RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/13468/apologists-extremism-west

Many apologists say that Islam is a religion of peace. What they do not say is that, according to Islam, “peace” is to come only after all the world has converted to Islam. Until then, all the world is divided in two: dar al-Islam (“the House of Islam”), made up those who already believe, and dar al-harb (“the House of War”), made up of those who have yet to “believe”. If one is to follow the conclusions of doctrines based on jihad and sharia, after all the disbelievers believe, then there will be peace.

What is odd, is that even after countless attacks in Europe just since 2001, when we have all seen and felt this House of War on our flesh, no one ever mentions its existence. How come we never hear more about this House of War?

What we are seeing, but may not wish to see, is — as Erdogan pointed out — mainstream Islam.

My message to apologists for Islamism is simple: Those who are whitewashing the purveyors of radical violence and extremism — by changing the subject or accusing others, often unjustly, of racism, discrimination, oppression, or “Islamophobia” — are contributing to their empowerment.

As someone who grew up in fundamentalist Muslim countries, the continuing spread in the West of apologists for sharia law is, to say the least, intriguing. It is, of course, good-hearted to wish people from other cultures to feel welcome. Many of these apologists, however, have no first-hand experience of how it feels actually to live in that part of the world or to be a victim of day-by-day radical Islam. What is painful is that although many of these apologists have never lived under Islamist rules, they often act as if they had.

First, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan correctly said, “There is no moderate Islam; Islam is Islam.”

Islam, however, can be interpreted. Even Erdogan has said — although it is not clear what he meant by it — that, “Islam must be updated.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, also expressed similar views:

“We must revolutionize our religion… We must take a long, hard look at the current situation… It is inconceivable that the ideology we sanctify should make our entire nation a source of concern, danger, killing, and destruction all over the world. It is inconceivable that this ideology… I am referring not to ‘religion,’ but to ‘ideology’ — the body of ideas and texts that we have sanctified in the course of centuries, to the point that challenging them has become very difficult… It has reached the point that [this ideology] is hostile to the entire world…”

Such views are further echoed by other devout Muslims. Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser’s highly respected American-Islamic Forum for Democracy, in 2015, “convened and helped launch the Muslim Reform Movement… a coalition of over 15 Western Muslim Leaders (from the U.S., Canada, and Europe) whose goal is to actively fight radical Islam from inside by confronting the idea of Islamism at its roots.”

Its “Declaration for Muslim Reform” states, in part:

We reject interpretations of Islam that call for any violence, social injustice and politicized Islam… [W]e can transform our communities based on three principles: peace, human rights and secular governance…. We reject violent jihad…,We stand for the protection of all people of all faiths and non-faith who seek freedom from dictatorships, theocracies and Islamist extremists….. We support equal rights for women, including equal rights to inheritance, witness, work, mobility, personal law, education, and employment…. We are for secular governance, democracy and liberty. We are against political movements in the name of religion. We separate mosque and state…. We oppose institutionalized sharia. Sharia is manmade….We believe in life, joy, free speech… Every individual has the right to publicly express criticism of Islam. Ideas do not have rights. Human beings have rights. We reject blasphemy laws. They are a cover for the restriction of freedom of speech and religion. We affirm every individual’s right to participate equally in ijtihad, or critical thinking, and we seek a revival of ijtihad….Apostasy is not a crime. Our ummah–our community–is not just Muslims, but all of humanity….We stand for peace, human rights and secular governance. Please stand with us!

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272477/targeting-hege-storhaug-bruce-bawer

On December 19, I wrote here about my friend Hege Storhaug, whose 2015 book, a bestseller in her native Norway, is now available in English under the title Islam: Europe Invaded, America Warned. In an article that appeared on January 3, I noted that prosecutions for anti-Islam “hate speech” are on the rise in Western Europe – but that Norway, at least, is not racking up the convictions fast enough to suit the United Nations. At a December meeting in Geneva, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination charged Norwegian authorities with failing to tighten the screws sufficiently on people who dare to think that freedom of speech means freedom to offend Muslims.

Well, here we go. On January 6, Hege announced at the website of her organization, Human Rights Service, that she and her Islam book have been reported to that selfsame committee, which has been asked to demand of the Norwegian government that Hege be investigated and punished. In my January 3 article, I mentioned that the committee had been dissatisfied with Norway’s failure to prosecute “high-profile cases of hate speech.” Well, when it comes to dragging people into court for criticizing Islam, Hege is as high-profile a target as you could find in the whole country. Not only was her book a massive bestseller, but because of her participation in TV debates and radio interviews her face and voice are familiar to everyone in Norway. To many Norwegians she is a hero, and to many others – those who are determined to silence any negative commentary about Islam – she is the nation’s most prominent voice of hate.

Who is it, exactly, that has reported Hege to the UN? Well, the report in which she was fingered, which is known as a “shadow report” and which is supposed to represent the views of Norwegian civil society, was sponsored by the Norwegian Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion. Like all of the Norwegian ministries, this one is under the control of the so-called “blue-green” (i.e. non-socialist) government, which has employed Hege’s organization, Human Rights Service as a consultant on immigration and integration issues. The government, moreover, is a coalition of the Conservative, Liberal, and Progress parties, the latter of which is known primarily for its own criticism of Islamic immigration. Very odd.

Less odd is the fact that the report to the UN was prepared by a representative of the Norwegian Centre against Racism (Antirasistisk senter, or ARS). No surprise there: ARS, which is lavishly funded by the Norwegian government, exists primarily to whitewash Islam and smear its critics. A few years back, when he was an official at ARS, Shoaib Sultan, who is now a Green Party politician, notoriously refused to condemn the Islamic death penalty for gays, and ARS let him get away with it. That’s the kind of outfit ARS is.