Robert Redeker is a French writer and philosophy teacher. He was teaching at the Pierre-Paul-Riquet high school, in

Saint-Orens-de-Gameville Saint-Orens-de-Gameville (, oc, Sent Orenç de Gamevila), also referred to as Saint-Orens, is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department, administrative region of Occitania, southwestern France. Population The inhabitants of the commune are kn ...

, and at the

École Nationale de l'Aviation Civile École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. He is currently in hiding under police protection. On 19 September 2006, a few days before the Islamic month of Ramadan, he wrote an

opinion piece An opinion piece is an article, usually published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about a subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals. Editorials Opinion pieces may take the form of an editorial, ...

for ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...

'', a French secular and conservative newspaper, which quickly removed the article from its public database. In it, he attacked Islam and

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

, writing: "''Pitiless war leader, pillager, butcher of Jews and polygamous, this is how Mohammed is revealed by the Koran.''" He called the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

"''a book of incredible violence''", adding: "''Jesus is a master of love, Muhammad a master of hate.''" That day's issue of ''Le Figaro'' was banned in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. Afterwards, Redeker received various death threats originating from one Islamist website (where he was sentenced to death; they posted his address and a photograph of his home). He requested and was given police protection. A man has been arrested because of a hate mail he sent to Redeker. On 3 October 2006 a group of renowned French intellectuals published "''appel en faveur de Robert Redeker''" (an appeal in support of Robert Redeker) in ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'', among them

Elisabeth Badinter Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

, Alain Finkielkraut,

André Glucksmann André Glucksmann (; 19 June 1937 – 10 November 2015) was a French philosopher, activist and writer. He was a leading figure of the new philosophers. Glucksmann began his career as a Marxist, but went on to reject communism in the popular bo ...

Claude Lanzmann Claude Lanzmann (; 27 November 1925 – 5 July 2018) was a French filmmaker known for the Holocaust documentary film '' Shoah'' (1985). Early life Lanzmann was born on 27 November 1925 in Paris, France, the son of Paulette () and Armand Lanzmann. ...

(with the editorial staff of "Les Temps Modernes") and

Bernard-Henri Lévy Bernard-Henri Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the " Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, political acti ...

. They see their most fundamental liberties endangered by a handful of fanatics under the pretense of religious laws, and decry the tendency in Europe to avoid "provocations" in order to not anger supposed foreign sensitivities. The vast majority of the "official" responses was, however, hostile to the ex-philosophy teacher - including France's 'Le Monde' who "characterized Redeker’s piece as “excessive, misleading, and insulting.”

References

External links

Official site of Robert Redeker

"What should the free world do while facing Islamist intimidation?" (English translation)

Young Islamist Arrested in Morocco in Relation to French Writer Robert Redeker Threat Case
* Berman, Russell
"Robert Redeker on the 'Free World' and Islam"
Telos Press, October 4, 2006. * Berman, Russell
"Robert Redeker: On Religions and Violence"
Telos Press, October 5, 2006. * Poller, Nidr
“Refugee in his Own Country”
Standpoint magazine, February 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Redeker, Robert 20th-century French philosophers Islam-related controversies in Europe Living people People from Ariège (department) French people of German descent French male non-fiction writers Year of birth missing (living people) French critics of Islam