The Dutch Right-Wing politician Geert Wilders came to London last week. A year ago, he was banned from entry to Britain and was deported from the airport. He screened his film ‘Fitna' in the House of Lords, and spoke about the Prophet Mohammed in a press conference, using words that I cannot even refer to, as they were a thousand times worse, or more vile, than the [Danish] cartoons, or than anything mentioned in the book ‘the Satanic Verses'. He also said that Islam is a totalitarian and fascist ideology, and that if the United Kingdom did not stop immigration from Muslim countries, its capital will be transformed into Londonistan in 20 years. Wilders is a despicable man. He attacks Islam and its prophet, while the Dutch Freedom Party, which he leads, is gaining more and more votes in legislative elections. The question that arises here is, where are all those international and local Islamic organizations and why are they not responding to him? They are as ineffective as he is vile. In fact, such organizations have not even succeeded in quelling al-Qaeda's ideology, which is now ‘spawning' terrorists that provide Wilders and his ilk the best weapons to tarnish the reputation of Muslims; similarly they will not succeed in quelling the ideas of enemies like Wilders. The response that I expect from the Islamic organization is an explanation that no one seems to be listening to abroad, which namely is that Islam is not a totalitarian ideology, and does not encourage violence and terrorism, nor is it fascistic. In other words, the majority of Muslims will wash their hands clean and try to defend their peaceful religion, while the minority like al-Qaeda and its supporters will exploit the words of Wilders and his ilk to mislead some youths and recruit them. This will again fuel the claims of the enemies of Islam. I was never a student of religion, but simply a believer. I studied Islam at university as part of my literary studies. After working for 30 years in the field of the dialogue between Islam and the West, I moved on to Christianity and Judaism. I can boast here that my knowledge of the three monotheistic religions is deep and sufficient, and thus, I want to remain polite and only say that my knowledge about religions prompts me to be certain that all the charges being made against Islam apply to Judaism much more vehemently. For instance, does the reader know that stoning as punishment is only mentioned in the Torah, and never the Quran? It is a religion that is based on myths refuted by true history and archaeology, and is a religion that encourages war crimes, genocide, prostitution and talks about other stories that are impossible to believe unless the reader puts his or her mind aside. Nonetheless, I say that I respect the Jewish religion and have no problem with it, and all what I want is for them to stop offending Islam. Muslims today are either a very small minority of terrorists like al-Qaeda who are the boon of Islam's enemies against Muslims, or a vast majority of peaceful and helpless people that are in the dock and can do nothing but deny the accusation, but who remain nonetheless unheard and not believed. For example, is it sufficient that the Organization of Islamic Conference condemns the storming of the Aqsa Mosque compound, and will such a condemnation prevent another raid tomorrow? Offense as the best defense is a known military tactic, and I did not invent it. Muslims should thus start a counter-offensive that is not based on obscenities and screaming, but rather based on a full knowledge of the other religions, in order to establish a calm and rational comparison between Islam and Judaism, and to see which religion is more inclined to murder, and which is more inclined to peace, and other comparisons. I wish I did not have to compare one monotheistic religion to another; however, Wilders represents a European phenomenon that is neither odd nor rare. There are many Jewish American websites run by extremist Likudniks that attack Islam every day, and I find no one responding to them. I really do not know what all those anti-defamation Islamic organizations are doing other than just denying the accusations. I have in front of me a number of articles with titles such as: Islamic Indoctrination vs. Education, Islamic Nazis, The true nature of Islam, United in Hate (with pictures of Hassan Narallah or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with Western liberals), the complete infidel's guide to the Koran, Bowing to Radical Islam. (And of course, there are many news stories about the Hijab and the Niqab [The Headscarf and the Veil] – which I oppose by the way -, and about marrying minors or children and women's rights.) Does the reader know that Judaism gives the man the right to divorce, while the Jewish woman who was religiously married cannot divorce unless the husband agrees or unless a thousand Rabbis endorse the divorce? In other words, this practically means that she cannot divorce. Yet, we hear nothing about this, and all we hear is talk about women's rights in the Muslim divorce. If it's any consolation for Muslims regarding the campaign against Islam, the Likudniks are also attacking American university students who support Palestinians. I have another collection of articles with titles such as ‘The Campus War against Israel and the Jews'. These campaigns even involve American Protestant Christian churches and communities, and even the World Council of Churches in Geneva with some reference to the Catholics and to the claim that Pope Pius XII did not protect the Jews from the Nazi onslaught. In fact, they even attack the liberal Jews from the peace camp, in articles about both specific individuals and groups, such as an article entitled ‘The Pathology of Jewish Anti-Semitism'. In the end, I am still waiting for the Muslims to effectively eliminate the terrorists amongst their midst. Only then will we be able to take the battle to the other enemies of Islam, and wage a full attack against them, and not fall back to a timid defense, in order to achieve the desired victory. [email protected]
