Posted on 06/27/2005 2:53:40 PM PDT by Cincinna
PARIS, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- A second author Wednesday went to trial in Paris in as many months on charges of inciting racial hatred for a book that has denigrating passages on Islam.
The latest case involves "Rage and Pride," a best-selling novel by Italian writer Oriana Fallaci.
One plaintiff, the anti-racist group MRAP, wants the book banned from France altogether. Two others, including the Human Rights League, simply want disclaimers that its disparaging passages on Islam don't accurately reflect the Muslim religion.
Fallaci, 72, who has cancer, was not present during the opening hearing. But her lawyer, Christophe Bigot, denounced the trial as a campaign for political correctness, to the detriment of free expression.
Fallaci "has been very shocked by recent events, notably Sept. 11," Bigot told France-Info in an interview Wednesday. "She wanted to raise a cry of alarm against fundamentalism."
In her book -- a best-seller in Italy and Spain -- Fallaci characterized Muslims as "vile creatures, who urinate in baptistries" and "multiply like rats."
But Bigot argues Fallaci was targeting extremism, rather than the Muslim religion as a whole.
"She's attacking a certain manner of expressing it," he said.
The anti-racist associations argue otherwise.
"When one finishes reading the book, one recognizes the right to kill any Muslim on the street," argued Hacen Taleb, the lawyer representing MRAP, in a statement to the court.
In June, another French judge refused MRAP's request to ban the book in France.
The Fallaci trial echoes another opened last month against controversial French novelist Michel Houellebecq. Like Fallaci, Houllebecq faces charges of "provoking discrimination, hatred or violence" toward a group because of their religion.
But this time, the charges revolve around Houellebecq's anti-Muslim statements during an interview, rather than the passages in his book. A verdict is expected on Oct. 22. Copyright © 2001-2004 United Press International
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021009-121437-7274r
....but it's the same word in French, so I guess it doesn't help.
She wrote it, then translated it to English herself, and there are a few rough spots, but I enjoyed it greatly. She's a former communist, but she speaks eloquently of the need to defend Western culture, even Christianity (and she's not a Christian, but is sympathetic to it) against the ravages of Islam.
Very thoughtful book, and despite the fact that I'm a capitalist and a Christian, she and I have much we agree upon. She's very intelligent and makes perhaps one of the best cases for the threat Islam represents that I have ever read.
Remember: Italy has a problem with muslims. They're on the front lines. Some of the goings-on in Rome with all the hordes of muslim immigrants will shock the reader.
Get the book. Read it for yourself. Enjoy!
The Rage and the Pride was published here several years ago. I bought a copy then, and it is very good. I believe you are thinking of her new book, not the one she is on trial for.
I have it; it's a thin book. Less than 200pp. Rather too long for an essay, but...
Doesn't matter, as in France, that's how bigot is pronounced.
Yes, and unfortunately the word "Bigot" means exactly the same thing in French as it does in English. However, both Fallaci and Houellebecq - and indeed Bigot - are fighting for the right of all of us to defend ourselves against dhimmitude.
Oriana just needs to stay here, where free men still live. A day will come when France and Italy will pay for their stupidity. I vote against ever sending my Grandson to bail their sorry arses out again.
Racial hatrid? Last I checked, islam is not a race. The communists putting her on trail are nothing more than apologists for a dark age death cult. I wish there was a way we could raise money to bring Oriana to America!
"It's like a whole other language"
Gullah sure is. It's a throwback to the Carribean slave trade, a sort of Creole language combining English, French, Spanish, Portugese and certain West African languages. Sounds pretty when spoken, but for the most part I can't tease any meaning out of it. The language survived on the barrier islands, where many freed former slaves were given the proverbial forty acres and a mule. This land is very popular for development now, and the culture and language is in danger of being wiped out. That would be a shame. I love the differences across our country, especially the dialects. The northern Outer Banks of NC still have echoes of Elizabethan or even Cockney speech patterns... oot and aboot the hoose (out and about the house), hoi toide (high tide), soond soide (sound side), that sort of thing. It's fading, which is sad.
France is also where former actress Brigitte Bardot was fined last year for her "inflammatory" book on Muslims and gays. Among other things, she lamented "Islamization of France and the underground and dangerous infiltration of Islam. Further, Mme. Bardot presents Muslims as barbaric and cruel invaders, responsible for terrorist acts and eager to dominate the French to the extent of wanting to exterminate them, the court said.
"Until recently, though, Gullahs (sometimes called "Geechee" elsewhere in the South) hid their unique culture, speaking the dialect in private or not at all. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who hails from the Gullah culture of Georgia, has said he was ashamed of the way he used to speak, and indeed, Gullah was mistakenly cast as bad English grammar."
Link to article in full:
http://www.gullahtours.com/bostonglobe.html
"I wish there was a way we could raise money to bring Oriana to America!"
Apparantly, Oriana is living in NY. She is suffering from cancer and is in frail health.
It might be possible to contact her publisher and send her support through them.
Ms. Falacci is just telling it as it is.
Cancer? dang that's sad. Prayers for her.
Shame? You need to get out in the world more. Broadens your perspective.
Have you read anything by her, except her terrorism books?
I've read EVRYTHING she wrote, EVERYTHING she's writing and EVERYTHING she'll write. She's fantastic.
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