Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

2009] DEFEAT, RAGE, AND JEW HATRED 129
• Copenhagen, January 10, 2009: “Pro-Arabisk Demonstration.” The
clip begins with a chant: “Down, down Israel, down, down USA,
down, down Denmark!” Later, the crowd chants, “Denmark: Heil!
Down with democracy. All the Jews should be killed, Allah hu
Akhbar!” As in many other demonstrations globally and over the
decades, the crowd repeatedly shouts, “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya,
Yahud,” and “Khaybar, Khaybar ya Yahud, jaysh Muhammad sauf
ya’ud.” (“Khaybar, Khaybar, O You Jews, the army of Muhammad
shall return.”) 100
• Montreal, Quebec, January 4 and 11, 2009: The crowd demands the
murder of the Jews and chants in French, ““Khaybar, Khaybar, Ô
Juifs, l’armée de Mohammad va revenir” and in Arabic, “Khaybar,
Khaybar, ya Yahud.” The scene is repeated the following Sunday.
The crowd is angrier and louder than during the previous week.
“Chavistas,” followers of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, join the demonstration
and chant in Spanish, “The people united will never be
defeated.” There are also Arabic chants addressed to Hezballah’s
leader, Hassan Nasrallah: “Oh Nasrallah, Oh beloved, Strike, Strike
Tel Aviv!” 101
There are laws prohibiting “hate speech” in the Netherlands, Canada,
France, and Italy, and for the past ten years the Saudi-based Organization of
the Islamic Conference has pushed the UN to adopt a universal ban on
defaming Islam. 102 The chief complainants demanding prosecution for what
they perceive to be hate speech have been Muslims, as in the Canadian
prosecution of serious writers such as Mark Steyn and Ezra Levant. 103 At
the same time, we see that a critical mass of Muslims feel free to call for
mass murder and genocide and, in the case of Amin Al-Asari, to show films
of the Holocaust as a model for Muslim behavior while public authorities
100. YouTube, “Pro-Arabisk Demonstration,” Copenhagen, January 10, 2009,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEUzAk1nXy4.
101. “Appels au meurtre des Juifs au centre-ville de Montréal,” YouTube, January
4, 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LY4SjTGIL9Y&feature=channel;
and “Huit minutes de haine à Montréal,” YouTube, January 10, 2009, http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=-99WSxvt_uU.
102. Nina Shea, “Worldwide Hate Speech Laws,” The Weekly Standard 14, no.
10 (November 24, 2008), http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/
000/000/015/822stktc.asp and Glenn Greenwald, “The Noxious Fruits of Hate
Speech Laws,” Salon, January 13, 2008, http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
2008/01/13/hate_speech_laws/.
103. For an overview of Muslim use of “hate speech” legislation to constrain
legitimate discussion of Islam, see “Free Speech in an age of jihad,” The New
Criterion: A Special Pamphlet (Summer 2008).