Friday, August 10, 2007

Dutch MP calls for ban on Quran


AlJazeera English:
A Dutch member of parliament has called for the Quran to be banned in the Netherlands, describing it as a "fascist book" which calls on people to kill non-believers and rape women.

In his letter, Wilders compares the Muslim holy book to Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler's autobiography, and said the Quran has "no place in our constitutional state".

"I have been saying this for years: there is no such thing as a moderate Islam," Wilders wrote.

"I am fed up with Islam in the Netherlands: no more Muslim immigrants allowed. I am fed up with the worship of Allah and Muhammad in the Netherlands: no more mosques," his letter concluded.


What was the reaction of the Dutch Muslim community?

But Ayhan Tonca, chairman of the Dutch Muslim Contact Group argues that Mr Wilders should be ignored.

”This is a ridiculous idea. There is not much news at the moment so he is trying to create some,”he said.


Thankfully, the Dutch government's response was swift and firm:

The Dutch government swiftly condemned Wilders’ remarks as damaging for community relations in the Netherlands, and said the proposal was unworthy of consideration.

“It has to be perfectly clear that banning the Holy Quran in the Netherlands is not up for discussion for this government and will not be up for dicussion in future. We have freedom of religion here,” Integration Minister Ella Vogelaar said in a statement.

Vogelaar described Wilders’ call as “an insult to the majority of Muslims in the Netherlands and abroad who reject calls to hate and violence.”


It's scary how much hate, mistrust, and fear ignorance and racism can create.

2 comments:

Umm Ibrahim said...

Alhamdulilah smart Dutch Sheikh to ignore this bigot.

Makes me wonder how the Salman Rushdie saga would have ended if the Muslim world just ignored him, well I'm sure he's happy we didn't...he's a Sir now.

Huda Shaka` said...

Good point Alia.

Also notice how this Muslim reaction wasn't picked up by the media at all. Doesn't fit the stereotype I guess.