On October 22, 2002, celebrated Italian journalist and writer Oriana Fallaci spoke in public for the first time in more than ten years to commemorate the publication of the English-language edition of her new book, The Rage and the Pride. Ms. Fallaci's lecture focused on the Muslim threat to Western civilization, on the West's failure to recognize the danger that Islam represents, and on the lack of "passion" in the West today. She also made a desperate plea for defending free speech against the often-repressive trend of political correctness, citing the law suits against her in French courts. Ms. Fallaci was introduced by AEI's Michael A. Ledeen, who described her as a "passionate Florentine," and condemned those trying to silence her. Michael Novak responded to her comments.

Oriana Fallaci
Italian journalist and author

Oriana Fallaci began by describing some of the death threats she has received since the publication of The Rage and The Pride, and made it clear she would not be silenced. She then explained her much-discussed solitude: "I have work to do, and little time left to do it, and I work best alone." Why then, had she decided to speak now, at AEI? "Because we are at war, and the front line is here, in America, and I want to fight." She has been on the front lines of wars since the age of fourteen: first, as a child in the resistance during World War II, then as a war correspondent (most famously in Vietnam), and, beginning September 11, 2001, as a resident of New York City. Her weapon is her book, which was written in the weeks following September 11.

Ms. Fallaci insisted that the West faces not only Islamic extremists, but also Islam itself. She compared Islam to a mountain, unmoved for centuries, apparently incapable of change, and full of hatred for the West, whose cultural, political and scientific glories stand in marked contrast to the Islamic world. She insisted that this was not the work of a single man or a single movement; were there no bin Laden, another would be there to take his place. Moreover, the threat to the West was not merely external. The Muslim population in the West is rapidly growing and is not assimilating culturally. Muslims freely enter Western societies and demand that the West cater to their wishes, as in the case of Muslims in Italy demanding that crucifixes be removed from public places, and that their male children be shielded from female teachers. Ms. Fallaci bemoaned the fact that Western countries permit Muslim immigrants to make full use of Western rights and freedoms to impose their own wishes at the expense of all others. She warned that the Muslims would continue to do so until the West is fully subdued.

Many Westerners sense the threat from the Muslim world but do not respond with a defense of their own standards, which she termed a triumph of political correctness. Muslims have thereby achieved a special status, in which it is now acceptable to insult Christians and Jews, or even depict the entire Catholic clergy as pedophiles, but it is not possible to criticize Muslims or Islam. Such criticism is branded racist, as she has been denounced by both the European Right and Left. A Muslim organization and a liberal Jewish group have filed suits against Ms. Fallaci in France (the verdict is expected at the end of November), in an attempt to censor her book.

Ms. Fallaci agreed that The Rage and The Pride was tough on Muslims, but pointed out that the book is equally critical of the West. The Rage and The Pride is a "sermon," a "j'accuse." The book's title describes at once the pride she has for Western culture and the rage she feels toward both the threat of Islam and the meekness of the West in response. Western culture has given the world glorious concepts of beauty, freedom, and equality. But freedom cannot exist without discipline, rights cannot exist without duties, and Western civilization will not prevail without a passionate defense. Ms. Fallaci sees passion in the eyes of Osama bin Laden, and she fears that Western culture will not prevail without equal passion.

Ms. Fallaci's father was a great proponent of a united Europe. However, she views the current European project as a "club" of self­-interested politicians concerned only with keeping their inflated tax-free salaries and standardizing anything and everything possible, all the while blind to the real threat within its borders. Europe now shelters tens of millions "sons of Allah." Rather than face this enormous problem, European politicians devote their time to secondary issues such as the common currency. They seek to minimize the danger Islam presents by saying that there are similarities between the West and the Muslim world, when, in her opinion, there are few, if any.

She concluded with a fervent appeal to Americans to rekindle their passion, and to fight for our common values.

Michael Novak
AEI

Michael Novak responded to Ms. Fallaci by stressing that the Islamic threat to Europe has existed for many centuries. On several occasions the Old Continent successfully avoided being overrun by Islamic forces. Today Muslim countries do not threaten Europe militarily. They point a spear at Israel--a "spear" of Palestinian refugees. Out of the 12 to 18 million refugees created by World War II, only the Palestinians remain unsettled--the product of a deliberate policy by some of the richest countries in the world. He agreed that the West disregarded the Muslim threat during the cold war. The United States, he said, was preoccupied with human­rights violations in the Soviet bloc, Latin America, and Africa, ignoring those in the Middle East and parts of Asia. He expressed his doubt, however, whether the Muslim world can be treated as a monolithic power. Not all Muslims want to live under strictly enforced Islamic law and ruthless dictators. He cited the example of Afghanistan, where people rejoiced after the fall of the Taliban. He also expressed his firm belief that the same will happen once Iraq is liberated.