10-05-2006, 08:00 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Thinkers support critic of prophet
Charles Bremner, Paris
October 04, 2006
INTELLECTUALS are rallying around a French philosophy teacher forced
into hiding after writing an article describing the prophet Mohammed
as a ruthless warlord and mass murderer.
Robert Redeker, a writer who teaches at a high school near Toulouse,
has been under police protection, moving between secret addresses,
since threats against him appeared on Islamist websites last week.
His home address was published with calls to murder.
"You will never feel secure on this earth. One billion, 300million
Muslims are ready to kill you," one message said.
One threat came from a contributor to al-Hesbah, an internet forum
that is viewed as a channel for al-Qa'ida.
Despite the threats, the Government has offered Redeker, 52, limited
support.
More than 20 stars of the French intelligentsia, including
philosophers Bernard-Henri Levy, Alain Finkielkraut and Andre
Glucksmann, urged the Government to offer more help.
Redeker, who is on the editorial board of Les Temps Modernes, a
review founded by Jean-Paul Sartre, has said he cannot afford his
accommodation and other costs in hiding. "I cannot work, I cannot
come and go. I have to hide," he said. "So ... the Islamists have
succeeded in punishing me on the territory of the Republic as if I
were guilty of a crime of opinion."
Redeker stirred anger with a commentary in Le Figaro on September
19. He deplored the furore over the Pope's references to Mohammed.
Redeker called him "a merciless warlord, a looter, a mass murderer
of Jews and a polygamist". The Koran, he said, was a book of
incredible violence.
The teacher and his supporters have been angered by the qualified
backing from Education Minister Gilles de Robien, who voiced
solidarity with the teacher but added he should have been "careful,
moderate and sensible".
Similarly, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said: "Everyone has
the right to express his views freely, while respecting others, of
course." Mainstream Muslim groups deplored the threats and appealed
to believers not to play into the hands of provocateurs.
The Times
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...776-601,00.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Charles Bremner, Paris
October 04, 2006
INTELLECTUALS are rallying around a French philosophy teacher forced
into hiding after writing an article describing the prophet Mohammed
as a ruthless warlord and mass murderer.
Robert Redeker, a writer who teaches at a high school near Toulouse,
has been under police protection, moving between secret addresses,
since threats against him appeared on Islamist websites last week.
His home address was published with calls to murder.
"You will never feel secure on this earth. One billion, 300million
Muslims are ready to kill you," one message said.
One threat came from a contributor to al-Hesbah, an internet forum
that is viewed as a channel for al-Qa'ida.
Despite the threats, the Government has offered Redeker, 52, limited
support.
More than 20 stars of the French intelligentsia, including
philosophers Bernard-Henri Levy, Alain Finkielkraut and Andre
Glucksmann, urged the Government to offer more help.
Redeker, who is on the editorial board of Les Temps Modernes, a
review founded by Jean-Paul Sartre, has said he cannot afford his
accommodation and other costs in hiding. "I cannot work, I cannot
come and go. I have to hide," he said. "So ... the Islamists have
succeeded in punishing me on the territory of the Republic as if I
were guilty of a crime of opinion."
Redeker stirred anger with a commentary in Le Figaro on September
19. He deplored the furore over the Pope's references to Mohammed.
Redeker called him "a merciless warlord, a looter, a mass murderer
of Jews and a polygamist". The Koran, he said, was a book of
incredible violence.
The teacher and his supporters have been angered by the qualified
backing from Education Minister Gilles de Robien, who voiced
solidarity with the teacher but added he should have been "careful,
moderate and sensible".
Similarly, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said: "Everyone has
the right to express his views freely, while respecting others, of
course." Mainstream Muslim groups deplored the threats and appealed
to believers not to play into the hands of provocateurs.
The Times
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story...776-601,00.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->