Tens of thousands of people have signed a petition urging top United Nations officials to oppose a drive by Islamic governments to outlaw the “defamation” of Islam. Critics say the move is aimed at shutting down legitimate debate and restricting the freedom to share other faiths.
The initiative is being organized by the Washington-based American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which says the push by the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is anti-Christian.
Still in its early days, the petition is drawing considerable interest, with online signatories alone approaching 57,000 as of Tuesday.
The campaign follows the passage last December of a controversial U.N. General Assembly resolution on the “defamation of religion.”
When the General Assembly meets for its annual session later this year, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be called on to give a report on the implementation of the Dec. 2007 measure, which was introduced by Pakistan on behalf of OIC and passed by a 108-51 vote.
While the resolution ostensibly covers the defamation of all religions, only one religion is referred to by name. The text expresses “deep concern that Islam is frequently and wrongly associated with human rights violations and terrorism.”
It also protests “the negative projection of Islam in the media” and complains that Muslims had been subjected to “ethnic and religious profiling” after 9/11.
