Arabs: "Westerners Must Stop Appeasing Islamists"

The recent terrorist attacks carried out by Muslims in France and Austria should serve as a warning to Europeans who have long been appeasing and endorsing extremist Muslim politicians and organizations.

This warning was sounded in the past few weeks by a growing number of writers, political analysts and politicians in Arab and Islamic countries.The main message they are sending to the Europeans: Political Islam is a threat not only to non-Muslims, but to Muslims and Arabs as well. Europeans need to wake up and start confronting the Muslim extremists. "Political Islam organizations are the reason for spreading hatred and terrorism in the world," said Saudi writer Mohammed al-Sheikh.

"Political Islamic organizations are the reason for perpetuating terrorism and hatred. These organizations are banned in most of the Islamic countries, while Europe, especially Britain, embraces them and allows them to operate freely. Europeans can only blame themselves."

Abdel Moneim Ibrahim, a prominent political analyst from Bahrain, wrote that France is paying the price for its"courtship" of political Islam. "Is France really paying the price for its complacency and its lax security grip on the dozens of terrorist organizations operating under the cover of charitable or Islamic societies, Quran memorization or teaching the Arabic language, as well as scores of imams in French mosques who incite violence and hatred and sympathize with jihadist terrorist groups?

"This is true. France bears part of the responsibility for not closing these suspicious associations under the pretext of freedom of expression and freedom of religions...

"The French government knows very well that there are suspicious Islamic governments and organizations currently supporting terrorist acts in France. It knows very well that Turkey-- specifically the government of [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan -- and Qatar -- are the ones that feed terrorism and support it with money from France and the rest of the European countries. Turkey and Qatarrely on suspicious associations supervised by the Muslim Brotherhood and other terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and ISIS."

If France continues to flirt with political Islam, Ibrahim cautioned, "the innocent French will continue to pay a very high price."

Palestinian political analyst Adli Sadeq pointed out that in many Western countries, the Muslim Brotherhood organization was still being treated as a "moderate political movement."

Many countries, Sadeq said, have refused to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization because they falsely consider it a "moderate" group. "It makes no sense to say that the Muslim Brotherhood is centrist and moderate,"he argued. "There is no difference between them and the jihadist groups."

Tunisian newspaper editor and political analyst Alhashimi Nawiri called on Western countries to re-evaluate their relations with Islamic organizations: "It has become clear that these [Islamic] organizations, in their ideological depth, are fascist groups that have nothing to do with democratic values.

"The damage that the West has begun feeling is having a severe impact on the cohesion of its societies and states. This is the result of embracing and nurturing these [Islamic] political movements. The presence ofthese groups in Western countries has begun to cast a shadow over millions of Muslims living there and who are required (after each terrorist attack)to prove their innocence and clarify that Islam is innocent of these groups and their actions.”

We are now seeing a large number of Arabs and Muslims warning about the clear and present danger Islamism poses to many different societies. These individuals are demonstrating courage and conviction in taking this public stance. Their advice, that Western states must eradicate Islamist organizations in Europe, is vitally important. Further appeasement of terrorists will have a direct result: more beheadings and murders on the streets of European capitals and cities.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16734/westerners-appeasing-islamists