Islam versus Europe

Filip Dewinter, the leader of Vlaams Belang in Antwerp, has been a member of parliament since 13 December 1987. He is currently the head of the group in the Flemish parliament and a senator. Filip Dewinter is also the European president of the association “Cities Against Islamisation”. The Vérités Bruxelloises [True Brusselites] wanted to know more.

Vérités Bruxelloises: You once said you were an a islamophobe and you would declare yourself as such. Do you still maintain that?

Filip Dewinter: You’re quoting my book Inch’ Allah, the Islamisation of Europe where I write that Islamophobia is the duty of every person. Yes, indeed. Islam makes me afraid. Islam is a religion of conquest and totalitarianism and wants to dominate the entire world. It is naive to take Islam as a religion like the others. Islam is, first of all, a dangerous political ideology. In my view, therefore, Islam is genuinely to be feared.

V.B.: You founded and you are the president of the association “Cities against Islamisation”. Where are you with that? What initiatives have you taken? Have you had successes?

FDW: “Cities Against Islamisation” (CAI) is a partnership organisation of political parties, associations and individuals with the goal of taking specific action against the Islamisation of Europe. In recent years, CAI has carried out actions opposing the construction of new mega-mosques in Cologne, Milan, Paris, Antwerp and Berlin. It is imperative to work together at the European level if we want to push back Islam. Islam is spreading across all of Europe. We need to organise the resistance. CAI wants to coordinate things. I’ll give you an example: a few weeks ago, we were able to prevent a Hizb ut-Tahrir in Hasselt, thanks to information we provided to the Austrian branch of CAI. If Islam is organised globally, we need to at least give a European structure to the anti-jihad movement.

V.B.: The Islamophobes are accused of racism. I know Islam isn’t a race but for some people, is there not a base of racism beneath the islamophobia?

FDW: Criticising Islam is no different from criticising an ideology or political doctrine. If you can criticise liberalism, communism or nationalism, it must always be possible to criticise Islam. I repeat: before anything Islam is a political ideology, rather than a religion. But even if Islam was only a religion it should still be allowed to criticise it. People who criticise Islam are called racist in an attempt to shut them up.

V.B.: In your view is Islam compatible with democracy and our western values (and also universal ones)?

FDW: No, Islam and democracy are not compatible. Islam is the antithesis of democratic. Why? From the simple fact that Islam is a theocracy. All truth comes from Allah. The Muslim must submit the democratic laws of a country to the will of Allah - inch’ Allah-, as described by Mohammed in the Koran. Islam is not compatible with our western values either. Religious freedom, the separation of the church and state, freedom of expression, equality of expression, equality of the sexes… are values Islam doesn’t believe in. Islam therefore constitutes a grave menace to our standards and values, our way of life.

V.B.: Do you think that Islam can evolve? Indeed, we often hear talk of an “Enlightened Islam”. Do you think that’s serious?

FDW: This “Enlightened Islam” is an invention of progressive and leftist Europeans who embrace Islam through their multiculturalism. Anyone who believes in an “Enlightened Islam” is naive and hasn’t understood Islam at all. An Islam called enlightened would no longer have anything to do with Islam itself. Others hope that by means of subsidies, official recognition, setting up schools for imams and all sorts of concessions to Islam a kind of “Euro Islam” will be created. Let’s not delude ourselves. The only result of a policy of pampering Islam will be the creation of a true pillar of Islam which will not be a “Euro-Islam” but an Islamic and islamised Europe.

V.B.: Is not the principal force of Islam in Europe the ignorance of the citizens? They place Islam at the same level as other religions because they do not know the exact nature of the Islamic religion, but also the political project of world domination. To fight against Islamisation, do we not need to inform citizens about the reality of Islam? An American author said that we needed to “get out of our small cultural boxes”. How can we succeed in doing that and succeed in “enlightening” our European compatriots about the reality of Islam?

FDW: Quite simply, in our struggle against Islamisation, a raising of consciousness and a spread of awareness are essential. We need to expose the true nature of Islam. You would think that everyone has forgotten that, already twice before, Islam tried to seize hold of Europe. Thanks to the major military victories of Poitiers (732) and Vienna (1683), each time we succeeded in repulsing Islam, driving it back to its place, which is to say on the other side of the Mediterranean. Islam wants to make itself master of Europe again, no longer by military means, but by immigration invasion. CAI wants to spread information about the true face of Islam via publications, conferences and the internet http://www.citiesagainstislamisation.org/). For example there is a free brochure “Survival guide in an Islamic society” where in ten lessons I explain the consequences that a European living in an Islamised district might have to endure.

V.B.: What specific measures do you advocate to fight against the Islamisation of Europe? Do you think that an evolution, particularly of European governments, towards a less “favourable” view of Islam is possible?
FDW: First of all, European governments must get rid of their naivety and recognise the true nature of Islam. We must dare to say that Islam has no place on European soil. In other words, recognising and subsidising Islam, constructing mosques and minarets and Koranic schools is stupid and even dangerous. Many politicians collaborate with Islam for electoral reasons. This collaboration with Islam is going to blow up in our faces one day. Islam is trying to set up its pillar. The mosques in our large cities are the bridgeheads, the advance guards of the Islamic army whose sole objective is to sweep down on us without mercy.

V.B.: Your colleague, the senator Anke Van dermeersch, on behalf of the CAI created the association “Women against Islamisation” [multilingual site]. What are its aims?

FDW: Women are the first victims of Islamisation, as proved by the daily reality in many Muslim countries. Islam discriminates against and humiliates women. The women is subordinate to the man and is largely deprived of rights within Islam. It’s simple: Allah doesn’t like women. In Islam, women are disposable, without rights. It’s precisely for that reason that we need to warn and mobilise women. They will be the first ones affected by Islamisation.
With “Women against Islamisation”, we are conducting a major campaign on the theme “Islam or freedom, dare to choose”. This campaign is on display in the “burka-bikini” image, which my daughter appears in. This emblematic image, as well as the book “Neither bitch, nor Slave” which Anke Van dermeersch has just published, should inspire debate about the rights of women in Islam.

V.B.: Mr Dewinter, we thank you for this interview and wish you lots of courage in your noble struggle.