by Jerome du Bois
By now those following the strife around Fitna know that Liveleak took the film off of its servers after around 24 hours, after receiving serious threats to their employees. Here is their statement in full (HT Jihad Watch):
Following threats to our staff of a very serious nature, and some ill informed reports from certain corners of the British media that could directly lead to the harm of some of our staff, Liveleak.com has been left with no other choice but to remove Fitna from our servers.
This is a sad day for freedom of speech on the net but we have to place the safety and well being of our staff above all else. We would like to thank the thousands of people, from all backgrounds and religions, who gave us their support. They realised LiveLeak.com is a vehicle for many opinions and not just for the support of one.
Perhaps there is still hope that this situation may produce a discussion that could benefit and educate all of us as to how we can accept one anothers culture.
We stood for what we believe in, the ability to be heard, but in the end the price was too high.
Robert Spencer from Jihad Watch had some harsh words for the people who work at Liveleak, in a short post called "Whatever happened to 'Give me liberty or give me death'." He concludes:
"In the end the price was too high" could be the epitaph of the Free West.
I understand their concern for their employees --sure. The employees didn't sign up for this. But if Americans and Westerners and all people who are threatened by the global jihad and Islamic supremacism aren't willing to give their lives for this cause, then all is lost. Because the jihadists certainly are willing to give their lives for their cause. For them, no price is too high. . . .
Others have been more forgiving, saying that Liveleak held up the torch for a whole day, and a million million fires were ignited from that torch, so good for them.
I think about those threats. They wouldn't be ranting emails or taunting phone calls or even slashed tires. They would be something like a cell-phone video of the boss's wife grocery shopping, or the son leaving school, time-stamped so the victim knows exactly how close the jihadists are, and something else that must have given all of Liveleak's employees pause: just how organized the jihadists are. After all, not many people on earth knew exactly where Geert Wilders would place his film, including Wilders himself. Yet within a day of its posting the jihadists knew enough about key employees of Liveleak to apply precise and sophisticated pressure, pressure sufficient to convince Liveleak to fold --after one day.
These bastards are serious, dedicated, professional, wired, and lethally dangerous. I sympathize with the Liveleak people, but Robert Spencer is right. We cannot back down. We cannot be silenced.
My own piece on Fitna, just below, included a local perspective, and the unlikelihood that anyone in the local cultural scene would rush to ensure Fitna received wide exposure. I received a single short email, from a pseudonymous person who is probably one of the local Spoken Word Gang; I recognized the awful, clunky, semicoherent style. I don't know exactly who it is, but as it seems they have only one brain among them to share, they speak alike, with dated, droning sarcasm. In any case, it confirmed my speculation that these people don't want to seriously debate Islam. I will only quote the part relevant to what happened with Liveleak:
I have long feared Islamisation and I will do whatever you think is best to keep their scimitars off my childrens' necks.
This was sent on Friday, before Liveleak folded, and Catherine deleted the comment right away (though kept the email copy). Makes chilly rereading in light of the likely nature of the threats to Liveleak's people and their families.
The comment itself had nothing to do with the hassles of Geert Wilders and Fitna. It was all about the Spoken Word Gang's tiny enclave. Nothing's going on in the world but them. In the meantime, while they snicker and natter to six confederates in their koffee klatches about Dick Cheney and Joe Arpaio, Fitna has gone multiplatinum and is being debated in the highest government chambers worldwide. And Geert Wilders still lives on the run.
The scimitar's smile isn't funny.
Posted by Jerome at March 30, 2008 03:12 PM | TrackBack