Anti-Israeli Censorship in Spain: El Pais Closes "Stop Islamisation" Blog

I have not written much about the causes of freedom outside of Latin America, given that so much of my focus is fixated upon the threat I see closest to home, but I am going to take this moment to show my support for the preservation of Israel as a Jewish state and to dedicate this brief space within my blog to express my outrage at the closure of a pro-Israeli blog in Spain as an act of censorship by the daily newspaper El Pais.  I have only just learned of this development at the Martha Colmenares site and I am responding to her request for a show of support among bloggers everywhere to stand up and express their righteous outrage at the marginalization of pro-Israeli speech within a modern western European nation.

The issue at hand is the closure of the "Stop Islamisation" blog at the El Pais online community after the blog accepted a prize for showing "Solidarity with Israel."  It is an act of censorship which I regard as wholly unwarranted, given that there was no hateful speech, incitement to immoral conduct, or what could in any way be construed as a violation of the norms of conduct El Pais posts on its community site.  No; this was an act of silencing pro-Israeli speech within Spain and on the web.  That is an outrage.

By way of a personal note I wish to add, the "Stop Islamisation" movement in Europe represents a multi-national effort to oppose actions among Muslims residing on the continent to take advantage of the tolerant attitudes of a multi-cultural Europe to implement Sharia law within their communities, which frequently results in gross and overt violations of national law, constitutional rights, and what can only be described as human dignity.  Just check out the Google search returns on "Stop Islamisation" if you want an idea as to the extent of this popular response among Europeans.  It is widely-expressed speech that deserves its place within the popular consciousness.

I will choose another moment to make my own statement of my desire for continued American support for Israel, a cause I advocate wholeheartedly, whenever I have sufficient time to address the delicate points with the level of sensitivity the topic merits.

For now I stand by Israel and its supporters and I demand that their voices be heard.

StJacques
   

********************** UPDATE, Monday, October 13, 8:15 p.m. **********************

El Pais has closed a second blog on its site for showing solidarity with the "Stop Islamisation" blog.  According to a new entry up at the Martha Colmenares site, a second site for Pinceladas de Cuba (I have the blogspot.com site linked in my sidebar at the right) posted an entry with a show of support for "Stop Islamisation" and was also pulled down by El Pais.

I think it is time to state the obvious.  Since El Pais will not give an explanation for its conduct -- not that there is a sensible explanation that can be given -- and it takes further action against a second blog which only raises the issue of censorship, there are but three possible conclusions we can draw upon as explaining the conduct of El Pais:

1.  El Pais is Anti-Semitic.

2.  El Pais is Anti-Israeli.

3.  Both 1 and 2 are true.

The hatred of Anti-Semitism is returning to Europe and El Pais is at the forefront of this terrible new development for western civilization.

StJacques