OSCE Warsaw: Bashing Islamophobia

This is the eighth in a series of posts on this week’s OSCE “Human Dimension Implementation” meeting in Warsaw. More will be coming later this week. See the list of links at the bottom of this post for previous articles.

Bashy Quraishy is a Muslim rights activist who was born in India, raised in Pakistan, and now lives in Denmark. He holds the office of Coordinator for the European Muslim Initiative for Social Cohesion (EMISCO, an affiliate of COJEP), and is representing EMISCO this week at the OSCE Human Dimension meeting in Warsaw.

At last year’s OSCE meeting Mr. Quraishy represented a different group, European Muslims for Social Solidarity. Media reports at the time quoted his demand for “guidelines against Islamophobia in public discourse”.

In the past we have reported on his crusade against the Danish People’s Party, for which he was vehemently scolded by his fellow Danish Muslim, Naser Khader.

If you take a look at Mr. Quraishy’s website, you’ll see that he burnishes his credentials by highlighting his close working relationship with Jesse Jackson.

At yesterday’s plenary Human Dimension meeting in Warsaw, Bashy Quraishy gave an impassioned presentation against “hatred and propaganda against Islam and Muslims in the West”. Many thanks to Europe News for recording this video, and to Vlad Tepes for subtitling and uploading it:

Below is a partial transcript of Mr. Quraishy’s presentation, as patiently compiled by Vlad with the assistance of others who were present at the meeting.

As you read the text, you’ll notice the veiled threats: Insults to Muslims “threaten the world peace”, and “Muslims, we want to live in peace, but please let us live in peace…”

Thank you Madame [unintelligible]…

For social cohesion would like to point out that to the session that there is a dire [unintelligible] between freedom of religion and the ethics of some Western politicians, especially President Obama, and the Western media, and other [unintelligible] in Europe and USA that demonize Islam, and thus make the lives of Muslim communities unbearable… and their freedom of [unintelligible followed by cough in crowd] very difficult.

And now I would point out in this session that United Kingdom, USA, France, Holland, and Denmark are the main criminals. [unintelligible] … right away about the hatred and propaganda against Islam and Muslims in the West and, for example, burning the Koran… [unintelligible]… and video attacking the Prophet, and thus… [expecting? respecting?] Muslims to [fulfill?] their [human?] rights and practice their religion in peace.

I use the word ‘peace.’ … [unintelligible] wishes to remind the USA and the [unintelligible] societies… that… demonize Islam must stop where my rights begin. If these provocations are not [unintelligible]… I’m afraid that these will threaten the world peace and good relations between the West and the Islamic world, which we already are experiencing.

[Unintelligible, crowd members whispering in background] … and protect Muslim communities… [unintelligible] as they protect Jewish communities, gay and lesbian groups, and other [unintelligible] minorities in their countries.

Equal rights and equal protection for all is what OSCE member states should be focusing on… and Muslims, we want to live in peace, but please let us live in peace. Thank you very much.

Previous posts about the OSCE and the Counterjihad:

2009		Jul		25		A Report on the OSCE Roundtable
		Sep		30		ICLA Tackles Fundamental Freedoms at the OSCE Meeting in Warsaw
		Oct		1		The ICLA Meets the OSCE, Round 2
		Nov		5		The OSCE: Islam and Violence Against Women
				7		Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding Under Fire At OSCE Meeting in Vienna
				7		“Hate Speech” Accusations at the OSCE Meeting
				8		What is Medica Zenica?
				10		Report on the OSCE Supplementary Human Rights Dimension Meeting
2011		Oct		28		ESW: Liveblogging In Vienna
				28		Steering Public Discourse
				28		Fallacies That Deserve Correction
				29		Towards a “Responsible” Freedom of Speech in Europe
				29		Islamophobia, Islamic Slander, and the OSCE
		Nov		10		The OSCE Fights Racism and Xenophobia in Vienna
				10		When Good Intentions Go Bad
				12		ESW: The ACT! For America Interview at OSCE
				12		OSCE: The murky waters of political correctness
				29		ACT! For America: A Report on the OSCE Meeting in Vienna
2012		Oct		2		OSCE Warsaw: Which Human Rights?
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Apostasy and Its Consequences
				2		OSCE Warsaw: ICLA Demands the Abrogation of the Cairo Declaration
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Join the Brussels Process!
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Islamophobia, Occupation and Slander
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Islam as a Political Ideology
				2		OSCE Warsaw: A Thinly Veiled Threat of Violence
				2		OSCE Warsaw: Define Your Terms!