http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4763520.stm Last Updated: Wednesday, 1 March 2006, 16:46 GMT E-mail this to a friend Printable version Writers issue cartoon row warning The cartoons provoked outrage across the Muslim world Salman Rushdie is among a dozen writers to have put their names to a statement in a French weekly paper warning against Islamic "totalitarianism". The writers say the violence sparked by the publication of cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad shows the need to fight for secular values and freedom. The statement is published in Charlie Hebdo, one of several European papers to reprint the caricatures. The images, first published in Denmark, have angered Muslims across the world. One showed the Prophet Muhammad, whose depiction is banned in Islam, as a terrorist bomber. Many newspapers defended their decision to reprint the cartoons on the grounds of freedom of expression. 'Global threat' Almost all of those who have signed the statement have experienced difficulties with Islamic militancy first-hand, says the BBC's Caroline Wyatt in Paris. They include Dutch MP and filmmaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali and exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen. STATEMENT SIGNATORIES Salman Rushdie - Indian-born British writer with fatwa issued ordering his execution for The Satanic Verses Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Somali-born Dutch MP Taslima Nasreen - exiled Bangladeshi writer, with fatwa issued ordering her execution Bernard-Henri Levy - French philosopher Chahla Chafiq - Iranian writer exiled in France Caroline Fourest - French writer Irshad Manji - Ugandan refugee and writer living in Canada Mehdi Mozaffari - Iranian academic exiled in Denmark Maryam Namazie - Iranian writer living in Britain Antoine Sfeir - director of French review examining Middle East Ibn Warraq - US academic of Indian/Pakistani origin Philippe Val - director of Charlie Hebdo "After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new global threat: Islamism," the manifesto says. "We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all." The clashes over the cartoons "revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values," the statement continues. "It is not a clash of civilisations nor an antagonism of West and East that we are witnessing, but a global struggle that confronts democrats and theocrats." The writers said they refused to accept that Muslim men and women "should be deprived of their rights to equality, liberty or secularity in the name of respect for culture or tradition". They also said they would not give up their critical spirit out of fear of being accused of Islamophobia. "Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present," the writers added, saying it is nurtured by fears and frustrations. ********* "After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new global threat: Islamism," the manifesto says. "We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all." The clashes over the cartoons "revealed the necessity of the struggle for these universal values," the statement continues. "Islamism is a reactionary ideology which kills equality, freedom and secularism wherever it is present," These are very, very serious charges made by intellectuals & writers, 12 famous writers from all religons & multiple countries, say what alot of people are thinking about this religon. we also have a few muslim writers here, who are also making these joint statements. I have said time & time again we have a major problem here, its about time academics came forward to stop all this madness. "religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all." What a very good well written manifesto, which confronts islam head on, these guys seem to have more balls than our politicians. I hope this is the start of a unified effort world wide to modernise this religon.
You know its funny i provide conclusive proof that europe is very concerned about islam, and the anti racist crowd has no answer to these charges. In my immediate family there are 2 different religons practised, in my relatives family there are 3 religons practised, what makes islam so unique in that only 1 religon is practised in there families. I believe in order to end religous hatred we all should be allowed to choose our own religon, that way when you have mixed religons in a family unit, there can be no divide, why can muslims not accept freedom of religon in there families.
They said what they thought about "Islamism". I think you're confusing that with "Islam". You don't read many academic articles, do you? Mostly newspapers, by the looks of it. I think you missed the point. They don't want to modernise a religion, but to call for "resistance to religious totalitarianism". Read more carefully, vincent. Do you really think the statement that "Europe is very concerned about Islam" is news to anybody? (Again, you conflate "Islam" and "Islamism".) For the same reason Christians cannot accept freedom of religion in their families. Think about it. It's simple.
I disagree on that James, i have relations in singapore, & within that same family there are christians & buddhists, i have what a 100 relatives, yet i can give you one example of a mixed religons within a christian family, this can be hardly unique to my family. I dont claim to a expert on christianty, i know very little about them. Problems with religons are caused by isolation, a classic example is ireland they have had decades of troubles, all because they chose to seperate catholics & protestants. This problem was in the uk a hundred or so years ago, then we mixed our religons, catholics married protestants & vica versa, that is the way you get over religous hatred, I like most uk citizens come from a mixed religon family, both catholic & protestant parents, i have no problems with either beliefs neither do they. The way forward with ireland is to mix the religons, it has already started there as catholics are marrying protestants & vica versa, it will take another 30 years or so, then they will be at the stage we are at in england. The problems with islam & hindus, though i am no expert on the latter, is they do not mix there religons, they dont marry outside there faith or if they do as is the case with muslims, the other person has to convert to islam. Now my mother did not have to become a catholic to marry my father, so why does anyone have to convert to islam in order to marry a muslim. There are many famous cases of this, prince nasseed the uk boxer, his white wife coverted, the pakistan cricketer imran khan his white wife converted. I think this is all bullshit, when you dont have freedom of religon, you have isolation, in order for islam to progress they need to accept other faiths in there families, only by doing so can they see that other faiths are not evil, we are all the bloody same. America is another example, in the 50's & sixties they had white only busses or blacks had to stand, this is isolation it does not work, only by mixing races & religons do you get over religous hatred & racism, and that is a fact.
Correct, Ritri. So, we need to be careful to distinguish radical Islam from non-radical Islam, rather than lumping all Muslims into one basket, right?
