Not entirely unprecedented

Submitted by Martin Henderson (United States), Nov 17, 2004 at 11:01

"That a non-Muslim critic of Islam was ritually murdered for artistically expressing his views was something without precedent, not just in Holland but anywhere in the West."

That might be technically true; recall, however, that several people connected with the translation or publication of "The Satanic Verses"--all presumably non-Muslim--fell victim to Khomeini's fatwa against Salman Rushdie.

I also think that the Netherlands began to wake up to Islamofascism earlier: Pim Fortuyn, another libertarian who wanted to restrict immigration for just such reasons, might have become prime minister but for his assassination.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".