Via GEFIRA,
Europe faces an existential crisis. Current European leadership and European leading elites have manoeuvred Europe into a situation that will spin out of control and result in a vicious circle of violence. History teaches that ethnic minorities can bring about unrest in the long run. The imams in Europe, very often in the payroll of Saudi Arabia or another Gulf country, take care that their fellow Muslims retain their religious integrity and keep themselves away from the infidels. Meanwhile European authorities struggle with a violent group criminals who converted to radical Islam and became even more dangerous. The Dutch jihadist reintegration approach helped, criminal and jihadist El Bakraoui to evade the Belgian justice system, before he blew himself up in Brussels. To understand what happening on the old continent, let us bring up the tree main topics, and then elaborate on them.
- The US, NATO, Brussels, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are in alliance to use terrorism in the proxy war against Syria, Russia and China. This policy has come home to roost. It is not Russia, as Hillary Clinton once said, but Turkey and Europe regret their policy in Syria1).
- Leaders from the Gulf countries support European Muslim communities with finance; in many cases Europe-based imams do not even speak any of the European languages. Surprising as it is, European leaders encourage Saudi Arabia, Qatar or Kuwait to meddle with European internal affairs by letting them to have a say in religious matters. Turkey’s government refers to the Turks that immigrate to Europe as the Turkish diaspora. Recep Erdogan, Turkey’s president, promotes Turkish nationalism among Turkish Muslims in Germany.
- Authorities fear the revenge of the populous against Muslim minorities. European ruling elites are terrified at the onslaught on minorities by uncontrolled mobs. There have been numerous attacks on mosques and refugee homes.
1. The Syrian proxy war comes to the street of the European capitals.
In 2012,two years before the tragic events in Ukraine unfolded, a document of the Department of Defence obtained by “Judicial Watch” describes the situation in Syria as a proxy war with Russia, China and Iran on one side, and Western countries, the Gulf States and Turkey on the other2). Not only did the “Friends of the Syrian” alliance provide the Jihadists with arms, but NATO also supplied the Patriots air defence system to protect the supply routes into Syria. Christians in Europe already warned from the very beginning for the consequences of the war in Syria for the Christians there. A conservative Christian European newspaper wrote in 2013: “The decision of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States and some European countries to provide the Syrian opposition with more weapons will also have significant implications for Christians in Syria.” 3)
The European governments were ambivalent in their attitude and approach to Europeans that traveled to Syria in support of the different jihadist groups.Peter van Uhm, Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army until 2008, said in 2011: “I have nothing else than respect for the Dutch who go to fight in Syria”4) The primary concern voiced by Frans Timmerman, Vice-President of The European Commission, was that these young fighters could die in Syria.5) From the very beginning, National Security agencies in Europe were aware of the enormous risk these Jihadists posed to society. Not only did the “respected” European Jihadists spread terror among the poor Syrian and Iraqi population, but they were also a threat to Europeans if they returned to their country of origin.
The Brussels suicide attacks are a direct consequence of this lenient European approach to the Jihadists. In 2013, a major Dutch newspaper wrote: “Jihad fighters who have come back from the Syrian Civil War are still not prosecuted in the Netherlands.” “According to various sources in the Dutch Muslim communities, Jihadists from Belgium also chose the ‘Netherlands-route, because of the milder approach of the Dutch authorities to such fighters.”6) While this is not yet clear for the international mainstream media, Ibrahim El Bakraoui, the jihadist that blew himself in Brussels, wanted to be deported by the Turkish authorities to the Netherlands instead of Belgium, to avoid prosecution in Belgium. The Dutch authorities helped El Bakraoui to evade the Belgian justice system.
Between 2012 and 2016 European Jihadists paraded in the social media in graphic images, holding cut-off heads while Dutch authorities try to socialize these very same terrorists. According to the Dutch National Television: “The Dutch Jihadists who have returned from Syria so far are not immediately arrested and prosecuted, but get help and support to reintegrate and rebuild their livelihoods. With this approach the authorities hope to prevent the cities to which the fighters have come from being further radicalized.” “The Dutch authorities have taken a range of administrative steps like assistance, helping the Jihad combatants in finding a job and education, and providing them with community activities for the youth. The idea is not to let the returnees alienate themselves from society; it is believed that repressive measures might further radicalize them.“7) While the major of Amsterdam keeps on talking with returned jihadist, the city witnessed its first beheading. This month a young Moroccan boy was beheaded and his head was put on display at a busy street in Amsterdam. 8)
This approach can only be understood if we assume that European governments warrant the behavior of their citizens in Syria and Iraq. The Dutch authorities are fully aware that the Jihadists from the Netherlands not only fought against the Assad army, they also knew that Dutch terrorist blew themselves up at a market in Baghdad somewhere in 2013. European authorities turn a blind eye to their fellow citizens who committed war crimes in Syria and Iraq.
2. Europeans allow foreign governments to meddle in its affairs
Europe is not only confronted with a violent and cruel enemy that shows little respect for life, but it has also created an environment on the continent where Muslim extremism could blend into Muslim communities. A big part of the European Muslim community supports the Jihad in Syria. It is remarkable that Salah Abdeslam, one of Europe’s most wanted terrorists, could live in Brussels without anybody informing the authorities about him. While European authorities try to integrate minorities into the European society, governments in Muslim countries try to undo this effort.
Countries like Turkey, Saudi-Arabia and Qatar blatantly interfere in European domestic affairs. By financing mosques, Muslim foundations and providing the European Muslim community with imams, these countries try to exert their political and religious influence deep into the European heartland. Their political and religious message undermines the integration of the European Muslim community into the European society.
According to the UK-based website Independent, the Belgium King personally was involved in the policy that leads to current situation in Brussel : “Keen to secure oil contracts, Belgium’s King Baudouin made an offer to Saudi King Faisal, who had visited Brussels in 1967: Belgium would set up a mosque in the capital, and hire Gulf-trained clerics. The 1967 deal gave the Saudis a 99-year, rent-free lease. The pavilion was refashioned by the Saudis, opening in 1978 as the Great Mosque of Brussels, as well as the seat of the Islamic and Cultural Centre of Belgium (ICC).” 9)
Moderate Moroccans were handed over to the Saudi Salafists by the European elites. Since 1967, not much has changed. During the opening of a mosque in 2014 in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, its mayor criticized the mosque for appointing an imam from Qatar instead of one from the Netherlands. Also, the German media reported the involvement of Saudi Arabia in a similar situation: “The Berlin Al-Nur organization is considered as an offshoot of the Lebanese part of the Muslim Brotherhood, which campaigns for an Islamic character of the states in the Middle East.”
The Al-Nur mosque is influenced by Salafists and is a venue for people of different nationalities with different political and ideological environment. Close relations exist to Saudi Arabia. A Saudi sponsor enabled the purchase of the mosque building and supported the community financially.” Turkey’s government tries to prevent the Turkish population from integrating into the European community. Turkish nationalism is not limited to “Blut und Boden” (blood and soil) but it also includes religion. Erdogan likes to address the Turkish people abroad as the “Turkish diaspora”. While the Europeans are told to become “multi-cultural European,” immigrants get the opposite instruction from the rulers
Also the Turkey’s government tries to prevent the Turkish population from integrating into the European society. Turkish nationalism is not limited to “Blut und Boden” (blood and soil) but it also includes religion. Erdogan likes to address the Turkish people abroad as the “Turkish diaspora”. While the Europeans are told to become “multi-cultural European”, immigrants get the opposite instruction from Turkey and the Arabic rulers. The Europeans decry France and German nationalism while at the same time extreme Turkish nationalism in Europe is encouraged by Erdogan, the de facto ruler of Turkey.10)
3. European residents will take matters into their own hands.
The slaughtering of Theo van Gogh by a radical Muslim in 2004, the eradication of the Charlie Hebdo publishers, are a message to Europe intelligentsia: “do not interfere with our religion.” Especially the murder of Theo van Gogh resembles the Salman Rushdie case. Theo van Gogh was killed for his artistic criticism of the role of woman in Islam. European left oriented intelligentsia are still grappling with the fact that precisely they became the targets while they are most sympathetic towards marginalised Arabic groups. In Europe, no publisher is willing to publish a genuine Islam critic without the consultation of an Islam expert. The publishing of a seemingly innocent book can turn out to become a deadly endeavour. We think it is a matter of time before the next generation of young academics and artist is willing to confront Islam as they have done with Christianity.
The danger for European states are not only the terror attacks but also the consequences of these attacks. After every terror attack, the number of incidents against mosques increases. The European ruling elite is terrified of their own people. They are extremely sensitive to everything that can incite violence against the Muslim minorities. Two days before the Brussels attacks, Geert Wilders stood trial for chanting “We want fewer Moroccans”. But even Geert Wilders’s party (PVV), is afraid of the populace at large. The party has strong connections with the Israel lobby; it demands of its followers a 100% loyalty to Israel11). The Jewish community is at risk to become itself the victim of angry European mobs. The party does not accept members to such an extent that an attempt by one of its leaders to create a youth movement resulted in him being expelled12).
Groups, like HoGeSa (Hooligans gegen Salafisten, Hooligans against Salafists) are ready to take the “burden” of revenge for the attacks on their shoulders, seeing that the German state structures are not able anymore to ensure the security of their nation. This can result in a carnage of Muslims in German cities, especially if one of the victims of a terror attack would be a far-right group member.
HoGeSa was losing its popularity among radicals because of internal disputes, but it could be quickly revived amid terror attacks13). This group has already proven that it does not renounce violence, during the Cologne rally in October 2014 and during the Essen demonstration last September, they show up with baseball bats.14). In Germany violent threats are now mainly limited to refugee camps, but this can change overnight. If Germans lose their faith in the ruling establishment (as it is happening slowly with a growing popularity of the AfD party), groups like HoGeSa, or Hoolizei, might gain traction. The harbinger of the threat of violent uprising against Muslims haunts Germany. In Connewitz, near Leipzig, an Arab restaurant was demolished. According to Mail online “The mayor of a German city has spoken of ‘terror on the streets’ of his city after far-right thugs ran riot in scenes reminiscent of the anti-Semitic Kristallnacht attacks in 1938. Burkhard Jung, mayor of Leipzig, has condemned the ‘naked violence that took place’ after doner kebab fast food restaurants- were destroyed, cars were set- ablaze- and shop windows- were smashed- by around 250 hooligans of LEGIDA the local branch of PEGIDA, an anti-migrant, anti-EU organization.”These hooligan groups are not widely supported: the highest attendance of the HoGeSa demonstration was recorded in Cologne in 2014, when about 4000 people took to the streets. The Pegida movement (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West), though not radical, is able to attract even more than 20 thousand people.
The 2011 proxy war against Russia, China and Syria backfires. The first people have been killed in the streets of Brussels and Paris. Amsterdam and Berlin will follow suit while in Leipzig we saw the first signs of a pogrom. We feel Mogherini, a member of the European ruling elite, and fully responsible for the mess, has all reason to break down in tears.