Rediscovering our backbones as the fatwas fly

The Australian ^ | June 27, 2007 | Janet Albrechtsen

[Dundee]

DON'T fall for the sweet old lady in hat and gloves number. The Queen has a crafty Machiavellian streak to her. Turning Salman Rushdie into a sir has been a handy health check on whether the West has learned the costs of appeasement. Her Majesty would have known that bestowing a knighthood on Rushdie would also elevate him to the world's biggest collector of Islamic death edicts. The question was whether this time the West would do a better job of defending itself. So far the signs are good.

The predictable stuff came fast... Pakistan, our friendly ally in the war on terror, demanded that Britain withdraw the title. The British blasphemer had hurt the feelings of the Muslims' world, said various Pakistani MPs.

The West is now well versed in this Muslim drama. First act: enter Muslims claiming hurt feelings. Second act: enter Muslims issuing a death-to-Western-heathens diktat. Cue Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister Mohammed Ijaz-ul-Haq: "If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British Government apologises and withdraws the sir title." Pakistani students burned effigies of the Queen and Rushdie chanting "kill him, kill him"...

Rushdie's knighthood has been a neat way of checking the West's pulse on one of its core values - the right to write freely... The bad news is that victimhood is still top of the pops for some Muslims. When Nazir Ahmed, Britain's first Muslim peer, said it was wrong to honour "the man that has blood on his hands" it echoed a "blame a Westerner" mentality that has hampered progress in much of the Arab world.

...The good news is fewer people are falling for that baloney. No protests on British streets this time. Not even a book burning. That has to be progress.

[FostersExport]

“...The good news is fewer people are falling for that baloney. No protests on British streets this time. Not even a book burning. That has to be progress.”

Throwing in jail some of the more ‘aggressive’ protesters that took to the streets over the Danish cartoons probably made some people re-evaluate their sense of perspective.

[FostersExport]

“...The good news is fewer people are falling for that baloney. No protests on British streets this time. Not even a book burning. That has to be progress.”

Throwing in jail some of the more ‘aggressive’ protesters that took to the streets over the Danish cartoons probably made some people re-evaluate their sense of perspective.

[MrDaddyLongLegs]

I’m pretty sure that one is offered a knighthood so Salmun Rushdie had to ACCEPT it, he did so knowing the repercussions and the likely Islamic handwringing and grandstanding. The interesting thing here is that they invited Islamic wrath, something i find find refreshing because its not politically correct. Poke em in the eye i say !

[tlb]

>>>Her Majesty would have known that bestowing a knighthood on Rushdie would also elevate him to the world’s biggest collector of Islamic death edicts.

I had thought Knighthoods were initiated by the Prime Minister’s Office, not the Crown. That was the puzzling aspect of this case.

The Blair government has heretofore bent over backwards to avoid antagonizing muslins. This time when going out the door he didn’t seem to care. As a statement of pro-freedom principles or as a grenade tossed into Brown’s lap I haven’t decided.

[indcons]

Good article, thanks for posting

[naturalman1975]

Honours are bestowed by the Queen, normally on the advice of her Prime Minister (although there are a few that are solely within the Queen’s discretion), but she is free to award any of them without such advice or not to do so. She is the Fount of Honour.

(I hold a much more minor Honour than a Knighthood, but it has left me very interested in the whole process, and am a fair expert on it now).

[FostersExport]

I interpreted it something of a raised finger to the fanatics that had given him so much grief during his tenure.