Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mohamed Morsi, wants to use the American legal system to suppress the free speech of those who criticize Islam.
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi asked the Egyptian embassy in Washington to take legal action in the United States against makers of a film attacking the Muslim Prophet Mohammad, the official state news agency said on Wednesday.
Morsi had requested the mission take “all legal measures”, the MENA agency said, without giving further details on what that might involve.
I’m not quite sure what Morsi’s argument is here: is he suggesting that the film somehow defames Islam or will show Islam in a negative light? Because I’m pretty sure that the Islamists burning down consulates and killing Americans do a better job of “defaming” Islam than a film someone makes about the faith.
The administration erred in making a moral equivalence between the free speech of an American to the murderous riots of Islamist protests. Did the President open the door for an actual audience for Egypt on this attack of free speech? Would Egypt give us a fair trial if we were to take legal action against them for trespassing on our sovereign property and the destruction of our property? Morsi seems to believe that the same jizya-enforcing government preference which exists in Egypt exists here.