Brussels 2012: Nidra Poller’s Speech

Nidra Poller is an American writer who has been living in Paris since 1972.

The author of works of fiction in English and in French, she turned her attention and her art to current events in the fall of 2000, when the outbreak of the “Al Aqsa Intifada” provoked a radical shift in France’s relation with its Jewish citizens. Her observations and analysis of unfolding events initially took shape (in French) in a writer’s notebook — Cahier d’une honnête citoyenne.

Without abandoning her literary craft, she adapted her style to the media and is known today as a “novelist-journalist” and pubic speaker. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including The Wall Street Journal Europe, The New English Review, The Middle East Quarterly, The Jerusalem Post, il Foglio, Think Israel, Hudson Institute NY, Makor Rishon, Standpoint, FrontPage, Family Security Matters, Atlas Shrugs, City Journal, SPME, Commentary, The National Post, The New York Sun, American Thinker, National Review Online, Jihad Watch, The Jewish Quarterly, TCSDaily, Pajamas Media, Metula News Agency, Guysen, l’Arche…

She speaks at universities, synagogues, community centers, think tanks, symposiums, and parlor meetings in Europe, the United States, and Israel. Poller has published short stories, essays, and sophisticated books for children illustrated by fine artists, but her major works are only now being released. A collection of short stories, Karimi Hotel & autres nouvelles d’Africa, was published by l’Harmattan, in Paris, May 2011. The English version will come out in the fall of 2012. English and French versions of the Cahier are slated for publication at the end of 2012.

Born in Jessup PA (1935), Nidra Poller grew up in Philadelphia, studied at the University of Wisconsin (BA History ΦΚΦ) and Johns Hopkins University (Master of Liberal Arts, Writing Seminars). She is Associate Fellow of the Middle East Forum, Member of the Board of Advisors of the International Free Press Society, member of the Honorary Board of Im Tirtzu, and former Board member of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.

Below is the speech given by Nidra Poller at the Brussels Conference on July 9, 2012. Many thanks to Steen for recording the video, and to Vlad Tepes for clarifying the audio and uploading it:


This speech is also available on YouTube.

Previous posts about the Brussels Process:

2012		Jul		11		Beginning the Brussels Process
				11		The Brussels Declaration
				11		What is Sharia?
				11		The Brussels Conference
				11		Conference Agenda
				11		Conference Speaker Bios
				11		Brussels 2012 Defender of Freedom Award
				11		Proceedings — Brussels 2012
				11		Interview with Tommy Robinson at the European Parliament
				11		Press Release: Brussels Process Launched
				12		Pointing the Way for Freedom of Speech and the Press
				12		Brussels 2012: Prof. Hans Jansen’s Speech
				12		Tommy Robinson Speaks at the European Parliament
				12		The Death Throes of Free Speech in Europe
				13		“You Can’t Hide the Truth”
				14		Brussels 2012: Magdi Allam’s Speech
				14		The Crossroads of History
				15		“Toto, I Have a Feeling We’re Not in Sweden Anymore”