Peter Hitchens Compares Sexual Harassment To Militant Islam In ‘Insane’ Column<\/b><\/p>\n
Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens has prompted a social media storm after likening those \u201csquawking\u201d about the Westminster sexual harassment scandal to \u201cMilitant Islamists\u201d.<\/p>\n
The veteran writer\u2019s column appeared in Sunday\u2019s newspaper and online<\/a> as British politics is engulfed in accusations in the fall-out from the Harvey Weinstein allegations.<\/p>\n Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has quit and the Conservative Party, Labour and SNP are all probing claims made against their representatives, including an accusation that Jeremy Corbyn\u2019s party ignored a rape allegation.<\/p>\n It was the provocative headline on Hitchens\u2019 piece – \u201cWhat will women<\/a> gain from all this squawking about sex<\/a> pests? A niqab\u201d – that fuelled disbelief on Twitter.<\/p>\n \u201cWomen! If we can\u2019t dictate your place and treatment in society then the creeping sharias will!\u201d pic.twitter.com\/6rIyC59ERm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 rachel shabi (@rachshabi) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n The headline drew comparisons to a widely-shared and similarly-derided Charles Moore column in the Telegraph a day earlier.<\/p>\n \u201cThis scandal shows that women<\/a> are now on top. I pray they share power with men<\/a>, not crush us,\u201d the headline of his piece ran.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Thought Charles was spellbinding yesterday, but it turns out he’s just the Salieri to Peter’s Mozart pic.twitter.com\/0TC3rSuOXE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Marina Hyde (@MarinaHyde) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Charles Moore: I\u2019ve got a mad, irrational and creepy response to the current scandal. \u2014 Stig Abell (@StigAbell) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Peter Hitchens skilfully managing to seamlessly weave misogyny, islamophobia & hyperbole into one ridiculous statement. pic.twitter.com\/JBVvJEfOls<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Natasha Devon MBE (@_NatashaDevon) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Dear Peter Hitchens and Charles Moore: the alternative to molestation isn’t the niqab. <\/p>\n It’s men<\/a> caring about consent.<\/p>\n \u2014 chiller \u2605 (@chiller) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n “Squawking”. Wow, Peter Hitchens. pic.twitter.com\/FGierQfpH5<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Simon Price (@simon_price01) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Peter Hitchens here, asking insanity itself to hold his beer. pic.twitter.com\/iXFHdhEUOs<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alex Paknadel (@AlexPaknadel) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n If Hitchens, Moore et al weren’t reacting to the sexual harassment scandal with obvious panic, I’d be worried. To me it’s very encouraging.<\/p>\n \u2014 Ellie Cumbo (@EllieCumbo) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n One of Hitchens\u2019 defences was that most commentators on Twitter had not read the article, and he suggested they were basing their outrage on the headline alone and deliberate misinterpretation.<\/p>\n That included his argument that men<\/a> and women<\/a> objecting to harassment have \u201clots in common\u201d with \u201cMilitant Islamists\u201d. Some simply couldn\u2019t comprehend the comparison.<\/p>\n Peter Hitchens: Calling out & opposing sexual harassers & assaulters makes you as bad as… militant islamists. pic.twitter.com\/GdxEG6ZCGU<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Tauriq Moosa (@tauriqmoosa) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Hitchens also argued feminists have a wider agenda.<\/p>\n While he says he welcomes the \u201cwonderful new equality between men<\/a> and women<\/a>, which is one of the great changes for the better in our age\u201d, Hitchens fears for the\u00a0\u201cmilitant destruction of marriage and the traditional family\u201d.<\/p>\n He writes:<\/p>\n \u201cMany of those who claim to seek female<\/a> equality have another, much fiercer objective. They actually see men<\/a> as the enemy, the \u2018patriarchy\u2019, to be overthrown by all means necessary, and replaced by a feminised society. They also see marriage as a machine for oppressing women<\/a>. Their objectives moved a lot closer last week.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Some pointed out this, again, was overblown and men<\/a> were just being asked to be \u201cless awful\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Peter Hitchens thinks the logical conclusion of women<\/a> asking men<\/a> to be less awful is “women<\/a> should wear burqas then” t.co\/jkO4PST8fM<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ros Urwin (@RosamundUrwin) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Hitchens goes on that those calling for equality also \u201csneered at restraint and manners\u201d and now want those customs to return.<\/p>\n He argues the values once enshrined in marriage separated \u201cus\u201d from the \u201cIslamic world\u201d, and the niqab alluded to in the headline.<\/p>\n One Twitter user countered that this assumed there was no harassment before society was \u201cliberated\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s so revealing, this stuff: Hitchens believes there was a happy time when there was no sexual harassment, rather than no recourse. pic.twitter.com\/HF13vSRORw<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Alex von Tunzelmann (@alexvtunzelmann) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Hitchens then imagines the lengths men<\/a> in Westminster will have to go to ensure they do not face accusations of harassment. Again, it is dismissed as a \u201claughable\u201d way to act.\u00a0<\/p>\n some advice from Peter Hitchens pic.twitter.com\/Ib1bMi5RDI<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n This is laughable for grownup men<\/a> who know how to act normally at lunch. If you feel like this stay home no one wants your weird company t.co\/tVAuadwtA9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Liz Bates (@wizbates) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n But aspects of the column did garner praise, notably his argument that Britain faces bigger problems than the allegations that have rocked Westminster.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hitchens is right. pic.twitter.com\/yl0z6rl34e<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Pete North (@PeteNorth303) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Hitchens in turn confronted his critics, arguing many were \u201ctwisting\u201d his words and that people were failing to explain their counter arguments – even though many had.\u00a0<\/p>\n I wish you a happy and successful career in the Thought Police, where this sort of twisting and misrepresentation are valued skills. t.co\/hmRLrrhxbd<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Explain your disagreements, if you can. Or do you just run with the Twitter mob, mouth wise open, mind tightly shut? t.co\/vgjTFAwy3V<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Peter Hitchens (@ClarkeMicah) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n should have felt angry when I saw this but then \u2018the past was yours, but the future\u2019s mine\u2019 came into my head instantly and it was ok pic.twitter.com\/arbayzh4Ym<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Jennifer Williams (@JenWilliamsMEN) November 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n \nwww.huffingtonpost.co.uk\/entry\/peter-hitchens-column_uk_59ff3c7be4b0baea26324aed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Peter Hitchens Compares Sexual Harassment To Militant Islam In ‘Insane’ Column Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens has prompted a social media storm after likening those \u201csquawking\u201d about the Westminster sexual harassment scandal to \u201cMilitant Islamists\u201d. The veteran writer\u2019s column appeared in Sunday\u2019s newspaper and online as British politics is engulfed in accusations in the … Continue reading Peter Hitchens Compares Sexual Harassment To Militant Islam In ‘Insane’ Column<\/span> \n
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Peter Hitchens: Tush, you naive amateur. pic.twitter.com\/kItJ1wDIlf<\/a><\/p>\nThe headline alone was enough to draw fierce criticism.\u00a0<\/h4>\n
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But many people had read the piece, and objected to various aspects of his argument.<\/h4>\n
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Some, however, took a philosophical approach to quell their anger.<\/h4>\n
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