I Call Myself A Liberal

I Assume The Closest Members Of My Family Don't Actually Want To Kill Me, But The Truth Is That I Have Shamed And Hurt Them; They Have To Deal With The Outrage That My Public Statements Cause, And Undoubtedly Some Members Of My Clan Do Want To Kill Me For That.

This Was Not An Attack By A Mentally Deranged, Lone-wolf Gunman. This Was Not An 'un-islamic' Attack By A Bunch Of Thugs - The Perpetrators Could Be Heard Shouting That They Were Avenging The Prophet Muhammad. Nor Was It Spontaneous. It Was Planned To Inflict Maximum Damage, During A Staff Meeting, With Automatic Weapons And A Getaway Plan. It Was Designed To Sow Terror, And In That It Has Worked.

I Would Like To Be Judged On The Validity Of My Arguments, Not As A Victim.

Infuriatingly Stupid Analysts - Especially People Who Called Themselves Arabists, Yet Who Seemed To Know Next To Nothing About The Reality Of The Islamic World - Wrote Reams Of Commentary [after 9/11]. Their Articles Were All About Islam Saving Aristotle And The Zero, Which Medieval Muslim Scholars Had Done More Than Eight Hundred Years Ago; About Islam Being A Religion Of Peace And Tolerance, Not The Slightest Bit Violent. These Were Fairy Tales, Nothing To Do With The Real World I Knew.

People Ask Me If I Have Some Kind Of Death Wish, To Keep Saying The Things I Do. The Answer Is No: I Would Like To Keep Living. However, Some Things Must Be Said, And There Are Times When Silence Becomes An Accomplice To Injustice.