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http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP92105

Special Dispatch Series - No. 921
June 10, 2005 No.921

Arab Criticism of Muslim Extremist Activities in the West
Extremist Muslims in Western countries have come under increasing criticism by moderate Muslims who are familiar with the West through living in America or Europe, either temporarily or permanently. In three recently published articles, Arab academic and intellectuals harshly criticized their extremist activities.

In his article on the reformist website www.elaph.com, Dr. Ahmad Abu Matar, a Palestinian academic residing in Oslo, stated that Muslims in Europe foster conflict instead of coexistence. Muslims in Europe, he explained, are influenced by an extremist fundamentalist brand of Islam – and moderate Muslims are not speaking out adequately against this activity.

In the UAE daily Al-Itihad, Saudi journalist Turki Al-Dakhil, whose popular interview program on Al-Arabiyya television frequently hosts reformist Muslims, wrote about the hatred of the West that is spread by Muslims in the U.S., sharing his personal experience during his studies in the U.S. around the time of 9/11.

In the wake of Al-Dakhil's article, Tarek Hamo, a Kurdish journalist living in Germany, also criticized the actives of extremist Muslims in the West. In his article in www.elaph.com, Hamo accused Arab and Muslim states that seek to appease the extremists and to keep them away from political activity in their own countries, as well as the European host countries that are turning a blind eye to extremist activity – on grounds of "tolerance" and "religious freedom," and more recently, on grounds of a "dialogue of civilizations."

The following are excerpts from the three articles:

Muslims in Europe Foster Conflict, Not Coexistence

Dr. Ahmad Abu Matar wrote: "The presence of Muslims of all nationalities, and especially those of Arab nationality, has become a palpable phenomenon in all of the EU countries, and in Western Europe in particular. In some of these countries, like France, for instance, they number more than five million, and in many countries they have centers, institutions, and activities that they cannot sustain in their own Arab and Muslim countries."

As an example of activities conducted in the West that are not permitted in Arab countries, Abu Matar mentioned the Islamic Liberation Party, which "announces from London its political platform –to establish the Islamic caliphate over all corners of the earth – and declares that the party will suggest to the Queen of England that she convert to Islam, and thus will not have to pay the Islamic poll tax on non-Muslims [jizya]." As another example he cited the activities of Abu Hamza Al-Masri, the imam of Finsbury Park Mosque in London, who called for jihad and suicide bombings in Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The third example he gave is the thousands of mosques and Islamic charitable organizations in Europe and America that publicly collect contributions, and in addition, receive annual budgets from European countries.