.... Namazie says it's worse than mere cowardice. The thinking classes' timid silence on Islamism cedes the critical ground to the far right, allowing Islamists to cry Islamophobia and render themselves immune.
.... Atheist Foundation members, invited to debate the existence of God with the Muslim Students Association, found the room segregated, men left, women right.
Ian Bryce, from the Secular Party of Australia, recalls also a ''couples'' space in the centre, and jests that a gay couple from their number should have sat there. It would have been a brave move.
An ex-Muslim, Hossain Salahuddin, remembers the audience as "very hostile . . . pretty nasty". A heckler shouting, "Islam will conquer the world", was cheered and a couple of the looser canons were ejected. The atheists were later escorted by security not just from the room but also from the campus.
This is Australia; an Australian university, for godsake, where Bryce - famous for his 2008 fake popemobile - once taught aerospace engineering. Yet we say nothing. Our desperation to avoid intolerance allows intolerance to thrive. Our determination not to offend means we tolerate the thoroughly offensive. [The Sydney Morning Herald] Read more
