Mona Eltahawy Doubles Down: It Was Civil Disobedience!

Update: Thanks to Ace for the link.  And we have more on this controversy, here.  It has not been a good night for Freedom of Expression.

So in follow up to my post last night (I even got a Twitchalanche!  Cool!), I had some fun today poking at Ms. Eltahawy on twitter, asking her if it is okay to deface a mosque without the owner’s permission, whether one could spray paint the great pyramids and call that speech, even asking kind of rudely:

Or how about this? Can I spray paint "anti-free-speech fascist" on your car without your permission? @monaeltahawy
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) September 27, 2012

No answer to that (and of course the answer is "no").  And then eventually I guess she started figuring out that what she did was actually kind of illegal and kind of fascist.  She is using private violence to silence speech she doesn’t like, to harm property that didn’t belong to her.

So she fell back to civil disobedience!

Some New Yorkers have called 311 to complain about the racist ad, some engaged in civil disobedience. Find your way to say #FuckRacism
— Mona Eltahawy (@monaeltahawy) September 27, 2012

Well, let’s crack open our copy of Dr. King’s letter from a Birmingham Jail, something I always knew well, but has been increasingly relevant in my life.  As I noted before, when Dr. King decided to go to jail in Birmingham, he was faced with a restriction on his freedom of speech.  A local law required him to get a parade ordinance before protesting, which is not itself unjust, but Bull Connor made it clear that there was no way they would be allowed to get such a permit, thus the injustice.  This law was later reinforced with a court order telling them essentially not to break this law.  So Dr. King then peacefully protested racial segregation and was arrested for that speech.  When he wrote his famous letter, he made it clear that one could only disobey an unjust law.

In Dr. King’s case that seems reasonably applied.  I mean technically, the law wasn’t unjust in the way it was written, but it was being applied unjustly, but I think people can consider that a reasonable application of his principle.

But what is the unjust law here?  The law against defacing property?  The law against graffiti?  Because that is what she is being charged with violating.  I asked her this question:

You are claiming civil disobedience now? okay what unjust law did you refuse to obey? are anti-graffiti laws unjust? @monaeltahawy
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) September 27, 2012

Oddly she has chosen not to answer me.

However, as much as she wants to hammer this square peg into the round hole of the Civil Rights Movement and declare that she has a dream and to sing We Shall Overcome, there is another historical precedent that this fits more neatly.  Now, I am not suggesting that Ms. Eltahawy and her compatriots share all the features of the Brownshirts, but the Brownshirts were after all people who used private violence to silence the opposition.  And isn’t that precisely what is happening here?

Meanwhile some of her supporters spoke up in her defense, explaining to me that this was okay because she was acting against hate speech.  This is a reasonably representative example:

@aaronworthing It wasn't a flag, was it? Look, make this abt hate speech. It was a poster and she went to jail for it.
— I-AM* (@politaire) September 27, 2012

Well, first off, contrary to popular Democratic myth, you can’t ban “hate speech,” however vile.  See, e.g. R.A.V. v. St. Paul (dealing with cross burning, but see Virginia v. Black where cross burning was banned as a form of threat).

And second, is this really a precedent Muslims want to set?  Because there are more than a few Americans who think Islam is a hateful religion.  That is not my view, but it is a common view.  So if it was ever established that hate speech could be banned, Muslims might find their very faith banned.

And at the same time, as often is the case, claims of bigotry are often flung by people who reveal themselves to be bigots.

Um @atlasshrugs says "savage" and you think "Muslim?" @monaeltahawy @alyaagad
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) September 27, 2012

What line in that poster says all muslims are savages or jihadists? @halnisf @monaeltahawy
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) September 27, 2012

So they say savages and jihad and you guys assume they are talking about all muslims? @halnisf @monaeltahawy
— Aaron Worthing (@AaronWorthing) September 27, 2012

The irony of course is that this is self-hate.  I don’t know if Pamela Geller is intentionally stirring up this storm to get people to reveal their true nature, just as the civil rights movement was calculated to bring racist violence out into the open.  But it seems to be having this effect.

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My wife and I have lost our jobs due to the harassment of convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin, including an attempt to get us killed and to frame me for a crime carrying a sentence of up to ten years.  I know that claim sounds fantastic, but if you read starting here, you will see absolute proof of these claims using documentary and video evidence.  If you would like to help in the fight to hold Mr. Kimberlin accountable, please hit the Blogger’s Defense Team button on the right.  And thank you.

Follow me at Twitter @aaronworthing, mostly for snark and site updates.  And you can purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A Novel of Alternate, Recent History here.  And you can read a little more about my novel, here.

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Disclaimer:

I have accused some people, particularly Brett Kimberlin, of reprehensible conduct.  In some cases, the conduct is even criminal.  In all cases, the only justice I want is through the appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice system.  I do not want to see vigilante violence against any person or any threat of such violence.  This kind of conduct is not only morally wrong, but it is counter-productive.

In the particular case of Brett Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him.  Do not call him.  Do not write him a letter.  Do not write him an email.  Do not text-message him.  Do not engage in any kind of directed communication.  I say this in part because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want that to happen to him.

And for that matter, don’t go on his property.  Don’t sneak around and try to photograph him.  Frankly try not to even be within his field of vision.  Your behavior could quickly cross the line into harassment in that way too (not to mention trespass and other concerns).

And do not contact his organizations, either.  And most of all, leave his family alone.

The only exception to all that is that if you are reporting on this, there is of course nothing wrong with contacting him for things like his official response to any stories you might report.  And even then if he tells you to stop contacting him, obey that request.  That this is a key element in making out a harassment claim under Maryland law—that a person asks you to stop and you refuse.

And let me say something else.  In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above.  But if any of you have, stop it, and if you haven’t don’t start.