Algerian-born actress, comedienne and feminist Rayhana
“The French Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers says it is worried that freedom of expression is under threat in France.”
There’s more where that came from. “Playwright petrol attack handed to terrorist police,” from RFI, January 15:
An investigation into an attack in Paris on the Algerian actress and playwright Rayhana has been handed over to anti-terrorist police. The investigators suspect the attack was linked to Rayhana’s play, A mon âge, je me cache encore pour fumer, which focuses on the treatment of women in Algeria.
The 45-year-old was attacked on Tuesday night outside the theatre in Paris where her play is showing. Two men insulted her in Arabic and poured petrol over her. They then threw a cigarette at her, which failed to ignite. JW has more>>
“Following the attack, the playwright staggered into an upmarket restaurant but was refused help.” Pity this restaurant wasn’t named and shamed in the report.
An Islamist radical whose teaching role at a leading university was exposed yesterday by The Times led a secretive “Brothers’ Circle” at which he espoused his hardline views.
Reza Pankhurst, a senior figure in the hardline group Hizb ut-Tahrir, gathered a group of male members of the London School of Economics (LSE) Islamic Society for private talks.
Mr Pankhurst, whose party advocates the creation of an Islamic state governed by Sharia, is a research student employed as a teacher in the LSE’s government department.
He is due to teach undergraduate classes this term in three topics covering nationalism and revolution in the Arab world.
Mr Pankhurst retained his position in the Islamic Society and the college despite a number of students raising concerns last year about the overt political content of his sermons at Friday prayers.
The Students’ Union confirmed that it had reported those concerns to the Islamic Society and raised them “informally” with academics.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Germany for anti-Semitism and covered by the National Union of Students’ policy of “no platform” for racist and fascist views….” – from a story in the Times of London, January 16, 2010, here  / Read it all>>
British universities: seats of learning – and loathing
Many British universities are breeding grounds for Muslim extremism. Islamic specialist Ruth Dudley Edwards explains why financial need and government interference have rendered academics oblivious to this threat to democratic society. More from Telegraph UK
Paul Goodman, who was until the end of this year the Tory spokesman on these issues, has slammed the decision as “appeasement of extremists by a bunch of politicians scared witless of losing their seats.”
Multiple press reports seem eager to pigeonhole this decision as a racial issue, and a move to cater to a constituency that is described narrowly and somewhat patronizingly as the “white working class.” But it is not a racial matter, nor is it about socioeconomic classes; it is a matter of principle for the sake of a free and open society. “British party calls for ban on burkas,” from UPI, January 16:
LONDON, Jan. 16 (UPI) — The United Kingdom Independence Party says burkas, the Islamic cloak that covers women from head to toe, should be banned in Britain.
The conservative group, which advocates withdrawing from the European Union, issued a call Friday to ban the garments in what was seen as an attempt by theUKIPÂ to expand its appeal to disaffected white, working class voters, The Times of London reported Saturday.
“We are taking expert advice on how we could do it,” UKIP leader Malcolm Pearson told the newspaper. “It makes sense to ban the burka — or anything which conceals a woman’s face — in public buildings. But we want to make it possible to ban them in private buildings. It isn’t right that you can’t see someone’s face in an airport.”
The Times said the UKIP is the first British party to call for an all-out ban on burkas although the far-right British National Party believes advocates banning them from schools.
“We are not Muslim bashing, but this is incompatible with Britain’s values of freedom and democracy,” Pearson said.
