Stand Up for the Right to Criticise Islam

THE AUSTRALIAN: “It is wrong to describe this as Islamic terrorism. It is Islamist terrorism. It is a perversion of a great faith.” This is what the British Prme Minister said last week in parliament. While I completely accept that the sins of extremists should never be visited on the vast majority of moderate believers, I am increasingly uneasy about how we handle the connection between religion and extremism. The ideology to which Khalid Masood was converted in prison may indeed be a perversion of Islam, but it is a version of it. We should not shy away from saying so.

After Nice, Maajid Nawaz of the Quilliam Foundation wrote that saying such terrorism has nothing to do with Islam (as some do) is as dangerous as stating that it has everything to do with Islam. The terrorists in London, Paris, Brussels, Nice, Munich, Berlin, Wurzburg, Ansbach, Orlando, San Bernardino, Sydney, Bali, New York, Mumbai and many other places have been white, black and brown, rich, poor and middle class, male and female, gay and straight, immigrant and native, young and (now) older. The one thing they have in common is that they had been radicalised by religious preachers claiming to interpret the Koran.

Moreover, while a few sick individuals find within Islam justification for murder and terror, a far larger number find justification for misogyny and intolerance. We must be allowed to say this without being thought to criticise Muslims as people. » | Matt Ridley | The Times | Monday, March 27, 2017

Australia Bans Criticism of Islam

Netherlands: Saudi Arabia May Curb Trade Ties Over Wilders' Anti-Islam Slogans

Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders speaks during an
interview with Reuters in The Hague April 17, 2014

REUTERS.COM: Saudi Arabia is considering trade sanctions against the Netherlands because of stickers printed by far-right politician Geert Wilders which display anti-Islam slogans in the colors of the Saudi flag, a Dutch foreign ministry spokesman said.

Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration Dutch Freedom Party, is tied in first place with the Democrats in national opinion polls before European Parliament elections that will be held in the Netherlands on Thursday.

His virulent anti-Islam statements have angered many and Wilders has lived under round-the-clock armed guard since he received death threats in 2004.

"We have indications that Saudi Arabia is considering measures because of the insults to its flag and religion by Geert Wilders," Foreign Ministry spokesman Friso Wijnen said. » | Reuters | Amsterdam | Saturday, May 17, 2014

Saudis drohen Den Haag mit Sanktionen wegen Islamkritik »