German Federal Court: Call to Jihad not punishable

[muck]

May 25th 2007, 17:07hrs
Islamism
Call to the Jihad is not punishable anymore

http://www.welt.de/multimedia/archive/00258/dschihad_DW_Politik_258130g.jpg

Jihad demonstration in Gaza photo: EPA

According to a decision of the German Federal Court of Justice, a pure sympathy Jihad advertisement is excluded from punishment for reasons of the freedom of speech.

Since the Jihad is no concrete organisation, the call could not be punishable any more, the Federal Judges think.

The BGH has limited the punishability for propaganda published by terrorist groups yesterday.
Generalized calls to the jihad (the Islamic holy war) and to not closer defined acts of terrorism or not exactly named organisations are hence not punishable anymore as "advertisements for terrorist groups" had been before, the landmark decision published yesterday says.

The decision follows law changes from 2002 and 2003, after which pure sympathy advertisement was excluded from punishment due to the constitutional-juridically protected freedom of speech. According to the press release of the Karlsruhe' based court, a penal-reinforced advertising "exists only if suspicion arises that the entire circumstances of the doubtful statement are exactly aimed on hiring members or supporters for the holy war". Because the jihad is no particularized organisation, the call to it could not be punishable then. dpa/ima:roll: A very clever decision. Now they just mustn't define what they exactly plan, but can call for murder and the deletion of the infidel's nations with impunity. Simultaneously, the denial of the Holocaust is strictly forbidden.
Very paradoxical, isn't it?

[Macs.]

The article is wrong.

Do some search on the definition of the word "Jihad".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jihad

[Rakki]

Yet for some reason it's illegal to call for Holocaust Denial, even if it's not really an "organization" either. I think the German Federal Court has the short end of the stick on this one.

[futurepilot2004]

Jihad

The essential meaning of jihad is the spiritual, psychological and physical effort exerted by Muslims to be closer to God and thus achieve a just and harmonious society. Jihad literally means "striving" or "struggle" and is shorthand for Jihad fi Sabeel Allah (struggle for God's cause).

While it may have become synonymous with Islamic terrorism, a call to Jihad doesn`t necessarily mean holy war.

Edit: and of course I know this ruling will be used by those who do mean a holy war to get around prevent being arrested.

[Hollis]

Jihad


While it may have become synonymous with Islamic terrorism, a call to Jihad doesn`t necessarily mean holy war.


That is true, many religions have a method for personal purification. One meaning of Jihad is that. There other meaning is a societal purification which can go to the extreme; as the inquisition, "the final solution", geneocide, etc.

[Vandervahn]

Yet for some reason it's illegal to call for Holocaust Denial, even if it's not really an "organization" either. I think the German Federal Court has the short end of the stick on this one.

The reason is that in the german view a denial of the Holocaust carries an implicit accusation against the then-alledged "holocaust manufacturers" - which would include all those then-claiming to be victims, and the whole state of Israel is based, in a way, on the holocaust. Even the "pacifist" german self-image is based rather on the genocide than the war itself. Holocaust denial also includes, openly or implicit, an accusation that the accepted scholarly history is made up by a conspiracy set up in the interests of Jews and to the disadvantage of other nations.

Such a denial constitutes defamation and malicious maligning of these people´s human dignity which again are acts punishable by the laws against "Volksverhetzung" (hate speech). It is important for understanding that the german concept of "Volksverhetzung" has a somewhat broader extend than the english "hate speech".

That difference seems to be why most English-speaking people here don´t get the point why holocaust denial is not protected as freedom of opinion in the german legal culture.

[Laworkerbee]

You can a Jihad on trying to quit smoking; it's all about context baby.

[muck]

The point is - this decision was made, after a man convicted because of advertising for a terrorist group appealed against the court's decision. He had called for the fight against the infidels and for the forcible islamization of Europe on several websites, and provided links to websites with radical thoughts, after having protected himself with a legal disclaimer. (Now, he remains in custody though for having committed other crimes).
I doubt that the judges have much weighted the historical meaning of the word Jihad. Besides, the word "Jihad" is a question of interpretation since it appears only four times in the Quran, and only once in connection with peace, but three times connected with war and violence.

[Paragon]

I can definitely appreciate the fact that a 'Jihad' is not necessarily a call to murder all Westerners, and that there are other interpretations available to people. Besides, as soon as someone calling people to Jihad says "kill the infidels", or somesuch, than surely that is viewed as inciting violence, and punishable under a whole different section of German law? Especially when the definition of 'infidels' could easily be interpreted to include people of the host nation of the Jihadist - the non-muslim people of Germany. I'm guessing that would then be illegitimate under the 'Volksverhetzung' laws, also....

Just a few thoughts.