The J-P declaration is titled: "MANIFESTO: Together Facing the New Totalitarianism". It begins thusly:
After having overcome fascism, Nazism, and Stalinism, the world now faces a new
totalitarian global threat: Islamism.
We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all.
Be certain to get it all.
12 signatures (emphasis mine):
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Chahla Chafiq, Caroline Fourest, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Irshad Manji, Mehdi Mozaffari, Maryam Namazie, Taslima Nasreen, Salman Rushdie, Antoine Sfeir, Philippe Val, Ibn Warraq
Of particular note as far as I'm concerned:
I doubt Salman Rushdie needs any special introduction, for he's famous for his valorous standing-up to the most dangerous totalitarian Islamofascists of all, including the feared Ayatollah Ruollah Khomeini, who issued a fatwa to murder him simply for writing the truth about Islam which the Islamotyrants fear and wish to cover up in their pursuit of their own dogmatic beliefs as to what exactly Islam is about.
Irshad Manji is a Canadian "moderate" Muslim who bravely also stands up to Islamofascism, tyranny and oppression and is trying to help non-Muslims discover the truth about Islam. Previous TCS post on Ms. Manji is right here.
The Manifesto continues, in part, and this is the gist thereof:
We reject « cultural relativism », which consists in accepting that men and women of Muslim culture should be deprived of the right to equality, freedom and secular values in the name of respect for cultures and traditions. We refuse to renounce our critical spirit out of fear of being accused of "Islamophobia", an unfortunate concept which confuses criticism of Islam as a religion with stigmatisation of its believers.
We plead for the universality of freedom of expression, so that a critical spirit may be exercised on all continents, against all abuses and all dogmas.
We appeal to democrats and free spirits of all countries that our century should be one of Enlightenment, not of obscurantism.
It's about time. Free human beings everywhere must now proceed to boldly, loudly and openly repeat these declarations.
I unequivocally endorse the Manifesto!
I invite all who belive in freedom, democracy, the rule of law and the equality of all human beings to join in this historically critical endorsement of the Manifesto!
