Article from the daily newspaper l’Unità of November 11th 2009

During a talk show on Canale 5, Daniela Santanché described the Prophet Mohammed as a “paedophile.” This was not her first provocation and sadly it will not be the last one. To offend a billion or more Muslims is irrelevant, what matters is never being forgotten by the media. The primary objective was to rescue a floundering political career. Santanché expressed an extremely serious opinion since it addresses a mainly historical event (the Prophet Mohammed lived 14 centuries ago) without putting it into context.

There is no question that paedophilia is the worst of crimes because it harms innocent children. As far as the Prophet Mohammed is concerned, however, one must address the issue of early marriages and try to understand the system of alliances in traditional societies. This phenomenon was a widespread custom, not only in the Muslim world, but also many other contexts. My mother was married in 1953 when she was 16 years old and thus a minor. Should I consider my father a paedophile?!

In recent years we have often seen Santanché speaking on TV, mainly about gossip. She has told us about her summer holidays on the Costa Smeralda with her friend Briatore. We have heard her hold forth in favour of plastic surgery and parliamentarians’ right to wear high heels in the halls of power etc. In spite of all this she has managed to gain a reputation as an expert on Islamic matters. Now she discusses the veil, mosques, and even the Holy War. Effectively she continues to be a DIY expert on the East since, without having even the most elementary information for expressing intelligent opinions concerning a religion as complex as Islam. There are real, serious and competent experts in Italy, but they are never invited to appear on talk shows because they do not have le physique du rôle needed for entertaining TV audiences.

Translated by Francesca Simmons