Canadian television host, Ezra Levant, has revealed an effort by the Saudi Arabian government to censor Canadian television station CTV, more specifically the running of a commercial that criticizes the Saudi government’s human-rights record and encourages viewers to buy Canadian oil instead.
“We caught this foreign dictatorship trying to undermine freedom of the press here in Canada and trying to export its own contempt for democracy, its own contempt for freedom of the press here in Canada,” Alykhan Velshi, Ethicaloil.org founder, told the Toronto Sun.
Rahool Agarwal, one of the lawyers at Norton Rose, has been contacting broadcasters across Canada, threatening them if they air the ad. Already two networks have capitulated in the face of such threats, including CTV, Canada’s biggest private broadcaster. Agarwal has also threatened EthicalOil.org with a lawsuit, too. He won’t say for what — he clearly has no legal case. But the point is silencing dissent. And it’s working.
The only way we heard about this campaign of threats was when one concerned Canadian who received a threat tipped us off. When our lawyer contacted Agarwal, he sounded genuinely surprised that he was caught. The Saudis prefer to operate under the radar.
The more one learns about the Saudis, the creepier they get. They play all sides of the street and one has to wonder how long they can do this- more importantly, one has to wonder how long all sides will allow them to.
That commercial will fall on deaf ears in the liberal world. There's nothing easier for a liberal to bear than another persons oppression, especially when a few displaced polar bears are at stake.
Any channels competing against the outfits that capitulated should capitalize upon that with zeal. Start broadcasting documentaries that make that commercial look like a Sesame Street segment.
Caving in is so incredibly stupid. Do we really have to wait until the Middle East is, once again, relegated to exporting dates and sand before we show some [guts]?
The words "foreign dictatorship" leaped out at me. If there is such a thing as a mental gasp, that's what I experienced. An accurate description of Saudi Arabia by a western writer. Imagine that.
Seems like a good case for pressing those hate speech commissions and that state-sponsored industy / jobs program for the professionally offended and their attorneys. Being a Steyn reader, I wouldn't say that there was "clearly" no legal case. If Steyn hadn't fought really hard, he would have lost. Some do lose. Most are intimidated - lacking the money and fortitude to withstand the official commissions of smear.
Sorry, Canucks, but the only way this kind of "censorship" goes anywhere, or has any chance of silencing anyone, is because the Canadians involved were all too willing to capitulate.
I realize that I have an inside perspective on the legal profession, and I grasp that the media and politicians do a great job of ferreting out the exceptional cases and portraying them as the norm, but it would not require a law degree to tell this Agarwal character (who apparently works at one of Canada's posh white shoe firms) to go pound sand.
"Hey, Agarwal! Go tell your client to fly a camel, or a magic carpet. Tell the Saudi Royals to go fly something, just not a SAM, know what I mean, Hoss?"
The prospects of any such suit succeeding is nil, even in a topsy turvy legal system. And the negative exposure that those lawsuits would bring to Agarwal's client would serve as the best antidote to their continued pendency.
So, in short, the Saudis succeeded to shut the mouths of Canadians with access to public eyes and ears because those Canadians pretty willingly allowed themselves to be gagged.
That these Canadians would now feign outrage over their own wimpishness is an outrage unto itself. If some people would just stop and think, things like this would not progress as far as they do.
So, for the folks who were silenced by the threat of bunk lawsuits that would embarrass only the plaintiff, I have zero sympathy.
No, correction. Make that a negative level of sympathy.
Having been born, raised and educated in Canada, you all need to know that Canada is different (for better or worse). You should also know that Levant and Steyn are especially despised (and not just by Muslims) because they both peddle hate under the guise of "freedom of speech" (which is not as omnipotent in ANY developed country as it is in the US). This was verified by the Norwegian mass murderer's fawning appreciation of Steyn.
And why are Americans alarmed about preferential treatment for Saudis? Most of the hijackers on 9-11 were Saudi, yet Iraq was attacked??
Your sneering contempt for freedom of speech is risible and contemptable. This freedom is number ONE in our Bill of Rights for a reason, because without this (along with freedom of religion) a people has no freedom at all. Take your totalitarian "hate speech" restrictions back to whatever hovel you dwell in. I also laugh at your incomprehension of basic facts about world events.
"This was verified by the Norwegian mass murderer's fawning appreciation of Steyn."
This is a ridiculously facetious characterization. The Norwegian killer quoted a lot of people, including left-wingers (as Mark has pointed out, himself). "Peddle hate" is simply slander. You'd have to have a pretty thin skin or be an irredeemable leftist-multiculturist to take that view. Even the charges leveled against Steyn in Canada stemmed in large part from his quotation of an Islamic religious figure.
But this all comes back to what it's like living in a country without the freedom of speech guarantees that are found in the U.S. Steven might also want to understand that many Americans are alarmed about preferential treatment for anyone, especially when it results in someone else's right to freely express an opinion (and in this case one backed by factual assertions) being squashed.
(I'm also curious/suspicious about the name of the commenter. Is this the same footballing Steven Gerrard who plays for Liverpool? I'm pretty sure it isn't. Coincidence?)
I don't know about Canada, but that accusation is so frequently abused in the USA that you must forgive those of us who are not convinced of it without strong evidence to back it up.
"And why are Americans alarmed about preferential treatment for Saudis?"
Indeed, there was quite a bit of disgruntlement in the US among conservatives about the mollycoddling that the Saudi Arabians continued to receive from the administration in the wake of 9/11. Such open disagreement here, though, is permitted and does not result in legal threats or being hauled in front of civil rights commissions.
"Most of the hijackers on 9-11 were Saudi, yet Iraq was attacked??"
Right, because the day after 9/11, Iraq was invaded. Nothing happened in the intervening 1-1/2 years in foreign affairs that affected the decision to invade that country instead of Saudi Arabia, it was completely unrelated to problems with Iraq that stretched back to the early nineties, and its sole rationale was "let's punish the Saudis for 9/11 by invading Iraq."
Perhaps the greatest irony here is by pointing out 'most of the hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi' Mr. Gerrard commits the same kind of 'hate speech' he accuses Mr. Steyn of. And that the commercials stand accused of.
I await news that Mr. Gerrard has reported himself to a Canadian Human Rights committee for 'reeducation'
Mr. Gerrard, you are a shining example of what becomes of a person and nation that for decades has been force fed and accepts the lies of the progressive left. I too am Canadian and I too swallowed the goop for years. Like Europe we Canadaians accepted the lies of the left convincing ourselves of our superiority over our good American neighbours without realizing what we really had become was a nonthinking people drunk on our own idea of ourselves and subjects of the liberal political and media establishment. When all of this was going down in Canada we didn't have a Buckley or a Reagan with the courage to fight the left, fight for the people, fight for what was true. Because of them the great U.S.A now has Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Marco Rubio, Sarah Palin, Andrew McCarthy, Shelby Steele and so many others - and they're winning the war of ideas! Levant and Steyn are the first to come forward in Canada. With great courage they are the first to disturb and break through our drug addicted condition. This is new for Canada and we're not used to it. I must say that both of these men were influenced by Buckley and Reagan as well. Thank God we had the great privilege to live next door to the U.S.A. that these ideas could reach us. Many Canadians have privately held conservative ideas but the liberal scream was so loud, pervasive and controlled all avenues of public dissent that any opposition struggled to break through. Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn have broken through and they are disturbing our Trudeaupian peace. I thank them for their courage, integrity and grit. There is hope and one day soon because Levant and Steyn have led the way we Canadians may join our good American neigbours in the real fight for freedom, for liberty - for Truth.
Yeah, our freedom of speech and tolerance of extremists really is sort of backwards. We need to modernize our outdated views, take advantage of the "living Constitution," have a decent respect for the opinion of nations on this, get with the program, and like most of the nations start censoring speech, using the state's monopoly on violence if necessary, those people whose speech we find distasteful or in violation of anybody's subjective sensitivities. I propose that we start by silencing you, Steven. You've hurt my feelings.
There are several things to admire about Canadians and especially despising Steyn is certainly intelligent and ethical.
However, as an American, I'm not happy that the Canadians may have hounded a beef-witted canker-blossomed puttock into nesting in this country.
Stupid lawyer, the internet censorship antibodies respond to threats by shining a big bright spotlight on the offending content, More eyeballs, now with indignant comments.
The more one learns about the Saudis, the creepier they get. They play all sides of the street and one has to wonder how long they can do this- more importantly, one has to wonder how long all sides will allow them to.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSoon to follow: A Steyn piece on Levant being brought up before the Canadian hate speech authorities.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThat commercial will fall on deaf ears in the liberal world. There's nothing easier for a liberal to bear than another persons oppression, especially when a few displaced polar bears are at stake.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYou mean this guy?
External Link
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAny channels competing against the outfits that capitulated should capitalize upon that with zeal. Start broadcasting documentaries that make that commercial look like a Sesame Street segment.
Caving in is so incredibly stupid. Do we really have to wait until the Middle East is, once again, relegated to exporting dates and sand before we show some [guts]?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe words "foreign dictatorship" leaped out at me. If there is such a thing as a mental gasp, that's what I experienced. An accurate description of Saudi Arabia by a western writer. Imagine that.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseFirst, let Canada develop freedom of speech and of the press, and then we can worry about whether it is being undermined.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSeems like a good case for pressing those hate speech commissions and that state-sponsored industy / jobs program for the professionally offended and their attorneys. Being a Steyn reader, I wouldn't say that there was "clearly" no legal case. If Steyn hadn't fought really hard, he would have lost. Some do lose. Most are intimidated - lacking the money and fortitude to withstand the official commissions of smear.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSorry, Canucks, but the only way this kind of "censorship" goes anywhere, or has any chance of silencing anyone, is because the Canadians involved were all too willing to capitulate.
I realize that I have an inside perspective on the legal profession, and I grasp that the media and politicians do a great job of ferreting out the exceptional cases and portraying them as the norm, but it would not require a law degree to tell this Agarwal character (who apparently works at one of Canada's posh white shoe firms) to go pound sand.
"Hey, Agarwal! Go tell your client to fly a camel, or a magic carpet. Tell the Saudi Royals to go fly something, just not a SAM, know what I mean, Hoss?"
The prospects of any such suit succeeding is nil, even in a topsy turvy legal system. And the negative exposure that those lawsuits would bring to Agarwal's client would serve as the best antidote to their continued pendency.
So, in short, the Saudis succeeded to shut the mouths of Canadians with access to public eyes and ears because those Canadians pretty willingly allowed themselves to be gagged.
That these Canadians would now feign outrage over their own wimpishness is an outrage unto itself. If some people would just stop and think, things like this would not progress as far as they do.
So, for the folks who were silenced by the threat of bunk lawsuits that would embarrass only the plaintiff, I have zero sympathy.
No, correction. Make that a negative level of sympathy.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHaving been born, raised and educated in Canada, you all need to know that Canada is different (for better or worse). You should also know that Levant and Steyn are especially despised (and not just by Muslims) because they both peddle hate under the guise of "freedom of speech" (which is not as omnipotent in ANY developed country as it is in the US). This was verified by the Norwegian mass murderer's fawning appreciation of Steyn.
And why are Americans alarmed about preferential treatment for Saudis? Most of the hijackers on 9-11 were Saudi, yet Iraq was attacked??
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYour sneering contempt for freedom of speech is risible and contemptable. This freedom is number ONE in our Bill of Rights for a reason, because without this (along with freedom of religion) a people has no freedom at all. Take your totalitarian "hate speech" restrictions back to whatever hovel you dwell in. I also laugh at your incomprehension of basic facts about world events.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"This was verified by the Norwegian mass murderer's fawning appreciation of Steyn."
This is a ridiculously facetious characterization. The Norwegian killer quoted a lot of people, including left-wingers (as Mark has pointed out, himself). "Peddle hate" is simply slander. You'd have to have a pretty thin skin or be an irredeemable leftist-multiculturist to take that view. Even the charges leveled against Steyn in Canada stemmed in large part from his quotation of an Islamic religious figure.
But this all comes back to what it's like living in a country without the freedom of speech guarantees that are found in the U.S. Steven might also want to understand that many Americans are alarmed about preferential treatment for anyone, especially when it results in someone else's right to freely express an opinion (and in this case one backed by factual assertions) being squashed.
(I'm also curious/suspicious about the name of the commenter. Is this the same footballing Steven Gerrard who plays for Liverpool? I'm pretty sure it isn't. Coincidence?)
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse"they both peddle hate"
I don't know about Canada, but that accusation is so frequently abused in the USA that you must forgive those of us who are not convinced of it without strong evidence to back it up.
"And why are Americans alarmed about preferential treatment for Saudis?"
Indeed, there was quite a bit of disgruntlement in the US among conservatives about the mollycoddling that the Saudi Arabians continued to receive from the administration in the wake of 9/11. Such open disagreement here, though, is permitted and does not result in legal threats or being hauled in front of civil rights commissions.
"Most of the hijackers on 9-11 were Saudi, yet Iraq was attacked??"
Right, because the day after 9/11, Iraq was invaded. Nothing happened in the intervening 1-1/2 years in foreign affairs that affected the decision to invade that country instead of Saudi Arabia, it was completely unrelated to problems with Iraq that stretched back to the early nineties, and its sole rationale was "let's punish the Saudis for 9/11 by invading Iraq."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHey Stevie thanks for putting that Canadian education to work:
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseSteyn fawning = hate peddling = mass Norwegian murder. Got it.
Perhaps the greatest irony here is by pointing out 'most of the hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi' Mr. Gerrard commits the same kind of 'hate speech' he accuses Mr. Steyn of. And that the commercials stand accused of.
I await news that Mr. Gerrard has reported himself to a Canadian Human Rights committee for 'reeducation'
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMr. Gerrard, you are a shining example of what becomes of a person and nation that for decades has been force fed and accepts the lies of the progressive left. I too am Canadian and I too swallowed the goop for years. Like Europe we Canadaians accepted the lies of the left convincing ourselves of our superiority over our good American neighbours without realizing what we really had become was a nonthinking people drunk on our own idea of ourselves and subjects of the liberal political and media establishment. When all of this was going down in Canada we didn't have a Buckley or a Reagan with the courage to fight the left, fight for the people, fight for what was true. Because of them the great U.S.A now has Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Marco Rubio, Sarah Palin, Andrew McCarthy, Shelby Steele and so many others - and they're winning the war of ideas! Levant and Steyn are the first to come forward in Canada. With great courage they are the first to disturb and break through our drug addicted condition. This is new for Canada and we're not used to it. I must say that both of these men were influenced by Buckley and Reagan as well. Thank God we had the great privilege to live next door to the U.S.A. that these ideas could reach us. Many Canadians have privately held conservative ideas but the liberal scream was so loud, pervasive and controlled all avenues of public dissent that any opposition struggled to break through. Ezra Levant and Mark Steyn have broken through and they are disturbing our Trudeaupian peace. I thank them for their courage, integrity and grit. There is hope and one day soon because Levant and Steyn have led the way we Canadians may join our good American neigbours in the real fight for freedom, for liberty - for Truth.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseRE: "This was verified by the Norwegian mass murderer's fawning appreciation of Steyn."
Wow. Using a madman for actual verification of something.
Now I finally understand those Six Flags commercials with the dancing old bald guy.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYeah, our freedom of speech and tolerance of extremists really is sort of backwards. We need to modernize our outdated views, take advantage of the "living Constitution," have a decent respect for the opinion of nations on this, get with the program, and like most of the nations start censoring speech, using the state's monopoly on violence if necessary, those people whose speech we find distasteful or in violation of anybody's subjective sensitivities. I propose that we start by silencing you, Steven. You've hurt my feelings.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThere are several things to admire about Canadians and especially despising Steyn is certainly intelligent and ethical.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHowever, as an American, I'm not happy that the Canadians may have hounded a beef-witted canker-blossomed puttock into nesting in this country.
Stupid lawyer, the internet censorship antibodies respond to threats by shining a big bright spotlight on the offending content, More eyeballs, now with indignant comments.
Reply to this commentLinkReport Abuse