Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The Criminalization of Peaceful Protest

Yesterday the Brussels Journal posted translated excerpts from an op-ed piece by Freddy Thielemans, the mayor of Brussels.

Freddy ThielemansI decided to forbid the September 11 demonstration “against the islamicisation of Europe.” […] Since 2001 I have allowed over 3,500 demonstrations. This is only the sixth one which I forbid. […] The right to demonstrate exists only inasmuch as it does not cause a disturbance of the public peace and order. […] First and foremost the organizers have chosen the symbolic date of 9/11. The intention is obviously to [conflate] the terrorist activities of Muslim extremists on the one hand and Islam as a religion and all Muslims on the other hand. […] Such incitement to discrimination and hatred, which we usually call racism and xenophobia, is forbidden by a considerable number of international treaties and is punished by our penal laws and by the European legislation. The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly pronounced judgements condemning this type of acts. […]

Our society has long fought to achieve that certain codes of behaviour connected with the Catholic religion are no longer enforced as civil law upon everyone. To my knowledge not a single rule specific to the Islamic religion is being enforced in similar fashion. And I see no indication that a large majority of our Muslim population is demanding any such thing.

…With regard to the planned demonstration of September 11 “against the Islamicisation of Europe” my mind is made up. And my decision is final: it will not take place.

Paul Belien then commented on Mayor Thielemans’ message:

Clearly this should be read as a threat. Anyone who intends to participate in the 9/11 demo is a criminal under Belgian and European law: he or she is a racist and a xenophobe (Islamophobe).

Contrary to what the mayor says, rules specific to the Islamic religion are being imposed upon society as a whole. For instance, Brussels has segregated swimming hours for women in public pools; Brussels public schools serve halal meat; Muslims slaughter sheep in the streets of Brussels; the religion-hating (religiophobia, anyone?) Brussels mayor, who toasts the death of the Pope, does not toast the death of Muslim leaders; …

Yesterday a British reader who is planning to attend the SIOE demonstration received an email which he passed on to us. It’s from a European contact who has knowledge of how these matters are handled in Brussels:

Anarchist riotI should warn you that the Mayor is setting a trap! He intends deploying large numbers of territorial riot police and using them to beat the crap out of us as an object lesson. This will be meant to serve as the first lesson of obedience and warning to all those that oppose the Islamisation of the EU. I just thought you would all like to know. The Russians and Nazi used similar tactics. He is priming the public to view us as criminals. Then he moves in the boot boys and they will hand out everything they can muster.
- - - - - - - - -
I have seen this all before!

I am thinking about whether it is sensible to go! I do not want my skull kicked in and then be put on trial on trumped up charges. It would only serve their cause and we have more important work to do than succumb to what is in effect entrapment. These are Belgian police not cuddly politically correct British coppers.

Be prepared for deliberate provocation and bullying on the slightest excuse.

Let’s not be babes in the woods about this. The deck is stacked against us.

I wrote yesterday about the autonomer in Denmark and their tougher cousins in Brussels. Assume that these anarchists of the “Antifascist Action” squads will be out in full force in Brussels. Assume also that the Belgian riot police will be primed to suppress the slightest hint of questionable behavior by the SIOE demonstrators, while turning a blind eye to anything that the AFA goons do in response.

Anarchist riotExpect that agents provocateurs will be planted among us. The guy standing next to you with the “Say NO to Sharia” sign may be an AFA plant or even a police infiltrator. When he lobs a rock over your head into the police lines and then disappears, it will be you who get cracked in the skull by a police baton, with a free ride to the hoosegow to follow, courtesy of Belgium’s finest.

Any media coverage of the event will be artfully edited to place SIOE in the worst possible light. If a neo-Nazi skinhead finds his way into our ranks, you can guarantee that the footage of him will be looping over and over again that night on TV screens all over the world. The counterprotesters — with their all-inclusive peace ’n’ love Multicultural signs and tame imams uttering perfectly-phrased bromides into the microphones — will be featured in the best news spots and sound bites of the event, complete with subtitles in all the relevant languages.

We will be caught between a rock and a hard place, with the police on one side and the autonomer on the other. Both will be better-armed and meaner than we are. Both will have the iron fist of sympathetic media coverage multiplying their firepower.

The only possible advantages we will have will be the rightness of our cause, and superior numbers.

The first of those is taken care of. Can we manage the second?

35 comments:

Unknown said...

For instance, Brussels has segregated swimming hours for women in public pools; Brussels public schools serve halal meat; Muslims slaughter sheep in the streets of Brussels; the religion-hating Brussels mayor, who toasts the death of the Pope, does not toast the death of Muslim leaders;

How do the private actions of an individual (even one involved in politics) constitute an imposition on "society as a whole"?

Conservative Swede said...

Yes, I think this is more or less how it would happen. And the best case scenario is the same, but without the neo-Nazi in our ranks, and without any cracked skulls. But the media coverage will be the very same any way, and the whole thing is likely to end up as a disappointment for our side and a victory for the PC elite, AFA and the Muslims.

The puts the finger on our greatest weakness: our honesty and willingness for dialog. It's been clear to me for quite some time back that this issue is not going to be resolved by dialog within a democratic framework. This is a situation of warfare and can only be handled as such. Democracy is already dead. We shouldn't ask permission for manifestations, and give the police, the AFA groups and the Muslims time to mobilize against us. I think it is better to do smart actions, Greenpeace style, where everyone is taken by surprise. I think we should think in terms of guerrilla warfare (propaganda style). And even if these groups (police, AFA, Muslims) are all the extended arms of the PC establishment octopus, it should be possible to manipulated them into fighting each other.

But maybe some honest anti-Jihadists need to get their skulls cracked first, before people will see it as the guerrilla warfare I think it will actually have to be. It comes with the package of Christian ethics. Just like we have to wait for some Islamic nukes to kill some hundreds of thousands of us, before we would do anything to put a decisive end to the Islamic empire.

Our advantages, that we could exploit, is having an underground network. Being able to act smartly, by knowing our enemies. E.g. Muslims are very easy to fight, because they are so dumb. I do not know if the story is true, but I heard about American troops going into a street in Iraq with loud speakers where a voice shouted in Arabic "you are all impotent and cowards, etc.". The "insurgents" came out of the houses in rage with rallying cries and could easily be shot down. This really works!

I'm sure that if we put our mind to it that we would be able to stage situations where the leftists, the Muslims and the police would be in street wars with each other. Since democracy is dead, and we are prey to naked brutal power, it would be good if that actually showed in the streets where we live.

Honesty and willingness for dialog are our strong sides when acting on the Internet. But when we want to take it beyond that and into the real world, it becomes weaknesses instead. In the real world our best shot is guerrilla warfare. Burning of Muhammad effigies and pouring pigs blood on mosques are small steps in this direction.

At least this is true for countries such as Belgium and Sweden. In Denmark and America honest dialog in the public arena is still possible.

Nevertheless, the Internet activists, the honest and truthful ones, are not the good fist-fighters. Looking at recent events in e.g Holland and England it seems that it's rather the generally despised hooligan types, who do not care if they get their skull cracked, that will stand up and take the street fights for our side.

I'm going to drop "conservative" as part of my nickname. One of the reasons is that the right-wing never can get anything done. We'll have to think as leftists if we are going to win this.

falcon_01 said...

Tag! Not sure if you go in for this sort of thing, but it seems like a good way to drum up some traffic- or at least create work for people. :-)

George Bruce said...

“I'm going to drop "conservative" as part of my nickname. One of the reasons is that the right-wing never can get anything done. We'll have to think as leftists if we are going to win this.”

That is actually a brilliant idea. Imagine an organization called “Socialists Against the Islamization of Europe” or “Atheists Against Islamization” or “Gays and Lesbians for Separation of Mosque and State”

This would confuse a lot of left wing media and divide our enemies. The cognitive dissonance would be palpable.

Conservative Swede said...

George Bruce,

I was thinking in terms of adapting their tactics and organizational skills, not their fairy tales.

Their attitude of constant warfare makes them winners. Right-wingers who play it fair are the losers.

Unknown said...

This is nothing we had not been aware of, even if we talk not about.

It is better do something than do nothing, anything is better than do nothing.
At least something will happen: MASKS WILL BE TAKEN DOWN AND EVERYBODY SHOWING ITS COLORS!

Maybe, for a while, TV screens and major newspapers will utter perfectly-phrased bromides into the microphones.
But a time will be were more and more people cease to believe in their lies. When this came who will people believe.

We have our camcorders and cameras to record.
We shoiuld also ask belgian people to make records from their windows.

And remember, THIS IS OUR LINE IN THE SAND!

--
To George Bruce

“I'm going to drop "conservative" as part of my nickname. One of the reasons is that the right-wing never can get anything done. We'll have to think as leftists if we are going to win this.”

Wrong.
Someday later we will find the lefshits yelling that it was the right who bring muslims in and they had to fight that.

Fellow Peacekeeper said...

But maybe some honest anti-Jihadists need to get their skulls cracked first...

Sadly this may be the case.

If anything the far leftists and islamoids (despite the best efforts of the media to conceal it) can be relied on to behave abominably.

In case of a unsanctioned but peacefull and decent protest the attitude of the police will be extremely important to watch. If there is any organization which educates members by hard experience to loathe criminalized minorities and commie anarchists its that one. On the other hand if the Belgian police have really gone so far that rank and file members will brutalize peacefull protestors a l a Lukashenko's Belarus then the situation in the EU really is far far more serious than can be imagined.

Conservative Swede said...

I'm sorry that I wrote something that appeared so negative about this planned event. I think the planned 9/11 demonstration is a great idea and very important. Even though media will distort the whole thing (but we knew that all from the start, right?), the visibility of our kind of anti-Jihadism is a very important one, nevertheless. People have not seen such groups at all before. For those who are brave enough to go there, they will be doing something very important.

The negative tone of what I wrote is about the situation as a whole, not about the idea of this demonstration. But this also means that propaganda-wise this manifestation cannot make it worse, only better!

kepiblanc said...

Will the Grand Place of Brussels be the Tienanmen Square of the EU ?

Conservative Swede said...

Will the Grand Place of Brussels be the Tienanmen Square of the EU ?

The Thieleman Square...

Fellow Peacekeeper said...

With any luck Thielman square would turn out more like Palace Square Bucharest.

George Bruce said...

Conservative Swede:

I said nothing about adopting their fairy tales. I’m talking about adapting their slogans.

geraldo:

Few thoughts please me more than the prospect that the Islamofascists will be beaten back and the left will try to take credit for it.

Unknown said...

Wich protest?

There will be no protest.
Just peacefull people gathering in Brussels to show they are peacefull people that has been deprived from their legal rights by some apprentice dictator who had already tolerated many ilegal demos before.
Maybe the wiser is no banners no flags, nothing, just flowers to throw in the Grand Place, or some place or square near, in memory of the deads of 9/11, or give it to the riot police.
People just walking to the grand place, by the sidewalk, putting then flowers and going away.

Conservative Swede said...

George Bruce wrote:
I said nothing about adopting their fairy tales. I’m talking about adapting their slogans.

Okay, we are thinking on the same kind of line. However, to me their slogans reflect their fairy tales. I would rather like to see liberal slogans, but backed up with the fierceness of the leftists. One day there will of course be "Feminists against Islamization" and "Gays against Islamization". It's bound to happen.

And I agree with you that the cognitive dissonance for the left wing media is a good thing.

spackle said...

Conservative Swede

"The puts the finger on our greatest weakness: our honesty and willingness for dialog. It's been clear to me for quite some time back that this issue is not going to be resolved by dialog within a democratic framework. This is a situation of warfare and can only be handled as such"

I agree 100%. I have been saying this for a long time and explored this (only scratching the surface) in my blog. We can learn a lot from the left when it comes down to hitting the streets and getting the message out. Blogs and discourse are great but can only go so far. And unless I am wrong I think the numbers of people worldwide are much more in tune with the readers of this fine site than the leftist media would have us believe. It is just a question of being PO'd enough to do something.

Unknown said...

I'm PO'd enough
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/TPC/Funny_Pictures/0001-1000/0101-0200/0118/TPC_0118.htm

John Trenchard said...

"Conservative Swede" is bang on with his analysis.

i also love the idea mentioned above of having no flags . no placards, no evidence of protest - just a mound of flowers building up.

this would be highly symbolic - more so than a traditional protest. it would be signal that we no longer have freedom, no longer a democracy - and we are forced to protest by secret means , as they used to do in the Soviet Union.

downside is that such a protest wouldnt get much media coverage unfortunately.

Unknown said...

To John Trenchard

IT will be exactly because two days earlier it will had been a demo sugesting that 9/11 was a plot of Bush or other americans.

There will be a contrast between that autorized demo and the forbidden one. This will be noted by USA and if it is usefull for nothing more it means an end to an eventual Thielemans's career, the mediocres career, in UE.

And that coverage may be brought by US news agencies. Thats enough.

And it is not to discard that all this stuff about this email is just to be an attemp to demobilize us.

shoprat said...

That mayor is a traitor to western civilization and needs to be put at the business end of a gallows. We have fooled around for too long and people like him are going to allow the barbarians to destroy this world.
Maybe if the PC crowd were as afraid of us as they are the Muslims the whole situation might be different.

John Douglas said...

No problem . Move the demo to Warsaw and get the Poles to provide a troop of winged Hussars to to commemorate their disislamification of europe on 9/11 1683

Conservative Swede said...

I agree with your analysis completely John Trenchard. The suggestion of Geraldo is an intelligent non-protest protest. However, the downside is that it wouldn't get much media coverage.

A way to get media coverage would of course be to create expectations for much more, so that the flower people are awaited by highly mobilized police and AFA.

Another idea would be to look for other places. Assuming Belgium is one of the worst possible places. What about simultaneous demonstrations in London and Madrid? I picked those places since together they carry the same symbolic value for the issue as Brussels (and more?)

Profitsbeard said...

Thielemans has chosen FOR the Islamification of Europe.

His kind never talk about "Islam" (imperialistic theocratic tyranny) but always turn it to "the Muslims" (poor underdogs).

This 9/11 protest has little to do with "Muslims", but with the terroristic ideology of the Koran.

And its misogynistic, expansionistic, intolerant, and anti-free speech and anti-freedom of thought dogmas.

It's their ideology that is the problem, not the people.

Because Muslims are the first, and worst victims of Islam.

That idea should be the mind-fork theme of this event, to confuse the predictable media and kneejerk politicos.

Placards likes:

"SAVE THE MUSLIMS FROM THE KORAN!"

and:

"IT SHOULD NOT BE A DEATH SENTENCE TO LEAVE ISLAM!"

The EU pro-Islamification gang are planning for familiar -and easily dismissed- sloganeering.

Twist their expectations:

"SAVE WOMEN FROM THE MISOGYNY OF MOHAMMAD!"

"WHY DOES ISLAM HATE GAYS?"

(I'm hoping to be there. With a sign saying: "THEO VAN GOGH COULDN'T MAKE IT, SO I CAME".)

Now, if everyone wore a burqa, that would put their panties in a bind!

Subvet said...

Geraldo mentioned bringing camcorders and cameras. IMHO this is how to get the true story out of whatever may happen at this protest.

The Old Media is dying, the New is continuing to evolve. We own the New Media. I'd suggest getting into 21st century technology as much as possible. Yeah, the cops will probably confiscate any video recording device they see. They can't find them all.

Ask the police who were involved in the arrest of Rodney King how that might turn out.

"Smile, you're on Candid Camcorder!"

Unknown said...

Yes, video cameras should record the event from multiple angles. If, as speculated here, police bloody their battons on peaceful 9/11 demonstrators, then the rest of the world will know. The internet does not need major media to display oppression to the world. It just needs an upload to Youtube, Hotair, breitbart, or any of the other videologs. It will get coverage in my country, USA. Trust me on that.

We remain peaceful and check any agent-provocateur in our midst while showing or strength in numbers.

And as for Lucille's post at the start of this thread: Are you really saying that private citizens should not be allowed to protest Islamization of Europe while another person (this one in power with the power to arrest) exclaims joy at the death of a pontiff?

He certainly has the right to do that. Nobody prevented him from doing so. He exercised his right to speak and think for himself.

Why are you critical of others (with far less power) who only seek the same freedom?

Lucille, we await your answer.

Whiskey said...

In Selma the police thought a massive and brutal repression of demonstrators with firehoses and dogs would save Jim Crow and Segregation.

A brutal repression of the 9/11 demo and official endorsement of the Truthers and Muslims will make the USA withdraw it's representation from Brussels.

Don't forget that the Presidential race forces politics to run to the right. Dems can't be seen "allowing" this stuff. Even Hillary will bash Brussels over this.

Unknown said...

Forget about other cities or localized demos.
What do you think is better; ten people gathering in each of 1000 cities or 10 000 people just in one?

BRUSSELS IS THE PLACE AND 9/11 THE TIME!

Police can confiscate camcorders in the streets but those in houses?

By just putting some ads in brussels/belgian newspapers asking people to record what is happening in the streets from their windows we can prevent much of police violence.

anti-uffe said...

While there may be valid reasons for trying to defy the Brussels Mufti and go through with the demonstration on 9/11, perhaps this way of getting the public's attention is somewhat dated anyway. Even in a best case scenario with no violence and non-biased media coverage, what would the average TV viewer get from this? Think about it, you watch a demonstration somewhere, in this case Brussels, and you probably only notice a) what do the demonstrators look like, b) how many are there, and c) whether there are riots going on.

I'm all for Conservative Swede's suggestions. Think out of the box. Use non-violent "guerilla" tactics. Not necessarily statements taking place on any particular date or at any particular place, although acts of defiance and assertiveness must, of course, take place in Brussels - at a time of "our" choosing.

Banners reading "Stop the Islamification of Europe www.xxxxx" draped over highway bridges. They might be seen by thousands before somebody arrives to take them down.

Similar banners rolled from tall buildings.

Leaflets left behind in trains or on buses.

Etc. There can be no doubt that Belgian police and intelligence are monitoring the blog world very, very closely for pesky civilian activity, and will likely arrest or ban foreign citizens entering the country. IMHO it would be better to avoid any set-ups, traps etc., which would only result in negative publicity. Maybe having Belgian nationals perform activities related to 9/11, as suggested above, would be preferable.

Stephen Gash said...

This article has been the most damaging for the Brussels demo yet.

If you were trying to keep people from going to Brussels you couldn't have done a better job than this article.

Anonymous emails are worthless, they could have come from Thielemans's office itself.

Threats, like those described in the article here, are even more likely to come from people who want the demo to not happen as those who really support the demo, but are concerned about violence.

The article warns that we should be careful of police or other infiltrators trying to start violence to discredit the SIOE demo and get participants arrested, yet we are expected to believe what's written in emails!?

Get to Brussels. Fortune favours the brave.

Unknown said...

Do you want to kill me?

Do you notice how ridiculous this "likely arrest or ban foreign citizens entering the country" is?

I hope you are all pretty aware that there are several "agencies" monitorizing blogs and forums related to SIOE and Brussels demo, some hostil some not. We may even have friends in belgian police or inteligence.

And that real important stuff doesnt happens nor is carried in internet. I noticed around SIOE good people, with good organization and ideas.
That is why I am going to Brussels.

I think things couldnot have going better, even with the help of Dhimmi Thielemans and his UFT friends.

Unstead of one reason to go to Brussels we got two, against islamization and defending our freedom.

Get to Brussels. Fortune favours the brave.

Unknown said...

Conservative Swede, I think you're fooling yourself. The strategy you suggest has been tried in the US (see organizations like "Feminists for Life" and "Log Cabin Republicans") and it doesn't really have much of an effect.

R. Hartman said...

Biggest problem is the enormous amount of effort the left put into their organisation. The right is not collectivist, but individualist, and does not care for scheming and causing uproar. Another, major aspect is that the left structurally lives off welfare and thus has plenty of time for this on their hands, where the right normally hold jobs and care about their families.

The leftist activists are actually being kept alive and paid for by the very people they try to stifle. The only thing that can really stop this is the end of the welfare state. That will force the looters to earn their own living, and thus no longer enable them to organise these mass intimidation sessions.

Unknown said...

Did we expect it to be easy? Do we really expect the forces of oppression to lay their cloaks over the puddle so that we don't get our shoes wet?

This is the line in the sand, don't forget.

Of course the media will generally be against us, but even there things are beginning to change; there is a growing number of establishment commentators who are aware of the threat and who are willing to articulate it.

If the jihadists and their cohorts amongst the left wish to cause mayhem let them - it will work in our favour by increasing the concern about Islam in our midst that is held by ordinary decent people who are after all our natural constituency.

Remember, our opponents are quick to anger therefore it is in our interest to rouse him (Sun Tzu). And remember also our ancestors at the Gates of Vienna - I'll see you in Brussels.

Eris said...

Perhaps someone has video equipment that can transmit a picture to a remote recorder, say a block or two away in a car.

That way if the police confiscate video cameras, they still lose when the video of police beating peaceful protesters hits the internet.

Conservative Swede said...

Stephen Gash,

You are spot on in what you're writing. And I'm very sorry to have added to the defeatism. This email is all veiled intimidation and it would be ridiculous of us to pay any attention to it at all.

I have written an answer to you and further comments in my blog.

trollsmyth said...

It’s vitally important that you all be organized and ready to police yourselves! One of Rev. Martin Luther King’s early defeats in his movement came about when young hot-heads who were supposed to be on his side turned one of his non-violent marches in a brawl. You need to have people watching for and prepared to diffuse any situation what might do something similar, whether it’s an autonomer in your ranks, or a plainclothes policeman with a smart mouth, or a father whose child was recently raped. If you have anyone in your march with experience in law enforcement, seed them through the crowd and have them be on the watch for trouble.

And on a similar note, if you really want to tie liberal minds into knots, sing “We Shall Overcome”. They won’t know what to make of that. ;)