The International Free Press Society (IFPS), founded in 2009, is a creation of the Danish Free Press Society. The stated purpose of IFPS "is to defend

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

wherever and by whomever it is threatened". It has been described as a key component of the

counter-jihad Counter-jihad (also known as the counter-jihad movement) is a self-titled Islamophobia, anti-Muslim political movement loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, demonstrators, and other activists across the Western world. Proponents are ...

movement.

Overview

The IFPS was created as an extension of the Danish Free Press Society, founded in 2004 by

Lars Hedegaard Lars Hedegaard Jensen (born 19 September 1942) is a Danish author, historian, editor, journalist and critic of Islam. He established the International Free Press Society in 2009, an extension of the Danish Free Press Society founded in 2004, of ...

among others. According to its own account, the Free Press Society arose because of increasing pressure on

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

, including the ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoon crisis. The Free Press Society claims to be "Denmark's biggest organisation exclusively devoted to defending the right of free expression." The society is considered a key component of the

movement and in the article ''The Muslim Conspiracy and the Oslo Massacre'' Liz Fekete, the executive director of the independent educational charity named

Institute of Race Relations The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is a think tank based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1958 in order to publish research on race relations worldwide, and in 1972 was transformed into an "anti-racist think tank". Proposed by ''Sund ...

, argues that it is an instrument for pushing the boundaries of hate speech. The International Free Press Society has contact with a range of international critics of Islam who argue that islamisation threatens

Freedom of Speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

, including

Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ayaan Hirsi Ali (; born 13 November 1969) is a Dutch and American writer, activist, conservative thinker and former politician. She is a critic of Islam and an advocate for the rights and self-determination of Muslim women, opposing forced mar ...

Ibn Warraq Ibn Warraq (born 1946) is the pen name of an anonymous author critical of Islam. He is the founder of the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society and used to be a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry, focusing on Qurani ...

Daniel Pipes Daniel Pipes (born September 9, 1949) is an American former professor and commentator on foreign policy and the Middle East. He is the president of the Middle East Forum, and publisher of its ''Middle East Quarterly'' journal. His writing focus ...

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives. Wilders is best known for his right-wing p ...

, Bruce Bawer and

Henryk Broder Henryk Marcin Broder (born 20 August 1946), self-designation Henryk Modest Broder, is a Polish-born German journalist, author, and television personality. He was born into a Jewish family in Katowice, Poland. Broder is especially interested in ...

. It also relays information from other sources, amongst which are the blogs Gates of Vienna and

Jihad Watch Jihad Watch is an American far-right Islamophobic blog operated by Robert Spencer. A project of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Jihad Watch is the most popular blog within the counter-jihad movement. Organization The site features comment ...

, which have been characterised as

islamophobic Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

. The Danish Free Press Society, among others, awarded Danish cartoonist

Kurt Westergaard Kurt Westergaard (born Kurt Vestergaard; 13 July 1935 – 14 July 2021) was a Danish cartoonist. In 2005 he drew a cartoon of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, wearing a bomb in his turban as a part of the ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons, whic ...

the Sappho Award, an award given to a 'journalist who combines excellence in his work with courage and a refusal to compromise'. His editor

Flemming Rose Flemming Rose (born 11 March 1958) is a Danish journalist, author and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute. He previously served as foreign affairs editor at the Danish newspaper ''Jyllands-Posten''. As culture editor of the same newspaper, he was ...

is another recipient. As culture editor of ''Jyllands-Posten'' he commissioned the Muhammad cartoons, a move that resulted in the chief editor sending him on leave.

Muslim hate-speech case

On 22 December 2009 the Chairman of the Danish Free Press Society, and then member of the

Danish People's Party The Danish People's Party (DPP; , DF) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Denmark. It was formed in 1995 by former members of the Progress Party (FrP). The party saw a period of significant growth after its founding a ...

, Lars Hedegaard, gave an interview in which he declared that

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s "rape their own children. It is heard of all the time. Girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles, their cousins or their fathers." He also stated that "Whenever it is prudent for a Muslim to hide his true intentions by lying or making a false oath in his own or in Islam’s service, then it is ok to do it."

Søren Krarup Søren Krarup (3 December 1937 – 8 November 2023) was a Danish pastor, writer and politician who served as a Member of the Folketing, member of the Folketing, Danish Parliament from 2001 to 2011 for the Danish People's Party. Krarup was a sig ...

a fellow party member, said that Hedegaard's remarks were justified, though they could have been more "carefully" stated. He instead blamed the controversy on a "media mafia" whom he accused of distorting Hedegaard's statements. Søren Espersen defended Hedegaard's remarks. Others were more critical, and Hedegaard's interview led to the immediate resignation of three Free Press Society board members:

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Søren Pind Søren Pind (born 20 November 1969) is a Danish lawyer and former politician. He served as Denmark, Danish Justice Minister of Denmark, Minister of Justice from 2015 to 2016, and as Government of Denmark, Minister of Science, Technology, Informat ...

the Conservative Party's Integration spokesman

Naser Khader Naser Khader ( Levantine pronunciation: ; born 1 July 1963) is a Syrian-Danish politician and member of the Folketing 2001–2011 and again 2015–2022. Until 2021 he was a member of the Conservative People's Party. He was first electe ...

and the Lutheran priest Kathrine Lilleør. Vicechairman in the Integration Council in

Aarhus Municipality Aarhus Municipality (), known as Århus Municipality () until 2011, is a ''Municipalities of Denmark, kommune'' in the Central Denmark Region, on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in central Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and ...

Yilmaz Evcil reported Lars Hedegaard to the police, and the public attorney chose to make a case against him for violating the Danish anti-racism laws. His trial began 24 January 2011. He was acquitted of all charges on 31 January 2011; however, the Eastern Regional Court reversed the acquittal in May 2011. He appealed against the verdict, and in 2012, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

acquitted him in a 7-0 decision.

Organization

The "Board of Directors" includes Lars Hedegaard, Diana West,

Paul Beliën Paul Beliën (born 1959) is a Flemish Belgian political operative, writer, and former journalist and founder of the right-wing blog '' The Brussels Journal''. Beliën has a Master of Laws with specialisations in European and social security l ...

(editor of

The Brussels Journal The Brussels Journal is a conservative blog, founded by the Flemish journalist Paul Beliën. It is consistently named as one of the counter-jihad movement's main channels. It was founded in 2005, and has both an English language section with various ...

), Christine Brim, Bjørn Larsen and Edward S. May (editor of Gates of Vienna). It has national branches in such countries as the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where

Paul Weston Paul Weston (né Wetstein; March 12, 1912 – September 20, 1996) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and conductor who worked in music and television from the 1930s to the 1970s, pioneering mood music and becoming known as "the Fathe ...

is or was the President of the English branch. The Board of Advisors includes

Bat Ye'or Gisèle Littman (; born 1933), better known by her pen name Bat Ye'or (, ''Daughter of the Nile''), is an Egyptian-born, British-Swiss author and historian, known for her promulgation of the Eurabia conspiracy theory. She claims that Islam, and ...

, Andrew Bostom,

Rachel Ehrenfeld Rachel Ehrenfeld is an American political commentator on terrorism and political corruption, corruption-related topics, and serves as director of a conservative think tank, the American Center for Democracy, and its Economic Warfare Institute. Ehr ...

, Brigitte Gabriel,

Frank Gaffney Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (born April 5, 1953) is an American defense policy analyst and founder of the Center for Security Policy (CSP). He founded the CSP in 1988, serving as its president until 2023, and thereafter as executive chairman. In the 1 ...

, David B. Harris,

Hans Jansen Johannes Juliaan Gijsbert "Hans" Jansen (17 November 1942 – 5 May 2015) was a Dutch politician, scholar of contemporary Islam and author.Ehsan Jami Ehsan Jami (born April 20, 1985) is an Iranian-born Dutch politician, activist and author who co-founded the former Central Committee for Ex-Muslims. He was previously a member of the Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA) before becoming active in the PVV ...

, Philippe Karsenty,

Roger Kimball Roger Kimball (born 1953) is an American art critic and Conservatism, conservative social commentator. He is the editor and publisher of ''The New Criterion'' and the publisher of Encounter Books. Kimball first gained notice in the early 1990s w ...

Ezra Levant Ezra Isaac Levant (born February 20, 1972) is a Canadian media personality, political activist, writer, broadcaster, and former lawyer. Levant is the founder and former publisher of the conservative magazine, the'' Western Standard''. He is als ...

, Kenneth Levin,

Andrew C. McCarthy Andrew C. McCarthy III (born ) is an American lawyer and columnist for ''National Review''. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He led the 1995 terrorism prosecution against Sheikh Omar Abdel-R ...

, Nidra Poller,

Roger Scruton Sir Roger Vernon Scruton, (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher, writer, and social critic who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of Conservatism in the United Kingdom, c ...

Kathy Shaidle Kathy Shaidle (7 May 1964 – 9 January 2021) was a Canadian author, columnist, poet and blogger. A self-described "anarcho-peacenik" in the early years of her writing career, she moved to a conservative, Catholic Church in Canada, Roman Cathol ...

, Robert Spencer, Martin Mawyer,

Mark Steyn Mark Steyn () is a Canadian author and a radio, television, and on-line presenter. He has written several books, including The New York Times Best Seller list, ''The New York Times'' bestsellers ''America Alone'', ''After America (Steyn book), A ...

, Brad Thor, Bruce Thornton, Allen West,

, Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi,

Sam Solomon Sam Solomon is the pseudonym of a British former Muslim author who specialises in Islam and Sharia law. He is a Christian convert, and is known for "A Proposed Charter of Muslim Understanding", as well as the Al Hijra-theory of Muslim immigration. ...

, Helle Merete Brix and Stephen Coughlin.

Gunman attack on Lars Hedegaard

On 5 February 2013 it was reported that a gunman had tried to shoot the organization's president,

. Hedegaard was not physically harmed. The attack was condemned by Denmark's prime minister

Helle Thorning-Schmidt Helle Thorning-Schmidt (; born 14 December 1966) is a Danish retired politician who served as the 26th Prime Minister of Denmark from 2011 to 2015, and Leader of the Social Democrats from 2005 to 2015. She is the first woman to have held each p ...

, other leading Danish politicians and Dutch politician

.Kenneth Lun
Politikere er forfærdede: Nu må vi stå sammen
(In Danish) ''

Politiken ''Politiken'' is a leading Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was founded in 1884 and played a role in the formation of the Danish Social Liberal Party. Since 1970 it has been indepe ...

'', February 5, 2013

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://internationalfreepresssociety.wordpress.com/ 2009 establishments in Denmark Anti-Islam sentiment in Denmark Counter-jihad Freedom of expression organizations Organizations established in 2009 Political organizations based in Denmark