistaken, but if I remember correctly, the biggest draw for Felton and his book reading during Freedom to Read Week at the Vancouver Public Library was his critics who made certain to express their thoughts and opinions. Freedom to read includes the freedom to be offended and to take issue with what you read.
You are sorely mistaken if you think the Vancouver Public Librarian believes a Jewish cabal is keeping Felton from being heard. If you want to know what the true motivation for the inclusion of Felton check the following:
Canadian Library Association / Association canadienne des bibliothèques Position Statement on Intellectual Freedom
Approved by Executive Council ~ June 27, 1974; Amended November 17, 1983; and November 18, 1985
All persons in Canada have the fundamental right, as embodied in the nation's Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to have access to all expressions of knowledge, creativity and intellectual activity, and to express their thoughts publicly. This right to intellectual freedom, under the law, is essential to the health and development of Canadian society.
Libraries have a basic responsibility for the development and maintenance of intellectual freedom.
It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee and facilitate access to all expressions of knowledge and intellectual activity, including those which some elements of society may consider to be unconventional, unpopular or unacceptable. To this end, libraries shall acquire and make available the widest variety of materials.
It is the responsibility of libraries to guarantee the right of free expression by making available all the library's public facilities and services to all individuals and groups who need them.
Libraries should resist all efforts to limit the exercise of these responsibilities while recognizing the right of criticism by individuals and groups.
Both employees and employers in libraries have a duty, in addition to their institutional responsibilities, to uphold these principles.
Lori Da Silva
Remember that name. Once kicked out for destroying the London Convention center. Expect her to show up in the CHRC shakedown.
Witches never die , they hide their hearts in secret places.
The CHRC could not help but commend her zeal.
JMO
When I first looked at the photos, I knew one was Mark Steyn and I thought the other one was Ann Coulter!!!!
I had to go over to Mark's site to realize that, no, that's not Ann Coulter, that's some evil-looking pervert.
'Maybe enlarge the photos, BCF? 'Maybe I need a magnifying glass?
I thought it bore a resemblance to Coulter as well;)
and the reason we need to LIMIT immigration now.
We need to stop all Islamic immigration.
The road is long with many an insane turn.
When I first looked at the photos, I knew one was Mark Steyn and I thought the other one was Ann Coulter!!!!
I had to go over to Mark's site to realize that, no, that's not Ann Coulter, that's some evil-looking pervert.
'Maybe enlarge the photos, BCF? 'Maybe I need a magnifying glass?
and the reason we need to LIMIT immigration now.
I hope people realize that antfrm isn't being racist or bigoted or ethnoculturally centric with this statement.
He's just looking at the security risk.
Gosh, Lori thanked another commenter on another thread for writing but she didn't thank me.
What is her problem?
This is the answer I received from Lori Da Silva today about the cancellation -- which seems somewhat different from what you've posted, BCF:
We didn't have a contract to host this event so no actual contract to cancel. Contract terms were never even discussed. We require all organizations to complete background information and this form was never completed which is step 1 in our process. We never moved beyond the initial inquiry.
Lori
Lori Da Silva
LCC
Hmmmm.
It seems to me there's something different in a library doing what it usually does - providing books and av materials - and inviting a speaker. The invitation implies a kind of special judgment, a higher standard, that doesn't pertain to choosinging books that people might want to read. If the library had simply bought Felton's book (or even put it on a special display for the week) I wouldn't care much and would probably have never heard about it. That's life. When Felton somehow convinced them to invite him to speak, they did something unusual - provided a rare public resource that most writers never get. Why? Is Felton banned or harrassed by the Canadian state? No, unless we want to believe he lives in fear of the hate speech laws. So just why is our "Freedom to read" threatened in his case? The only answer I can think of is that it's because 1) he has a hard time making a living as a writer because many don't want to publish him, which is surely the right of newspaper owners; 2) the implication is that the "Jewish lobby", or the "Israel lobby" if you prefer - the focus of Felton's conspiracy theory - is somehow making it impossible for people to read him or hear his message. Since it is #2 that I think was the issue in the library's mind, I can only read that being on their part a Judeophobic decision in inviting Felton as an appropriate highlight for "Freedom to read week". And that's why I protested.
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