Politically Incorrect

By Jon Wiener

This article appeared in the February 18, 2002 edition of The Nation.

January 31, 2002

A couple of years before the World Trade Center attacks, Jon Ronson, a mild-mannered young journalist in Britain, decided to do a profile of a Muslim fundamentalist named Omar Bakri Mohammed, who called himself "Osama bin Laden's man in London." Hoping to counter the "lies" in the "Jewish-controlled media," Omar Bakri invited Ronson to follow him around in his daily life, telling him "I am actually very nice."

Ronson asked, "Are you?"

"Oh, yes," Bakri replied. "I am delightful."

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About Jon Wiener

Jon Wiener started writing for The Nation in 1984. Since then he's written more than 100 stories and reviews for the magazine, many about American history, university politics, and California life. He's also professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, and a Los Angeles radio host. His most recent book is Historians in Trouble: Plagiarism, Fraud, and Politics in the Ivory Tower (New Press). more...
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