December 25, 2015
Radical Muslim students openly made death threats while interrupting a London lecture on blasphemy by an Iranian human rights activist, a British newspaper reported.
Maryam Namazie, who fled Iran and now campaigns against Islamic extremism, was speaking at the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society at Goldsmiths College at the University of London last Monday. But the speech was disrupted by students from the university’s Islamic Society, who claimed her views “violate their safe space.”
The London Student reported that one person switched off the projector after the speaker showed a cartoon of Muhammad, while a member of the audience claimed that an activist pointed his fingers at his head in the shape of a gun and said ‘boom’ in a bid to intimidate him.
The Islamic Society spoke out in advance of the talk—titled “Apostasy, blasphemy and free expression in the age of ISIS”—insisting Namazie should not be allowed to speak because of her “bigoted views.”
They pointed to a number of controversial comments she has made in the past, including describing the veil as a symbol of ‘far-right Islamism’ and calling the niqab a ‘bin [trash] bag’.”
The president of the Islamic Society wrote to the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society saying: “We feel having her present will be a violation to our safe space, a policy which [the Student Union host] adheres to strictly, and my society feels that all she will do is incite hatred and bigotry.”
A number of British universities now pledge to create a “safe space” for their students, inspired by similar policies in the US, in order to protect them from language or behavior that could be considered offensive or threatening
Speaking after the event, Namazie said: “After my talk began, ISOC ‘brothers’ started coming into the room, repeatedly banging the door, falling on the floor, heckling me, playing on their phones, shouting out, and creating a climate of intimidation in order to try and prevent me from speaking.
“I continued speaking as loudly as I could. They repeatedly walked back and forth in front of me.
“In the midst of my talk, one of the ISOC Islamists switched off my PowerPoint and left. The university security had to intervene and remain in the room as I continued my talk.”
One member of the audience, lecturer and journalist Reza Moradi, said one of the protesters threatened him. “I was asking this guy to be quiet. He took his hand and held it to his head like a gun,” Moradi told the MailOnline. “He passed towards me and he made the noise ‘boom.’ It was very intimidating.”
In a statement, the Islamic Society accused the atheist group of “harassment” and called Namazie a “vile Islamophobe,” denying that any of its members issued death threats.
The society said: “Muslim students who attended the event were shocked and horrified by statements made by Namazie, and peacefully expressed their dissent to the disrespectful cartoons shown….
“These students were subsequently made subject to unnecessary bullying, abuse and violence by the ASH society and security staff. Some students were even forcibly removed from the event.”
The MailOnline said the Goldsmiths Islamic Society had previously hosted a number of radical speakers including Moazzam Begg of Cage, a charity that described ISIS terrorist “Jihadi John” as a “beautiful, kind man.”
It said another recent speaker was Hamza Tzortzis, who says that non-Muslims “should be killed” if they ever fight against Muslims and once proclaimed: “We as Muslims reject the idea of freedom of speech.”
Namazie, 49, was initially banned from speaking at Warwick University in October because student union officials feared Muslims might “feel intimidated or discriminated against.” However, the ban was lifted after a public outcry.
