How to Cure a Fanatic
Page 5
You suggest several partial remedies to the problems of fanaticism, ones that are very attractive to those of us who love literature: reading, imagination, humour and empathy. What books would you suggest everyone reads on this topic?
There are strong antidotes to fanaticism in Chekhov, in William Faulkner, in Lampedusa, in Thomas Mann and in many, many others.
What do you think about Huntington’s idea of a clash of civilisations?
I don’t believe in a clash between East and West or between Islam and the secular West. I think the syndrome of the twenty-first century is the clash between fanatics of all colours and the rest of us.
What do you think about an Israeli pre-emptive strike in Iran?
I resent an Israeli pre-emptive strike against Iran’s nuclear installations for a number of reasons. The regime in Iran is indeed fanatical and belligerent. The Ayatollahs are denying the Nazi Holocaust and justifying it in the same breath. But nuclear Iran is a problem of the entire international community, not of Israel alone. Military action cannot solve the problem as the Iranians have the nuclear know-how and while you can bomb the installations, you cannot bomb the know-how.
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Copyright © Amos Oz 2004 updated material 2012
Foreword copyright © Nadine Gordimer 2004
Amos Oz has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
First published in Great Britain by Vintage in 2004 as Help us to Divorce.
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