Le politiquement correct
Yet another writer faces criminal charges in France for speaking out against extreme Islam. The latest case involves The Rage and The Pride, the best-selling novel by Italian writer Oriana Fallaci. One plaintiff wants the book banned in France altogether. Two others are demanding disclaimers that its statements about Islam don't accurately reflect the Muslim religion. Fallaci, 72, who has cancer, was not present during the opening hearing. But her lawyer, the exquisitely named Christophe Bigot, denounced the trial as a campaign for political correctness.
The Fallaci trial echoes another that opened last month against 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 relate to Houellebecq's statements during an interview, rather than the controversial passages about Islam in his book Platform. A verdict is expected on 22 October.
Ah, the Thought Police and writers. It's an old story. As Orwell wrote in 1984: "How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to. You had to live — did live, from habit that became instinct — in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized."
