A conference titled "International Freedom Defense Congress," sponsored by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer's organization "Stop Islamization of Nations" (SION), was appropriately scheduled in NYC for the 11^th anniversary of 9/11.  It also coincidentally took place while Islamic savages in Egypt were storming the U.S. Embassy and Libyan murderers were killing American diplomats over the very issue Geller, Spencer, and others were gathered to discuss: freedom of speech.

SION believes "that the workshop is of particular importance as it is the first ever to address the implications of Resolution 16/18 of the United Nations Human Rights Council, the stated goal of which is to 'combat intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of, discrimination, incitement to violence, and violence against persons based on religion or belief,' but which is actually designed to restrict truthful speech about Islamic supremacism and jihad, so as to render the West mute and defenseless before the advancing threat of jihad and Sharia."

In light of the repeated demonstrations of vicious hatred directed at Americans over criticism of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, this time in an internet film, combined with the U.S. State Department's initial appeasing response to these riots, it is quite fitting for Americans to be addressing the pressing issue of how individual freedoms and rights in a democratic society are being suppressed.  This conference successfully brought together about 200 global "soldiers" who are battling the Islamic jihad movement against freedom that is widening its powerful grip across Europe, Australia, India, and the United States...not to mention the Middle East.

Guest speakers from around the world came to share their firsthand experiences in confronting and combating attacks on their freedom of speech by the intolerance of Islamic propagandists and their organizations.  Ms. Geller passionately spoke to the audience about the "war to control words" going on in the name of Islam...and the Muslims are winning in a stealth jihad that is seducing many in the political arena and media.  All she had to do was point out the many security guards surrounding the room and entrance area...along with the high cost of paying for this necessary protection. 

The 4.5-hour program was divided into four topics, the first three being the war in the U.S., the war in Australia and England, and the global battle against jihad.  The fourth, "Europe - Front Line of the Battle of Free Speech," was covered by three very high-profile individuals whose lives are under constant assault, each of whom must travel with security: Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilks, Danish publisher and free speech advocate Lars Hedegaard, and Anders Gravers of "Stop Islamization of Europe" (SIOE).

The first group of speakers included Nelly Braginsky, who lost her son in 9/11; NYS Senator David Storobin (R); Cliff Kincaid, president of Accuracy in Media; David Yerushalmi of the American Law for American Courts (the lawyer who has been representing the organization); and Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer.  Each clearly made the case that "freedom-fighters" in the U.S. are now battling the first phase of an Islamic caliphate -- the condemnation and banning of any criticism of Islam and the introduction of sharia law into the American justice system.

The war for freedom of speech in Australia and the U.K. was discussed by Debbie Robinson, President of Q Society in Australia; Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carroll of the English Defense League (EDL); and George Igler of the Discourse Institute in the U.K.  It was astonishing to listen to both Robinson and Carroll share how their small town in England is one of many communities where Muslims have been moving in over the last twenty years; the Muslims have grown so large in numbers and influence that both the police and the Brits are intimidated, and many have left.

They made the argument that Americans should not fall for the idea that this can't possibly happen in the U.S. with a Constitution that guarantees freedom of speech and religion.  This is what the British people also thought, Britain being the home of the Magna Carta.  How wrong they were.

Mr. Carroll dramatically held up two British newspapers with headlines that are testimony to the degree of Muslim influence the English are living under today and the loss of their individual freedoms.  They read: NO RIGHT TO WEAR A CROSS AT WORK and SPEAK UP FOR CHRISTIANTY PM TELLS ARCHBISHOP, both front-page stories in the U.K.'s Daily Express.

These brave gents refuse to leave their homes in spite of the fact that their country is now in the second stage of Islamic transformation.

After a lovely buffet, the audience heard from Babu Suseelan, a Hindu leader, a human rights activist, a university professor, a psychologist, the director of the Indian American Intellectuals Forum in NY, and an outspoken opponent against the "Mosque at Ground Zero."  He was followed by "The Voice of Coptic Christians," Ashraf Rameleh, who spoke of the suffering and killing of Coptic Christians living under Islamic rule...being killed because of their religion.  The third speaker was the Israeli author and Bar Ilan University lecturer Dr. Mordechai Kedar, who told how his being a Jew and meeting with the Turkish Islamic scholar Adnan Oktar has led to Muslims campaigning against and discrediting Mr. Oktar as a Muslim because he meets with Jews.

But the three elephants in the room -- Vilks, Hedegaard, and Gravers -- are surely on the front line of the battle of free speech.  Their experiences in combating personal attacks on their character, not to mention their lives, for expressing negative opinions of Islam and Mohammed brought home the real danger that soldiers fighting Islamic dominance will face as they struggle to stop the Islamization of their country and a global blasphemy law.

At this conference, Lars Hedegaard presented to the audience a copy of the first edition of a new international newspaper Dispatch International, of which he is one of the two chief editors.  This is a test issue in both print and e-paper that will be in Danish, Swedish, English, and German, with more languages to follow.  This is a newspaper that will have no "ties to lies."  It is now a time when media across the globe can't be trusted, and we are quickly running out of truth-tellers.  This is a resource that promises to fight back.  Help them fight back by linking to www.dispatch-international.com.

This conference clearly proved to everyone in the audience, and it should prove to all Americans, that Western countries, including the U.S., are proven fertile grounds for Islamic advancement, and the citizens fighting this enemy to Western democracy are targets to be silenced.