2018 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Monday, 17 September 2018
Working Session 11 Fundamental Freedoms I, Including Freedom of Expression
The following intervention was read yesterday by Debra Anderson, representing Mission Liberty. Ms. Anderson was discussing the attempts by Somali Muslims to implement sharia in Minnesota when she was interrupted by someone — not a member of the OSCE staff — who said that her intervention must be shut down, because it was Islamophobic.
Interestingly enough, the OSCE moderator did not terminate the intervention, but reprimanded the person who interrupted, and allowed Ms. Anderson to continue.
Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:
For links to previous articles about the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, see the OSCE Archives.
It’s definite — Hans-Georg Maaßen, the head of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, will resign his post. He will reportedly be “promoted” to a new position as secretary of state.
In other news, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced that Turkey will increase its troop presence in northern Cyprus.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to AF, C. Cantoni, Dora, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
2018 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Monday, 17 September 2018
Working Session 11 Fundamental Freedoms I, Including Freedom of Expression
The following intervention was read yesterday at the OSCE conference in Warsaw by Stephen Coughlin, representing Unconstrained Analytics.
The principle topic of the intervention was the Turkish religious affairs directorate Diyanet (official government website, Wikipedia entry), which claims jurisdiction over all Turkish Muslims in Europe unto the nth generation, and which is said to be crucial for assuring calm and lawful behavior by ethnic Turks in urban neighborhoods throughout Europe. Maj. Coughlin’s principal point is that discussing such matters is now considered “bigotry” by the OSCE’s Code of Conduct.
Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:
Below is the prepared text for an intervention read yesterday afternoon by Christopher Hull of the Center for Security Policy (Secure Freedom) at OSCE Warsaw. The video of the intervention will be along in due course.
Intervention before the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Participating States and Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
At the Human Dimension Implementation Meeting (HDIM), Warsaw, Poland Working Session 11: Fundamental Freedoms II
September 17, 2018
How ironic that this organization is itself violating fundamental freedoms.
For instance, at a February meeting this year, a senior official claimed that civil society must adhere to OSCE commitments.[1]
But we are not required to abide by those commitments — you are.
The OSCE Code of Conduct for Staff/Mission Members says you, and I quote, “shall comply with the… commitments of the OSCE.”[2] And what commitments?
1.
First, “respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience…or belief, for all without distinction as to…belief, political or other opinion.”[3]
2.
Second, taking only “measures which do not endanger freedom of information and expression” in this space[4]; and
3.
Third, that civil society members, “specifically those with relevant experience, are particularly encouraged to participate in the discussion of the selected topics and to provide their suggestions and recommendations.”[5]
But in spite of such requirements, ODIHR has now gone further.
For this meeting, you required us to acknowledge a new “Code of Conduct.” It says, “[p]articipants shall refrain from presenting…any slogans that might be provoking,… likely to give rise to violence, [or] discriminating [against] other persons on the basis of…religion or belief, political or other opinion.”
But that is what you are doing.
That’s why Secure Freedom joined 28 civil society representatives from 14 countries in speaking out against your repeated attempts to shut down our fundamental freedoms.[6]
That’s also why the U.S. Opening Statement objected “to content-based restrictions on the participation of civil society.”[7]
And yet last week, ODIHR used its power to interrupt Civitas Christiana Foundation for expressing concern about threats, repression and intolerance by those who hold radical views of sexuality.[8]
(Many thanks to C for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling.)
Lately, have you noticed that Mr. Wilders has become a “nothing left to lose” truth-teller? I fear for him, recognizing his demise could well be akin to that of Pim Fortuyn’s. You know, when the security guards “forget” to show up one day? I am not privy to his arrangements for protection, but pray that some of them are his own men, not state-paid.
Time to take out an old, oft-repeated essay to remind you of what Wilders faces. The explanation below, written in 2008, about Dutch “freedoms” and “tolerance”, goes far toward explaining the existence of Dutch expatriates, of whom the author is one.
Here’s a short excerpt. Since it’s difficult to choose just one passage, the opening salvos of “Why Spinoza Was Not Murdered” will suffice to get the point across, but do read the whole thing. It is full of the same mordant wit our essayist H. Numan employs to make his points; Egger proves again the crucial point that one cannot survive in the Netherlands without the heart to make pointed fun of reality.
It is a lesson we rightwingextremistdeplorable Americans would do well to learn, i.e., maintenance of the spirit by laughing at one’s opponents. Can you imagine a speech in our Congress that comes anywhere near the spirited riposte of Mr. Wilders? Perhaps President Trump echoes this position sometimes, but his rhetoric is too erratic to trust entirely. Instead of spine surgery metaphors, our president comes in with machine guns blazing.
Now on to Mr. Legger:
Marts 2008 — Arthur Legger
If you like to think of Holland as the cradle of free speech and the Enlightenment, don’t read this
’Nobody needs permission beforehand to publish by print thoughts or feelings — while taking into consideration every person’s responsibility according to the law.’
(Article 7, Dutch Constitution)
Again the ruthless reflex sets in. Because that lies at the core of our Dutch character: the social annihilation of the deviating individual —including a neat political murder, every now and then (we never go after a group, that is not done after our very active partaking in the Holocaust).
The latest news on the chronicle of the death foretold of right-wing parliamentarian Geert Wilders, infamous for his bleached haircut from outer space, is that the CEOs of Dutch multinationals fear loss of profit because of Fitna, The Movie. Wilders gained notoriety because of his wish to ban the Koran and his severe criticism of islam in comparison with “our shared Dutch heritage of Humanism and Enlightenment, as it was successfully proclaimed by our highly esteemed Spinoza”. The captains of industry state that Wilders’ movie will prove too critical and, hence, will harm their age-old connections and business in the Arabic world and Indonesia (a former Dutch colony). The highly successful and erudite lawyer Gerard Spong, a very nice fellow from Surinam (independent in 1975), is hired to sue Wilders: “For irresponsibly damaging Dutch interests”. It almost goes without saying that many of these directors, managers and members of the board have been key members of the public service, previous Cabinets included, or will be in future times. The Union of IT Businessmen In The East (FME) strongly seconds their concern: “The real problem is that Wilders’ movie fits a pattern of confrontation: the Danish cartoons; the war in Iraq. The movie might prove to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back” (Intermediair 11, 13 March 2008). “Wilders, don’t do it!” prays Bernard Wientjes, the chairman of the VNO-NCW (Union of Dutch Business). “Surely you know that when it really counts the reverend is always traded for the businessman” (The Volkskrant, 15 March 2008).
Also, the Dutch media, via their coordinating National Broadcast Institute, the NOS, issued a shared statement that they will not air Wilders’ movie “because of fear of attacks and not to give this irresponsible person a platform for his xenophobia”. The news agency of the Dutch Parliament (Nieuwspoort) will not provide Wilders with the possibility of showing his movie, because “the making of movies is not part of a parliamentarian’s work”. (The head of the NOS is always a former cabinet member.) Not surprisingly the Socialist, Christian and Liberal parties backed this blocking of Wilders (The Volkskrant, 15 March 2008).
That is merely the preface to a longer explanation of Dutch society. In the ten years since Mr. Legger wrote his essay, the situation in the Netherlands hasn’t changed, except to get worse.
Many years ago we had a Dutch correspondent who gave us lively descriptions of the day-to-day reality in his country. Like all cultures, it’s complicated for an outsider. Thus when Legger says, “Geert Wilders, infamous for his bleached haircut from outer space”, our correspondent explained the bleached-blond phenomenon. Mr. Wilders is of mixed heritage, i.e., part Indonesian from back when the Netherlands owned that part of the world. His hair is really brown; in a large country of immigrants like America, his looks would pass unnoticed. But not in Holland. So, the story we were told back then was that Geert Wilders’ bleach job was a thumb in the eye of his soi-disant “betters”. Any ‘pure’ Dutch would recognize his ethnic background immediately.
Such panache is rather admirable. Chutzpah is what one needs to transcend the strictures of an oppressive culture. May Wilders continue to be an inspiration to the rest of us.
The CSU — the Bavarian sister party of Angela Merkel’s CDU — has seen a precipitous drop in the polls ahead of Bavarian state elections. The AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, Alternative for Germany) is polling at almost 50% now in Bavaria, well ahead of the CSU.
In other news, female priests in Britain demanded that the Church of England stop referring to God as “He”.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, Fjordman, Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, SS, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Hans-Georg Maaßen is the president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV), Germany’s domestic intelligence agency. During the recent controversy over anti-migrant street demonstrations in Chemnitz, Mr. Maaßen determined that media reports about “neo-Nazis” and “manhunts” of migrants in Chemnitz were utterly without foundation. Law enforcement agencies plus the political leadership of Saxony agreed with him.
The only source for the spurious assertion of a “manhunt” was an Antifa propaganda video. On the basis of this video — and without consulting her security services — Chancellor Angela Merkel made her own assertions about “manhunts” by “xenophobes” in Chemnitz.
Mrs. Merkel’s coalition partners in the SPD (Social Democratic Party, specifically Martin Schulz, if I am not mistaken) have said that the chancellor will soon fire Mr. Maaßen from his position as head of the BfV, for contradicting his chancellor about the “manhunts”. If she really does give him the boot, it will set a devastating precedent, and signal the complete politicization of the German intelligence services.
Just think about the ramifications: Mrs. Merkel’s intelligence chief gives her an accurate assessment of the domestic situation, so she fires him. Such an action makes certain that whoever succeeds him will NEVER tell the chancelloress anything she doesn’t want to hear.
It reminds me of the way Stalin handled his underlings in the USSR (except, of course, that Mr. Maaßen is unlikely to end up neckshot in the basement of the Bundeskanzleramt). No commissar would dare tell the General Secretary that only 300 tanks had actually been produced by the factory in Novosibirsk, rather than the 5,000 listed in the Defense Ministry’s report*. Comrade Stalin did not want to hear such facts, and telling them to him could end one’s career, and most likely one’s life. As a result, Stalin made important strategic decisions using bad intel, sometimes with disastrous consequences.
Bad intel was one of the things that helped bring down the USSR. Mrs. Merkel would be wise to remember that fact.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The following video discusses remarks by Alice Weidel, the leader of the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, Alternative for Germany) about the possible firing of Hans-Georg Maaßen.
Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
The Dalai Lama spoke in Malmo, telling migrants to go home and help their own people. Racist, racist! Bad Boy. The Left will bury you for Violations of The Official Narrative.
Here’s Dr. Turley with a compare and contrast:
He mentions several others’ views on immigration, including studies by the Biblical scholar, James Hoffmeier. I’ll have to look up this fellow’s views.
Meanwhile, it seems as though The Narrative is beginning to crumble.
Three illegal migrants were injured when the truck carrying them crashed just inside the Greek-Turkish border. The injured aliens were among the 41 passengers who had just crossed the border in a truck driven by an Afghan.
In other news, with inflation in Venezuela at an annual rate of 2,400%, President Nicolas Maduro raised the minimum wage by 3,500%, which resulted in the closure of 40% of the country’s retail businesses.
To see the headlines and the articles, click “Continue reading” below.
Thanks to Insubria, JD, Reader from Chicago, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Notice to tipsters: Please don’t submit extensive excerpts from articles that have been posted behind a subscription firewall, or are otherwise under copyright protection.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
It’s definite — Hans-Georg Maaßen, the head of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, will resign his post. He will reportedly be “promoted” to a new position as secretary of state.