I was a Muslim once, remember, and it was when I was most devout that I was most full of hate.

Where there is no freedom of speech, there is no conscience.

But without doubts, without a standpoint reached through questionings, human beings can't acquire knowledge.

The West is duly terrified. But it should not be surprised.

My friend, the Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, was murdered in 2004 for having been insufficiently reverent toward Islam.

Many people in Europe and the U.S. dispute the thesis that we are living through a clash of civilisations between Islam and the west. But a radical minority of Muslims firmly believes that Islam is under siege, and is committed to winning the holy war it has declared against the West.

They decided to let immigrants in and I am an immigrant. They gave us a chance to participate in this country's life and I took it.