Anti-Islam Activists Banned From British Right-Wing Rally, Opponents Cry Free Speech Blockage

The British government has banned two American anti-Islam activists from entering the European country-a move that has incited backlash and debate over the lines of free speech.

The New York Times reported that Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer-conservative bloggers who founded the organization Stop Islamization of America-received letters from Britain's home secretary Theresa May, saying that their visit to England would "not be conducive to the public good."

Geller and Spencer were scheduled to speak at a rally on Saturday for the right-wing English Defense League in the city of Woolwich, where British soldier Lee Rigby was brutally murdered in the middle of the day on May 22 by a machete-wielding man.

SIA's relationship with the EDL comes from the English organization's support for their activism against a mosque and community center planned to be built close to the World Trade Center's site in Manhattan.

Government officials told the New York Times that their decision to bar the pair from entering Britain was based on the potentiality of violence spurred by provocative rhetoric used in SIA's speeches.

Geller wrote on her blog that the only crime she committed lay in her "principled dedication to freedom."

Spencer, who operates the Jihad Watch website, said England's announcement of a ban targeted people who "oppose jihad violence and Islamic supremacism."

May defended her decision by citing spikes in Islam-targeted violence on mosques and other religious centers since military drummer Rigby was murdered by two men who said they are Muslim.

Additionally, a mosque in the town of Redditch was recently vandalized, painted with Swastikas, racist slogans sprayed on the walls, with the letters EDL dotted all over. May also referred to this report in defense of her move to ban the pair's visit.

"They only wanted to come here and help the EDL stir up more trouble," researcher for anti-racism group Hope Not Hate Matthew Collins said. "Britain doesn't need more hate, even just for a few days."

But those that oppose the ban said on Thursday that barring two people from speaking out for a cause they believe in is a form of blocking free speech.

Leftist British commentator James Bloodworth said that Geller and Spencer could become "free speech martyrs," which might detract from the argument against hate speech.

"These people already self-pityingly style themselves as a silent majority whose opinions are repressed by the state," he wrote on Left Foot Forward. "Do we really want to provide them with such easy ammunition to throw back at us? Banning them for what they might say is also dangerous territory. Free speech within the law should be paramount."