Nonie Darwish is a former Muslim who lived under Islamic law (sharia) for the first thirty years of her life.  She is the director of Former Muslims United and the author of Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law.  Darwish is credible and erudite, and a fierce critic of Islam and Islamic law.  At the same time, she takes pains to separate her criticism of Islam and Islamic law from criticism of Muslims.

CAIR is the Council on American Islamic Relations, a national organization in the United States which has been very active in trying to prevent critics of Islam and anything related to it from speaking their mind or otherwise expressing themselves.  CAIR's efforts are a direct, frontal attack on free speech and freedom of expression in America, and the organization has been called to task by freedom-loving Americans and many others on innumerable occasions.

Darwish was invited to speak at the George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia on October 5 by the school's Federalist Society and Jewish Law Students Association. Her scheduled lecture was called "The West's Clash with Radicalism."

CAIR tried very hard to prevent Darwish from speaking, and, by extension, to prevent law students at George Mason from listening to what she had to say.  It was yet another blatant attempt by CAIR to restrict free speech and freedom of expression, to shut down and shut up people who say or write things it doesn't like, and to censor those it doesn't want to express themselves.

In a stinging rebuke to CAIR, the George Mason University School of Law stood tall for freedom of speech and freedom of expression and allowed the lecture by Darwish to go ahead.  The university took a very principled stand, firmly rejected CAIR and its arguments, and placed itself squarely on the side of civil liberties and the American way of life, despite the usual harassment, intimidation, and threats by CAIR and its fellow travelers.

Congratulations and thanks to all concerned...to Nonie Darwish, to the people at George Mason who invited her and defended her right to be there and their right to listen to her, and to the University and the Law School for not backing down and defending basic American values and principles.  CAIR and others of its ilk are mortal enemies of freedom, democracy, and America itself.  These entities must be fought at every turn, despite the costs involved, if America and the American ideal are to survive.  George Mason's actions are a victory for freedom-loving, patriotic Americans everywhere.