French philosopher in hiding from Islamothugs

A French philosopher and schoolteacher, Robert Redeker, has been forced into hiding under police protection because of death threats he received in response to an op-ed piece in Le Figaro.

The article, entitled “What should the free world do in the face of Islamist intimidation?”, described the Koran as “a book of extraordinary violence, and Islam as “a religion which […] exalts violence and hate”. So, naturally, he received several emailed death threats, and his address details were published on various websites. What better way to counter such foul Islamophobic accusations?

There is a very clear map of how to get to my home, with the words: ‘This pig must have his head cut off’

The article had earlier led to Le Figaro being banned in Tunisia and Egypt, along with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and The Guardian Weekly – all charged with carrying articles “offensive to Islam”. This followed condemnation the Redeker’s piece by friend-of-Livingstone Yusuf “Throw gays from clifftops” al-Qaradawi on Al Jazeera TV.

Meanwhile, Redeker is forced to change address every two days and receives round-the-clock police protection. Speaking on Europe 1 Radio, he said:

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.

Why is this story receiving no coverage here in the UK?

UPDATE: The BBC has a report on the web now. Oh, and so has The Times.


6 Responses to “French philosopher in hiding from Islamothugs”

  1. Andy A says:

    ‘Why is this story receiving no coverage here in the UK?’

    Quite! The Graun, say, I can understand. Why not, the Telegraph, though, or the Mail>/i>? Or do the media magnates listen to quite words on an unofficial basis from government – a government, in our case, that’s religion-soaked and (Islamist) Muzzie-appeasing?

  2. Marc Draco says:

    Uh oh!

    Here we go – again.

  3. Andrew Nixon says:

    The BBC have covered it now: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/5393892.stm

    Buried it though, it’s in the other news of the Europe section, when it should really be front page news.

    Oh, I forgot, the BBC don’t dare to report anything bad about Islam.

  4. tdaxp says:

    Islam Without Irony, Part I: Robert Redeker…

    “Death Threats in Brussels, France (Robert Redeker),” by Paul Belien, Canada Free Press, 29 September 2006, http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/brussels092906.htm (hat-tip to The Corner, also at Atlas Shrugs, Brussels Journal, Catholic Answers, Comm…

  5. The Koran isn’t particularly violent. It’s certainly no more violent than the Babble and there’s lots of more modern works that are far more violent. And nor does Islam exalt violence and hate. It’s true that some of its purported followers do, but then some purported followers of football still do too, as do some members of the Labour Party, and we’ve got beyond condemning football like we used to. For Redeker to write such rubbish really is just trolling. He knew perfectly well at the time he wrote it that he was telling porkies, and he knew what sort of response he would get from the Islamic equivalent of the Chelsea Headhunters. One has to ask, given that, why he bothered.

  6. But there’s the thing – if people stop saying things they believe in (and we have no reason to think this chap doesn’t believe what he’s saying) just because they’ll get a violent response, surely freedom of speech has become meaningless? I know that if I publicly say Combat 18 and the National Front are a bunch of un-British bastards I’ll get a few nasty things in the mail, but does that mean I shouldn’t speak out against neo-Nazism?

    It is true that there are many modern books that are more violent than the Koran, but that’s not the point – I don’t see anyone starting a religion to exalt Patrick Bateman or Tyler Durden as the One True Prophet, so the matter is irrelevant. As for the Bible, it’s true that the Old Testament is vicious, nasty and charmless stuff, but I have to say, I don’t remember Jesus imprisoning and torturing a Jewish man to get the location of some of the man’s treasure, then, once he’d found it, killing him and taking the dead man’s wife into his harem. (Source: Sarwat Saulat, The Life of the Prophet)