Translated material
About Oriana Fallaci
About Oriana Fallaci
Publication date: February 7, 2005
Publication date: February 7, 2005
At the end of 2004, the Vagrius publishing house published a Russian translation of the book “ Rage and Pride ” by the famous Italian writer and journalist Oriana Fallaci. RJ publishes quotes from Fallaci's articles in Corriere della Sera with comments by Carlos Zapiola and an open letter published by the same newspaper addressed to the writer by Professor Miguel Cancio.
Carlos Zapiola
about Oriana Fallaci and 9/11Let me remind you right away that she is seriously ill, she has cancer. And maybe she shouldn’t have taken on this topic, because she always writes about everything with passion, defending her radical beliefs. But that's how she is. She's always been like this. She always appeared where her presence and judgment were needed. She has always had admirers and fierce opponents, but we, all those for whom the need to preserve peace is obvious, no matter how different our beliefs may be, should carefully read what she wrote - a professional, a witness and participant in many fateful events of the second half of the twentieth century.
Talking about the perpetrators of terrorist acts, she says: “I think they are vain. Instead of looking for glory in cinema, politics or sports, they look for it in death itself and in everything connected with it. Death is something for them "like an Oscar, a ministerial chair or a championship title, with its help they strive to win admiration. They pray to Allah that there will be a place for them in paradise, which is spoken of in the Koran, where the "heroes" like the houris."
Her judgments about Arafat as one of the characters in this story immediately come to mind.
“How I would like to be able to throw accusations in the face of Sr. Arafat so that he can hear them! I cannot find in myself even a shadow of sympathy for this man. I would shout to him: the famous Sr. Arafat, the martyrs are the passengers of four planes that were hijacked and turned into into "human" bombs.
They are already in paradise, the famous lord Arafat. The misfortune is that you are now the head of state for life, and it seems to you that you have the right to behave like a monarch: meet with the Pope, sign your dislike for terrorism, send condolences to Bush. I admit that with your ability to mimic, you could even answer me that I am telling the truth. Since the whole world knows that I am sick, I can say that talking about Arafat gives me a fever.”
Then she speaks admiringly about the USA. She argues that “America’s multinational essence is based on its internal freedom, respect for both citizens and guests. Thus, about 24 million Americans are Muslim Arabs. And when Mustafa or Magomed come, for example, from Afghanistan to visit their uncle, no one forbids them to enroll in a special school to learn how to fly a Boeing 757, or to go to university to gain knowledge in biology and chemistry, without which it is impossible to start a bacteriological war. No one, no one from the government was afraid that the son of Allah would hijack "Boeing 757" or throw a handful of bacteria into the reservoir and create a hecatomb. (I say this because this time the government knew nothing, although the CIA and FBI are unrivaled in boasting. If I were the President of the United States, I would kicked all these cretins out with a kick in the ass.)"
Then about the author of the monstrous plan, Osama bin Laden: “I imagine this sad millionaire, this failed playboy, who just courted princesses and spent time in nightclubs (in Beirut, for example, when he was 20 years old), is now having fun by killing people in the name of Mohammed or Allah. His excessive patrimonism also stems from the income of a corporation specializing in destruction, and from the fact that he himself was an expert destroyer."
“So when I saw whites and blacks crying with each other (I emphasize: hugging), when I saw Democrats and Republicans singing “God bless America” together, when I saw them forgetting all their differences, I was shocked. Same thing. I was shocked to hear Bill Clinton (a man for whom I had previously had no affection) say: “We must support Bush, trust our president.” The same was repeated by the former first lady, Hillary Clinton, now a senator from New York. York, and Lieberman, the former Democratic nominee for vice president. Only former Vice President Al Gore remained silent. Congress unanimously voted to accept the war and punish those responsible.
Absolutely everyone was unanimous. Young, old and middle aged people. White, black, yellow, brown and purple."
"Did you see them or not? While Bush thanked them, they did not stop waving American flags, raising them in clenched fists and shouting: "USA, USA, USA!" If this had happened in a totalitarian country, I would have thought: " How well he manipulates his subjects." But in North America, no. In the USA, such things are not organized. Especially in a disillusioned metropolis like New York, and with workers like the workers of New York."
“In my opinion, the USA is a country of absolutely free plebeians (mobs). In North America, all the common people: white, black, yellow, brown, purple, stupid, smart, poor and rich. I include among the plebeians the American rich, in the majority cases of poorly educated and ignorant people. It is immediately noticeable that they do not stand out in any way, they even dress tastelessly, although they manage to spend an amount of money on their clothes devoid of any elegance that even the Queen of England does not allow herself. But they are liberated. And in this world there is no nothing stronger and more powerful than the liberated plebeians. And you always feel and behave at ease among them."
“You don’t understand or don’t want to understand that if we don’t resist, if we don’t defend, if we don’t fight, jihad will win. And it will destroy the world that, for better or worse, we continue to build, change, improve and to make a little more intelligent and less hypocritical. And with the destruction of our world, our culture, our science, our moral principles, our values and our joys collapse."
"What you don't realize is that people like Osama bin Laden think they deserve respect by killing you and your children because you drink wine or beer, because you don't wear long beards or veils, because you go to the theater and cinema because you listen to music and sing songs, because you watch TV, because you wear a miniskirt or shorts, because in the sea or in the pool you swim naked or almost naked and because you exercise "love, when you want, where you want and with whomever you want. Isn't all this important to you? I'm an atheist, thank God. And I don't agree to live in order to die, like a sacrifice made to someone else's principles."
"There are people who think that one can be indifferent, that North America is very far away and there is an ocean between Europe and America. No, my dears, no. The ocean is nothing more than a strip of water. Because when the fate of the West is at stake, the survival of our civilization, New York is all of us. America is all of us: Italians, French, English, Austrians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Poles, Scandinavians, Belgians, Spaniards, Greeks, Portuguese. If America drowns, Europe will drown. If the West sinks, we will all drown."
“Osama bin Laden claims that the whole earth should be Muslim, that we should convert to Islam, whether we are good or bad, he will convert us, that is why he is exterminating us and will continue to exterminate us. And we cannot like this. On the contrary, we have there are more than sufficient reasons to kill him."
“But the death of Osama bin Laden will not solve the problem. Because there are still 12 thousand bin Ladens and they are not only in Afghanistan, but also in other Arab countries. They are in all countries, and the most persistent of them are in the West. In ours cities, on our streets, in our universities, in our laboratory technology. Technology that any idiot can operate. Many years ago, a crusade began. And they function with the serviceability of a Swiss watch, and the combination of fanatical faith and treachery in their actions is comparable only to "The fanaticism and treachery of the Inquisitor Torquemada. In truth, it is impossible to conduct a dialogue with them. Trying to convince is unthinkable. Forbearance, patience and hope for conviction in relations with them is suicide. And anyone who thinks otherwise is mistaken."
“Whenever I found myself in Muslim countries (I can’t say that they left me with good memories), I never forgot that I was a guest and a foreigner. I was careful not to offend their customs with a gesture or behavior that was "It's normal for us, but unthinkable for them. I always treated their customs with emphatic politeness, apologizing in advance if I inadvertently violated their rules or ignored some prohibition, even if it seemed to me pure superstition."
“There is another thing that I don’t understand. If they are really so poor, who gives them money for a plane ticket or a ship that takes them to Italy? Who gives them 10 million lire each (10 is at least), necessary to buy a ticket? I don’t know who pays them for it, but I’m sure that Osama bin Laden is ready to pay at least some part of it, thus trying to conquer not only souls, but also territories.”
“Although all our guests were so far absolutely innocent, although among them there was not one who would try to destroy the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the bell tower of the Florence Cathedral, no one who would try to force me to put on a veil, no one who would want to burn me in the fire of the new Inquisition , I am still alarmed by their presence in Italy. And my anxiety is growing. Those who do not see a danger here, and a sufficiently long-term one, are mistaken. And it is in vain to compare the large wave of emigrants from Muslim countries that fell on Italy and Europe with the wave of emigrants who were transported to America in the middle of the 19th century, including also the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th."
"My God! (joking), I tell you that we Italians are in different conditions than the Americans: we do not have such a mosaic of ethnic and religious groups, a mixture of a thousand cultures, which is open to any invasion and at the same time capable renounce them all. Italy has an absolutely unique culture that has developed over centuries and is highly valued, so we cannot tolerate a wave of emigrants consisting of people for whom this culture and history is an empty phrase, who want to change our lives. Abolish our values. We do not want accept their notorious minarets, damned (in the original much rude) veils, their hypocritical refusal of alcohol, all their dense Middle Ages... Because this would be equivalent to throwing away Dante Alighieri, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and the freedom of our homeland, which we, good or bad, won. That would mean giving them Italy. I won’t give them Italy."
“I am Italian. Those fools who think I am American are mistaken. I never asked for American citizenship. Many years ago, an American diplomat offered me citizenship. I thanked him, saying: “Sir, I am quite attached to America. I have always fought with her, I have thrown many accusations at her, but I am deeply attached to her. America for me is a lover or a husband who always remains faithful. Who will never cuckold me. I love him. And I will never forget that if America had not decided to fight against Hitler and Mussolini, I would be speaking German today. I will never forget that if she had not stood in the way of the USSR, I would be speaking Russian today."
“For me, Osama bin Laden’s supporters are the same as the French who invaded Italy with Napoleon, the Austrians who subjugated Italy, and Hitler’s interventionists.
I convey my greetings to you faithfully, my dear Ferucho, and draw your attention to the fact that you never ask me for anything more than to enter into controversy. What I had to tell you, I said. This made me angry and proud. A clear conscience and age allow me to do this. But now I have to go back to work and I don’t want to be tired. End".
Miguel Cancio
An open letter addressed to the amazing Fallaci
(about articles in defense of freedom and the need to punish terrorists)
I, Miguel Cancio, professor of sociology at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain - Galicia). I would like my letter to be published in the Corriere della Sera or sent in some other way to Oriana Fallaci. I met her when she published her sensational reports and interviews during the battles for freedom in Spain, and now I want to express my support and gratitude to her for the wonderful articles “Rage and Pride” published in Italy in Corriere della Sera and in Spain in El Mundo (in three editions: Sunday, September 1, and Monday and Tuesday, October 1 and 2, 2001).
In these articles, immediately before the horrendous attacks of September 11, generated by the inconsistent US policy towards fundamentalist regimes, Oriana alone declared the need to actively and responsibly defend the principles and values of a democratic civilization, with no less consistency than the separation of church and state in Spain and throughout the world .
Oriana defends the truths dear to me with anger and pride. A citizen of Italy and the world fights against lies and fraud, the cowardly capitulation of old and new cultures to politicians, "deliverers", international officials and popular leaders. It declares war on the traders of dangerous myths, chimeras and ideologies, who always try to appear virtuous and pure, although in reality they forget the boundaries of good and evil and resort to the services of any agents and groups that support the demand in their immoral market.
I am 53 years old. Having received an economics education in Spain, I studied sociology at the university in Paris and, like many other emigrants from Galicia, studied military affairs. In Galicia, Spain and France, at the risk of my own skin, I fought underground against the dictatorship of Franco, this darkest politician who subjugated intellectual, religious and cultural life, fought in order to achieve the freedom and dignity of citizens, respect and protection of democratic rights and freedoms for Spanish citizens and for citizens all over the world.
Cuba! My dear Cuba is in the hands of the tyrant Castro and his communist dictatorship, which is incomparably more dangerous and durable than the dictatorship of Franco. We must not forget that this brutal dictator even relied on the hand of... Ayatollah Khomeini in order to support anti-globalization demonstrations, and not so long ago he participated in a session of the UN General Assembly dedicated to racism, sitting next to other dictators and fundamentalists, giving lessons to the world emancipation and tolerance. The Castro regime never tires of supporting all means of international terrorism, sending specially trained “jackals” around the world. China is a different dictatorship, totalitarian, cruel, ultra-corrupt. North Korea is another totalitarian dictatorship that kept its people in fear and hunger, while possessing a powerful and combat-ready army. Morocco is an authoritarian and deeply corrupt regime that relies entirely on support from the East. Algeria - it was the FLN that was the great hope of the European world, that the Arab world would end colonialism, economic exploitation, and the lack of rights of Muslim women; instead of all this, a nomenklatura regime grew up in Algeria, thoroughly corrupt, which liberated... and strengthened fundamentalism in even more cruel and bloodthirsty forms. Iran - when I was studying in Paris, the future totalitarian fanatic Khomeini was hiding not far from where I lived and vowed to defend democratic rights upon returning to his homeland. Previously, he supported Foucault, who traveled to talk about the excellences of the Iranian revolution. In Iran, “Khomeinism” was established with blood and fire. Islamic totalitarianism has surpassed all others in barbarism, in the destruction of women's rights, and now they have surpassed the Taliban, following their path...
In the 1970s, when Spain achieved democracy, it seemed that a truly free political system was emerging, where the powers of central and local government would be strictly separated, the judiciary and executive would be under effective democratic control of society, referendums would be held, election expenses would be controlled, etc. .d. It seemed that nomenklatura, bureaucratized, corporate power would have to become a thing of the past when all citizens of the country would have the opportunity to go into a secret voting booth and freely cast their vote. It seemed that the most important role in the formation of all democratic institutions of society and government would be played by an independent, uncompromised press. But in reality, it turned out that those who support the government and receive its support in return (in fact, they themselves become the power) are either those who have always had privileges, wealth and social status, or those who acquired all the same with the establishment of a new political system. So the rich, large landowners, representatives of old corporations and the oligarchy easily found a common language to protect their interests with the new bureaucracy, trade unions, and new entrepreneurs.
Today's leftists, proclaiming the ideals of revolution, solidarity, progress, free exchange, etc., grossly play at anti-Americanism, making the United States an “evil empire”, the culprit of everything bad that happens in the world. But Oriana Fallaci convincingly shows that there is every reason to hope that the United States will be able to learn a lesson from the tragedy and not trip over the same stone twice by supporting corrupt and dictatorial regimes. Because despite all the mistakes that the United States has made and continues to make, it is the most self-critical country in the world, where citizens have the maximum amount of democratic resources and procedures at their disposal, and where it all works in a way that does not work in any other country . For example: the USA is the only country in the world where presidents, who represent perhaps the most powerful power in the whole world, are under the strictest democratic control. One was forced to resign, exposed in the illegal use of the capabilities of state intelligence services, and the other, when his lies under oath were publicly established, was forced to come to terms and... saved Europe from national totalitarianisms such as Milosevic, as America once did with the Marshall Plan "saved her from the threat of the spread of communist and fascist totalitarianism.
Today, after the brutal attack on the United States organized by Islamic terrorists, which continues in the form of bacteriological terrorism, as Oriana Fallaci shows, all Western leftists and fighters against globalism do not hesitate to say that the Americans have suffered a well-deserved punishment.
Muslim states ruled by fundamentalists have huge reserves of oil and gas. Most of these countries now rely on the United States, starting with Saudi Arabia, whose fundamentalism and neo-feudalism are reinforcing even more archaic forms of fundamentalism around the world. In none of these countries has a democratic state system emerged; democratic freedoms and human rights are not respected there. A woman in these countries is viewed as a creature whose opinion is not valued even half as much as a man’s, and against the backdrop of economic prosperity, the lack of rights of women, who can be humiliated, insulted, maimed and even killed with impunity, is even more striking.
Oriana Fallaci, it seems to me, is right about everything. If we do not act decisively and energetically in defense of a society where honest work is valued, where respect for freedoms, civic responsibility and self-esteem reign, if we cannot everywhere establish a civic culture, the desire for progress and civilization, real equality between men and women, then from the ideals of liberal democracy we will return to the darkest, totalitarian barbarism, aggressive and cruel, which drives both the old and new Taliban, and all those who in Europe and throughout the world in one way or another contribute to their monstrous actions.
Dear Oriana, thank you very much for the necessary and timely articles. I want to quote the aphorisms of the famous Pepe Bergamin: “Life is our passion, truth is our reason, liberation from old and new systems is our revolution”; “I hate the truth when it is a lie; the truth, to be true, must be burning and naked.” Your articles are lively, bold, passionate, liberating, scorching and naked.
Thank you, amazing Oriana! Your wonderfully brave articles made me remember the amazing singing of Tigress Cremona (Mina), an Italian singer who is as emotional, militant and dazzling as you. Her songs are both sensitive and educational. How she sang, how she came out, how she moved!!! “E se domani” “Ancora”... (the names of Mina’s songs are “If Tomorrow” and “Now”)...
So, if “tomorrow” or “now” totalitarianism, fanaticism and obscurantism try to return, we will not give in, we will be ready to defend freedom and democracy, justice and progress, poetry and happiness, passion and truth in a decisive battle.