NO, I was not surprised when the Tsarnaev brothers, the
terrorists involved in last week's Boston bombing, turned out to be Islamic radicals.
And neither am I surprised that they are fans of Australian Islamic cleric
Sheik Feiz Mohammed.
Nor will I be surprised if a similar attack happens in
Australia - or Europe, or anyplace where the authorities remain blind to the
true nature of Islam. We learned on Tuesday of a planned attack in Canada.
Read the Koran and you will find the explanation.
"Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it," the Koran
tells the faithful (2:216). In case anyone doubts what is meant by fighting:
"I shall cast terror into the hearts of the infidels. Strike off their
heads, maim them in every limb!" (8:12).
And yet, most Western intellectuals, journalists and
politicians keep declaring that the "true" Islam can be found in the
occasional non-bellicose sentences of the Koran. "Islam is a religion of
peace," they say. And whenever adherents of this "religion of
peace" blow up pressure cookers full of nails amid innocent bystanders, we
hear that "they are not acting in accordance to Islamic teachings".
I have spent almost a decade under round-the-clock police
protection because of death threats. I have been marked for death by the
adherents of Islam for stating that the cause of Islamic terrorism is Islam.
Its founder Mohammed "cast terror", in his own words, into the hearts
of people. To give but one example: In 627, Mohammed ordered the genocide of
the Banu Qurayza, a Jewish tribe from Medina. The women and children were sold
as slaves and the men were decapitated, with Mohammed actively participating in
the massacre. Osama bin Laden took his authority from the teachings and the
practice of Mohammed. Islam is definitely not a religion like other religions.
Did Jesus slaughter his enemies? Are there any Jews or Buddhists who for the
sake of their religion fly planes into buildings or murder and maim onlookers
at a marathon?
People such as Feiz Mohammed, the Australian-born sheik of
Lebanese origin, whose Islamic "sermons" inspired the Tsarnaev
brothers, are not propagating a false Islam. They are propagating the Islam of
the Koran and of Mohammed. Why do most intellectuals, journalists and
politicians close their eyes to this reality?
Three years ago, Feiz Mohammed issued an internet video in
which he called for my beheading. I was, he said, "evil filth".
"Chop his head off," he told his followers. I am threatened for the
simple reason that I am an Islam critic. But, make no mistake, I am not the
only one who is in danger. The Tsarnaev brothers drew inspiration from Feiz
Mohammed's internet rants and decided to kill innocent onlookers at a marathon.
Everyone is in danger.
Following the Boston bombing, Australia's Attorney-General
Mark Dreyfus said that Sheik Mohammed's videos no longer represent his views.
He said: "Sheik Feiz Mohammed, in recent months, condemned the use of
violence and certainly, as a community leader, he's someone that's getting
behind the countering violent extremism program that we have in many
communities."
Dreyfus has great faith in the conversion of the
hate-preacher. But I do not share this optimism. Islam's founder Mohammed told
his followers that they are allowed to lie and cheat in order to advance Islam.
I have not heard the sheik recall his demand for my beheading. Nor did the
Tsarnaev brothers hear Sheik Mohammed declare that the Islam he preached
earlier is not the true Islam.
When, two months ago, I visited Australia at the invitation
of the Q Society, I spoke at public events in Melbourne and the Sydney suburb
of Liverpool. An event in Perth was cancelled because West Australian Premier
Colin Barnett opposed my presence in his state. The event in Melbourne was
disrupted by violent protests. Various conference centres in Sydney refused to
have me, which forced me to speak in Liverpool which, as it happens, used to be
the home turf of Feiz Mohammed.
People who came to listen to me had to go through thorough
security checks. Sadly, this was all necessary because there are people - not
just in Europe, Canada and America, but also in Australia - who are willing to
bring into practice what Sheik Mohammed preaches in his internet videos.
Will Australian politicians learn the lessons from Boston?
It all depends on whether they are prepared to face the truth. As Debbie
Robinson of the Q Society, Australia's leading organisation promoting a realist
view of Islam, said in a reaction to the "extremism" behind the
Boston atrocity: "Professing to seek solutions, but refusing to identify
the cause, is pointless."
In my view, the cause is Islam's inherent violent and
intolerant nature. I always make a distinction between Muslims and Islam. Most
Muslims are moderate, but this does not mean that there is such thing as a
moderate Islam. People who reject Islam's violent and intolerant commandments
are not practising "moderate Islam" - in my view they are not practising
Islam at all. If Islam was a tolerant religion would I - or anyone who
criticises Islam - have to live under 24-hour police protection?
The above article was written by Geert Wilders, MP, who is the
leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, one of the largest Danish political
parties.