The right of rebuttal

The Washington Times shows how to quote out of context:

A Muslim group is suing Canada's leading national newsweekly for the right of rebuttal because it published excerpts warning of high Muslim birthrates in the book "America Alone," by syndicated columnist Mark Steyn.

(...)

The U.S. magazine Human Events published its own account of the Maclean's article, highlighting this passage:

"There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe without swords, without guns, without conquests. The 50 million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades."

Even worse, the Human Events article goes on to say: "Just look at the development within Europe, where the number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes. Every Western woman in the EU is producing an average of 1.4 children. Every Muslim woman in the same countries is producing 3.5 children." (Washington Times)


But here's the context of the article written by Robert Spencer at Human Events:

There were just two problems: The “Muslim continent” statement is not only factual, it’s stated in words no one can characterize as inflammatory. (Also, it’s been said by Libya’s strongman Muammar Qaddafi). Second, “The number of Muslims is expanding like mosquitoes” was not Steyn’s phrase. He was quoting Mullah Krekar, a jihadist who currently resides in Norway, although officials have been trying for years to get him out of the country.. (Human Events)

There are several issues here. One is that as far as I know, Canadian Muslims have already rebutted Steyn (see Mark Steyn has a right to be wrong). But the bottom line is: Islamists all over the world claim that Islam will take over Europe. The Canadian Muslims did not rebut Qaddafi and Krekar. They did not rebut Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi when he said that "Islam will return to Europe once again" and that "Muslims must start acting in order to conquer the world", they did not rebut Muhammad Mahdi Othman 'Akef when he said that "I have complete faith that Islam will invade Europe and America, because Islam has logic and a mission", and they did not rebut al-Qaeda when they said that "God will (help) Muslims to conquer Rome. ... God enable us to slit their throats, and make their money and descendants the bounty of the mujahideen".

I disagree with Robert Spencer: All these statement are inflammatory, and I would not jump to the conclusion that they're factual, though I don't doubt they express the intentions of those who said them. However, it's hypocritical to accept those quotes when they come from a Muslim, and see them as 'racist' when they come from a non-Muslim.

If Muslims keep silent while Islamists boast about how degenerate Europe is and how it will fall to Islam - whether by demographics or ideas - they should not complain later when people draw conclusions from those Islamists and apply generalizations to the whole Muslim community.

Update

IslamOnline joins the fray: Neocon Book Offends Canada Muslims. Again, attributing to Steyn statements made by Muslims. Al-Qaradawi, founder of IslamOnline, has made statements about Islam taking over Europe in the war of ideas. But that is, apparently, not offensive.