HRS International

A leading Saudi speaks some home truths about the West and the Arab world. The West’s cultural elite would do well to listen up.

Another day, another piece of disingenuous spin about Islam in the New York Times….

We need serious and critical research on anti-Semitism, not studies who literally say that support for suicide bombing against Jews in Israel is “not necessarily anti-Semitic.”

When it comes to Islam, the New York Times should win a special Pulitzer Prize for so nobly and valiantly missing the point over such a long period of time. In a report from Stockholm following a terrorist attack in that city, John F. Burns does the tradition proud.

In a new comic novel, the author P. J. Vanston takes us into the multifariously ludicrous world of the contemporary university – where Muslim radicals are treated with kid gloves and the truth about Islam is sacrificed in the name of multicultural sensitivity.

We’re lucky. We live in an open, liberal society based on human rights. The hijab is an emblem of opposition to these values. I believe that the increasing use of hijab that we have witnessed during the last decade is a storm warning – an alert informing us that our values are under siege. I hope I’m wrong – totally wrong. But that hope is fading day by day. When will it be possible to hold a substantial public conversation about all this with our leading politicians?

In the days since my piece about airport “security” in the U.S. appeared here, there has been an explosion of articles about the same topic, most of which make my rant look positively mild-mannered.

Let’s start with a simple thought experiment. You invite a guest into your house, give him a room, and make all your facilities available to him. You find him a job — it might be one that needs to be done, it might not — but if he runs into difficulties or loses his job you provide him with the wherewithal he requires. Eventually he brings his family over for an extended visit which turns out to be permanent and before you know it an entire part of your house has been sealed off or, as in some instances, has become a domestic no-go zone.

Over the years since 9/11 there have been more than a few rants about airport “security.” Here’s mine.

14.11.10 (updated 18.11): A journalist in Sweden dares to report on the rise of virulent anti-Semitism in that country – and as a result becomes a target of virulent criticism.

Robert Redeker is a French philosopher and teacher who, on September 19, 2006, published an opinion piece critical of Islam in the newspaper Le Figaro. Death threat rained upon his head immediately, and since then he has lived in hiding under police protection. His situation, however, has not prevented him from continuing to speak out fearlessly and eloquently. In this essay, which appears here in English for the first time, he ponders the incompatibility of the narrow Koranic worldview and the message of the gospel that made possible the freedoms we now associate with the Enlightenment.

The Al-Dura case is the great French media scandal of our time. At the center of it are Charles Enderlin, a famous figure on the TV channel France 2, and Philippe Karsenty, a journalist who dared to go up against the entire French media establishment in the name of the truth. Marc Lebuis, who runs the blog Point de Bascule (Tipping Point) in Montreal, reports here on a visit by Karsenty to Francophone Canada.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made headlines recently with her frank comments about the failure of multiculturalism in her country. In this essay, originally printed in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale on October 18, Fiamma Nirenstein, a member of the Italian Parliament and a leading figure in the struggle against anti-democratic and jihadist forces in Italy, reflects on the larger import of Merkel’s remarks.

The process against Geert Wilders has turned into a battle between the prosecutor and the court.

The thrust of the prosecutors’ closing argument at Geert Wilders’s trial the other day was that because Wilders’s “views about Islam…are his opinions, not irrefutable facts,” he should be found guilty. In this commentary Bruce Bawer notes that nothing makes him feel like more of an alien in Europe than the premise that a man deserves to go to prison simply for expressing his opinion – whether about a religion or anything else.

The West is in a war of ideas against political Islam. If free speech is not protected in Europe, we're already losing.

They don’t deserve to wash her feet, I found myself thinking as Storhaug climbed into her car, and yet they look down at her as if she is some racist buffoon. It was certainly no comfort to reflect that one day, sooner rather than later, each of those young people will gradually come to face the fact that Storhaug was right all along. But by then, I fear, none of them will be able to do anything about it.

The Tromsø, Norway, newspaper Nordlys (Northern Lights) is paying close attention to plans to build a grand mosque in that city with Saudi financing. The main story in the newspaper’s October 13 issue is an interview with Hege Storhaug of Human Rights Service, who warns against the advance of Islamism at the expense of (among other things) women’s freedom. Such a mosque, Storhaug believes, will represent an open assault on democracy.

Last Thursday in Rome, a mass gathering featuring speeches by politicians, writers, artists, and other major figures from around Europe was held in Rome. The aim: to express united support for the State of Israel in a time when that nation is increasingly under threat. In anticipation of this unique event, the newspaper “Il Foglio” featured articles by five international supports of the initiative. Among them was this piece by Bruce Bawer, here presented in the original English.

08:10:10: The New York Times prides itself on covering “all the news that’s fit to print,” whether in America or abroad, but when it comes to Islam, with a very few exceptions, its editors have been exceedingly…careful about what they print. Thus writes Bruce Bawer.

One of the most widely read and influential online magazines in the U.S. is a thing called Slate, and one of its regular features is a column called “Slate Explainer,” which purports to clarify mystifying matters of current interest for its readers. Last Friday, Slate staffer Christopher Beam ventured to address the topic of Islam in the West, with a special focus on the Netherlands, commented by Bruce Bawer.

Two news stories from France reflect the paradoxical state in which the West currently finds itself vis-à-vis Islam.

In trying to come to terms with the complexities of our day, the mainstream media is of little help to us.

The book had already been listed in last year's catalog. Why was it pulled?