Daniel Pipes on the 10th anniversary of the murder of Theo van Gogh

"I want to emphasize two things, firstly, that this is not about freedom of speech at all: yes, the battleground is freedom of speech, but the theme is Western civilization; freedom of speech is just a background, the problem is whether Western civilization will survive or not. Secondly, because of what I call the Rushdie rules, Westerners' right to say critical and provocative things about Islam has declined over the last 25 years." This is part of what the American historian, author and commentator Daniel Pipes said at the International Conference of the Free Press Association on the tenth anniversary of the murder of Theo van Gogh.