From Muslim Refusnik, the website of reformist Muslim Irshad Manji:
Friends: By now you know about the Manifesto of 12: Together Facing a New Totalitarianism. I signed it, along with Salman Rushdie, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Taslima Nasrin and several others. On March 11, we received a serious death threat from a chat thread on ummah.com, an Islamist website in Britain. The text is crystal-clear:
“Excellent – makes killing the kuffar [infidel] all the bit easier… Now we have a hit list of a ‘Who’s Who’ guide to slam into. Take your time but make sure their gone soon – oh and don’t hold out for a fatwah it isn’t really required here.”
Unlike daily threats, this one comes from a place of ‘authority,’ since ummah.com has a large, radical following. That’s why the Manifesto signatories need you to fight back with us. If you support freedom, pluralism and secularism, click here and put your name on our petition. We’ll publish the petition in the coming days.
The “Manifesto of 12” was published in the wake of the violent backlashes to the Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad, although wisely it focuses on the problem of Islamism more generally.
The short text of the petition, which I have signed, is brought up by clicking on the link. It reads:
I wish to express my unequivocal support for the twelve signatories and my outrage at the Islamist movement’s attack on them. I stand firm with the 12 against this reactionary movement. I join in their call to resist religious totalitarianism and to promote freedom, equal opportunity, human rights and secular values for all.
I haven’t felt the need to bore readers with my own views on the cartoon dispute, but I believe that the most sensible and informative commentary on the subject has come from Danish political scientist Jytte Klausen. A couple of her articles can be seen here and here.
(Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan)
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