By Carrie Kolar

Staff Writer

Christopher Hitchens, who has made a name as an author, journalist, and self-styled radicalist, addressed a gathering of over 100 individuals from the tri-college community at Haverford’s Marshall Auditorium late last week.

Though his support for interventionism and the Iraq War have caused some to label him a neoconservative, Hitchens was placed on the list of Forbes magazine’s list of the “25 most influential liberals in the US media” in 2007.

During his Haverford talk, Hitchens had a wry sense of humor in thanking Haverford for not giving him a predetermined subject, saying that he appreciated the chance to have “just an evening about moi.” However, Hitchens quickly moved to the subject he wanted to address, which was “free expression and the current political and cultural threats against it.”

This choice of subject, Hitchens said, was due to the fact that this year is the twentieth anniversary of the issuing of the fatwa by the Ayatollah Khomeini against novelist Salman Rushdie because of Rushdie’s novel "The Satanic Verses." For those who had no idea what a fatwa is, Hitchens described it as a religious edict demanding Rushdie’s death.

He then went on to describe the results of the fatwa: Rushdie went into hiding, his translators were attacked and killed, and riots broke out in Islamic communities. The fatwa was issued in 1989, and Hitchens said that at that time such violence was completely unheard of. What concerns him now, he said, was that this sort of thing has become common in our world.

Hitchens continued to cite examples of extremism causing religion-based attacks on civilians, particularly writers and artists. His remarks and examples mainly concerned what he sees as the Islamic threat against freedom of expression. His concern was not only due to the violence perpetrated against those whose work offended religious leaders, but also because of the reactions of the rest of the world to instances of brutality.

He cited a recent State Department statement in which the U.S. government said that it regretted the insult caused by the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. Hitchens said that the statement was a case of “blame the victim,” as the Danish Prime Minister was subtly threatened by a coalition from the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, and the artist threatened with death.

Hitchens scathingly critiqued the western world’s commitment to freedom of expression and rights like those guaranteed in the First Amendment, describing the attitude as “not if it takes any trouble, and not if we have to take risks.”

Stressing what he sees as the threat of fundamentalist Islam, Hitchens ended his talk on the recent trend of religion- and state-sanctioned murders and strikes against the non-Muslim global population. He said it is the beginning of a campaign that is not, as some say, anti-imperialist.

He called this a naïve reading and suggested that we listen to the rhetoric of the individuals themselves, which calls for “the restoration of the old Caliphate.” Hitchens said the avowed goal of those in power in the Muslim world is for “the whole world [to] come under the ordained rule of a single holy book.”

To ensure that the attacks on freedom of expression do not succeed, Hitchens advised students fight it in their minds, urging them to not give up or give in to fear without trying to resist.

In the question-and–answer session following the talk, students’ questions focused upon the areas of religion, conflict, and current events. Questions included what aspects of religion Hitchens finds most dangerous, what to him qualifies as a "just war," and his take upon the banning of minarets in Switzerland and the banning of the veil in France. The session lasted for some time as the students engaged in lively debate with each other and Hitchens.

SC Co-President Harrison Haas ’10 said that Hitchens was the best speaker brought to campus by the Speakers Committee in his four years at Haverford.

Others thought the talk was ‘typical’ Christopher Hitchens.

"It’s about what you would expect based on his articles and appearances elsewhere,” said Sean Hughes ‘10.

Jess Bernhardt ‘10 said that whatever else you thought of him, “he stirred up a lot of debate, which was great. He pushed things one step further and made people voice their opinions.”

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