Tel-Chai Nation

Another critic of Islam, the French professor Robert Redeker, has been forced into hiding after writing an op-ed in Le Figaro, and the newspaper unfortunately caved by apologizing on al-Jazeera. From Expatica (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin):

A French philosophy teacher was under police protection Thursday after receiving death threats over an article he wrote in a national newspaper that accused Islam of "exalting violence", school and police officials said.

Robert Redeker has not attended classes at his secondary school near Toulouse in southern France since September 19, when his opinion column appeared in the right-wing daily Le Figaro.

"He received written death threats in the form of emails. On the face of it they were pretty serious," said the lycée's headmaster Pierre Donnadieu.

Police confirmed the threat but refused to comment on the protection Redeker is receiving.

Under the heading "In the face of Islamist intimidation, what must the free world do?", Redeker described the Koran as a "book of extraordinary violence" and Islam as "a religion which ... exalts violence and hate".

Likening Islam to Communism, he said that "violence and intimidation are the methods used by an expansionist ideology ... to impose its leaden cloak on the world".

There have been rough translations of the op-ed written by Redeker available on the internet for starters, but now, Michelle's got a whole translation of the article available via Fausta and Extreme Center.

There's also two more men who could be or are in danger: historian Egon Flaig, who's banned in Egypt, and Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, who could be facing the death sentence for criticizing Islam. He's to be the discussion of a special bloggers conference sponsored by One Jerusalem on October 3.

Oddly enough, now that I notice, Le Figaro has now condemned the death threats against Redeker. But they still should not have made that apology on al-Jazeera.

There's a petition in support of Redeker online now (also via Michelle), and I urge everyone to sign it.

And also, here's a news clip featuring one of the things that Redeker was talking about, that being how, on Paris-Beaches, the makeshift beach located around Paris (see also this entry and this one from the News Vault, for more news). I think I've got the contact info for the Paris City Hall, if they're the ones behind this sick act, and I ask everyone to please contact them to make your protest clear (the contact form for the mayor is here, and the Town Council is here). But most importantly of all, please show solidarity with the brave patriot Redeker.

Also available at 123beta, 7 Deadly Sins (Blogspot site here), Basil's Blog, bRight & Early, Cao's Blog, Jo's Cafe, The Mudville Gazette, Point Five, Samantha Burns. Others on the subject include Independent Conservative, Hot Air, Oblogatory Anecdotes, Pajamas Media, Boker Tov Boulder, Marathon Pundit, Old War Dogs, Keen Arrows, Freedoms Zone, Done With Mirrors, The Jawa Report, Athene Biz, Woody's News, Coalition of the Swilling, Op For, Toadpond, Brussels Journal, Tdaxp, Reflective Codex, Texas Hold 'em Blogger.

Labels: Europe, France, islam, jihad