International Free Press Society
Encyclopedia
The International Free Press Society (IFPS), founded on January 1, 2009, is a creation of the Danish Free Press Society. The stated purpose of IFPS "is to defend freedom of expression wherever and by whomever it is threatened".
, created in 2004 by Lars Hedegaard, a Danish newspaper commentator. According to its own account, the Free Press Society arose because of increasing pressure on free speech, including the Danish Cartoon crisis. The Free Press Society claims to be "Denmark´s biggest organisation exclusively devoted to defending the right of free expression."
The Free Press Society has contact with a range of international outspoken, Islam-critical
supporters of Freedom of Speech
, including Ayaan Hirsi Ali
, Ibn Warraq
, Daniel Pipes
, Geert Wilders
, Bruce Bawer
and Henryk Broder
.
The Free Press Society, Denmark among others awarded Danish cartoonist
Kurt Westergaard
the Sappho Award, an award given to a 'journalist who combines excellence in his work with courage and a refusal to compromise'. Another winner of the Award is Flemming Rose, culture editor of Jyllands-Posten
, the Danish Newspaper that initially printed the Muhammad Cartoons.
s "rape their own children. It is heard of all the time. Girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles, their cousins or their fathers." He also stated that "Whenever it is prudent for a Muslim to hide his true intentions by lying or making a false oath in his own or in Islam’s service, then it is ok to do it."
Søren Krarup
of the Danish People's Party
, said that Hedegaard's remarks were justified, though they could have been more "carefully" stated. He instead blamed the controversy on a "media mafia" whom he accused of distorting Hedegaard's statements. Søren Espersen defended Hedegaard's remarks. Others were more critical, and Hedegaard's interview led to the immediate resignation of three Free Press Society board members: Liberal Party
MP Søren Pind
the Conservative Party's Integration spokesman Naser Khader
and the Lutheran priest Kathrine Lilleør. Vicechairman in the Integration Council in Aarhus Municipality
Yilmaz Evcil reported Lars Hedegaard to the police, and the public attorney chose to make a case against him for violating the Danish anti-racism laws. His trial began January 24, 2011. He was acquitted of all charges on January 31, 2011.
The "Board of Directors" include Lars Hedegaard, Diana West
, Paul Belien
.
The "Board of Advisors" include , Bat Ye'or
, Andrew Bostom, , Rachel Ehrenfeld
, Brigitte Gabriel
, Frank Gaffney
, David B. Harris
, Ibn Warraq
, Hans Jansen, Ehsan Jami
, Philippe Karsenty
, Roger Kimball
, Ezra Levant
, Kenneth Levin
, Andrew C. McCarthy
, Daniel Pipes
, Nidra Poller
, Roger Scruton
, Kathy Shaidle
, Robert Spencer, Mark Steyn
, Brad Thor
, Bruce Thornton
, Allen West, Geert Wilders
, Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi.
noted that the IFPS has promoted Geert Wilders
, a Dutch parliamentarian and controversial critic of Islam. Wilders is known for campaigning to ban the Koran, Islamic attire and Islamic schools from the Netherlands, and for proclaiming that "moderate Islam does not exist".
History
The IFPS was created as an extension of Free Press Society, DenmarkDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, created in 2004 by Lars Hedegaard, a Danish newspaper commentator. According to its own account, the Free Press Society arose because of increasing pressure on free speech, including the Danish Cartoon crisis. The Free Press Society claims to be "Denmark´s biggest organisation exclusively devoted to defending the right of free expression."
The Free Press Society has contact with a range of international outspoken, Islam-critical
Criticism of Islam
Criticism of Islam has existed since Islam's formative stages. Early written criticism came from Christians, prior to the ninth century, many of whom viewed Islam as a radical Christian heresy...
supporters of Freedom of Speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
, including Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Magan Ali is a Somali-Dutch feminist and atheist activist, writer, politician who strongly opposes circumcision and female genital cutting. She is the daughter of the Somali politician and opposition leader Hirsi Magan Isse and is a founder of the women's rights organisation the AHA...
, Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq is the pen name of a polemical author of Pakistani origin who is critical of Islam, and who founded the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society . He is a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry focusing on Qur'anic criticism...
, Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
, Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
, Bruce Bawer
Bruce Bawer
Bruce Bawer is an American literary critic, writer and poet. His work focuses mainly on criticism and issues related to Islam.-Personal life:Bawer received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D...
and Henryk Broder
Henryk Broder
Henryk Modest Broder is a Polish born German journalist and author.Broder is known for polemics, columns and comments in written and oral media. Broder wrote for the magazine Der Spiegel as well as its online version and the daily Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. Since 2010 he writes for Die Welt...
.
The Free Press Society, Denmark among others awarded Danish cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Kurt Westergaard
Kurt Westergaard
Kurt Westergaard is a Danish cartoonist who created the controversial cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb in his turban. This cartoon was the most contentious of the 12 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons, which met with strong and sometimes violent reactions from Muslims worldwide...
the Sappho Award, an award given to a 'journalist who combines excellence in his work with courage and a refusal to compromise'. Another winner of the Award is Flemming Rose, culture editor of Jyllands-Posten
Jyllands-Posten
Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten , commonly shortened to Jyllands-Posten or JP, is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Viby, a suburb of Århus, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies, it is among the largest-selling newspaper in Denmark...
, the Danish Newspaper that initially printed the Muhammad Cartoons.
Remarks about Muslims
On 22 December 2009 the Chairman of the Danish Free Press Society, Lars Hedegaard, gave an interview in which he declared that MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s "rape their own children. It is heard of all the time. Girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles, their cousins or their fathers." He also stated that "Whenever it is prudent for a Muslim to hide his true intentions by lying or making a false oath in his own or in Islam’s service, then it is ok to do it."
Søren Krarup
Søren Krarup
Søren Krarup is a Danish pastor, writer, politician and Member of Parliament for the Danish People's Party from 2001....
of the Danish People's Party
Danish People's Party
The Danish People's Party is a political party in Denmark which is frequently described as right-wing populist by political scientists and commentators. The party is led by Pia Kjærsgaard...
, said that Hedegaard's remarks were justified, though they could have been more "carefully" stated. He instead blamed the controversy on a "media mafia" whom he accused of distorting Hedegaard's statements. Søren Espersen defended Hedegaard's remarks. Others were more critical, and Hedegaard's interview led to the immediate resignation of three Free Press Society board members: Liberal Party
Venstre (Denmark)
VenstreThe party name is officially not translated into any other language, but is in English often referred to as the Liberal Party. Similar rules apply for the name of the party's youth wing Venstres Ungdom. , full name Venstre, Danmarks Liberale Parti , is the largest political party in Denmark...
MP Søren Pind
Søren Pind
Søren Pind is a Danish politician. A member of the center-right party Venstre, he was appointed Minister for Refugees, Immigrants and Integration in March 2011....
the Conservative Party's Integration spokesman Naser Khader
Naser Khader
Naser Khader is Danish-Syrian and a former member of the Parliament of Denmark for the Conservative Party. As a member of Parliament, he has represented both Social Liberal Party and Liberal Alliance, the latter as founding leader, until January 5, 2009...
and the Lutheran priest Kathrine Lilleør. Vicechairman in the Integration Council in Aarhus Municipality
Aarhus Municipality
Aarhus Municipality, also commonly known by its Danish spelling Århus Municipality, is a municipality on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 307.000...
Yilmaz Evcil reported Lars Hedegaard to the police, and the public attorney chose to make a case against him for violating the Danish anti-racism laws. His trial began January 24, 2011. He was acquitted of all charges on January 31, 2011.
Purpose
According to IFPS Policy Statement, the tasks of The International Free Press Society are many and varied. Among them:
- To serve as an international advocacy group for free speech
- To serve as an umbrella organization for Free Press Societies in different nations
- To collect, analyze and disseminate critical information
- To propose and coordinate countermeasures against threats to free speech
- To advise and inspire local and national groups and organizations in their defense of free speech
- To defend individuals or organizations that are being persecuted for having stood up for free speech
- To raise money for the above causes
The "Board of Directors" include Lars Hedegaard, Diana West
Diana West
Diana West is a nationally syndicated conservative American columnist and author. Her weekly column for the Washington Examiner is syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association and appears in about 120 newspapers. She is the author of the book The Death of the Grown Up: How America's Arrested...
, Paul Belien
Paul Belien
Paul Belien, born 1959, is a Flemish journalist and founder of the conservative-libertarian blog The Brussels Journal.Belien is both known as both a pro-American and a prolific writer and author...
.
The "Board of Advisors" include , Bat Ye'or
Bat Ye'or
Bat Ye'or is a pseudonym of Gisèle Littman, née Orebi, an Egyptian-born British writer and political commentator who writes about the history of non-Muslims in the Middle East, and in particular the history of Christian and Jewish dhimmis living under Islamic governments.She is the author of eight...
, Andrew Bostom, , Rachel Ehrenfeld
Rachel Ehrenfeld
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld is an expert on terrorism and corruption-related topics. These include terror financing, economic warfare, and narco-terrorism. She has lectured on these issues in many countries, and has advised banking communities, law enforcement agencies, and governments.Dr. Ehrenfeld...
, Brigitte Gabriel
Brigitte Gabriel
Brigitte Gabriel is the pseudonym, of a Lebanese American journalist, author, and activist. Gabriel says that Islam keeps countries backward, and that it teaches terrorism...
, Frank Gaffney
Frank Gaffney
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. is the founder and president of the American Center for Security Policy, columnist at the Washington Times, blogger at Big Peace and radio host on Secure Freedom Radio....
, David B. Harris
David B. Harris
David B. Harris is a Canadian lawyer. He is a former contractor with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service where he served as a senior manager between 1988-1990. Now working as a consultant, he is a regular commentator on issues of terrorism...
, Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq
Ibn Warraq is the pen name of a polemical author of Pakistani origin who is critical of Islam, and who founded the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society . He is a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry focusing on Qur'anic criticism...
, Hans Jansen, Ehsan Jami
Ehsan Jami
Ehsan Jami is a Dutch politician of Iranian origin. From March 7, 2006 until November 6, 2007 he was member of the city council of Leidschendam-Voorburg on behalf of the Dutch Labour Party . From that date until 2010 he continued to be a member of the city council as independent member 'fraction...
, Philippe Karsenty
Philippe Karsenty
Philippe Karsenty is a French media analyst and the founder of Media-Ratings, which monitors the media in France for bias....
, Roger Kimball
Roger Kimball
Roger Kimball is a conservative U.S. art critic and social commentator. He was educated at Cheverus High School, a Jesuit institution in South Portland, Maine, and then at Bennington College, where he took a BA in philosophy and classical Greek, and Yale University...
, Ezra Levant
Ezra Levant
Ezra Isaac Levant is a Canadian lawyer, conservative political activist and media figure. He is the founder and former publisher of the Western Standard, hosts The Source daily on Sun News Network, and has written several books on politics....
, Kenneth Levin
Kenneth Levin
Kenneth Levin is a Newton, Massachusetts psychiatrist and historian and author of The Oslo Syndrome: Delusions of a People Under Siege....
, Andrew C. McCarthy
Andrew C. McCarthy
Andrew C. McCarthy III is a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. A Republican, he is most notable for leading the 1995 terrorism prosecution against Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and eleven others. The defendants were convicted of the 1993 World Trade Center...
, Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes
Daniel Pipes is an American historian, writer, and political commentator. He is the founder and director of the Middle East Forum and its Campus Watch project, and editor of its Middle East Quarterly journal...
, Nidra Poller
Nidra Poller
Nidra Poller is an American writer and translator who has lived in Paris since 1972. She has contributed to English-language publications such as The Wall Street Journal, National Review, FrontPage Magazine, and The New York Sun....
, Roger Scruton
Roger Scruton
Roger Vernon Scruton is a conservative English philosopher and writer. He is the author of over 30 books, including Art and Imagination , Sexual Desire , The Aesthetics of Music , and A Political Philosophy: Arguments For Conservatism...
, Kathy Shaidle
Kathy Shaidle
Kathy Shaidle is a Canadian author, columnist, poet and blogger. A self-described "anarcho-peacenik" in the early years of her writing career, she moved to a conservative, Roman Catholic position following the attacks of September 11, 2001, and entered the public eye as the author of the popular...
, Robert Spencer, Mark Steyn
Mark Steyn
Mark Steyn is a Canadian-born writer, conservative-leaning political commentator, and cultural critic. He has written five books, including America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It, a New York Times bestseller...
, Brad Thor
Brad Thor
Brad Thor is a #1 New York Times bestselling thriller novelist and author of The Lions of Lucerne, Path of the Assassin, State of the Union, Blowback, Takedown, The First Commandment, The Last Patriot, The Apostle, Foreign Influence, The Athena Project and Full Black. His novels have been...
, Bruce Thornton
Bruce Thornton
Bruce S. Thornton is a classicist at California State University, Fresno. He has written for many publications, published several books, and appeared at numerous media venues. He lives in Fresno with his wife and two sons. He is currently a research fellow and W...
, Allen West, Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
, Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi.
Criticism
Inter Press ServiceInter Press Service
Inter Press Service is a global news agency. Its main focus is the production of independent news and analysis about events and processes affecting economic, social and political development....
noted that the IFPS has promoted Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
, a Dutch parliamentarian and controversial critic of Islam. Wilders is known for campaigning to ban the Koran, Islamic attire and Islamic schools from the Netherlands, and for proclaiming that "moderate Islam does not exist".