In Bologna, the Catholic diocese recently decided that for the Feast of San Petronio this year, there would be no pork-filled tortellini. Though these tortellini are the pride of Bolognese cuisine, Archbishop Matteo Zuppi (just chosen by Pope Francis to be a cardinal) decided that the Church did not want in any way to offend […]
Italy: Catholic diocese orders pork-free tortellini for feast day to avoid offending Muslims
“I’m reading that there are those who are asking for tortellini without meat. It’s like proposing wine without grapes.” The principle is always and everywhere the same: in Muslim countries, one must conform one’s behavior to suit Muslim sensibilities. And in non-Muslim countries, one must conform one’s behavior to suit Muslim sensibilities. “Leave them; they […]
Al Jazeera Bemoans the Celebration, in Italy, of Oriana Fallaci (Part 2)
Oriana Fallaci was acutely aware of the changes being brought to Italy by those she called “the sons of Allah.” And while she was in a state of alarm about the tens of millions of Muslims who had been so foolishly allowed, as she saw it, to settle in the very midst of Europe, her […]
Al Jazeera Bemoans the Celebration, in Italy, of Oriana Fallaci (Part 1)
Oriana Fallaci, the celebrated Italian journalist who has been dead for 13 years, is the woman of the hour in Italy. Italian state television has broadcast a documentary about her life and work, in recognition of what would have been her 90th birthday. All of her books are being republished in a collected-works uniform format. […]
Oriana Fallaci foresaw what is happening in Europe today
Inside my copy of Oriana Fallaci’s The Force of Reason is an envelope. On it is written, in Fallaci’s inimitable and elegant handwriting, “PERSONAL. For Robert Spencer from O. Fallaci.” Oriana included this request in the note inside the envelope: “Please don’t let somebody else write about ‘The Force of Reason’ and me. Do it […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: In Italy: Muslim Art Appreciation
By how much has the Muslim population in Italy increased since 1970? Before googling, take a guess. In 47 years, from 1970 to 2017, the Muslim population in Italy, both of citizens and migrants, has gone from 2,000 (in 1970) to 1.6 million, at the beginning of 2017, and should reach 2 million by the […]
New Robert Spencer pamphlet: Oriana Fallaci: Europe’s Cassandra
Inside my copy of Oriana Fallaci’s The Force of Reason is an envelope, on which is written in Fallaci’s inimitable and elegant handwriting, “PERSONAL. For Robert Spencer from O. Fallaci.” Oriana included this request in the note inside the envelope: “Please don’t let somebody else write about ‘The Force of Reason’ and me. Do it […]
Hugh Fitzgerald: Who is the Host, and Who the Guest?
#1. FRANCE In France, the Muslim owner of a Bordeaux grocery store has just been given a fine and a two-month jail sentence for having posted a notice on his shop window assigning different shopping days for men and women. How terrible it would be, many devout Muslims apparently feel, if a man and a […]
A Varied and Inextricable Tangle
“I do not accept the mendacity of the so-called Moderate Islam. I do not believe that a Good Islam and a Bad Islam exist. Only Islam exists. And Islam is the Koran. And the Koran says what it says.” –Oriana Fallaci, 2006 I can sympathize with the atheists. With what is going on in the […]