Mona Eltahawy Says Non-Muslims Need to "Shut Up and Listen"

Some tribalists, like Mona Eltahawy, believe people must be excluded from certain conversations based on race, gender and religion.

by Lalo Dagach

One of the most ridiculous concepts to stem from generation safe space in the past decade is the prohibition of criticism based on nationality, race, gender or religion. The belief that human rights abuses can only be spoken about by people of the oppressed community. As if the most noble act an empathetic humanist can perform when seeing the inhumane treatment of those less fortunate, is to ignore the oppression and the oppressed. This belief in solidarity through apathy is today being pushed by all types of self-proclaimed “activists” who can’t seem to get enough of their own voice, and one of these tribal absolutists is Mona Eltahawy.

Mona wants all whites and non-Muslims (unclear if this includes the millions of white Muslims around the world, in Bosnia, Chechnya, etc.) to shut up and listen to Muslim women. As luck would have it, Mona herself is a Muslims woman. How convenient for her, no?

If I were to say all non-Atheists should “shut up and listen to Atheists,” I wonder how well such a comment would be received by Muslims. After all, Atheists are persecuted all over the world, and especially in Muslim majority countries and communities. I doubt I would be able to get away with such an idiotically obnoxious comment even with the Atheist on twitter.

How was this comment by Mona received by non-Muslim men? During a long exchange on twitter, Ex-Muslim account Iranian Atheist (who is also a close friend of mine), said that “If they had good arguments I'd listen to them. I don't judge people by the color of their skins.” Mona Eltahawy responded by dismissing him and his argument completely. “Ah. You're of the "I don't see colour" school. Got it. We're done here.” 

According to Mona if white people try to participate in the fight for equal civil rights for black Americans they would be, and I suppose she also means should be, laughed at. 

Why is that? If simply being black is a qualifier for honest statements about the oppression of black individuals in the US, then I suppose we should all “shut up and listen” to Louis Farrakhan. Is there some guarantee that because an individual is a black American, that they are honest and truthful, and not racist, sexist or prejudiced? Who believes that skin color, gender, or religion are merit enough to assure that the person’s arguments are of value and intelligence? Apparently Mona does.

When fellow UnsafeSpeech contributor Fred Martin decided to question her racially centered judgment of ideas, Mona decided to refer to Fred, an adult black immigrant to France, as a “boy” who needed to “run along”.

Stephen Knight, of the GodlessSpellchecker Podcast, had this to ask to Mona,

Which for Mona, was enough to accuse Stephen of being a “misogynist prick” who is followed by “a pack of fuckboys.

Of course, my own responses to Mona’s public statements were also enough to have me labeled a “misogynistic prick” to Mona’s 230,000+ following.

But surely Mona is content with at least western non-Muslim feminists participating in the fight against religious misogyny? Actually, no.

Outspoken feminist, and leader of FEMEN, Inna Shevchenko, also thought this form of exclusionary tactics was going too far and was illogical.

What about Ex-Muslim men and women? They have faced discrimination from Muslim family and community, and have the added burden of facing persecution as apostates. Surely Mona would not want them excluded? Sorry, they are out as well. Apparently, too many Ex-Muslims are allied with the right wing (I assume she means the right wing in the west, and not the Muslim right wing).

How ironic that Mona claims to be in opposition to Islamism, yet thinks everyone who isn’t a Muslim should be silent in the presence of Muslims. Especially since silencing criticism of Islam is the principal foundation for Islamism.

Some believe that since Mona has said a few good things in the past, she therefore should be given infinite leeway to attack people with racist and sexist comments, and accuse outspoken atheists of being “misogynistic prick fuckboys.

People are welcome to look the other way if they wish, but I doubt their consistency would hold up if it were Richard Dawkins making similar racist and sexist remarks. Would they still stand with Dawkins because of his past work in evolution, and his strong opposition to religious pseudoscience? I think not. Personally, I myself would not tolerate such aggressively offensive remarks from anyone, even if I had admiration for their past work. It seems moral standards vary in accordance with identity politics.

How much leeway would Richard be given if he were to go on a one-week tirade telling any and every outspoken Muslim critic on twitter that they were “misogynistic pricks”? How quickly would we see Salon and Alternet articles on the offensive against all “New Atheists?”

Try to imagine if Richard Dawkins tweeted “This must be a fight between and led by Atheist men. If you're brown/not an Atheist man: shut up and listen to us, Atheist men.” Or try to imagine Richard, after saying Muslims need to “shut up and listen,” he responded to backlash with “Block & mute will get rid of them, but it's like cleaning your shoe after you step in dog shit.” Could you continue supporting him?

For those wondering if it is really fair to compare a Muslim saying such things to an Atheist, you’re absolutely right. These two things are not comparable. It is quite obvious that it is infinitely worse that a Muslim says infidels need to “shut up and listen”, than the reverse. There are no Atheist majority states or communities where conversion to Islam is punishable by death, though apostates from Islam are executed and massacred around the world regularly. Even as I write this, the news is reporting that multiple outspoken Atheists and secularists have been murdered by Muslims in Bangladesh. The last thing this world needs is for non-Muslims, especially Atheists, to shut up and listen to Muslims, and allow them to go unchallenged. Atheists have been silent, and silenced, for centuries by the religious, and specifically by followers of the Abrahamic faiths.

While many liberal Muslim women are bravely fighting Islamic oppression, by no means are all Muslim women liberal. To even insinuate that a majority hold liberal values is naïve and uninformed. Many Muslim women are extreme fundamentalists and most are at the very least socially conservative. Many believe that veiling and sharia are a necessity, and that apostasy is a crime punishable by death. So no, by no means do all Muslim women have opinions so invaluable they must be indisputably heard. No person’s ideas should go silently uncontested.

As far as this “Fight should be led by Muslim women” cliché goes. If you are of the school of thought that “change in the tribe, can only be achieved within the tribe”, and “any criticism from the outside is a fruitless endeavor”, that’s fine. Though, how you believe that criticism and change in the Church of Scientology will come from “within the church” and “should be led by Scientologists”, I don’t understand. It’s as inane as saying, “the best chance for change on Wall Street will come from within Wall Street, and must be led by bankers.” 

If others wish to have this philosophical social justice/PC oriented debate, by all means, have it. I however will be giving any criticism I wish, on whatever I wish, whenever I wish. If people want to pay attention, or not, to what I have to say, that is fine. But nothing I have said, or ever will say, will be prefaced with an asterisk *(said behind a leader). I do not “follow the lead” of Muslim Women, Black Males, Atheists, or any tribe. Gender, race, nationality, and religion are of zero value to me when speaking truth. Humanity as a whole would be better off without seeking leaders to guide thoughts and actions. Be your own leader and to hell with the tribe. 

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ora Media, LLC, its affiliates, or its employees.

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