STORY SUMMARY
by Rami G. Khouri
One of the most fascinating, if problematic, recent incidents relating to the extent of allowable free speech in the United States took place this week when Brandeis University withdrew an invitation to the Somali-Dutch-American anti-Islamic firebrand Ayaan Hirsi Ali to give a speech and receive an honorary degree.
I applaud the decision to withdraw the invitation, because Hirsi Ali’s wild and mostly false criticisms of the Islamic faith should not be honored with a degree from a quality university such as Brandeis.
The problem with this kind of hate talk, especially in societies such as American society where anger against Islam and Muslims is high due to the Sept. 11, 2011 and other attacks, is that it creates an environment in which all Muslims become permissible targets of violent racists and hatemongers; then it becomes acceptable to talk about other groups – such as the Chinese, Jews, Italians or Hispanics – in the same manner.
The problem in Brandeis’ case was that the university extended the invitation before knowing enough about Hirsi Ali’s vocation of anti-Islamic hate-mongering and intellectual hooliganism.
Hirsi Ali drew attention initially because she was an entertainer whose product is hate and venom, in a wounded American society that will accept almost any criticism of Islam or Muslims in its elusive quest to understand why it was attacked by a handful of Muslim terrorists among a world of 1.4 billion nonviolent Muslims.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2014/Apr-16/253461-silencing-ayaan-hirsi-alis-hate-talk.ashx#ixzz2z1buItm0
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Categories: Americas, United States
Thanks, Raziya Mohamedali, for bringing this to me.
The word “Islam” can either be used as food or as a weapon. Ghazni used it as a weapon – to achieve his own ends. I use it as nourishment. Hersi is attacking the weapon and calling those who are using weapons Muslims. She is very articulate and intellectually strong – a champion for women’s rights and a lot of good things. But only she knows why she is not ready to separate Ghazniism from Islam’s simple message.
Nonetheless, she and others like her must not be given free rein to use our airwaves or digital space, as peace- (ie Islam-)loving people, to propagate her message. There are many anti-Muslims who do that and still fail to call it “theft.” They call it “war” :0[ against the Islamist. Yet, they are throwing rocks at innocent people!
I fully agree that they indulge in hurting the sensibilities of innocent Muslims. Islam is great. Ghazniism is not Islam. Poison is not food but both can be ingested through the mouth. Both can be made to look the same.
We see in the other what we feel best befits ourselves, no? I think Hersi would concur with that, too.
Thanks, Raziya Mohamedali, for bringing this to me.
The word “Islam” can either be used as food or as a weapon. Ghazni used it as a weapon – to achieve his own ends. I use it as nourishment. Hirsi is attacking the weapon and calling those who are misusing weapons Muslims. She is very articulate and intellectually strong – a champion for women’s rights and a lot of good things. But only she knows why she is not ready to separate the brutality of Ghazniism from Islam’s simple message.
Nonetheless, she and others like her must not be given free rein to use our airwaves or digital space, as peace- (ie Islam-)loving people, to propagate her message. There are many anti-Muslims who do that and still fail to call it “theft.” They call it “war” :0[ against the Islamist. Yet, they are throwing rocks at innocent people!
I fully agree that they indulge in hurting the sensibilities of innocent Muslims. Islam is great. Ghazniism is not Islam. Poison is not food but both can be ingested through the mouth. Both can be made to look the same.
We see in the other what we feel best reflects the part of ourselves that causes us most to recoil, no? I think Hirsi would concur with that, too. She is filling her ignorant (hungry and thirsty) audience (the way Brandeis nearly fell for it, too) with nothing but weight. But it is all goo that will eventually lock them up in darkness for ages.
There is so much good in Islam that even when the poorest wish to use it to live their lives and take the dregs from its teaching and pervert the intentions of the revelation to legitimise the worst kinds of ghazniisms, they feel they benefit. But knowingly doing so and not correcting those who have gone of the path, surely, is grossly misleading? Hersiites as much as Musims have to stop the mindless carnage and bring some intellectual discourse onto the stage. We are all on the stage and the most responsible, the most successful ones can only be the ones who practice the best of ethics, the best of Islam.
They know this and yet they deny it. Why they do so is for another article.