Freedom is an Empty Word without Freedom of Speech. There was a time when people instinctively knew that Freedom of Speech and Freedom are umbilically connected.
Nowadays, not so much.
Case in point
For most of history, the free exercise of speech made a society free. Whenever people couldn’t air their grievances in the public arena, that was a dead giveaway of a tyrannical regime.
I agree. Unless you can voice your opinion publicly, fair and square, you are not free.
Freedom of Speech is Absolute. It also cuts both ways.
Let’s take the Palestinian-Jewish conflict. Arabs can protest whatever and so can Jews.
However, once the discourse moves into incitement to murder, crime, and genocide, that’s when law enforcement should be triggered.
It’s very easy to understand.
Free speech – OK. Calling for murder – criminal charges must be laid.
But how do you know which one is which?
Politically charged speech such as “Palestine from sea to sea”, as much as one may claim it’s a call for genocide, is not that. Hinting at something, making innuendos, and interpretation, are not equivalent with the first meaning of the slogan.
The same goes for Jews advocating for a Jewish only state of Israel. Such political slogans may appear nasty, but they do not constitute a call to genocide. Not on their own merits. To read more into it, requires afterthought. But the first meaning is the only one that counts. After all, anything could otherwise be taken to mean anything.
To recap, using ‘Kill’ and ‘name of whoever or whatever’ is illegal and should be prosecuted even if it ends with a question mark. Such pedantic devices should not stand between law enforcement doing their duty and their duty.
To circle back to square one: Freedom of Speech is Sacrosanct unless it’s incitement to murder. That is Illegal.
But hate speech is part of speech and although subjectively nasty, should be allowed.
People are responsible for their speech, and anyone can sue anybody for libel, calumny, you name it, if they do not appreciate the validity of one’s remarks. There is such a thing as burden of proof that a judge or jury will consider, and judgment will be passed on the merits of one’s lawsuit.
Making speech or hate speech illegal is not the way forward. When speech becomes illegal, people will act. And no matter what they tell you: words never hurt anybody; actions sure did hurt a lot of people.
We are born to be free. We have the right to be free and speak freely. We exercise that right the moment we cry out on our mother’s belly.
Götterdämmerung 