In a blow to the crowd that insists that Hugh Fitzgerald and I are the same person, both of us are currently at the David Horowitz Freedom Center’s Restoration Weekend in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Yesterday I spoke on a panel on “The State of Jihad” with the estimable Steven Emerson, Melanie Phillips, and Douglas Murray. I am honored to be in such company. For security reasons it was not filmed, which is a pity as it was one of the most informative panels I’ve ever had the privilege to be part of. Phillips spoke about the deep denial of the causes and magnitude of jihadist activity in Britain, and Emerson about the same thing in the U.S. Then I discussed the implications and effects of that denial — notably the Nada Nadim Prouty espionage case and its connection through her brother-in-law to the AAI and the political mainstream. Murray then concluded with some important observations about the situation in Britain and globally.
Yesterday the Iranian dissident Amir Abbas Fakhravar, with whom I had the honor of speaking at DePaul University during Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week, was presented with the Annie Taylor Award. Today I am looking forward to hearing from the courageous and eloquent Wafa Sultan, Nonie Darwish and others about the status of women in Islam, among a great deal more.