Correction: Prince Charles did not say that Islam is the answer

In the previous blog entry (since removed), I negligently took at face value the report from the Kuwaiti News Agency that Prince Charles had said (in KNA’s paraphrase) that “world problems could be resolved by following Islamic teachings,” and that the “clash of civilizations could be averted by following the teaching of Islam and Quraan.”

Here is the text of the speech that Charles gave at Fatima Jinnah University, Pakistan. In it, the prince says nothing like what the news report said he said.

I am normally leery of paraphrases used instead of direct quotes, especially on highly controversial matters. I dropped the ball this time. My apologies. The only factor that perhaps explains my error is that Charles himself has made such warm statements about Islam recently that he has seemed close to such an endorsement; and so, when I saw this, I believed it. But that was no excuse.

Spencer Warren writes:

There is more to this—the blatant dishonesty of the Kuwait News Service, which is revealing about the level of political maturity on that supposedly half decent country. It relates to the democratization issue. Of course, one need only read the MEMRI accounts of the Arab press on this point as well.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 03, 2006 03:09 PM | Send