“L’islamisme est le nouveau totalitarisme de notre siècle donc il pèse par la peur, par l’oppression, par la violence, par le meurtre.”

“Islamism is the new totalitarianism of our century. It weighs by fear, by oppression, by violence, by murder.”

When Daoud speaks, people listen. He is a courageous man. Why? Because from his home in Oran, Algeria, this outspoken intellectual, journalist and novelist dares to openly criticize Islam.

Born in 1970 in Mostaganem, Algeria, Daoud won the French literary Goncourt prize for his first novel as well as a raft of other prestigious (French) prizes. In November 2015, The New York Times featured an op-ed opinion piece by Daoud titled “Saudi Arabia, an ISIS That Has Made It” in both English and French.

But the most compelling op-ed piece, published again by The New York Times in February 2016 and following the sexual attacks on European women by Arab men on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, Germany, is his article entitled “The Sexual Misery of the Arab World“. It was published simultaneously with Le Monde newspaper in three languages: English, French, and Arabic.

“Cologne, place of fantasies”
According to writer Kamel Daoud, the welcome of refugees forces us to admit that giving them papers does not suffice in curing them of the profound sexism that rages in the arabo-Muslim world.

In August 2016 another important article came out: Paradise, the new Muslim utopia.

All this makes for highly educative and informative reading. Thank the universe for original and free thinkers like Kamel Daoud!! (I say “universe” because I am a pantheist who does not believe in a distinct personal god. Although the term pantheism was not coined until after his death, Spinoza is regarded as its most celebrated advocate. His work, Ethics, was the major source from which Western pantheism spread. Food for thought as a future blog post!)