Two names who left the PVV and converted to Islam declared that the attacks on the Quran were “provocative” and “hate speech” and that Islamophobia had increased.
Former politician Arnoud van Doorn, who left the extreme right-wing Freedom Party (PVV) in the Netherlands and converted to Islam, and Joram van Klaveren, who was a member of parliament for another term and became a Muslim while writing an anti-Islamic book, read the Quran. evaluated the attacks. Both names stated that the attacks were provocative and hate crimes, double standards were applied against Muslims, and anti-Muslim (Islamophobia) had become a growing problem.
Van Doorn told Anadolu Agency that racist, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) leader Edwin Wagensveld tearing up the Quran in front of the parliament building in the city of Den Haag is “very ugly” to allow this action. said that.
Expressing that this is a situation that hurts and humiliates Muslims, Van Doorn said, “It is very strange that this is allowed, especially in times of polarization in the Netherlands. The state should bring ethnic groups together instead of constantly humiliating and marginalizing an ethnic group.” said.
Van Doorn emphasized that the action should be evaluated within the scope of hate speech in the entire European Union, “As you know, there is a double standard against Muslims. If you burn the Israeli flag, it becomes anti-Semitism, if you burn the rainbow flag, it is hate speech. They are all provocative, they are all criminal offenses, but they are a Qur’an. “If you burn the Quran, harm it or make fun of it in any other way, then that is freedom of expression. Of course, this is an act of provocative action. In this way, you set ethnic backgrounds against each other and create hatred.” made its assessment.
Pointing out that there are enough laws in the country to show that this is a hate crime and rhetoric, van Doorn said, “As Muslims, we respect other religions. The issue is not just Muslims. We must form a very strong lobby with other faith groups and other ethnic origins so that the action is a criminal offense. There are many countries where this counts as a criminal offense.” used the phrases.
Van Doorn continued:
“Politicians should stand up and condemn this action and the mayor should use all means to ban such a meeting. This is actually possible. Everything is allowed, the police are there and watching this. Yes, all of that needs to change. This is an irresponsible move. ‘Let this man do whatever he wants. The more interest it grows, the more it grows. It’s easy to say, ‘Then he gets what he wants’, but that argument is not entirely valid because you’re giving other people the idea, ‘It seems this action can be done very easily’ because he did it and apparently went unpunished. What is the next step? Will the Qur’an be burned, windows of mosques smashed, mosques set on fire, will they attack Islamic schools, will they beat Muslim children? What is the limit of that?”
Expressing that the government should take urgent action and solve the problem from the root, van Doorn said, “The government said, ‘We do not tolerate any religion, Muslim or not. ‘. Many Muslims are already worried. The hatred towards Muslims is at a high level. Hate crimes, as well as attacks on mosques, are evident in the statistics. Not only in the Netherlands, but also in Western Europe this is on the rise.” he said.
“Islamophobia has become a huge and growing problem”
Joram van Klaveren, who was a PVV deputy and second name in the party in the Netherlands for a while, and who chose Islam while writing an anti-Islam book, said that PEGIDA constantly provokes Muslims, and that such organizations and parties such as PVV have this policy.
Stating that insulting people is not normal and it is considered a crime in all countries, van Klaveren said, “Islamophobia has become a huge and growing problem. I wouldn’t be surprised if such acts become more common because people want to provoke it.” said.
Pointing out that provocative acts such as tearing the Qur’an should not be paid attention, Van Klaveren said, “On the other hand, of course, you cannot allow this action to be taken, and this is also an insult. It would not be surprising if you react against it. Someone told my mother. If he swears, then I will react. The Quran, Islam and religion are equally valuable. Maybe even more, and this is incredible and incomprehensible to people who grew up without religion. Because of the decline of religion in the West, people are literally They literally don’t understand that this is so important to people all over the world.” made its assessment.
Explaining that PEGIDA’s action was very sad, van Klaveren said, “We saw that PEGIDA members put insulting models in front of mosques in the past and persistently tried to burn and tear up the Quran. Insulting a religion and mocking religion in the Netherlands, 2014 It was a criminal offense until the year 2010. This still exists in some EU countries. In addition, incitement, incitement to hatred, discrimination, individual insult and insulting a group are criminal matters in the law. Insulting people is not normal, so insulting is a futile criminal offense in all countries doesn’t count.” used the phrases.
Van Klaveren said, “Last week, there were people who wanted to burn the Torah in front of the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. The police intervened to prevent this. This action did not take place, so it happened that way. It just seems to depend on which book it is. This is of course a big deal. is the problem.” he said.
Expressing that PVV is working with the far-right Flemish Party in Belgium, the National Unity Party in France, and the League Party in Italy, van Klaveren said that the far-right started a big European movement, they were organized and became more professional, and Muslims too. He added that they should be united against it.
“Burning a book is not an opinion, it’s an expression of hatred”
In the press release made by the Dutch Jewish Dialogue Committee, it was stated that the burning of a book was not an opinion, but an expression of hatred.
“Destroying books is an act of symbolic aggression against people. We would like to state that this behavior of PEGIDA, which has no other purpose than to set people against each other, is disgusting. We are in solidarity with those affected by this and we will continue to be.” statements were included.
Attacks on the Qur’an are protested in Turkey and many countries in Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark.
