Melanie Phillips reaches new lows?
I know she has her defenders, but I think they would be hard pushed to say something good about this piece.She says:
Thus the triumphalism of someone who understands better than the dhimmi dummies of Oxford university the magnitude of the cultural pass they have so recklessly sold
The dhimmi dummies of Oxford University. And the cultural pass they have so recklessly sold. What does she mean by that?
The piece mixes up both Muslims at the University and in the city as whole (the 8,000 by the way refers to the city and isn't that far out of line for England as a whole, it's 5% to 7% of Oxford's population). Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I assume she does not believe Muslims should be banned from living in Oxford, or that the University has much say in whether they do or not.
Instead she must be complaining about the university allowing the formation of the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies. This is strange given I'm pretty sure in the past one of her complaints about Islam has been the lack of study and interpretation. And I think she means more than this, as the linked piece also talks of the University's many Muslim scholars and Muslim students. I'm not therefore confident even on this interpretation that she is isn't suggesting there should be fewer of them.
But does anyone else know?
posted by Matthew @ 10/21/2006 10:06:00 AM
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