BBC NEWS | Europe | Muslim protest at Paris book fair — Now this.

A book fair in Paris has become the subject of controversy with several Muslim countries announcing boycotts because the guest of honour is Israel. Saudi Arabia has become the latest to withdraw, following Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Isesco) has also urged its 50 members to pull out from the fair, which starts on 14 March.

Isesco said Israel had committed crimes against humanity in Palestinian areas. The organisers of the book fair have said their aim is to honour literature and promote dialogue between cultures.

nd if this was not enough, a similar row is brewing over the Turin book fair in May in Italy.




  1. Scott says:

    Remember, its a religion of peace.

  2. bobbo says:

    #2–Uncle Ben==its pretty clear the peace is of the inner kind as these devout Muslims are at peace when sawing the heads off of anyone not Muslim they can catch.

    The enemy is clear. Too bad BushCo is in bed with them.

  3. Ah_Yea says:

    Maybe it’s peace as in peace and quiet. No Jewish jibber-jabbery, no harassing protests, not a peep of womanly bickering, and specially none of those annoying feelings of guilt!

  4. Pierre Larsen says:

    If they withdrew for good from the civilized world – would anybody but themselves really be sad?

    The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Isesco) – There may be culture but zero science and the only education is religious.

    All in all Isesco is an oxymoron.

  5. Cursor_ says:

    And I suppose the God Hates Fags lot and the abortion clinic bombing lot are part and parcel to all christians?

    I guess all those Klansmen are also good christians as are the identity church groups and the white power types as well.

    Tell ya what…

    When this country will go after its own home terrorists like the ones mentioned above, then I’ll join the bandwagon that ALL muslims are bad people and should be taken out of the world community.

    Until then…

    Welcome to the USA Glass House.

    Please refrain from throwing stones you monkeys!

    Cursor_

  6. bobbo says:

    Hey Cursor–when did the Catholic Church withdraw from a event because the KKK had been denounced?

    Stupid Post, stupid idea that the Muslim religion should be tolerated. You wouldn’t do it in your private life, so stop recommending the same suicidal action to others.

  7. Hmeyers says:

    @9 “Islam has (present day not withstanding) proven itself to be a very peaceable religion through in many circumstances”

    Dude … put down the crack pipe.

    Are you unfamiliar with the Ottoman Empire, the 700 year invasion/occupation of Spain, the invasion of Eastern Europe that was only put to a halt in maybe the late 1600s and things like the fall of Constantinople?

    However, the one thing I agree with is that it is people that are violent. I believe that many fault religion as the source of violence when I think religion is just the cover of despots.

    In a world without religion, I’m sure power-mad people would still be perfectly able to do inhuman acts for land, power and money.

  8. zebulon says:

    IMHO, The problem is not really that of a religion, but of religious conservatism. Christianity was once brutal, sexist, homophobic, thought the earth was the center of the world, and that this world was created a few centuries ago… in a world that was even more brutal, sexist, and ignorant…
    But (most of..) the Christians have adapted their beliefs to the 21th century. Some muslims haven’t yet, and want the rest of the world to go back a few centuries ago. Now, I personally know very modern muslims, and very retrograd christians…

  9. jbenson2 says:

    #9 said: Christianity has been as savagely brutal as any other religion, and Islam has (present day not withstanding) proven itself to be a very peaceable religion through in many circumstances.

    The BBC tried to make a story about this demented belief. Last month, they threw in the towel and scrubbed the project. They admitted that the they could not come close to substantiating the concept.

  10. Mister Catshit says:

    #9, Mister Uncle Ben,

    Very good post and sound, accurate reasoning.

    But, what will happen when all religions are done away with? Will the peace and harmony of atheism give us all world peace?

  11. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #7 – Stupid Post, stupid idea that the Muslim religion should be tolerated.

    Islam and Christianity are the same goddamn religion. They worship the same mythological god and their roots are stolen from the ancient religions and their ardent zealots are cut from the same cloth…

    …as are their moderates… Normal, average, everyday Christians and Muslims are the same. They seek to live, work, raise families, and worship in peace.

    It is a testament to the power and efficiency of our secular government and culture that extreme right wing Xians aren’t able to roam the streets assaulting and murdering homosexuals or unwed mothers or people wearing clothes made from two kinds of cloth or whatever. That these things don’t happen (often) in the Western world has everything to do with enforcement of secular law by threat of force and nothing to do with the inherent good of the Christian faith. If our backs were turned, Pat Robertson would, in a heartbeat, raise a Xian army and declare some kind of Xian equivalent of jihad against secular society.

    And even as I am certain I am right, I am equally certain that this hypothetical army of zealous terror squads would pale in comparison to the numbers of Christians who would prefer a church picnic and softball game over a bloody rampage, as is the case in the Muslim world.

    In fact, it isn’t even the Muslim world. It’s just the Arab and Persian worlds, as the vast majority of Muslims do not actually reside in The Middle east and are not involved in the ideological, tribal, and political turmoil that is the real reason that violent Muslim extremists are allowed to perceiver. These extremists, by the way, are just as terrible toward Muslims as they are toward non-Muslims. Their way is terror, leveraged to assert control. Not unlike the Klu Klux Klan, a Christian terror group, who we only managed to subdue less than 50 short years ago.

  12. Mister Catshit says:

    #13, jbenson,

    I don’t know what the BBC was doing or why they quit. You didn’t provide any link. And since there were two thoughts presented, Christian violence and Muslim peace I don’t know which one to attribute your “demented belief” comment to.

    Christianity has indeed been a very violent group. Have you forgotten what the Spanish Conquistadors did in the New World in the name of Christianity? Have you overlooked how they participated and fueled the African slave trade? Have you forgotten how Christians conquered most of India, South-East Asia, and Indonesia? Have you forgotten how Christians slaughtered the Muslims that surrendered during the Crusades? Have you forgotten how … sheet, obviously you have.

  13. patrick says:

    A bunch of book banning countries boycotting a book fair. LOL

  14. MikeN says:

    According to the Koran, Israel belongs to the Jews.

  15. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #17 – You do raise a very good point.

  16. AdmFubar says:

    just say, bye bye, and dont let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out.

  17. Cursor_ says:

    #7

    No the catholic church was not at all responsible for more deaths that Islam.

    Nah they don’t routinely try and stop people from having abortions or birth control. They wouldn’t do that.

    They don’t routinely brainwash their own people into all sorts of nonsense. Just like ANY cult does.

    Oh of course they are so unlike Islam. So pure, so clean. So without sin.

    GIVE ME A BREAK.

    Perhaps you can ask the Catharrhs and Anabaptists what they think of the catholics?

    Oh that’s right they killed them off. Oh better lets ask the arawaks, of that’s right spanish catholics butched them out of existence with the help of savage carib natives they paid off.

    Islam is so bad and nasty. They made successful genocide of HOW many??? … hmm I can’t think of one so far. Maybe the zoastrians? No they are still around. How about the jews? Nope still here, hindus? Nope. Buddists? Nope. Coptics, nope.

    Wow dang it all they have had to genocide someone shouldn’t they?

    Christians? Nope not them either, hell there are Arab-Christians.

    So tell me oh wise one who has islam wiped off the face of the earth?

    Neither side is to be trusted. Fanatics are are the issue, not the religion itself.

    Humans are the root cause of all suffering on this planet. The suffereing will end when humans cease to be. So start a nuclear war today and bring PEACE to earth!

    Cursor_

  18. bobbo says:

    #15–OFTLO===silly post. At least the lead in anyway.

    You suffer, in this instance anyway, from thinking that if two different things have something in common that they are the same???? Try again.

    Catholics and Jews and Muslims are all the same because===they have the same head guy and the majority of their adherents would rather be at a picnic rather than at war?==ok.

    Now do some actual “THINKING” and note how they are DIFFERENT. Then for bonus points, weigh the same vs the differences and make some informed decisions rather than post as you have.

    I’ve heard cats and dogs are the same because they both have fur, four legs, like to be petted and such. but it is harder to herd cats than dogs because they are different. As a result, some people prefer cats over dogs and vice versa===couldn’t be any preference if they were the same?

    So–how can catholics and Muslims be the same, but Arab Muslims are different than Indonesian Muslims? And picnic loving Muslims are different than Jihad loving Muslims?

    Something is missing from your simplistic post?

  19. thechef says:

    here’s a great idea…let the f****** muslims have their own book fair…one shelf should be sufficient for their intellectual crap. then cover it with a picture of that pig faced f*** mo-HAM-med sc***ing 70 muslim virgins, if you can find them, and burn the whole f****** mess.

  20. gregallen says:

    You guys aren’t even trying to understand their position on this.

    You don’t have to agree, but you’d seem less like bigots if you at least understood who your fighting against.

    For them, attending this fair would be like Jews attending a book fair where the Nazis were the honored guest. You guys can understand that sentiment, right?

    Most Muslims think that Israelis — supported by most Jews — are relentless oppressors of the Palestinians. And, most Muslims identify with the Palestinians as religious family members.

    So, it’s not that wacko that they wouldn’t want to attend a function where they are honored.

    Again — don’t get me wrong — I’m not endorsing this position or asking you too — but goodness, try to honestly understand it.

  21. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #22 – You suffer, in this instance anyway, from thinking that if two different things have something in common that they are the same???? Try again.

    And you suffer from acting like a pedantic brat. Islam, Xian, Judaism are all born of the same stupid sun gods, and are all sources of violence and hatred throughout history.

    Further, you act like you’ve never left the lilly white suburbs, whereas I actually know many Muslims and Jews and Xians (and thankfully the only extremists I deal with regularly these days are of the Jesus brand, but with luck I can extract those bastards from my life soon enough too.). You appear to be parroting the typical blinder wearing middle American misinformation about religion. It’s all just history co-opted and rewritten by simple superstitious people for political control, and it’s all co-opted from older, simpler, more superstitious people…

    In fact, it’s a silly, superstitious elephant standing on a silly, superstitious turtle, and it’s all silly, superstitious turtles all the way down.

    Now do some actual “THINKING” and note how they are DIFFERENT.

    They all have different window dressing.

    And your dog and cat bit fails because, unlike the gods and stories of religion, dogs and cats are real.

  22. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #24 – Most Muslims think that Israelis — supported by most Jews — are relentless oppressors of the Palestinians. And, most Muslims identify with the Palestinians as religious family members.

    I’m not sure you can even fairly make this a Muslim issue. It’s a political issue with Arabs and Persians on one side and the Israelis on the other. They always invoke their religion, but like all use of religion, it is nothing more than divisive rhetoric to manipulate and control the masses trapped under their theocratic thumb.

    The breadth and scope of their various shades of religion are far wider and deeper than their regional interests… though it it is their tiresome regional interests that are going to get all of us killed in the end.


0

Bad Behavior has blocked 5682 access attempts in the last 7 days.