Extremism warning: Don’t tolerate the intolerant

FREE speech is a non-negotiable cornerstone of liberal democracies. Europe showed this after the murderous attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris.

A right cherished with equal conviction is a society’s one to defend itself from attack or anyone who might assault its core values.

That means the concern expressed by Irish Muslim leaders that two extreme Islamists are scheduled to speak in Dublin must be taken seriously and acted upon if necessary. One speaker has been characterised as a pupil of a “a giant within conservative Salafi Islam”, and the other is a member Kuwaiti government committees, including one on sharia law. The event is organised by a Kuwaiti student organisation, Thabat.