Ezra wins!
Syed Soharwardy has backed down, withdrawing his human rights complaint against Ezra and the now-defunct Western Standard for publishing the Dreaded Cartoons of Blasphemy(tm). It seems he (Soharwardy) has discovered that we’re rather fond of our freedom of the press over here in the real world, and that he can’t force his Saudi values on us.
But Ezra is making sure to look this gift camel in the mouth. He doesn’t believe it for a second:
So why would Soharwardy do this — and why now?
The answer lies in another Arabic word: hudna. A hudna isn’t a peace treaty. It’s a temporary truce called by a Muslim warrior who’s losing in battle. It’s pretty easy to understand how hudnas work by watching Israel fight Hamas and Hezbollah. Those two terrorist groups lob rockets and send suicide bombers into Israel for months; then, every once in a while, Israel deploys its military and flattens Hamas and Hezbollah, who then call for a hudna. The UN intervenes, saving Hamas and Hezbollah to fight another day. That’s a hudna: a tactical truce for a strategic advantage.
Indeed. Soharwardy may have backed down from this particular battle, but Levant isn’t going to give it up until he crushes the man for the cockroach that he is:
But can someone abuse a government process like he has, for two years, and then simply walk away with impunity? I’ve spent the better part of $100,000 defending against this thug — but because he’s losing face, he thinks he can pretend he never did what he did.
For two years, this corrupt, radical imam has hunted me using the resources of the taxpayers of Alberta for the “thought crime” of publishing a cartoon he didn’t like. I had a preliminary discussion with my lawyer today. My aim is to file an abuse of process claim in the Court of Queen’s Bench within the month. Whether or not I sue the commission itself, and its inquisitor Shirlene McGovern, is something I haven’t discussed yet with my lawyers.
When the chief complainant in a two-year censorship exercise admits the whole thing was improper, an abuse of process suit is not just about recouping my losses. It’s about holding a little fascist, and the government agency he hijacked, to account, and having grown-ups — that is, real judges in real courts — tell them that what they’ve been doing is morally and legally wrong.
If you’ve been hitting Ezra’s tip jar for his defence, hit it again for the coming offence! It will be even more fun to watch him at work in a real courtroom, where actual laws apply. And where the fragile feelings of Imams count for naught.
Brilliant news, RightGirl!
Ezra won’t win in the end, though, and free speech in Canada, and the rest of the (still) free world, will be straitened a little more, and as mark said, people won’t notice until it’s too late.
BUT WE CAN GO DOWN, you lot and our lot, with a grand and creditable record, for doing what was right, when we did, we here and you Canadians. You didn’t have to come to help, but you did anyway. And the Anzacs, and the Indians, Pakis, Chinese, Jamaicans and the rest.
You and we, we did it OUR WAY, OK?
Cheer up, the Recording Angel listens to everything, and he’ll know his own.
Comment by David Davis — February 13, 2008 @ 1:30 pm