Helle Merete Brix

Last updated
Helle Merete Brix
Born (1959-12-30) 30 December 1959 (age 65)
NationalityDanish
Occupations
  • Author
  • journalist
  • literary critic
Website hellemeretebrix.com/english/

Helle Merete Brix (born 30 December 1959) [1] is a Danish author, journalist and literary critic. [2] She has been noted as a critic of Islam since the late 1990s, and was formerly associated with the Danish Free Press Society as editor of its online magazine Sappho until 2010, and was later a part of the Lars Vilks Committee. [2]

Contents

Activities and writings

Brix has been noted as a writer critical of Islam since at least 1999, [3] [4] even though she was a member of the Danish Social Liberal Party until 2002. [5] She co-authored the book I krigens hus: Islams kolonisering af Vesten about Islam's "colonisation of the West" with Lars Hedegaard in 2003, [6] [7] which has been described as a part of the "Eurabia narrative". [3] She was formerly a member of Danish PEN, but left the organisation in 2004 after it objected to admit Hedegaard as a member. [8] Along with Hedegaard, Brix was later involved with several groupings, [9] as part of the counter-jihad movement. [10] [11]

She was on the board of advisors for Hedegaard's Danish Free Press Society from 2005 to 2007, chief editor of its online magazine Sappho from 2005 to 2010, and on the board of advisors of the International Free Press Society founded in 2009. [12] In 2008 she wrote the book Mod mørket. Det Muslimske Broderskab i Europa discussing the Muslim Brotherhood's activities in Europe. [13] [14] [15] She had left the Danish Free Press Society by the early 2010s, after considering it too irreconcilable to differing viewpoints, [16] and became a literary critic for Weekendavisen . [17]

Brix co-founded the Lars Vilks Committee in 2012, which was established in support of Swedish artist Lars Vilks, known for his Muhammad drawings controversy. [18] In 2015, she was an organiser of the cultural event that was attacked by an Islamist terrorist in the Copenhagen shootings at the Krudttønden cultural centre, during which she hid under a table and in a storage room together with Vilks. [19] [20] [21] The Lars Vilks Committee was dissolved in the late 2010s. [18]

She published the book Gud og Profeten tilgiver ikke. En personlig beretning om terrorangrebet på Krudttønden in 2016 as a personal account of the terror attack at Krudttønden, and in 2018 published the book Blandt kolibrier og kalsjnikover. Om terrorens ofre about victims and people affected by terror attacks. [22]

Personal life

Brix is a Buddhist, who converted to the religion after an interview with Lama Ole Nydahl in 1994, who she also says inspired her criticism of Islam. [23]

Bibliography

References

  1. "Helle Merete Brix (64)". Altinget (in Danish). Archived from the original on 31 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  2. 1 2 Gargiulo, Susanne; Botelho, Greg; Almasy, Steve (15 February 2015). "Copenhagen attacks: Police kill man during shootout". CNN. Archived from the original on 31 March 2024.
  3. 1 2 Sedgwick, Mark (2019). "Something Varied in the State of Denmark: Neo-nationalism, Anti-Islamic Activism, and Street-level Thuggery". In Doyle, Natalie; Ahmad, Irfan (eds.). (Il)liberal Europe: Islamophobia, Modernity and Radicalization. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315226699-4. ISBN   9781351850896.
  4. Jerichow, Anders (27 November 2005). "Dagens slag i bolledejen" . Politiken (in Danish). Archived from the original on 30 March 2024.
  5. Rasmussen, Morten (9 October 2003). "De farlige kompromiser". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Archived from the original on 31 March 2024.
  6. Skovsgaard, Steen (11 December 2003). "Det begynder med tørklædet". Kristeligt Dagblad (in Danish). Archived from the original on 2 April 2024.
  7. Jensen, Bent (10 October 2003). "Helle Merete Brix, Torben Hansen og Lars Hedegaard: I KRIGENS HUS" . Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Archived from the original on 30 March 2024.
  8. Sørensen, Dorte Hygum (8 January 2004). "PEN har betænkeligheder ved at optage islam-kritisk historiker". Politiken (in Danish). Archived from the original on 2 April 2024.
  9. Bangstad, Sindre (July 2013). "Eurabia Comes to Norway". Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. 24 (3): 9. doi:10.1080/09596410.2013.783969. S2CID   145132618.
  10. Bangstad, Sindre (2019). "The rhetoric of Islamophobia: an analysis of the means of persuasion in Hege Storhaug's writings on Islam and Muslims". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 42 (13): 10. doi:10.1080/01419870.2019.1615630. hdl: 10852/76045 .
  11. Sedgwick, Mark (2019). Key Thinkers of the Radical Right: Behind the New Threat to Liberal Democracy. Oxford University. p. 175. ISBN   9780190877613.
  12. "International counter-jihad organisations: International Free Press Society (IFPS)". Hope not hate. 11 January 2018. Archived from the original on 29 March 2024.
  13. Sandbeck, Lars (19 April 2008). "Kan islam forenes med demokratiet?". Politiken (in Danish). Archived from the original on 30 March 2024.
  14. Larsen, Niels Ivar (9 May 2008). "Islamforskrækkelse eller rettidig omhu". Dagbladet Information (in Danish). Archived from the original on 30 March 2024.
  15. Nørgaard, Lone (15 April 2008). "Helle Merete Brix: MOD MØRKET" . Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Archived from the original on 30 March 2024.
  16. Hyldal, Christine (24 March 2013). "Tidligere medlem af Trykkefrihedsselskabet: I farer op som arrige trolde". DR (in Danish). Archived from the original on 30 March 2024.
  17. "Helle Merete Brix". Dreamlitt (in Danish). Archived from the original on 31 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  18. 1 2 Møhl, Anna C. (15 February 2020). "Vild uenighed om ytringsfrihedspris". Sjællandske Nyheder (in Danish). Archived from the original on 7 June 2023.
  19. "Copenhagen Shooting Survivor: 'I Feel a Lot of Sorrow'". ABC News. 16 February 2015. Archived from the original on 31 March 2024.
  20. Beverfjord, Alexandra; Molde, Eivind; Olsson, Svein Vestrum (14 February 2015). "Skytinga mot Vilks-møtet: – 30 skot fyrt av". NRK (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Archived from the original on 30 March 2024.
  21. Hallbæck, Charlotte (2 August 2015). "Helle lå under et bord under terrorangreb: Nogen holdt hånden over mig". TV 2 (in Danish). Archived from the original on 30 March 2024.
  22. Gauger, Sofie Munk (14 February 2018). "Gemte sig under bord på Krudttønden: Nu udgiver hun bog om terrorofre". TV 2 Kosmopol (in Danish). Archived from the original on 31 March 2024.
  23. Rasmussen, Hans Henrik (19 June 2009). "Buddhas kriger". Dagbladet Information (in Danish). Archived from the original on 31 March 2024.