We reported a couple of weeks ago on Sheikh El-Faisal, soon to be released early from prison after his 2003 conviction for incitement.
Incitement is becoming quite an issue at the moment. As catalogued in Melanie Phillips’ Londonistan, for many years the British police and security services didn’t bother to chase up on the preachers and freelance jihadis who incited violence against the people of Britain and our friends abroad.
But perhaps the British police are finally getting serious. This morning the papers report the arrest of six men, including the loud-mouth Abu Izadeen, by police investigating incitement to commit terrorist acts.
Three cases from allied countries in recent weeks alone highlight just how important it is to prosecute and convict on these charges.
In Norway two weeks ago Norwegian-Somalian Kadra, famous for her opposition to female genital mutilation, was beaten up by a gang who shouted at her for ‘trampling’ on the Koran whilst they broke her ribs and kicked her into unconciousness
In Canada a journalist for the Ontario-based Pakistan Post has just been beaten by two men – one armed with a cricket bat – who warned him to stop ‘writing about Islam’. The journalist in question had previously been the subject of telephone threats.
And in America, the newly arrived Ayaan Hirsi Ali – under American and Dutch armed guard at this point – has this week been told she should be killed for offending Islam by an Imam in Western Pennsylvania.
It’s taking a long time for police forces to take incitement seriously.