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International Bodies Slam French Author's Attack on Islam
PARIS, Sept 4 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The Arab League's representative in France on Tuesday hit out at anti-Muslim comments made by one of France's top literary authors, Michel Houellebecq, and questioned the lack of outrage sparked by the remarks, news agencies reported.
"Houellebecq's despicable comments on Islam, the Arabs and the Palestinians have given rise to legitimate outrage among the Muslim leadership in France," Nassif Hitti said in a statement, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Houellebecq, a 43-year-old author who became well known in 1998 with his bestseller,
The Elementary Particles, described Islam as a "stupid" and "dangerous" religion during interviews to promote his latest novel.
In an article in French Literary Magazine (LIRE), Houellebecq said that reading the Holy Qur'an causes a nervous breakdown, emphasizing his rejection of all religious revelations.
His novel, which partly deals with the sexual tourism industry, has also raised eyebrows due to some passages concerning its main character; who despises Arabs.
In one chapter, the protagonist says, "Everytime I heard of a Palestinian terrorist, a Palestinian child or a pregnant Palestinian woman being shot in the Gaza Strip, I felt a rush of enthusiasm."
Hitti said he was particularly shocked at the lack of outrage in France concerning such racist comments, reported AFP.
"We fear that this indifference can lead to a trivialization of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiment in France," he said.
Last week, Muslim officials in France said they were considering filing charges against the author.
"Such racist comments are today punishable by the courts," said Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Paris Mosque.
France has a Muslim population of between four and five million.
On Tuesday, the Palestinian Agency's Quds Press attributed the author's hatred of Islam to the fact that his mother converted to Islam a few years back, causing him anger.
Houellebecq's thoughts were evident in his most recent novel, Platform, in which he sympathized with the Israeli occupation of Palestine and policies adopted by Israel, and his views of Arabs as "terrorists".
Top Islamic organizations in France such as the Union of Islamic organizations, the Paris Mosque and the General Federation for French Muslims, also showed their dismay at Houellebecq's remarks and viewed it as a serious provocation.
His article comes amidst propagation in France towards supporting the Israeli government, said Quds Press.
Meanwhile, the general director of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), based in Rabat, Morocco, Abdel Aziz bin Othman Al Tuwaijri, sent a letter to Matsuura Koichiro, Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), asking him to condemn Houellebecq's attacks on Islam.
In the letter, Al Tuwaijri asked his UNESCO counterpart to take appropriate actions against Houellebecq's remarks, which goes against UNESCO's mission and opposes international law.
"What Houellebecq wrote is extremely insulting to Muslims all over the world and is a direct attack on the Muslim [f]aith to which more than 1.25 billion people around the world ascribe to," he said in his letter.
Al Tuwaijiri added that it is the UNESCO's responsibility to work on protecting the various cultures in the world and spread peace, which is built on mutual respect between religions and cultures. UNESCO also propagates tolerance, co-existence and fosters dialogue between cultures, he added.
ISESCO is a body affiliated with the Organization of Islamic Conference in Jeddah and has its headquarters in Rabat, Morocco.
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