Our Friend and Ally, Elisabeth

Autumn Fundraiser 2011, Day Four
When we came up with the idea of getting endorsements for the Autumn fundraiser, one of the first people who came to mind was Elisabeth. Our very own Joan of Arc, without the crazy French part(Or rather, the crazy French part that George Bernard Shaw crafted).

Before I pass on to you her words of endorsement for Gates of Vienna, I’ll provide some context from her legal situation, and from my own experience of an unusual woman. When she says she’s a housewife, she’s telling the truth. It was certainly her identity before Austrian jornolists and Austrian “justice” decided to use her for their own purposes.

When I think of Elisabeth, certain words come to mind: indomitable, of course. Smart. Sassy. Generous. Loyal. A fiercely partisan momma, whose overarching fight is for the future of her child and the next generation. The traits I envy most? Elisabeth’s determination and her focus. She never forgets why she’s here and what her goal has become.

Sometimes I wonder if Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff ever would have wandered into the minefield of the Counterjihad if she hadn’t been a mother, if she hadn’t been concerned for the future of the country she’d be leaving to her child. I remember well the irony in her reply when someone asked her (I forget who) what she’d be doing if she weren’t in this fight. One part of her answer resonated for me: she said she’d have been planning another baby instead of trials and jail. How sad, to have to sacrifice her family hopes for this undertaking. Certainly it was never her intention to be hauled into court on hate speech charges back when she started her lectures on Islam.

Like so many of us, Elisabeth had no idea of the treachery of the leftist consensus media or the elites who run things. Those are the malign, self-satisfied folks who set her up. She’d never have been charged in the first place were there not so many opportunistic “jornolists” who make their living via the entrapment of those who are willing to stand and up tell the truth.

Remember Malvolio’s speech in Twelfth Night when he talks about fame? In the second act, he priggishly bloviates —

…some are born great,
some achieve greatness, and
some have greatness thrust upon them.

Unlike poor old Malvolio, Elisabeth really is in that third category, those who weren’t looking for the limelight but found it shining relentlessly in their general direction anyway. Being a wonderful mixture of enthusiasm and simplicity, she has used the platform she’s been thrust upon to make common cause with others who speak out for the rights we take for granted in the US, though ours are under ever-more chilling attacks.

Since her court appearance, Elisabeth has been a traveler in the cause of free speech. She’s been in Copenhagen with Lars Hedegaard’s Free Press Society; in England, revving up the EDL troops regarding their rights; in Amsterdam and Canada and America she has appeared in numerous venues to tell her story and to ask for attention to what we call our First Amendment rights.. Elisabeth has been a participant and speaker with ACT for America and is registered as the Austrian chapter leader of ACT… I smile every time I see her signature line on an email: an outpost of American sassiness in Vienna, of all places. Surely that is a serendipitous intersection of our respective countries’ values.

Part of her appeal lies in her comprehension of America. For many Europeans, it’s a contradictory confusion, a loud clamor, a rowdy, seemingly ignorant bunch. But fortunately for us, Elisabeth grew up as an “Embassy brat” living many of her crucial years of childhood in America. She understands us as only someone who grew up here can do. She ‘gets it’ and she likes us, especially our big bags of cheese popcorn.

Elisabeth stands almost by herself in Vienna.. Certainly she lacks the kinds of (rowdy) enthusiastic support groups which cushion us here. That lonely space she occupies in Austria is akin to the one Fjordman carved out in Norway. Neither of them sought “fame”, both were concerned with the spiraling degradation of their native countries and both made the decision to speak about what they saw. The extreme levels of pushback by those in charge are a testament to the cultural lockdown in Europe. The treatment these patriots have received from their respective governments, merely for describing reality, is in itself criminal and will be judged severely by history.

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The original charge brought against Elisabeth (the result of the covert taping of her talks and her private conversations during the recesses). was “incitement to hatred”. However on the second day of trial the judge sitting on the case decided, at her own discretion, to tack on a second charge, “denigration of the religious beliefs of a legally recognized religion”. It was this second charge which resulted in Elisabeth’s conviction. Throughout her various hearings it has been a revelation to see the work of activist judges who decide on their own to change the parameters of due process, to make spurious “diagnoses” far outside their areas of expertise, and to engage in breath-taking judicial hubris without even a small bow to judicial restraint. Remember the statue of Justice, blindfolded and holding aloft a balance? She’s history. Justice today is bowed down with the heavy clichés of multicultural orthodoxy. She is buried under the tenets of relativism. And she has taken off that blindfold in order to watch and pronounce out of turn.

To give you an idea of how Austrian judicial proceedings can deviate from ‘justice’ here’s a snip from our report of her first day of hearings last year (it’s hard to believe this has dragged on for a year now. Difficult for me, that is. No doubt the time has a different quality if you’re the victim in the docket):

The NEWS journalist Dolna was called as witness. Technicalities of her recording equipment were discussed by the judge, including the fact that of the first seminar, only half an hour was recorded.

The judge inquired about some of the statements quoted being from breaks, not from the seminar proper. Only three to four persons heard those, not 32 or more, the criterion for a statement being “public”. This is important for legal reasons, as only statements made to a large group can be punishable.

The judge dug further into the methods of the journalist. Why did the journalist quote statements made in the breaks, not part of the lecture? The journalist says “For journalistic reasons”. Also for dramaturgic reasons, that it makes for a more dramatic and catching article.

Further, the judge asked if it was made clear in advance that the journalist would be recording the seminars. She responded that she had not told anyone, as her work constituted “investigative journalism”, a journalistic tool.

The lawyer probed further into the issue of the quotes being part of the prepared seminar, or offhand comments in the breaks.

[…]

The proceedings had a serious breach of procedure: The journalist from NEWS had not been summoned as a witness, yet was permitted to take the stand. Witnesses are not permitted to be present at the hearings before they are summoned. The defense lawyer will look into possible consequences of this.

The motives of this journalist — (now you know why I call them “jornolists’ ) are reprehensible. This woman wasn’t searching for the truth. Like so many of her colleagues, she wanted dramas and circuses because they sell newspapers. No wonder the profession is held in such low regard.

Notice the breach of procedure (my emphasis there) described in the last paragraph. Having been a witness for the prosecution in a number of domestic violence hearings, I am appalled at this grave infringement of the parameters of a fair hearing. In the U.S., I think the defense attorney could have approached the judge to have a mistrial declared almost immediately. At the very least, it was a betrayal of Elisabeth’s right to due process.

Being thrust into the spotlight, Elisabeth has used the opportunity to speak out against the travesties being perpetrated on her country. She is a fine speaker, one whose ebullience and obvious integrity shine in her talks. Here is part of one of my favorites of her talks, given in Copenhagen after the opening of her trial [my emphasis below]:

Our basic freedoms have long been guaranteed…

Yet freedom of speech is under attack today here in Denmark, as it is in my own country Austria, and indeed all across Europe. Today, in 21st century Western Europe, our right to free speech is being shut down quietly and systematically with an effectiveness that the commissars in the old Soviet Union could only dream of.

A milestone in this ominous totalitarian trend will be reached…when the member states of the European Union are required to implement an innocuous-sounding legal provision known as the “Framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia”…

[…]

If you read the full text of the Framework Decision (which may be found in the legislative section of the EU’s website), you will learn that “Each Member State shall take the measures necessary… to ensure that the following intentional conduct is punishable.”

[…]

Based on what has recently happened to Geert Wilders and me — and earlier to Gregorius Nekschot, Jussi Halla-aho, and numerous others — we can all guess who will be punished under this provision of the Framework Decision: those who criticize Islam.

Even worse, a complaint made by a member state does not have to be “dependent on a report or an accusation made by a victim of the conduct”, nor does the alleged offender have to be “physically present in its territory”.

In other words, if the dhimmi Austrian government objects to a cartoon published by Kurt Westergaard here in Denmark, Mr. Westergaard may be extradited by the Austrian Ministry of Justice to answer to hate speech charges in Austria. The European Arrest Warrant guarantees that the Danish government cannot legally interfere with such an extradition, and the 800-strong “European Gendarmerie Force” would be available to fetch Mr. Westergaard out of his bed and bring him to Vienna — with impunity.

The evidence used against me this past week was a transcript of a tape of my lecture, provided to the court by the same socialist newspaper. It included words that were not spoken by me, and words that were not spoken in public, which therefore were not a violation of the law.

But my case is not really about the law. It is a political trial, and like the trials of Geert Wilders and Jussi Halla-aho, it is intended to silence someone who speaks out against the barbaric nature of sharia law.

Above all else, it is intended to discourage anyone who might consider following in my footsteps. The oligarchs who rule Europe are determined to prevent any frank discussion among their citizens of Islam and its legal doctrines.

These are the methods of a totalitarian state.

[…]

We are systematically being silenced.

I admire the provisions of the First Amendment that all Americans enjoy as their birthright. Its free speech provisions will make the imposition of sharia that much more difficult in the United States.

But here in Europe we are not so well-protected. Our constitutions and the rules imposed upon us by the EU allow certain exceptions to the right to speak freely, and those little rips in the fabric of our rights are enough to tear the entire structure to pieces.

We desperately need our own version of the First Amendment…

[…]

I am not a victim. I intend to stand up for what is right. I will defend what needs to be defended. Above everything else, I will exercise my God-given right to speak freely about what is happening. Freedom of speech is the single most important freedom we possess.

I am doing this for my daughter, and for her children, for those who will have to live in the world we are now preparing for them. I am doing what our grandparents should perhaps have done during the 1930s, when their own freedoms were under threat.

This is our time. This cup will not pass from us.

That speech in Copenhagen was s a rouser. Again, here’s the link to it in full. Her quote from Lord of the Rings is telling.

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And here is Elisabeth’s Voice, exhorting our readers to help keep things going here. No one does it like ESW! —

As a resident of the city of Vienna in Austria, the blog Gates of Vienna obviously has a special meaning for me: Every morning, GoV is the first blog I access in order to find out what European MSM neglected to report. These are not items of good news; these are the nitty-gritty, God-awful news, but such is the current state of Europe.

Every morning, when I read the news round-up, I just can’t help but feel for the Baron. It must be a horrifying, deeply depressing task to collect and compile the news stories, all of which trickle in night and day since GoV tipsters are stationed all over the world. And unfortunately, the cultural enrichment is a global phenomenon, though currently many male enrichers seem to prefer Oslo with its pretty blond girls. Without Gates of Vienna, we would not know about this. Not only do we not speak and read Norwegian, but we are also not physically present on the ground. How grateful I am for the vast network of translators! Videos, newspaper clippings, local stories, all of which are translated sometimes within a few hours: this is Gates of Vienna.

Just imagine the following: Would you, the reader from Quebec, Michigan or Florida have known about the case brought against me by the leftist glossy magazine NEWS, which two years ago reported me to the authorities? No, for it was Gates of Vienna and the Baron, who selflessly took up my cause, who immediately launched a world-wide campaign, who wholeheartedly supports me, and whose network of translators, especially the German translator JLH, enabled you, the readers, to read the court’s decisions. All of this would not have happened without the main node in this network: Gates of Vienna. I cannot thank Baron and Dymphna enough for their efforts.

While Europe may already be lost, it is Baron and Dymphna who are continuing to steadfastly defend the Gates of Vienna from their redoubt in rural Virginia. And once again we Europeans are looking to the United States to help us, though there may not be much of the post-WWII America left to save itself.

They say knowledge is power. Ignoring the obvious is no excuse for failure to do something, anything. Here at Gates of Vienna, you have the opportunity to soak up the knowledge needed to defend our Judeo-Christian, inherently good values, our God-given human rights as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, our way of life, our freedom, our future. There is no excuse not knowing. Just as our grandparents “knew” about the existence of concentration camps, the round-up of people “unfit” for the Germanic race, and other atrocities, we know about the intolerance against kuffar in the Koran, we know about the Religion of Multiculturalism that is destroying us from within, and there is no excuse. The information, the analyses, the reports, they are all available. You just have to read them, traumatizing though they may be to you. The truth usually causes pain. Only the lies are pretty.

The truth is available right here at Gates of Vienna.

Don’t let your children ask you one day, in the not so distant future: “Mom, Dad, why didn’t you do anything? Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”

Without Gates of Vienna, there is no knowledge about the girls gang-raped in Oslo. All, i.e. 100% of the perpetrators have a non-western migration background.

And you know that these numbers are the truth because Baron is so meticulous about his sources that he would never ever publish reports that are based on hearsay.

Please continue to generously support Baron and Dymphna, for without their hard work America would not know about Europe. And what happens in Europe will one day soon happen in America. Do you want that?

Thank you, Elisabeth. I wonder if there is a way to get some large bags of cheese popcorn to Vienna?

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Thanks also to Wednesday’s donors, who hailed from the following places:

Stateside: California, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York

Near Abroad: Canada

Far Abroad: Australia, Denmark, Norway, and Slovakia

May you live long and prosper! You have helped keep this blog alive.


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