The founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, Tarek Fatah, wrote that Islamic extremism could spread thanks to world leaders' softened stances in fear of appearing anti-Muslim.“Muslims who stand up to mullahs are not ‘Islamophobes,'” wrote Toronto Sun columnist Fatah. He penned an impassioned column last week warning that Islamic extremism could spread because of leaders’ fear of looking anti-Muslim.
Fatah quoted United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who in 2017 cautioned Europe about the rise of Islamic extremists within the continent: “There will come a day when we see far more radicals, extremists and terrorists coming from Europe because of a lack of decision-making and [European politicians] trying to be politically correct.”
In a tweet on March 17, Hassan Sajwani, an active tweeter from the UAE, quoted the foreign minister's 2017 warning. The next day on March 18, a Turkish-born gunman, Gokmen Tanis, brought the Dutch city of Utrecht to a halt when he opened fire on a streetcar, killing three people.
The Turkish intelligence agency said it is investigating the motive of the attack, but it is likely terrorism.
“The Utrecht killing of non-Muslims by a Turkish terror suspect cannot be seen outside the recent massacre of Muslims inside two New Zealand mosques by a white nationalist and earlier massacres carried out against Christians inside and outside churches in the Philippines and Nigeria, as well as in Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Egypt,” wrote Fatah. “While the world gave 24/7 coverage to the Christchurch mosque massacre and white folks rightfully denounced one of their own sons, to embrace their Muslim citizens, there was almost no coverage of the Muslim massacre of Christians in Nigeria just a few days earlier on March 4.”
This, he said, was not the first time. A similar attack occurred against Christians on January 27 when Muslim jihadis bombed a Catholic church in the Philippines.
“This attack barely caused a ripple,” he said.
According to Fatah, Islamists in Europe and North America used the outpouring of goodwill toward Muslims to target Muslim critics of Islamism. Death threats were targeted against peaceful Muslim clerics, including Fatah, and Imam Mohammad Tawhidi in Australia, among others.
The Jerusalem Post has written about Tawhidi many times. He is best known in Israel for his remarks about the Old City of Jerusalem, which he says is a city “scared in the eyes of God,” but not a sacred Islamic city.
Fatah noted a 2017 report tracking "violent Islamist extremism" that found jihadi terrorism has resulted in the deaths of 84,000 people. There was a total of 7,841 attacks – an average of 21 per day – in 48 countries.
In his article in the Canadian newspaper he wrote: “These figures should alarm Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, opposition leader Andrew Scheer and the NDP's Jagmeet Singh, but all three parroted the Islamist agenda of legitimizing the most regressive segment of Muslims in Canada while abandoning Muslims who have stood up against Sharia and the doctrine of Armed Jihad.”
Then, he concluded, "just as Martin Luther was no Christianphobe when he stood up to the Roman Catholic Church, Muslims who stand up to mullahs are no ‘Islamophobes.’”