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September 28, 2006

France: Philosophy Teacher Receives Muslim Death Threats For Islam Article

We wrote on September 20 that a French philosophy professor, Robert Redeker, had written an article in the newspaper Le Figaro which gave a blasting critique of both Islam and the culture of intellectuals who supported Islam, as they had supported communism in the 1960s and 1970s.

My rather turgid translation of his article is contained in the piece we wrote, and I have been given a few tips from a Breton/English friend on how to improve it. The translation will be amended soon, but if you click here it can be read in its entirety.

Entitled: "What should the free world do in the face of Islamist intimidation?", or "Face aux intimidations islamistes, que doit faire le monde libre?", the article caused the interior ministry in Tunisia to ban all editions of Le Figaro which published it on September 19. Similarly, Egypt soon followed suit, banning Le Figaro, a German newspaper (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) and also the international newspaper published from London, the Guardian Weekly, according to Reporters Sans Frontieres, for similar articles which were critical of Islam.

But now, the inevitable situation has arisen, where once again free speech is met with the hysteria of Muslim death threats.

Agence France Presse via Expatica reports that today, Robert Redeker (pictured) is now under police protection as a result of the same Islamist intimidation he highlighted in his article.

Robert Redeker lives in the south of France, and teaches at a grammar school in the city of Toulouse, which has a high Muslim population. The principal at the school said: "He received written death threats in the form of emails. On the face of it they were pretty serious."

Police confirmed that Monsieur Redeker was under their protection, but did not state what form of security this entailed.

Once more, Islam is proving itself to be a hideous cancer that is gnawing away at the body politic of the West. Freedom of speech is becoming meaningless as the tumour of Islamism erodes the ability to speak freely, one of the true measures of a democratic society's health. Where will it all end?

UPDATE: I am grateful to our reader brubos, for pointing out to me that Pierre Rousselin, the editor of Le Figaro, made a public apology to the Muslim world, distancing himself entirely from the "shameful" and "Islamophobic" article. Shame should be upon Rousselin for his moral cowardice.

And a truly sad letter from Robert Redeker to his friend the philosopher Andre Gluksmann shows how isolated the philosopher has now become. Such is the price to be paid for exercising one's right to freedom of expression in the modern world. Betrayal (from one's editor) and terrorist threats placing one in fear of one's life. The following is my translation of this letter:

Dear Andre, greetings. I am now in a catastrophic personal situation. Several death threats have been sent to me, and I have been sentenced to death by organizations of the al-Qaeda movement.

UCLAT [l'Unite de Coordination de la Lutte Anti-Terroriste, the Anti-Terrorism Coordination Unit] and DST [Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire, the domestic anti-terrorism intelligence service] are busy, but....I no longer have the right to stay in my own home (on the websites condemning me to death there is a map showing how to get to my house to kill me, they have my photo, the places where I work, the telephone numbers, and the death fatwa).

But at the same time there is no safe place for me, I have to beg, two evenings here, two evenings there....I am am under the constant protection of the police. I must cancel all scheduled conferences. And the authorities urge me to keep moving. I am an SDF (of no fixed abode?). From here, there follows an insane financial situation, all costs are at my own expense, including those of rents a month or two ahead, the costs of moving twice, legal expenses, etc.

It's quite sad. I exercised my constitutional rights, and I am punished for it, even in the territory of the Republic. This affair is also an attack against national sovereignty - foreign rules, decided by criminally minded fanatics, punish me for having exercised a constitutional right, and I am subjected, even in France, to great injury

Regards

Robert Redeker

UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 29 - The Expatica article has been updated, and much of its material is also carried by the Times. Redeker spoke to French television station i-TV about his plight since writing the Le Figaro article.

He said that he had received several emails which not only threatened himself, but his wife and three children (Islam is the religion of peace and justice, of course). He said of one: "There is a very clear map of how to get to my home, with the words: 'This pig must have his head cut off'."

Another stated: "You will never again be safe on this earth. One billion, 300 million Muslims are ready to kill you."

In an interview with Europe 1 Radio, Robert Redeker said that the education ministry in France had left him alone and abandoned. He said that the ministry "has not even contacted me, has not deigned to get in touch to see if I need any help."

He said that his Islamist attackers had "already won a victory of sorts....I cannot do my job. I have no freedom of movement. I am in hiding. Already they have succeeded in punishing me...as if I was guilty of holding the wrong opinions."

The French Prime Minister, Dominic de Villepin, said: "We are in a democracy, everyone has the right to express his views freely - of course while respecting others. That is the only restriction that is acceptable on this freedom. This shows to what extent we live in a dangerous world....and how vigilant we must be to ensure people fully respect one another in our society."

The Paris state prosecutor's office launched an initial inquiry relating to "criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise" and asked the intelligence services to examine the death threats.

Yesterday the Education Minister, Gilles de Robien, said that he felt "solidarity" with Redeker, but gave a note of appeasement by stating that "a state employee must show prudence and moderation in all circumstances."

Redeker responded to the Education Minister's comments by stating that "if Robien is correct, then we would never have had any intellectual life in France. The function of politics is not tell us what we are allowed to think, but to defend our freedom to think and speak out."

Dalil Boubakeur, senior imam at the Mosquée de Paris and president of the Conseil Français du Culte Musulman (CFCM) condemned the death threats and said: "Nobody can take the law into his own hands."

Despite the snide behaviour of Pierre Rousselin, the editor of Le Figaro, the paper today made a declaration, which can be found HERE. It appeared on the front page of the print edition. It expressed solidarity with the philospher from the staff and editors, and condemned "with the greatest severity the grave attacks on freedom of thought and expression that this affair has provoked."

Shortly after the publication of Le Figaro, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, spiritual "leader" of the Muslim Brotherhood, appeared on his slot on Al Jazeera TV, and denounced Robert Redeker.

This is a rough translation of Le Figaro's statement of "solidarity":

"In Le Figaro, dated Friday, the director of publishing and director of content of the daily paper respond to the placing under police protection of a philosopher, threatened with death for having written an article highly critical of Islam in the columns of Figaro.

We condemn with the greatest severity the serious attacks on freedom of thought and freeedom of expression that this affair has provoked."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at September 28, 2006 9:44 AM

Comments

Posted by: brubos at September 28, 2006 8:02 PM

Posted by: Giraldus Cambrensis at September 28, 2006 9:39 PM

Posted by: brubos at September 29, 2006 5:25 AM

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