The Levantithan (Or My Second Favorite Ezra)
By Aaron Goldstein (02/19/06)
While munching on some tasty Royal Dansk cookies I notice that Muslims from around the world continue to respond to once obscure cartoon with violence and threats to commit violence. A Pakistani cleric has put out a $1 million bounty to anyone who kills the cartoonists who drew Mohammed. Ten people were killed in front of the Italian consulate in Libya after an Italian cabinet minister wore a t-shirt bearing the infamous drawings. The aforementioned minister has now resigned his portfolio.
The violence has been absent on this side of the Atlantic. However, most newspapers and television stations have declined to broadcast the images for fear of violence. Bill O’Reilly rightly criticized The New York Times for their unwillingness to publish the cartoons while publishing an image of the Mother Mary covered with feces. Yet O’Reilly undermines his own argument by declining to broadcast the images on The O’Reilly Factor. Although, to be fair, other programs on the Fox News Channel have broadcast the images such as their early morning show, Fox & Friends. Still, in the land of the free and home of the brave, these qualities have been sadly absent in our media.
There has been a similar reticence to publish the cartoons in my native Canada. Canada’s new Conservative government has been rather mealy mouthed about the whole affair. Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said on February 9th, “The Government of Canada will continue to promote a better understanding of Islam internationally, in partnership with Muslim communities.” Loosely translated into plain English what he is really saying is, “PLEEEEAASEE DON’T KILL US!!!”, reminiscent of John Belushi staring down at the barrel of Carrie Fisher’s gun in The Blues Brothers. Although the cartoons have scarcely been seen north of the 49, this has not prevented Muslim owned grocery stores from removing Danish products from their shelves. It is rather difficult to have a proper public debate if the public is not permitted to bear witness to the issue at hand. Of course, this is precisely the point for many Muslims who believe there ought not be any discussion at all and that the rest of us submit to their arbitrary whims or pay with our lives or, at the very minimum, our livelihoods.
Enter Ezra Levant, my second favorite Ezra. Why my second favorite? Well, my older brother is also named Ezra. So that makes Levant my second favorite Ezra.
For those unfamiliar with Levant, he is arguably Canada’s most controversial conservative. Levant publishes a monthly magazine called The Western Standard, based in Calgary and he has taken it upon himself to publish the cartoons. Levant is no stranger to the public eye. An attorney by trade, he worked for former Reform Party leaders Preston Manning and Stockwell Day as well as a stint on the editorial board of The National Post. This would not be so remarkable except that he accomplished all of this before turning 30. Levant was a frequent guest on Canadian radio and television shows and his acerbic wit made both friend and foe alike wince. Levant was nominated to run for Parliament in Calgary after the formation of the Canadian Alliance in 2002 but was compelled to step aside for Canadian Alliance leader (and later Conservative Party leader) Stephen Harper after publicly balking at the idea.
Needless to say, Levant’s decision to publish the cartoons has raised the ire of Canadian Muslims. Bookstores and newsstands across Canada have also declined to sell the issue. Yet this has not deterred Levant who told CTV News, “I don’t follow Muslim law, I follow Queen Elizabeth’s law. I don’t follow the Koran, I follow the Canadian Constitution and there are two key parts to the Canadian constitution I’m relying on: one is freedom of expression and the other is cultural diversity (enshrined in) the Constitution.”
Dr. Mohamed Elmasry, President of the Canadian Islamic Congress, has threatened to have criminal charges laid against The Western Standard under Canada’s hate laws. This is rich considering that in October 2004, Elmasry said that any adult Israeli citizen was a justifiable target for Palestinian suicide bombers on the basis that all adult Israelis are “part of the Israeli army, even if they have civilian clothes. The same, if they are women in the army.” Elmasry later apologized for the remarks.
Riad Saloojee of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (the Canadian chapter of CAIR) warned, “I think the fact that people choose to reprint the cartoons could put our troops in danger,”, referring to Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan. This comment followed that of Gordon O’Connor, Canada’s new Minister of National Defense. “It doesn’t help. Radicals in Syria and Lebanon, Afghanistan and Iraq, they get people roused up because their religion’s being offended. We don’t need any more risk in the area than we have,” said O’Connor.
Perhaps the most interesting comments in this whole matter came from Tarek Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress:
If the contention of these folks is that people want to see these cartoons, they’re available across the Web. So the intention is not to inform the readers about the cartoons, but it is primarily to incite and add fuel to the fire. All I ask them is, what do they contribute? What exactly are they trying to achieve out of that? Have they not seen the turmoil that has been caused by the repeated publication of these cartoons?
Before I proceed further, I must make a disclosure. I know Tarek Fatah. I knew him through my association with the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP). In fact, for several years, we served together on the Ontario NDP’s resolutions committee. It should also be noted that Fatah has been praised by the likes of Steve Emerson, author of American Jihad. It should be further noted that the Muslim Canadian Congress publicly opposed the imposition of Sharia law in Ontario and also publicly supports same sex marriage.
With that out of the way I will tell you why I disagree with Fatah’s comments.
First, the idea that a media outlet should not run a story because it is “available across the Web” should be an anathema to any journalist or commentator. It would be like the Fox News Channel declining to run a story on the Dick Cheney hunting accident because it had already been broadcast by CNN and MSNBC. It would be like CTV not covering the Canadian election because the CBC and Global got to it first. One should see such an argument for what it is. A copout.
Second, how does Fatah know that Levant’s intention is “to incite and add fuel to the fire”? Did Fatah perform a cross country mind meld on Levant when he wasn’t looking? When Fatah asks what the publication of the cartoons contribute and what they achieve it is perhaps an indication that he did not watch Levant’s interview on CTV’s Canada AM. He explained, “I would say our magazine would publish an anti-Semitic or Holocaust denying cartoon if it meant Jews around the world were rioting because of it and burning embassies because of a cartoon. We would want to show our readers what all the fuss was about.” Levant’s readers have the power to accept, reject or ignore Levant’s point of view. Besides Fatah is giving Levant a power he simply does not have. If the decision of a magazine publisher in Western Canada to reprint a six month old cartoon has the power to compel people to burn down embassies it does not say much about the moral character, dignity, discipline and self-control of Muslims in much of the world.
Third, who exactly has been causing all the turmoil? The Danish cartoonists didn’t commit arson or murder. The Danish cartoonists did not falsify several of the cartoons in question. The Danish cartoonists didn’t offer a $1 million bounty on anyone’s head. Muslims are well within their right to object to the cartoons. There is no obligation for them to buy the Western Standard or any other publication that chooses to carry those images. But many Muslims have chosen to take the path of violence and intimidation. If that is the path Muslims choose to take they must come to understand that those of us who believe in freedom of the press are not about to be coerced by a bunch of hooligans.
Nearly two decades ago, Evangelical Christians were angered and outraged by Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ. This anger reached into Israel where part of the movie was filmed. For all their anger and outrage, Evangelical Christians never destroyed property or took any human life. Whether one agreed or disagreed with their position about the movie they never behaved in a violent manner. Why are so many Muslims unable to conduct themselves with appropriate decorum?
What makes this situation such a head scratching one is the recent decision of an Australian television station to release more photos from Abu Ghraib prison showing mistreatment of Iraq prisoners by American soldiers. Does one hear Tarek Fatah or any other Muslim spokesperson speak out against the publication of these real life images? Of course not. Why? Because those Abu Ghraib photos make the United States look bad and validates their opposition to the liberation of Iraq. If Fatah were honestly concerned about the “turmoil” of Islamic violence he would oppose the dissemination of the Abu Ghraib images as well.
Canadian Muslims and the mainstream Canadian media might view Ezra Levant as a Leviathan. A crooked serpent with a heart of stone bent on wanton destruction. The proverbial bull running amok in the china shop. A creature so vile that he cannot be gazed upon without irreversible psychological damage for having been offended. I choose to view him as a Levantihan. A creature willing to shake things up when others remain silent or too timid to speak. A creature willing to stand up for freedom as others try to restrict it. A creature who comes to shine a light on those who would bring us into darkness.
Canada needs more Ezra Levants. The civilized world needs more Levantithans.
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