‘Britain is a frightened nation, and our freedom is not going away, it has gone.’
So claims Anne Marie Walters who announced today that the Mohammed cartoon exhibition that she and others had planned for September in London has been cancelled.
She wrote here:
Over the last few weeks, I have had several conversations with both Scotland Yard and counter-terror detectives. My conclusion? That the risk of running this exhibition is simply too high. When setting out to do something like this, one has to be prepared for the possibility of threats, or even violence, but it’s easy to underestimate the impact such things will have on the people around you.
There’s a very real possibility that people could be hurt or killed – before, during, and after the event. This, together with the fact that our venue had indicated it wanted to pull out citing security and insurance concerns, and given the fear that people were feeling generally, the only responsible thing to do was to pull back and try to learn some lessons.
She added:
You may think it obvious to state that Britain is frightened, but I think it is worse than most people imagine. Just the word ‘Islam’ evokes fear in the majority of the people I meet, and this is amplified upon mention of “Mohammed cartoons” … Fear is controlling our society where Islam is concerned, and it was fear that got this exhibit cancelled.
We’re no longer in a place where we risk losing our freedom; now there is a pressing need to take it back.
Walters then called for the creation of a global coalition for free speech.
It needs to have a voice at the UN (and take on the OIC), as well as the EU (also busy with hate speech and “tolerance”), and in as many countries as possible. It cannot be a talking shop put together to discuss shouting fire in a crowded theatre, but a tireless campaign to actively defend, by legislation and other means, the right of people to criticise, analyse, reject, satirise, and mock any single set of beliefs which is capable of affecting society as a whole, especially its freedoms.
We need an international campaign comprising all who seek free speech protection, particularly from Islam. It needs to work hard and fast to reverse the tide. I will contact every organisation, politician, writer, and advocate for free speech that I can find, and I hope we can take the fight for free expression on to the world stage.
The aim is a fear-free Mohammed cartoon contest. When we can have that, we will know we are winning.
Hat tip: Antony Niall