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French play insults Muslim men, so ‘critics’ tried torching lead actress Rayhana
POLICEÂ launched a terrorism investigation in Paris yesterday after two men tried to set fire to an Algerian feminist playwright and actress, who stars in a play said to portray Muslim men in an unflattering light.
The attackers, according to this report, sprayed Rayhana, known only by her first name, with petrol and threw a lit cigarette in her face. The petrol did not ignite, possibly because of the extreme cold.
Algerian-born actress, comedienne and feminist Rayhana
Rayhana, 45, is appearing in and directing her own play about the oppression of women in Algeria. She was walking to a theatre in a north-eastern suburb of the city when she was insulted in Arabic and attacked. A fortnight ago, she was approached in the same area by two men who said:
We know who you are, you miscreant whore. This is a warning.
Detectives are examining the possibility that she was attacked by a radical Islamist group, although her play is equally critical of the treatment of women by radical Islam and secular authorities in Algeria.
A pressure group for the rights of women of North African origin, Ni Putes, Ni Soumises (“neither whores, nor submisssives”), has called for a demonstration of solidarity with Rayhana outside the theatre tonight.
Following the attack, the playwright staggered into an upmarket restaurant but was refused help. She carried on to the theatre, La Maison des Metallos, and took part in that night’s performance. Her sell-out play At My Age, I Still Hide To Have A Smoke, is about a group of women who chat about their lives during a visit to a spa.
Also from France comes the news that the country moved a step nearer this week to banning full face coverings.
After passing 2004 law banning Muslim headscarves and other “ostentatious” religious symbols from classrooms, France’s government submitted a draft law to ban garments like the niqab and the burqa. The bill could be debated this spring.
25 responses to “French play insults Muslim men, so ‘critics’ tried torching lead actress Rayhana”
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“Following the attack, the playwright staggered into an upmarket restaurant but was refused help.”
Pity this restaurant wasn’t named and shamed in the report.
“Following the attack, the playwright staggered into an upmarket restaurant but was refused help”
Typical Parisians.
We found them mean spirited and lacking manners on the first and last time we visited. Best fun I had there was when the missus bought a spangly American stars ‘n’ stripes cowboy hat. We were amused by the disgusted looks on the faces of the(all too numerous) muzzies we encountered who seemed to go around in groups.
When you see reactions to women such as this, it shows there are people out there, bolstered by religious teachings, who clearly have serious issues about what it means to be a man.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6990402.ece
UKIP apes the BNP on islam?
Some of these Muslims are really pushing the envelope! One can only hope they’ll be caught, but there’ll be others. Too bad we’ll be needing right-wing populists and chaos to bring about change in this field.
@H. Davids “Too bad we’ll be needing right-wing populists and chaos to bring about change in this field.”
The medicine would be worse than the disease, loonies of any sort are bad enough – but, do you really want to give up your freedoms to protect yourself from the bogeyman?
rog. UKIP, described on Newsnight once to my pleasure, as “the last refuge of the Tory Headbangers” is made up of inept and useless mediocrities. Here is a UKIP “joke” by a UKIP elected politician to the EU I watched on television: Why does a woman need legs?” Answer, “To walk from the kitchen to the bedroom.” The same clown complained that women no longer cleaned behind the cooker.
UKIP is made up of psuedo National Front members who lack the guts to say so. They have severe relationship issues with women; regard gays as repellent and could not organise a booze up in a brewery. One of their Surrey hopefuls wants to abolish social workers and public libraries and I don’t know what else. Twats!
@broga
It seems that they will be having a run at the general election – I just hope that they manage to split the Tory vote
The headline from the mail :”UKIP vows to ban the burka to try to win over working class voters”
Anyone else see a problem with that sentence?
“Typical Parisians.
We found them mean spirited and lacking manners on the first and last time we visited.”
Odd that. I’ve found them to be warm and welcoming on the whole (there are pricks everywhere, of course).
But then I do speak their language.
French gloss over the crime
August 2007, Paris, France:
One sunny afternoon I was insulted by a 3 young suburbans who just stole a bike at the crowded Port D’Italie bus station. Because they were rude and started to be even violent, my French friend called a Police which office is located just 100m away. After long 5 mins of waiting the Police showed up. A Police couple, a man and woman, took some time to park their van. When they finally got out of their car, they slowly walked towards us chewing their gum while I was still pulling over the bike with one of the full-grown teenager. Because I didn’t speak much French, my friend Sabrina spoke for me. She explained the Police woman that this was a Velib bike which is a property of the Parisian city council. She also pointed out that the bike can be rented only through a subscription made by a credit card. Every 30 min of free usage the bike has to be parked in one of the Velib bike racks build across the city. Otherwise the penalty fee will be charged (7EUR/2hours). Although the so-called bikers could not show the subscription ticket, the Police let those young thieves walk away with the stolen bike. And to my surprise, the Police woman asked me, as a non-french visitor for an ID. I said that I didn’t have it because I lost it while dealing with the crooks. The woman looked at her partner asking him in French: “Are we going to bother?” Then they turned and left. Before they disappeared I took a picture of their licence plate since they refused to reaveal their ID number. After all this happened the best was still to come. The people at the station, mostly immigrants by their appearance who witnessed the bike issue, started insulting us. The only person who was on our side was a local bus driver who tried to settle down the situation. Sabrina, who’s Algerian origin, warned me not to risk anymore while staying in Paris and whole France because nobody will ever help. Whereas I don’t give up so easily I asked her if we could report it at least to the head police or an institution which investigates police activity. Although she knew at first it was totally useless, she agreed and took me to the place called Police of Police, as they say in French. It’s been more than 3 years since I filled a complaint and haven’t received or heard any news regarding this matter. Same or similar results I had with most of other French institutions (public or private) like Chronopost, banks (Societe, LCL), shops (Carrefour, Leader Price) and transport companies (RATP, TGV, SNCF, Air France). Anytime there was an issue I had to wait forever to get someone in charge who re-directed me to someone/somewhere else. The one who invented French bureaucracy was probably a hurdle-racer. So many obstacles in the way leading back to the base. Anything simple is turned out to be difficult or impossible just to make every person rather give up the fight for his/her rights. Today’s France is an expansive chaotic bureaumania which fails to protect those who remain honest and dare to help eventhough they might get hurt. During my many long-term visits I found French, notwithstanding age, race and education, as non-bilingual, prejudical and mainly all day striking people. Their lack of knowledge of geography and foreign EU/world history is egregious. Fine cheese and wine won’t make it up, ever.
Where are the comments from Muslims against the criminals who attempted to murder Rayhana? Why are there no Muslim demonstrators in the streets denouncing these monsters? Muslim demonstrators had no problem calling for the Danish cartoonists to be murdered (“butchered” said one sign). Why is there no moral outrage here? Is it because Muslims are afraid to denounce the terrorists in their midst (for fear of their personal safety)? Or do they secretly agree that women who refuse to be enslaved must be doused with acid or set on fire? I keep looking for courageous Muslims who will publicly denounce their brothers who would commit heinous crimes in the name of their faith. They do not seem to exist.
Such a beautiful, peaceful religion. I must convert, er, revert I mean…
@ Rog: No, I’m not looking forward to some right-wing and his morons ‘cleaning’ up the mess main-stream parties have created. Where I live that would be Geert Wilders. All I meant to say is that people have had it, and the nutters are the only ones claiming to be able to make a change.
Fair point about right-wing bigots like the BNP, but they’re only in play because supposedly secular leftist bodies like the Labour Party are totally schizo about radical Islam. One minute we’re at war in Helmand to keep suicide bombers off the Tube, the next minute a few million quid are being chucked at yet another religious quango. The Tories and Lib Dems are no better. Secularism now is roughly where Green politics were about twenty years ago.
H.Davids. You make a fair point. I don’t know who to vote for. At present I don’t intend to vote at all. OK, Civic duty and all that. Bollocks. All I have to vote for are hand picked party hacks. All already whining about their religious convictions in a neautralish kind of way. No atheists of course.
@ Mike,
There will be no Muslim demonstrators over this incident. Despite the governments’ continual insistance, and echoed by the venomous BBC, there is no such thing as a moderate muslim. Has anyone on this site even met one? There are many that state they are, (esp the now discredited British Council of Muslims) but who have continually failed to back up this point.
Islam is a barbaric, backward religion that thrives on human suffering esp women.
Unfortunatly the dickless, spineless excuses for men who follow this religion are only too happy with this status quo and not one will have the balls to turn these cowards over to the police.
Beating up women is the Muslim equivalent of viagra, it’s the only way these cowards can get a hard-on.
@Broga you might enjoy the link below. At the moment both the Home and foreign secretaries are atheists — So, if labour were returned [or possibly a coalition with the libdems] there is at least a chance that we might have an atheist prime minister, once they stop waiting for grodo to become effective & kick him out
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/21/davidmiliband.labourleadership
Broga, there are quite a few ‘faitheists’, i.e. non-believers who witter on about respecting religion in a watery porridgey way. Dave Millipede and Nick Clegg are two good – or bad – examples. Neither has denounced religion, just said it’s not for them, as if it’s a fashion choice. Which for politicians I suppose it usually is.
Mike – how silly of you. These people are not true Muslims! How often do you need to be told?
It would indeed seem to be the case that Islam makes cowards of its male supporters. They don’t need to think about gender equality since their god said it doesn’t exist – or, at least, their interpretation of what he is meant to have said. Who else would rape, torture and kill their womenfolk for having been the victims of sexual abuse? A real man would at least seek out the male perpetrator and offer only comfort to the female victim. Do they seek to deny women a good education because, again, they are afraid of the consequences – a challenge to their (false and unearned) masculine dominance?
@valdemar “Neither has denounced religion, just said it’s not for them, as if it’s a fashion choice. Which for politicians I suppose it usually is.”
I suppose that they are trying to be politically pragmatic, maybe they think that they would not manage to get elected if they accuse half of the voters of being delusional – I have to hope though, once an atheist did manage to become prime minister that they would not give preferential treatment to religious institutions.
Meanwhile in the UK Muslims living in the UK demand that the UK get out of their lands (they say this while living in the UK) and say that the UK will fall as Islam grows stronger and the UK will be under Sharia Law.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvAT7j4L1xY
@ismael001 Mecca will glow in the dark before the UK becomes an Islamic state, chill out.
Good thing her attackers are apparantly not Mythbusters fans.