Israel Bashing: A Multicultural Conference in Belgium Hijacked By Islamists

Source: Brussels Journal (A Multicultural Conference Hijacked By Islamists, by Luc Van Braekel)

During the last weekend of October, a conference in Antwerp got a lot of resonance in the Arab world. The same conference was virtually ignored in Belgium, even within the local Muslim community. "The place of Islam in the new Europe" was the title of the conference which was widely reported on Al Jazeera (see video below this article) and the Moroccan newspaper Le Matin. In Belgium, only Gazet van Antwerpen published a short article on the local pages in three of its six regional editions. Make no mistake: this was a conference to promote multiculturalism and mutual understanding between the Islamic world and Europe. The conference was organized by the Institute for Moroccan and Mediterranean Studies of the University of Antwerp, abbreviated as "IMaMs".

CHAOTIC
The conference was announced as a big event, but its course was chaotic. Jacques Attali was announced as the keynote speaker, but he didn't come. The program and the panelists were very different from what was announced in the invitation, and a complete schedule was distributed on paper only halfway through the conference. What should have been a conference on an academic level, turned out to be an event with very few high-level scholars and with very few references to scientific studies, statistics or serious references.

REFERENCE TO NAZI SCIENTIST
Already at the opening session, the first blunder was heard, even though most of the audience never noticed it. Speaker Muhammad Bensalah highlighted the contribution of Islam to European civilization, and suggested that few Western scholars fully recognized the Islamic contribution without covering it up. He named three: the American John Esposito, the German Sigrid Hunke and the Belgian George Sarton. Now, Sigrid Hunke was an employee of the scientific department of the SS under the Nazi regime, where she was researching racial psychology. In that position she came in contact with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem who openly advocated the extermination of the Jews. In her book "Allahs Sonne über dem Abendland" ("Allah's sun over the Occident") she asserted that the roots of European civilization were not Christian, but are a mix of Islamic, pagan-Celtic and Germanic elements. She illustrates this argument with now discredited theories like the sea map of Piri Reis allegedly used by Columbus, and the fact that in German and Dutch one does not say "twenty three" but "three twenty" (Dreiundzwanzig, drieëntwintig), because in Arabic, one reads from right to left.

RANTING AGAINST ISRAEL, INDIVIDUALISM AND THE HEADSCARF BAN
During the panel discussions, more than once some members of the audience started lengthy invectives against Israel. The moderators did not intervene to stop or shorten these rantings. Antwerp alderman Robert Voorhamme intervened firmly, stating that it was improper to import the conflict in the Middle East into our countries and into this conference.
It may surprise some that a conference that had the ambition to enhance the mutual understanding between Islam and Europe had invited people like Yacob Mahi [he is fond of quoting Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy and signed an appeal to have Hamas removed from the European list of terrorist organisations (Belgique: un autre professeur de religion islamique cite Garaudy et défend le Hamas)], who literally states that "liberalism is the murderer of human freedom". Or imam Yussef Ibrams of Geneva, a member of the European Council of the Fatwa, who claimed in 2004 that "stoning, although not necessary in Switzerland, may absolutely not be brought in disrepute".

Annapolis: Hope or scepticism for Israel-Palestine?" by Harry Hagopian - illustrated with Abbas and Olmert naked cartoon by Ben Heine

Ben Heine's comment (so that no one misses the subtle message): "The drawing shows Mahmoud Abbas (left), President of the Palestinian National Authority and Ehud Olmert (right), Prime Minister of Israel, in very tough peace negotiations..."

Ben Heine’s website carries, with the author’s permission, an article "Annapolis: Hope or scepticism for Israel-Palestine?" by Harry Hagopian, "Ecumenical, Legal & Political Consultant to the Armenian Church in the UK. Former Executive Director of the Middle East Council of Churches and a recognised regional expert, Dr Hagopian is a coordinator of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF) and a lobbyist for recognition of the Armenian genocide."

A cartoon by Ben Heine illustrates Dr Hagopian's article. Its vulgar sexual connotations and explicit hate message are utterly revolting. Suffice it to say that Ben Heine (the only Belgian who took part in the infamous 2006 Tehran Holocaust cartoon contest) is highly appreciated by the far-right, conspirationist Canadian website Zionofascism which purports to expose "Zionofascism in Canada and the World". It features Heine’s portrait by Carlos Latuff depicted as James Bond fighting the Zionist Gang. The site’s "Top Clicks" are: Quotations from President Ahmadinejad of Iran; La fin de Sion (est proche) (The end of Zion is nigh); ZioPedia; and Ben Heine.