Self-censorship, Islamists and the art world
Rod Liddle writes that the government is keen to stamp out anything that might undermine its claim that Islam is a religion of peace and its followers overwhelmingly moderate.

Hence proposed laws which will limit the freedom of speech, not only of Islam's critics, but of its most crazed clerics. And also the arrest and prosecution of the wretched "lyrical terrorist" Samina Malik, a 23-year old sales girl at WH Smith in Heathrow Airport who was recently found guilty of "having articles "likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism".

Malik wrote cretinous poems praising jihad, beheading and Osama bin Laden. She wrote of her "desire for martyrdom on the back of a till receipt from the shop in which she worked. Police say she was in contact with others who shared her violent extremist views and had tried to donate money to terrorists. Malik claimed she nicknamed herself "Lyrical Terrorist" because it "sounded cool." She said she "stumbled upon" extremist websites, such as that of crazed extremist cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri after hearing about him in the media (EURSOC, too, has visited sites dedicated to Abu Hamza... you'll have to wait for our poetry, though).

She was cleared of having articles - weapons manuals and poisons guides downloaded from the internet - to use in terrorists acts herself.

"I didn’t think anyone would take me seriously, she told the court, in tears", Liddle writes.

"What is quite remarkable about this whole business is the complete and utter lack of outrage which greeted the decision to prosecute Malik and the verdict", he continues, "No outrage from anywhere — least of all the areas from which you might most expect it.
The good old liberal Guardian sneered that she’d sort of got her comeuppance — send the ‘ho’ down. This is the newspaper which can employ the pompous IRA apologist (well, in truth, he hasn’t apologised that much) Ronan Bennett to spend 2,000 words eviscerating Martin Amis for his supposed ‘racism’ in attacking Muslims — but when a real and grotesque breach of civil liberties occurs in the courts — the brutal Bruddish courts, remember — the paper cheers from the sidelines.
What a desperately confused little rag it has become. In its support for ‘mainstream’ Islam, whatever that might be (nobody seems able to define it; I don’t think it exists, as such), the Guardian and most white liberals feel compelled to join in the co-ordinated state persecution of anyone who might give Islam a ‘bad name’. And if that involves sending them to prison for having written a stupid poem, then so be it.

In this they are supported by some of the ‘mainstream’ Muslim organisations, for reasons of self-evident self-interest."
Samina Malik thought no-one would take her seriously. Other British artists are all-too-worried that their work might be taken too seriously, and have avoided criticising Islam for that reason. The EU Referendum Blog comments on how artists "are always boasting or getting art critics to boast about their incredible courage. This goes for writers, cartoonists and comedians as well. They are all so courageous.

"After all, they criticize President Bush and they laugh at the United States; they make derogatory comments about Margaret Thatcher (still) and they produce cartoons that could have been published in Der Stürmer; they write plays and produce works of "art" that mock Christianity and they make fun of the Pope and the Chief Rabbi."

But when it comes to Islam, they clam up.