Thursday, May 6, 2010

"Intellectual Double Standards on Islamists"

By Steven Emerson

"But there is one important, glaring difference: Twenty years ago, the liberal intelligentsia in Europe and the United States rallied around Rushdie and denounced the murder threat. That took real courage. One of Rushdie's translators was murdered and another stabbed. Several Norwegian bookstores were bombed, a British hotel was attacked by a suicide bomber, and more than 50 people were killed in anti-Rushdie rioting around the world.

Despite the danger, Berman writes: "A good many intellectuals reached out to their endangered Arab and Muslim counterparts and colleagues, and celebrated the courage of everyone who refused to be intimidated."

In contrast, today, the intellectuals' reaction often is to target the victim. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who will likely need security protection the rest of her life because she has clashed with the Islamists, has been subjected to ad hominem personal attacks in the press and contrasted unfavorably with supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood."

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