Qur'an Should Be Banned

[RedWine]

AMSTERDAM, Aug 10--Iran has condemned a proposal by Dutch politician Geert Wilders of the Freedom Party (PVV) to ban the holy Qur'an.

MP Geert Wilders on Wednesday branded the Islamic holy book a "fascist" text that exhorts followers to kill and rape, saying it has "no place in our constitutional state."

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In a statement, the Iranian embassy in The Hague called upon Dutch politicians to take a stand against forces threatening to divide society.

A representative of the embassy told reporters "The world needs empathy, dialogue and tolerance," adding that the statement was not sent to the Dutch government.

Meanwhile, Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Hussam Zaki said on Thursday that Wilders is a racist and ignorant about Islam.

Zaki said Wilders' call "only demonstrates the racism of certain Western politicians.

"It also reflects total ignorance of the contents of Islam and its precepts, applied by an overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world," he added in a statement.

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 Qur'an in the Netherlands is not up for discussion for this government and will not be up for discussion 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."

Wilders, who heads the far right Freedom Party which has nine of the 150 seats in parliament, argued for the ban in a letter published in the De Volkskrant newspaper.

[RedWine]

The leader of the Netherlands' right-wing Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, has called for a ban on the sale and distribution of the Qur'an. He would also outlaw the book’s use in the mosque and at home. Mr Wilders says the Qur'an (Koran) is a fascist book which promotes violence and is similar to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.


In a letter-to-the-editor in today’s de Volkskrant newspaper, Wilders argues that the Qur'an should only be permitted for research at an academic level.

However, the MP - who is known for his controversial statements about Islam - says he knows his proposal doesn’t stand a chance of being approved by parliament. His Freedom Party has nine seats in the 150-seat Dutch lower house of parliament.

A warning

Geert Wilders says he wants his proposal to serve as a warning to radical Muslims who misuse the Qur'an to justify the use of violence. His statement comes in response to the recent attacks on Ehsan Jami, founder of the Committee for Former Muslims. He says the perpetrators use the Qur'an as an excuse for the attacks. Wilders writes that,“The book incites hatred and killing and therefore has no place in our legal order.”

The jurist, commentator and co-member of the Committee for Former Muslims, Afshin Ellian also thinks that the Qur'an “possesses extremely violent passages with regard to women, Jews and non-believers”. However, he is against a ban. Mr Ellian says you should take measures against the people who abuse the Qur'an, not the book itself:

“It’s a religious book which of course can be read and discussed. What we really should fight are the radical imams and mosques which use the Qur'an to spread hatred. We must take firmer measures against them.”

Hitler

Geert Wilders compares the Qur'an with Mein Kampf, which was written by Adolf Hitler in 1924. In his book, Hitler explained his theories about National Socialism, anti-Semitism and the superiority of the Aryan race.

The sale of Mein Kampf is outlawed in the Netherlands, but owning or trading old copies is permitted. However, Mr Wilders’ proposal to ban the Qur'an is more drastic than the ban on Mein Kampf because it would also outlaw the possession of the book.

[RedWine]

RIJSWIJK - The Dutch Muslim Council has invited Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party (PVV) to take part in a "constructive dialogue" aimed at putting an end to the polarisation and feelings of fear in Dutch society.

The council understands the concerns of Wilders and the many Dutch who voted for his party, but feel that the PVV leader cannot blame the Koran for the violent actions of individuals or groups.

The invitation is the council's response to the PVV leader's call for a ban on the Koran. The cooperative body of Muslim organisations of various backgrounds has invited Wilders for a talk in the past, but the PVV leader has never accepted the invitation.

[RedWine]

Right wing MP Geert Wilders' intolerance, as much as Islamic extremism, represents a threat to democratic values, argues SP leader Jan Marijnissen.

In an article in leading Dutch daily De Volkskrant, the right wing MP Geert Wilders argues that the Koran should be banished from our country, calling it a Fascist book comparable to Mein Kampf. This is the latest step in his fight against everything that Islam is, or with which it has affinity. He says he's had enough of headscarves, mosques and immigrants who believe in the Koran.

Wilders has been shouting himself hoarse for a while, but now seems to have abandoned all restraint and is confiding to us his deepest convictions. The million Muslims in our country are considered suspect by him because they see the Koran as a holy book. This is a stupid and horrible opinion.

The Koran does include hateful passages. When extremist Muslims claim to find justification for violence in these, it makes many people distrustful. And anyone who believes that apostates, unbelievers, Jews and Christians deserve death represents a danger to our democracy and the rule of law. Intimidation and democracy cannot tolerate each other.

The Bible also includes hateful passages, for example a great number of stonings. People who think that they can stone others, for whatever reason, citing the Bible, have got it all wrong. Happily there are no longer any examples of this in the here and now. In the past, however, many crimes were committed with the Bible in one hand and a sword in the other.

Labour Party member Ehsan Jami wants a committee established to help people who turn their backs on their beliefs, particularly on Islam. It's bad enough that there are clear reasons why such a committee should exist. The person who took this initiative was violently attacked last Saturday, and there is probably a link between this attack and the initiative.

If that is the case, then this was not only an abject deed, but also a form of political intimidation. Without having seen everything that Jami said, I support him in his efforts in favour of the right to security of people who want openly to practice, and to demonstrate, freedom of conscience.

Both Wilders and Islamist extremists appear to have gradually lost every nuance and sense of reality. Meanwhile they dominate and thereby frustrate the debate around an integration which is bitterly needed. By their intolerance, generalisations and lack of empathy and respect for the other they represent a danger to our country's democratic values.

[RedWine]

Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders has called for the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands, branding it a "fascist book" in the vein of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" which legitimises violence.

Writing in Dutch daily De Volkskrant on Wednesday Wilders said: "Ban this wretched book just like Mein Kampf is banned. Send a signal ... to Islamists that the Koran can never, ever be used in our country as an excuse or inspiration for violence."

Hitler's Mein Kampf, published in 1925, outlines the future Nazi dictator's racist ideology. It has been banned from sale in the Netherlands since the end of World War Two.

Ayhan Tonca, chairman of the CMO umbrella group of Dutch Muslim organisations said Wilders' comments were best ignored.

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

Wilders, whose new party won nine seats out of the 150 in parliament in last November's elections, is well known for his firebrand remarks on Islam.

He has warned of a "tsunami of Islamisation" in a country home to 1 million Muslims, and has lived under heavy protection since receiving death threats from Islamist militants in 2004.

Wilders said an attack over the weekend by two Moroccans and a Somali on a young Iranian-born politician who heads a Dutch group for "ex-Muslims" had spurred him to write.

The attack on Ehsan Jami, 22, caused an outcry in the Netherlands, where the November 2004 murder of Theo Van Gogh, a filmmaker critical of Islam, by a Dutch-Moroccan Muslim militant led to an anti-Muslim backlash and exposed social tensions.

Issues of immigration and integration no longer top the political agenda, despite the efforts of Wilders and his allies.

"Allah sees the death penalty as fitting for those who no longer believe," Wilders wrote on Wednesday, adding this view had fuelled the attack on Jami, now under police protection.

The Muslim holy book should be banned from sale, from use in mosques and private households, Wilders added.

Earlier this year, Wilders called for a vote of no-confidence in two Muslim government ministers, questioning their loyalty to the country because of their dual nationality.

He has also campaigned to ban Muslim face veils, ban the building of new mosques and halt all Muslim immigration.

In April, Wilders was warned by the Dutch anti-terrorism chief that his anti-Islam statements had stoked anger in the Middle East, and that he was going too far

[RedWine]

The Egyptian government said on Thursday that populist Dutch politician Geert Wilders had displayed odious racism and that U.S. presidential candidate Tom Tancredo was ignorant and arrogant.

Wilders called on Wednesday for a ban on the Muslim holy book the Koran, and Tancredo, a Republican member of Congress from Colorado, last month suggested bombing Mecca if Muslims attacked the United States with nuclear weapons.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said of Wilders' remarks: "Talk such as this demonstrates only the odious racism of some Western politicians and their fanaticism against Islam ... It also reflects their utter ignorance of the substance of Islam."

A ministry statement said Tancredo made his remarks "in hasty pursuit of fame, the limelight and votes.

"Such threats could not come from a straight person or a responsible politician, even if he was trying to obtain a handful of votes from those who support him in his ignorance and arrogance," it said.

The ministry welcomed condemnations of Wilders and Tancredo by the Dutch government and the U.S. administration.

[RedWine]

The Iranian government has intervened to try to stop the screening of a film in the Netherlands about the Koran.

The Iranians say that the film, by the Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders, is offensive.

The Iranian justice minister, Gholam Hussein Elham, wrote to his Dutch counterpart, Ernst Hirsch Ballin, calling for a ban.

Mr Hussein Elham said freedom of speech should not be used as a cover for attacking moral and religious values.

'Freedom of expression'

Mr Wilders says his film will show the Muslim holy book is an inspiration for murder.

But the Iranian justice minister says it is an unnecessary attack on what Muslims regard as the holiest of things.

He said the motivation behind the film was satanic and urged the Dutch government to stop its screening.

Mr Wilders has already been advised that he may have to leave the country for his own safety.

But the government has so far refused to intervene, saying the issue is one of freedom of expression.

In 2004, the Dutch film director, Theo van Gogh, was killed by a Muslim extremist in an Amsterdam street after bringing out the film Submission.

It dealt with the issue of abused Muslim women and included scenes of nearly naked women with Koranic texts engraved on their bodies.

[Dokhtar Bandari]

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