Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Muslim Group fails to get Geller-Spencer talk cancelled in Canada

Muslim Group fails to get Geller-Spencer talk cancelled in Canada

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2013/08/muslim-group-fails-to-get-geller-spencer-talk-cancelled-in-canada.html#more

People are pushing back against these Muslim Brotherhood groups and their reign of harassment, intimidation and terror. Joanne Hill of The Jewish Tribune reports on their latest failure to threaten and bully a venue into canceling defenders of freedom.

In their threat to the Hilton Toronto/Markham Conference Centre & Spa, the hotel hosting our event, Hamas-CAIR invoked "1.6 billion Muslims worldwide.” So the Muslim Brotherhood speaks for all Muslims, do they? Interesting, considering they are always accusing us of "painting all Muslims with a broad brush," which is, in fact, that they are doing.

We will be in Canada on September 17th. Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, spiritual leader of Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto (BAYT) Congregation – one of the largest Orthodox congregations in North America – will introduce the us at the event. Rabbi  Korobkin said,
“I asked Meir Weinstein to write a letter requesting to meet with them because I don’t believe that any moderate Muslim should have a problem with what Ms Geller has to say,” said Rabbi Korobkin. “She’s not anti-Muslim, she’s anti-radical Muslim and I agree with her.... I believe that she is raising a very legitimate issue, which is that there are extremists within the Islamic community [who] find there to be irreconcilable differences between Western democracy and Islam. Those people are waging what they call a jihad to Islamicize the Western world and they will not be satisfied until there is a caliphate that is formed where Shari’a is the prevailing law. Those are the people that Pamela Geller is opposed to.... I see no reason why [the NCCM] should be opposed to her unless they sympathize with those sentiments.”
Event organizer Meir Weinstein did write the Muslim group asking for a meeting, but was disrespectfully rejected. Interfaith dialogue and outreach goes one way and one way only.
Rabbi Korobkin said he agreed to introduce Geller and Spencer because it’s important to stand up for freedom of speech.
“I also felt that the recent debacle with the cancellation of Ms Geller from a venue, where the York Regional Police put pressure on the venue to dis- invite her, was extremely unfortunate and I felt that she needs to be supported.” He also disagreed with the Toronto Board of Rabbis’ public denunciation of Geller last May.
“I think that was unfortunate and I think most of the Jewish community agrees that that was an unfortunate pro- nouncement of the Board of Rabbis. I certainly cannot lend my support to that decision. These are my colleagues, and I have the greatest affection and respect for them, but I believe that they misspoke in that instance.” Gardee was unavailable for comment before deadline.

Jewish Tribune Page 3 Aug 29 2013 copy
Joanne Hill, Chief Correspondent The Hilton Toronto/Markham Conference Centre & Spa will not cancel the Sept. 17 Pamela Geller/Robert Spencer event despite a letter of complaint by a Muslim organization.
“The booking is confirmed to take place as scheduled,” the hotel’s General Manager Patrick Regina told the Jewish Tribune after consulting with legal counsel, Hilton World- wide and the York Regional Police Hate Crimes Unit.
Regina’s review was triggered by a letter from Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM, formerly CAIR-Canada).
In his letter, Gardee described the American authors and bloggers as “notorious xenophobic activists” and invoked the displeasure of the “1 million strong Canadian Muslim community and indeed the 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide” should the hotel not cancel the event.
Geller and Spencer said they were not surprised by the NCCM’s complaint.
“What Islamic supremacist groups like the NCCM want to do is make it illegal, or at least socially unacceptable, to criticize Islam and jihad,” said Geller. “The end result of that will be that the jihad against the West will advance unchallenged.”
Spencer added, “It is just another in a long string of defamatory attacks by leftists and Islamic supremacists who are desperate to shut us down so that the truth about jihad violence and Islamic supremacism will not be heard.”

Geller and Spencer are being brought to the GTA by the Jewish Defence League (JDL) of Canada. Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, spiritual leader of Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto (BAYT) Congregation – one of the largest Orthodox congregations in North America – will introduce the two speakers at the event.

Although the JDL had provided the hotel with a written response to the NCCM’s complaint, Rabbi Korobkin asked JDL Director Meir Weinstein to go an extra step and request a face-to-face meeting with the NCCM. The NCCM turned them down. 

“I asked Meir Weinstein to write a letter requesting to meet with them because I don’t believe that any moder- ate Muslim should have a problem with what Ms Geller has to say,” said Rabbi Korobkin. “She’s not anti-Muslim, she’s anti-radical Muslim and I agree with her.... I believe that she is raising a very legitimate issue, which is that there are extremists within the Islamic community [who] find there to be irreconcilable differences between Western democracy and Islam. Those people are waging what they call a jihad to Islamicize the Western world and they will not be satisfied until there is a caliphate that is formed where Shari’a is the prevailing law. Those are the people that Pamela Geller is opposed to.... I see no reason why [the NCCM] should be opposed to her unless they sympathize with those sentiments.”

Rabbi Korobkin said he agreed to introduce Geller and Spencer because it’s important to stand up for freedom of speech.

“I also felt that the recent debacle with the cancellation of Ms Geller from a venue, where the York Regional Police put pressure on the venue to dis- invite her, was extremely unfortunate and I felt that she needs to be supported.” He also disagreed with the Toronto Board of Rabbis’ public denunciation of Geller last May.

“I think that was unfortunate and I think most of the Jewish community agrees that that was an unfortunate pro- nouncement of the Board of Rabbis. I certainly cannot lend my support to that decision. These are my colleagues, and I have the greatest affection and respect for them, but I believe that they misspoke in that instance.” Gardee was unavailable for comment before deadline.

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