THE UNDENIABLE DHIMMITUDE OF THE FRENCH LEFT

As I mentioned on October 2 last year, a French philosophy teacher, Robert Redeker, wrote an article that was critical of Islam. It was published in the mainstream French newspaper Le Figaro. It led to a torrent of threats against him from Muslims, which led to him leaving his home under police protection.

But was the reaction of other people in the nation of Voltaire? A defence of Redeker's right to free speech? A recent summary of the response below:

"But the vast majority of responses, even when couched as defenses of the right to free speech, were in fact hostile to the philosophy teacher. The Communist mayor of Saint-Orens-de-Gameville, echoed by the head of Redeker's school, deplored the fact that he had included his affiliation at the end of the article. France's two largest teachers' unions, both of them socialist, stressed that "they did not share Redeker's convictions." The leading leftist human-rights organizations went much farther, denouncing his "irresponsible declarations" and "putrid ideas."

... Among members of the media, Redeker was scolded for articulating his ideas so incautiously. On the radio channel Europe 1, Jean-Pierre Elkabach invited the beleaguered teacher to express his "regret." The editorial board of Le Monde, France's newspaper of record, characterized Redeker's piece as "excessive, misleading, and insulting." It went so far as to call his remarks about Muhammad "a blasphemy," implying that the founder of Islam must be treated even by non-Muslims in a non-Muslim country as an object not of investigation but of veneration.

Above post cross-posted from Tongue Tied.

Reliapundit adds: When people are afraid to speak their mind - they are slaves. The jihadists seek to enslave ALL of us to their ideology; they have succeeded already with the French Left - the people who support Segolene Royal.