Piers Akerman’s column in the Daily Telegraph on September 3 2006 contained the following reference to Syrian-born psychiatrist Dr Wafa Sultan:
Dr Sultan, a Syrian psychologist now living in the US, earned the wrath of
Islamicists for stating on al-Jazeera that Muslims began the clash of
civilisations.
“The Prophet of Islam said he was ordered to fight the
people until they believed in Allah and His messenger’,’’ he said.
Yes, Mr Akerman believes that Dr Sultan is, in fact, a man.
I searched in vain using a range of search engines. At no place could I find any evidence that Wafa Sultan was a man. I understand that normally “Wafa” is a woman’s name in Arabic. However, there could be situations where the name is used by men, just as names like “Akhter” and “Ferhat” can be used for either sex.
No such luck. Wafa is definitely a girl’s name. And Wafa Sultan is definitely a female.
So there you have it. A senior and experienced columnist and Deputy Editor of a major Sydney newspaper does not even bother to do sufficient research to ensure he has the genders of people who quotes correctly identified.
Piers regularly comments on Lebanese, Arab and/or Muslim cultures and peoples. He has at least 2 journalists working for his paper of Lebanese and/or Arabic-speaking background.
Further, his colleague Dr Janet Albrechtsen wrote about Wafa Sultan in one of her recent columns. Dr Albrechtsen seemed quite confident in her knowledge that Dr Sultan is not a bloke.
Yet he still makes such fundamental and embarrassing mistakes. He quotes from a female writer and then calls her a man.
Now, of course, it might be a simple mistake. Perhaps a typo. Just like the typo Piers made when he suggested Muslims worship potatoes.
Well done, Piers.
© Irfan Yusuf 2006
