The American Spectator

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(Page 4 of 5)

br> -- Kurt Schori br> Biel-Bienne br> Switzerland /p>

I know: let's advise them all to rent and view the film El Cid. That way they'll be mindful of precedent for Muslim conquest in Western Europe.....

p>The do have video rentals there, don't they ? And TV's ? br> -- Paul Kotik br> Plantation, Florida /p>

Great suggestions.

But does anyone think the French will listen to anything any American would say-except, perhaps, John Kerry as he surrenders to the U.N. and begs for forgiveness from the French for us being so uppity and having the gall to be concerned about things like life and liberty? After all, the French government fined Brigitte Bardot $6,000 for inciting racial hatred for having written in a book that ". . . my country, France, my homeland, my land is again invaded by an overpopulation of foreigners, especially Muslims." She was referring to France's many-millions-member Muslim community, supposedly Europe's largest. Also French author Michel Houellebecq, though acquitted, was threatened with a jail sentence of a year and a many-thousands-of-Euros fine in 2002, after being sued by the largest mosques in Paris and Lyon, the National Federation of French Muslims and the World Islamic League, as well as Paris-based Human Rights League. They claimed his remarks were Islamophobic and that he caused racial injuries.

His alleged crimes? In an interview with the magazine Lire, he called Islam "the stupidest religion of all" and that Islam was "a dangerous religion from the start." Apparently, too, he said, "When one reads the Koran, one is devastated, devastated."

p>You wonder: Do the French prosecute those, including Muslims, who say or write things that incite racial hatred against France's Jews or members of other religions or faiths? Maybe someone should suggest politely that the French try true free speech for a spell and administer their laws uniformly, if that's a problem. Or consider if Islam or just radical Islam is a serious threat to free speech in France.

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