Lars Hedegaard

Last updated

Lars Hedegaard
Lars Hedegaard in 2014.png
Hedegaard in 2014
Born
Lars Hedegaard Jensen

(1942-09-19) 19 September 1942 (age 82)
Horsens, Denmark
Education Aarhus University (cand.phil.)
University of Copenhagen (cand.mag.)
Occupations
  • Author
  • historian
  • editor
  • journalist
Organisations

Lars Hedegaard (born 19 September 1942) is a Danish author, historian, editor, journalist and critic of Islam. [1] He established the International Free Press Society in 2009, an extension of the Danish Free Press Society founded in 2004, [2] of which he served as chairman until 2014. [3] Hedegaard was the subject of an assassination attempt in 2013, after which he has lived under police protection. [4]

Contents

Career

Hedegaard was born in Horsens. [5] He received a cand.phil. degree in history from Aarhus University in 1971, and a cand.mag. in English from the University of Copenhagen in 1973. [6] At first a high school teacher, he later worked as an editorial publisher of Sage Publishing [7] in Los Angeles in the mid-to-late 1970s. [5] He was also one of the editors and driving forces behind the Fundamental historie series of modern history books around the same time. [7] A self-described Marxist, [8] [a] he was politically active as a member of the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party until 1982. [9] He was the editor of the Politiken publishing house in the early 1980s, [10] and the chief editor of Dagbladet Information in the late 1980s, [5] until he was forced to leave the left-wing newspaper after he helped expose the far-left Blekingegade Gang. [11] He was an editor for the Nordic Council throughout the 1990s, [5] and became part of the satirical editorial column "Groft sagt" for Berlingske Tidende in 1998. [11] He wrote for the column until he was fired from the newspaper in 2008, according to himself because he had been told to stop writing about Islam by a new editor-in-chief, which he refused to do. [12]

Criticism of Islam

Hedegaard became known as a critic of Islam shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001. [13] He co-authored the book I krigens hus: Islams kolonisering af Vesten about Islam's "colonisation of the West" in the "house of war" with Helle Merete Brix in 2003, which has been described as a part of the "Eurabia narrative". [13] He founded the Danish Free Press Society in 2004 after Danish PEN objected to admit him as a member due to his writings in I krigens hus, [7] and established the International Free Press Society in 2009, which has been described as a central networking hub for the counter-jihad movement. [2] Hedegaard has been described as a part of the counter-jihad movement, [14] [15] [16] having participated in several of the international counter-jihad conferences held since 2007. [17] [18]

Hedegaard speaking at Mosbjerg Folkefest in 2015 (in Danish)

He was a member of the Danish People's Party, although it was not publicly known, until resigning his membership in 2010 after he had been charged with hate speech. [19] He joined the New Right party in 2016. [20] In 2014 he released an animated film that he co-produced with Pakistani filmmaker Imran Firasat entitled Aisha and Muhammad, which focuses on the life of the fifty-year-old Islamic prophet Muhammad and his marriage to a then six-year-old Aisha. [21] He has also collaborated with Lars Vilks, known for his Muhammad drawings controversy. [5] In 2016, Hedegaard participated in a "counterjihad" panel at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the United States, sponsored by Frank Gaffney and the Center for Security Policy. [22]

Hate speech trial and acquittal

In December 2009, Hedegaard was reported to the police by Yilmaz Evcil of the Århus Municipality integration council for comments made against Muslims. [23] He had made critical remarks against the Islamic society, which included "they rape their own children. You hear it all the time. Girls in Muslim families are raped by their uncles, their cousins or their father". [24] He was first acquitted in January 2011 because the statements were made in an interview with the blog Snaphanen that he claimed he did not know would be publicised publicly. [25] Later the same year, in May, the acquittal was reversed as he was convicted of hate speech under the Article 266b, and fined 5,000 kr, [26] even as he clarified that he did not intend to accuse all Muslims of abusing their children. [27] He appealed the second verdict, and in April 2012, the Supreme Court of Denmark finally acquitted him in a 7–0 decision. [28]

Assassination attempt

On 5 February 2013, a gunman posing as a postman attempted to shoot Hedegaard at his home. The gunshot narrowly missed his head, and the assailant escaped after a scuffle after his gun jammed. [29] The Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt condemned the attack and said the case was even more severe if the motive was to prevent Hedegaard from using his free speech. [30] [31] [32] Danish Muslims responded by rallying to defend Hedegaard and to defend his right to free speech. The Islam Society, which had been heavily involved in the protest against the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons and helped to publicise their opposition internationally, stated that it regretted its role during the controversy, and the Danish branch of Minhaj-ul-Quran demonstrated outside the City Hall in defence of Hedegaard and free speech. [33]

Since the attack, Hedegaard has been constantly guarded by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service (PET), and has had to live in hiding in a rural place in Denmark on a secret address. [4] He has said that the high rent cost of the highly secured residence offered to him by PET has ruined him financially. [34] He went on a leave of absence as chairman of the Danish Free Press Society after the assassination attempt, and finally left the position to Katrine Winkel Holm in 2014. [35] He wrote a book about the assassination attempt in 2015, titled Attentatet. [36] [37] He was thereafter charged with naming the suspected shooter in his book against a court prohibition, and in 2016 sentenced to a fine of 10,000 kr. [38] [39]

In November 2016, the US State Department issued a note, designating three persons as terror-operatives, one of whom was Basil Hassan, an external operations plotter for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who was accused of having attempted to shoot Hedegaard. Hassan was said to have been released as part of an alleged exchange for 49 hostages held by ISIL after having been arrested in Turkey in 2014, and was believed to have travelled to Syria to join ISIL after his release. [40] The prohibition on naming Hassan by a Danish court was lifted in December 2016. [41]

Memoirs and recognition

Hedegaard authored two volumes of memoirs in 2010 and 2011, Verden var så rød, mor, about the period 1942–80, and Ræven går derude, mor, about the period 1980–2011. [11] He received the Raoul Wallenberg Medal in 2005, and the Defender of Freedom Award and the Niels Ebbesen Medal in 2012. [11] Also in 2012, the Danish Free Press Society published a 302-page Festschrift to Hedegaard, titled Frem for alt frihed: festskrift til Lars Hedegaard, with over twenty-one main contributors, both Danish and international. [42] [b]

Personal life

Hedegaard has been married twice. In 1969, he converted to Judaism in connection with his marriage to his first wife, Jewish-American Barbara Levin. Hedegaard has three children and one step-daughter. [5]

Bibliography

Notes

  1. ↑ Hedegaard still considered himself a Marxist in 2008, in the sense that he said he applied Marxist analysis in his writings. [8]
  2. ↑ The Festschrift was edited by Jens Gregersen, Katrine Winkel Holm, Bent Jensen and Kit Louise Strand, and the full list of contributors included Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Mark Steyn, Bruce Bawer, Sven Ove Gade, Mogens Rukov, Kurt Westergaard, Daniel Pipes, Henrik Gade Jensen, Mikael Jalving, Naser Khader, Roger Scruton, Kasper Støvring, Bent Blüdnikow, Søren Espersen, Wafa Sultan, Hans Hauge, Pia Kjærsgaard, Ibn Warraq, Karen Jespersen, David Gress, Morten Uhrskov Jensen, Lars Vilks, Lone Nørgaard, Søren Krarup, Claes Kastholm Hansen, Phyllis Chesler, Kai Sørlander, Jesper Langballe, Farshad Kholghi, Diana West, Gregorius Nekschot, Niels Thomsen, Jeppe Juhl, Kim Møller, Ulla Nørtoft Hansen and Asger Aamund.

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References

  1. ↑ "Hvem er Lars Hedegaard?". DR (in Danish). 7 February 2013. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024.
  2. 1 2 Sedgwick, Mark (2019). Key Thinkers of the Radical Right: Behind the New Threat to Liberal Democracy. Oxford University. p. 175. ISBN   9780190877613.
  3. ↑ Bergløv, Emil (28 February 2014). "Lars Hedegaard stopper som formand for Trykkefrihedsselskabet" . Politiken (in Danish). Archived from the original on 1 April 2024.
  4. 1 2 Søndergaard, Britta (10 October 2015). "Mordtruslen vil altid hænge over Lars Hedegaard: Jeg er ikke bange, jeg er rasende". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Archived from the original on 1 April 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Fakta om Lars Hedegaard". DR (in Danish). 5 February 2013. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Fahrendorff, Rasmus (15 September 2022). "Han begyndte som idealistisk marxist – og endte som hårdtslående islamkritiker". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Archived from the original on 1 April 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 Knippel, Lars Ole (19 September 2012). "Karsk og kontroversiel". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Archived from the original on 2 April 2024.
  8. 1 2 "'Jeg er da stadig marxist ...'". Dagbladet Information (in Danish). 31 January 2008. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020.
  9. ↑ Berntzen, Lars Erik (2019). Liberal Roots of Far Right Activism: The Anti-Islamic Movement in the 21st Century. Routledge. p. 173. ISBN   9781000707960.
  10. ↑ "Blå bog om Lars Hedegaard". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Ritzau. 12 October 2014. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Blüdnikow, Bent (16 September 2017). "Venstrefløjens onde ånd". JydskeVestkysten (in Danish). Archived from the original on 9 January 2025.
  12. ↑ Dahl, Niels Th. (12 November 2008). "Berlingske fyrer kendt islam-kritiker". Altinget (in Danish). Archived from the original on 1 April 2024.
  13. 1 2 Doyle, Natalie; Ahmad, Irfan, eds. (2019). (Il)liberal Europe: Islamophobia, Modernity and Radicalization. Routledge. p. 125. ISBN   9781351850896.
  14. ↑ Aked, H.; Jones, M.; Miller, D. (2019). Islamophobia in Europe: How governments are enabling the far-right 'counter-jihad' movement (PDF). Public Interest Investigations. University of Bristol. pp. 16, 59. hdl: 1983/cd525157-683a-493b-b27f-9a5ffbca312c . ISBN   9780957027497.
  15. ↑ Pertwee, Ed (2020). "Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 43 (16): 211–230. doi: 10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688 . S2CID   218843237.
  16. ↑ Othen, Christopher (2018). Soldiers of a Different God: How the Counter-Jihad Movement Created Mayhem, Murder and the Trump Presidency. Amberley. p. 98. ISBN   9781445678009.
  17. ↑ Hannus, Martha (2012). Counterjihadrörelsen– en del av den antimuslimska miljön (PDF) (in Swedish). Expo Research. p. 67. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2024.
  18. ↑ Lazaridis, Gabriella; Campani, Giovanna (2016). Understanding the Populist Shift: Othering in a Europe in Crisis. Taylor & Francis. pp. 84, 91–92. ISBN   9781317326069.
  19. ↑ Nielsen, Rasmus Dam (29 January 2010). "Lars Hedegaard melder sig ud af DF" . Politiken (in Danish). Archived from the original on 1 April 2024.
  20. ↑ "Islamkritikeren Lars Hedegaard melder sig under Nye Borgerliges faner". Berlingske (in Danish). Ritzau. 31 May 2016. Archived from the original on 9 January 2025.
  21. ↑ Wenande, Christian (3 July 2014). "Lars Hedegaard among the producers of new anti-Islam animation". Copenhagen Post. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014.
  22. ↑ "CPAC 2016: Anti-Muslim Commentary Galore". Southern Poverty Law Center. 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024.
  23. ↑ "Lars Hedegaard meldt til politi for racisme" . Politiken (in Danish). Ritzau. 22 December 2009. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023.
  24. ↑ "Lars Hedegaard dømt for racisme". DR (in Danish). Ritzau. 3 May 2011. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024.
  25. ↑ Rathje, Michael (31 January 2011). "Hedegaard frifindes for racisme". TV 2 (in Danish). Ritzau. Archived from the original on 9 January 2025.
  26. ↑ Madsen, Jens Jørgen (3 May 2011). "Lars Hedegaard dømt for racisme". Journalisten (in Danish). Archived from the original on 1 April 2024.
  27. ↑ Søndberg, Astrid; Abolhosseini, Farzam (3 May 2011). "Lars Hedegaard er dømt for racisme" . Politiken (in Danish). Archived from the original on 1 April 2024.
  28. ↑ Malacinski, Leny (20 April 2012). "Lars Hedegaard frifundet for racisme". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Archived from the original on 6 April 2024.
  29. ↑ Gehlert, Jon (6 February 2013). "Islamkritiker undgik akkurat en kugle for panden". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Archived from the original on 3 April 2024.
  30. ↑ "Denmark shooting: Gunman targets Islam critic Hedegaard". BBC News. 5 February 2013. Archived from the original on 1 June 2024.
  31. ↑ "Danish critic of Islam attacked by gunman". The Guardian. Associated Press. 5 February 2013. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024.
  32. ↑ "Gunman fires at Danish anti-Islam writer, misses". The Washington Post. 5 February 2013. Archived from the original on 6 February 2013.
  33. ↑ Higgins, Andrew (27 February 2013). "Danish Opponent of Islam Is Attacked, and Muslims Defend His Right to Speak" . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024.
  34. ↑ Hemmingsen, Lasse (13 October 2014). "Lars Hedegaard: Jeg overlever på almisser". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Archived from the original on 4 April 2024.
  35. ↑ Kott, Sarah (28 February 2014). "Lars Hedegaard går af som formand for Trykkefrihedsselskabet". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Archived from the original on 5 April 2024.
  36. ↑ Lilleør, Kathrine (8 October 2015). "Den milde kriger". Berlingske (in Danish). Archived from the original on 3 April 2024.
  37. ↑ Jensen, Henrik (9 October 2015). "Ikke den gennemsnitligt "flinke fyr"" . Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Archived from the original on 3 April 2024.
  38. ↑ Kjøller, Andersl (4 March 2016). "Hedegaard får bøde for at bryde navneforbud". Berlingske (in Danish). Archived from the original on 9 January 2025.
  39. ↑ "Landsret holder fast i bødestraf til Hedegaard i navnesag". TV 2 (in Danish). Ritzau. 14 September 2016. Archived from the original on 3 April 2024.
  40. ↑ "State Department Terrorist Designations of Abdullah Ahmed al-Meshedani, Basil Hassan, and Abdelilah Himich". United States Department of State. 22 November 2016. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024.
  41. ↑ "Mistænkt for Hedegaard-attentat mister navnebeskyttelse". TV 2 (in Danish). Ritzau. 15 December 2016. Archived from the original on 4 April 2024.
  42. ↑ Nord, Johan Christian (2012). "En hyldest til ytringsfriheden - Anmeldelse af "Frem for alt frihed. Festskrift til Lars Hedegaard"". Replique. 2 (9): 127–131 – via Issuu.

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