Bartholomew's Notes

The BBC reports that Oriana Fallaci is to face trial in Italy. Fallaci is a World War II resistance hero who became notorious in 2001 for a lurid book about Muslims and Islam; her sequel appears to be in the same vein:

Controversial Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci is to face trial for allegedly insulting the Muslim faith in her latest book, a court in Italy says.

Ms Fallaci is being sued by the head of the Muslim Union of Italy, who says The Force of Reason is defamatory.

…The Force of Reason is said to have gone to print about 24 hours after the 11 March 2004 train bombings in Spain.

In it, Ms Fallaci argues that Europe is turning into “an Islamic province, an Islamic colony” and that “to believe that a good Islam and a bad Islam exist goes against all reason”.

Italian preliminary investigative judge Armando Grasso ordered the formulation of charges against the author, saying the book had expressions which were “unequivocally offensive to Islam”.

Adel Smith, president of the Muslim Union of Italy, sued the writer on 8 April 2004. He says Ms Fallaci has been advocating and spreading hate against Islam and Muslims, sometimes by allegedly distorting real historical facts and inventing others.

Fallaci’s accusations against Islam led to heated debate in 2001 and 2002. A court case followed in France, and she herself sued for slander against another journalist. Adel Smith meanwhile produced a book entitled Islam Chastises Oriana Fallaci, after which she accused him of threatening violence. Fallaci made an official complaint; blogger Dagger in Hand notes some of the passages she objected to:

Woman, you shouldn’t have told lies!…You’ll get the lesson you deserve. A powerful slap. But not a slap of the kind that you really deserve, so much as a moral slap that will, maybe, make you go back to your crying.

…Prepare yourself for a strong and just punishment: to be stripped nude. Denuded. Undressed. Not of your clothing as, perhaps, you might have desired […] But denuded of your strength–of that tenuous strength that you draw from your despicable lies.

…Woman! Ugly or beautiful as you are, prepare yourself for the chastisement of man; the divine one, much more abundant and painful, you’ll have later, in good time. That’s a promise. “Those who injure Allah and His Messenger, Allah has condemned whether in this life or the next and has prepared for them humiliating torment.”

…The choice then is yours: either do as we Muslims do and stop drinking alcoholic beverages or continue to die; to die together with Fallaci.

So, this new trial is just the latest round in a protracted argument. But who is Adel Smith? According to an Italian Cesnur profile, Smith (an Italian with a Scottish father) is not just the president of the Muslim Union of Italy – he’s more or less 50% of the membership, along with a certain Abdul Haqq Massimo Zucchi (with support from a few Albanians, if I’ve read the Italian via Babelfish correctly). He first emerged into the public eye in 2001, when he demanded the destruction of a fifteenth-century fresco that shows Muhammad in Hell. This was not successful, but he went on to have one legal victory: in 2003 he complained against the display of crucifixes in his children’s school, and a judge ordered their removal (later overruled). Earlier that year he was assaulted by members of the Italian far-right on live television.

And as it happens, while Falluci is to face trial for offending Muslims, Smith has himself recently faced trial for offending Catholics. From ADNKronos in April:

Rome, 29 April (AKI) – People who slander the Catholic faith cannot face harsher punishment than those who insult other recognised religions, Italy’s constitutional court ruled on Friday. The court’s decision was made in connection with the trial of a Muslim man who on television branded the Catholic Church “a criminal organisation.” Italian Muslim activist, Adel Smith, on trial in the northeastern city of Verona for allegedly “offending the Catholic religion, through the use of scorn,” faced up to three years in jail, if convicted.

However, the Verona court suspended the proceedings against Smith and requested the constitutional court’s interpretation of two articles in Italy’s penal code. Article 403, specifies stiffer penalties for slander against Catholicism, while article 406 prescribes more lenient punishment for insults against other religions.

There’s lots more out there for those who can read Italian…

UPDATE: Dagger in Hand is back on the case, starting from here and entries following. Lots of information.

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