Tel-Chai Nation

Salman Rushdie, who'd been in hiding for a few years after Iran threatened him with death for publishing the Satanic Verses, told Stern magazine recently that the west has underestimated Islamofascism's being rooted in fear of sexuality:

BERLIN (AFP) - British author Salman Rushdie said the West had failed to grasp the extent to which Islamic extremism was rooted in men's fear of women's sexuality.

Rushdie told German weekly magazine Stern that his latest novel, "Shalimar the Clown", dealt with the deep anxiety felt among many Islamic men about female sexual freedom and lost honor.

When asked if the book drew a link between "Islamic terror and damaged male honor", Rushdie said he saw it as a crucial, and often overlooked, point.

Indeed it is. One that Europeans would be strongly advised to study more closely if the problems are to be solved.