Geert Wilders’s visit today to Westminster is a small blow against censorship, says Oliver Kamm
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To stop people entering Britain because of what they may say while here is based on the concept of pre-emptive sanction says Padraig Reidy
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Dyab Abou Jahjah is the Lebanese-born founder of the Arab European League, an Antwerp-based organisation which claims to speak for Europe’s Muslims. The Arab European League gained a certain notoriety when it weighed into the Motoons debate by publishing a series of anti-Semitic cartoons, ‘testing the limits’ of free expression in Europe.
Abou Jahjah is also, according to this New York Times profile, a former teenage member of Hezbollah, and still apparently a supporter of that organisation, having gone so far as to say he would return to Lebanon to fight with them against Israel in 2006.
Abou Jahjah was in London on Monday 30 March to address a Stop the War Coalition meeting, alongside Hezbollah MP Hussein El-Hajj Hassan, among others. He returned to Belgium after the meeting, with the intention of coming back to London for more meetings on the Friday of that week.
However, when he attempted to enter Britain again, he was prevented from doing so by customs officials, and sent back to Belgium after being detained for six hours.
Naturally, he is not happy about this, and believes the reason he has been barred is a campaign by ‘Zionists’.
In a statement, the Home Office told Index on Censorship:
‘This individual has been barred from entering the UK as we believe he is not conducive to the public good — he has made statements that incite religious hatred and place community harmony at risk.
‘The government supports freedom of expression, but believes it needs to be exercised responsibly. We will continue to oppose extremism in all its forms.
‘That is why we are determined to stop those who try to spread hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country and that was the driving force behind tighter rules on exclusions for unacceptable behaviour that the Home Secretary announced in October last year.
‘EEA nationals can be refused admission to the UK on grounds of public security.’
Which is consistent with the previous reasons for banning Geert Wilders, Fred Phelps, and others. But it is curious that Dyab Abou Jahjah, who has been on the political radar for several years now, seemingly only came to the attention of the Home Office last week.
The United Nations’ retreat from defending free expression is at odds with the concept of universal rights, says
Jo Glanville
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