69 million page views

Antwerp imam Nordine Taouil files charges after death threats from sharia4belgium

Reader comment on item: Another Islamist Assault, Another Western Cringe

Submitted by myth (Germany), Sep 19, 2012 at 07:42

http://www.gva.be/nieuws/binnenland/aid1244043/antwerpse-imam-dient-klacht-in-tegen-sharia4belgium.aspx

Belgian newpaper "Gazet van Antwerpen" reports that Antwerpen imam Nordine Taouil files charges after death threats from sharia4belgium. I translate the best I can

Na zijn publieke veroordeling van de rellen van afgelopen zaterdag in Borgerhout heeft de Antwerpse imam Nordine Taouil tientallen haat-sms'en en -telefoons van aanhangers van Sharia4Belgium ontvangen. Taouil dient een klacht in bij de politie.

After his public condemnation of last saturday's riots in Borgerhout, the Antwerpen imam Nordine Taouil received dozens of hate-text-messages and telephone calls from adherents of Sharia4Belgium. Toauil files charges with the police.

"Het zijn geen letterlijke doodsbedreigingen, maar ze voelen wel zo aan", zegt de imam in Gazet van Antwerpen en Het Belang van Limburg. In de berichten wordt hij er onder meer van beschuldigd een afvallige en een hypocriet te zijn.

"Those are not literal death-threats, but they do feel like it", says the imam in the "Gazet van Antwerpen" and "Het Belang van Limburg". The text-messages accuse him, among other things, of being an apostate and hypocritical.

"Brand in de hel", sluit een van de berichten af. "De mensen die dit doen, zijn zeer haatdragend", zegt Taouil. "Deze mensen zijn onopgevoed, hebben een crimineel verleden en gedragen zich helemaal niet als een moslim. Het is nu aan de politie en het gerecht om op te treden tegen deze fanatici."

"Burn in hell", concludes one of the messages. "The people who do that, are very hateful", says Taouil. "Those people are badly brought up, have a criminal past and don't behave like a muslim at all. It is up to the police and the court to take action against those fanatics."

Ondertussen heeft de stad Antwerpen beslist om voor vandaag een samenscholingsverbod uit te vaardigen in Borgerhout. Dit omdat er opnieuw per sms is opgeroepen tot een manifestatie tegen de anti-islamfilm 'Innocence of Muslims'.

Meanwhile the city of Antwerpen decided to impose a ban on assemblies in Borgerhout. That is because again text-messages called for a demonstration in order to protest the anti-islam-film "Innocence of Muslims".

Context: Muslim protestors rioted in the Borgerhout part of Antwerpen before escalating in violence and subsequent arrests.

My comment is this: Imam Taouil values decency over religion. I find this a convincing argument against radicals. Even more so, because it is coming from an imam. Taouil redirects attention to the rioters and away from the filmmakers. This is a position of common sense which I miss in discussions in the west. I applaud imam Taouil for his passing the handling of the conflict to secular authorities rather than making this a matter of religion and self-justice. That is a profound departure and opposition to radical islamists.

Submitting....

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".

Follow Daniel Pipes

Facebook   Twitter   RSS   Join Mailing List

All materials by Daniel Pipes on this site: © 1968-2023 Daniel Pipes. daniel.pipes@gmail.com and @DanielPipes

Support Daniel Pipes' work with a tax-deductible donation to the Middle East Forum.Daniel J. Pipes

(The MEF is a publicly supported, nonprofit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Tax-ID 23-774-9796, approved Apr. 27, 1998.

For more information, view our IRS letter of determination.)