Because the left is exactly like the Muslims! I wanted to give priority to the defense of immigrant women who are victims of domestic violence. They said to me: “No, that’s not a priority! The problem will take care of itself when the immigrants have jobs and are integrated.” It is exactly what the Imams say who demand that we accept oppression and slavery today because tomorrow, in Heaven, God will give us dates and raisins…. I think we need first to defend the individual. The left is afraid of everything. But fear of giving offense leads to injustice and suffering. ...
Go to the TransInt link for the full, translated quote. Original French link is there also.
Nadz reads the celebrity blogs so you don't have to. Find out what Michael Moore, Moby, Rosie O'Donnell, and Barbra Streisand are spewing ... Also check out her post on shifting the blame. Excerpt:
Women's rights
The problem: Don't get me started. Ok, everything. Read my past entries for details.
AlJazeera pundit: Why do Americans always tell us what to do? There are problems for women everywhere around the world, so why focus on the fact that we treat women like shit? Because you have a hidden agenda to make Arabs look bad, and to control us! You want us to feel humiliated! Oh, I'm so humilated!
Nadz: So now you know what it's like, jerk. Think you're the only person on the planet who has felt embarrassed or degraded? The reason people criticize the ME over women is because we are one of the world's most mysogynistic regions. If that bothers you, don't tell others to shut up, change it! Instead of blaming colonialism and American imperialism, try demanding gender equality.
AlJazeera pundit: Ah, but they don't really want gender equality! They want us to be just like them, or else. We'll do it our own way, in our own time, on our own terms.
Nadz: Yeah, I'm sure women's rights are really high on your list. That's why you've either done nothing or apologized for doing nothing these past few decades. It's in everyone's interest to have a more egalitarian society - and women's rights are not just a "western concept". It is a universal issue.
As always, read it all at the link.
Irshad Manji is in fine form (and when isn't she?) with this response to a reader who claims she is offending 98.9% of all "true Muslims" and should write about fashion instead:
First, am I to censor myself because you are offended? Suppose I told you that I’m offended by the fact that you’re offended. Do you then have an obligation to clam up, simply because I’m offended? Of course not. Offense is the most minor price of breaking deadly silences. Deal with it.
Second, how did you determine that that 98.9% of true Muslims in the world are offended by me? Why not 98.7%? Or 99%? Please cite your sources, as I do with every claim I make in my thoroughly un-academic book.
Finally, I appreciate your suggestion to write about fashion. It’s certainly up my alley, since I sit on the inter-faith editorial board of Seventeen magazine. I can see a title now — The Cardinal’s Sin: What Catholic Priests Can Learn from Hijab-Wearing, CNN-Watching Muslim Housewives. If you’ve got a better title, bring it on.
Go to the link for Irshad's current posts (updated twice a month).
Fayrouz saw the latest "Star Wars" (Revenge of the Sith) and posts some plot spoilers. For real excitement, read the rest of her post to learn about a handshake between officials of two Middle Eastern countries (hint: it wasn't Iran and Syria). Fayrouz concludes: "Whether some pessimists want to admit it or not, tides of change have started to hit the Middle Eastern shores."
