RIP Oriana Fallaci

Tags: Pajamas Media, Politics, Literature & Journalism
Controversial Italian writer and journalist Oriana Fallaci of New York City died at 77 in a hospital back home in Florence, Italy after a long disease. Fallaci had serious disagreements with, and was no friend to Islam. In her book "The Rage and The Pride" she wrote that Muslims "multiply like rats" and said "the children of Allah spend their time with their bottoms in the air, praying five times a day."

She was a democratic resistance fighter against Mussolini during World War II, worked as a war correspondent, was shot 3 times during the Tlatelolco uprising shortly before the Mexico City Olympics in 1968.

During her journalistic career she became known for challenging interviews with such world leaders as former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Iran's Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

Fallaci was charged in Italy for the crime of "vilipendio", or vilification, for publishing her book The Force of Reason in 2004. In this book she warned of a growing Muslim siege of Europe, which will ultimately result in Europe becoming 'Eurabia'. An atheist, she had great
admiration for Pope Benedict XVI (whom she still called 'Ratzinger') for his recognition of the Muslim threat to the West.

She was awarded several prizes both for her journalistic work and for her books. Her writings have been translated in 21 different languages. On November 30, 2005, Fallaci received the Center for the Study of Popular Culture’s Annie Taylor Award in New York for her "heroism and valor" that made of her "a symbol of struggle against oppression and fascism".

Fallaci’s long journalistic career started shortly after having fought fascism as a partisan together with her whole family when she was a teen-ager. The respect she soon acquired in the Italian press, had her collaborate with Europeo and Corriere della Sera as war correspondent, first in Vietnam, then in Pakistan, South America and Middle East. She interviewed in person internationally known leaders such as Yasir Arafat, Ayatollah Khomeini, Omar Khadafi, the Shah of Iran, Deng Xiaoping, Indira Gandhi, Alexandros Panagoulis.

As a writer she published her first book, "The seven sins of Holliwood" in 1956. Her "Inshallah", more than 600 pages about her direct experience of the Arab world, was completed in 1990.

After 11 years of silence, Fallaci has caused an international uproar with her book "The Rage and The Pride", which is a slightly modified version of a long article she published in Corriere della Sera as a reaction to the terrorist attacks of September 11...

In 2002 the Islamic Center and the Somal Association of Geneva sued her in Switzerland for the supposedly racist content of The Rage and The Pride. Roberto Castelli, then-Italian minister of Justice, explained in an interview that the extradition request of the Swiss judge was rejected because the Constitution of Italy protects the Freedom of Speech. In 2003 the Movement Against Racism and for the Friendship among Peoples sued to have The Rage and The Pride banned in France. The request was rejected. - editorsweblog.org

Fallaci was not married and had no children. Information on funeral arrangements was not immediately available. Pajamas Media blogger Michelle Malkin has a detailed post HERE.