2022-11-19: A Conversation with Yasmine Mohammed

Publication Date: 2022-11-23

Welcome to an Atheist Freethinkers video. We are very pleased to welcome a major figure in the freethought, secularism and ex-Muslim movements, an author and human rights activist who has done so much to dispel the cloud of misconceptions and dishonesty which surround the issue of Islam and radical Islam. I am of course referring to Yasmine Mohammed. Her book Unveiled: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam (the title says it all) has been translated into some 15 languages. Recently it was published in French translation, by a local Quebec publisher Jet Bleu, under the title Lever le voile, ou Comment les progressistes occidentaux favorisent l’islam radical.

Here is a transcript of the various questions which the moderator put to our guest Yasmine Mohammed in the first half of the above video.

• In your opinion, why is there so much opposition to Quebec Bill 21 in the Rest of Canada (ROC)? Or, on the contrary, is there more support from Canadians in the ROC than one would think when reading the mainstream media?
• In the ROC there are several organizations which claim to support secularism but which OPPOSE Quebec Bill 21. Please comment.
• In France, since 2004, religious symbols may not be worn by schoolchildren while in school. Researchers have found that, since then, the academic performance of girls from Muslim families has improved significantly, and that similar improvement has not been observed either for boys or for girls from non-Muslim families. In other words, the absence of the hijab has been very beneficial. Do you think that the Quebec government should extend Bill 21 to implement a similar provision here?
• In your many media appearances, you often talk about how accusations of so-called “Islamophobia” are used by Islamists—and by their useful idiots—to stifle open discussion of problems with Islam and Islamism. Could you explain briefly? And related to that issue, have you noticed how even accusations of racism are used in a similar way? Apparently Islamists have infiltrated the so-called antiracist movement. (I say “so-called” because that movement does not really seem to work against racism as it claims.) What is your take on all this?
• I understand that your mother and your stepfather (her second husband) are both Egyptian, and that in Egypt some 98% of females underdo female genital mutilation (FGM). I also understand that it was the threat of this procedure being applied to your daughter that led to you making a life-changing decision. Please tell us that story.
• In one of your media appearances, you ask the brilliant rhetorical question “Would you celebrate Mormon underpants on the cover of Sports Illustrated? So why celebrate the burkini?” Please comment.
• In another of your media appearances, you explain that criticism is a major motor of progress. Without criticism, societies and religions do not progress or improve. Please comment.
• In one of your media appearances, you say that cultural relativism hurts the very group which one is ostensibly trying to protect. Please explain.
• In yet another of your media appearances, you say that the people who are the most racist are the very ones who claim to be most concerned about racism. Please explain.
• Can you tell us a little about your Free Hearts Free Minds initiative which comes to the aid of ex-Muslims in Muslim-majority countries.
• Can you tell us about your testimony before the Canadian parliament on the subject of Motion M-103, the parliamentary motion which denounces so-called “Islamophobia” and links it to so-called “systemic racism.” What is your take on M-103?
• I notice that Wikipedia has a page on so-called Islamic feminism, in 31 languages, including English and French. Tell us what you think of that expression.
• Can you comment on the Arabization of peoples conquered by Islamic invaders, such as Egypt and other North-African countries, or Iran or Afghanistan. What were the consequences of Islamization for those societies? (See: An American Conversation Podcast: Yasmine Mohammed Human Rights Activist)

In the second half of the video, the questions above are followed by various questions and comments from event participants.