by Mathilda Heller
Belgian Vlaams Belang Party MP Sam van Rooy says he is constantly disappointed by other politicians who "talk about Israel obsessively, but don't really know what they're talking about."
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Muslims should be told that if they do not reform violent Islamic teachings, they cannot have a mosque, Belgian Vlaams Belang Party MP Sam van Rooy told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
“We should stop making the distinction between Islam and Islamism,” he said, adding that the term “political Islam” is politically correct nonsense, and does not address the “fundamental problem with the Islamic teachings in the Quran and the Hadith.”
“I would say for the Muslims that are already in [Belgium], if you don’t reform what’s in the Quran and in the Hadith, if you don’t show us that you explicitly reject these teachings that are violent toward Jews, Christians, and ‘infidels,’ then you cannot have mosques. And frankly, I want them out of our society. ”
However, van Rooy told the Post, this is unlikely to happen in Belgium any time soon. “People, especially politicians and journalists, don’t want to see that the problem with Islam is fundamental and existential,” he said.
A 2010 research paper on Muslim identity in European cities found that in Muslim second-generation residents in Belgium (often of Turkish and Moroccan descent), between a quarter and a third did not self-categorize as Belgian.
“What I do know for sure is we need migration that is selected and controlled. In Belgium, we have a net immigration of around 50,000 people a year. We should bring that down to 10,000, and we do a very harsh selection, including a cultural selection. You don’t want a Pakistani doctor who loves Sharia law.”
Van Rooy noted that while Belgium has expensive integration policies for immigrants that include cultural courses, these are not particularly effective, and suggested that, by being more selective about immigration, these policies would no longer be necessary.
He believed the reason that Belgian politicians were so resistant to discussing the issues of immigration was because of colonial and Holocaust guilt.
“In the decades after the Holocaust, of course, we were all shocked and traumatized that something like that could happen. But it went to the other extreme. We got so afraid of fascism and a new Hitler that we welcome anyone and are tolerant for the intolerant Islam. The consequence of [never again] was that we would just accept and tolerate everyone and never discriminate. So it had the opposite effect because we took in all antisemites from the Middle East.”
“In order to not have a Holocaust again, we import people who want a Holocaust again,” he said, being ironic.
Most politiciams 'too weak' on combating antisemitism
When it comes to politicians, van Rooy said he thought most of them are too weak on combating antisemitism because they want to be reelected, and the Muslim vote is worth much more than the tiny Jewish population.
Van Rooy, who has been in parliament for six years, says he is constantly disappointed by other politicians who "talk about Israel obsessively, but don't really know what they're talking about."
"And above that stupidity or lack of knowledge, [in order to secure their] future as a politician, they will bash Israel."
Jews, according to van Rooy, are pawns when it comes to Belgian politics. He said anti-Israel ministers of the five coalition parties make anti-Israel decisions "in exchange for concessions from other coalition partners".
As an example, just a few days ago, Belgium barred aircraft carrying military equipment to Israel from flying over its airspace, a move that was explicitly welcomed by Hamas.
“Unfortunately, that’s how politics work. And once again, the Jews are the victims.”
“I think nowadays that most politicians, even most socialists, and even the Green Party, realize what a bad state we are in and that we are becoming an Islamized country. But they cannot live with themselves if they admit that they were wrong for 30 or 40 years,” he noted.
“It would be the same as leaving your religion, right? If you said for 40 years, ‘Immigration is good, Islam is peaceful,’ and then you go back on that, no one’s ever going to take you seriously again. Your political career would be over,” van Rooy maintained.
He added that the same thing happens in the media, with publications unwilling to admit they are wrong.
One relevant instance was the case of Belgian writer Herman Brusselmans, who said in a column in HUMO magazine in August 2024 that he got so furious about the war in Gaza that he wanted “to ram a sharp knife through the throat of every Jew” he met. The courts, however, acquitted him, citing freedom of expression.
Belgian public 'brainwashed by mainstream media'
"The public in Belgium has been so brainwashed by the mainstream media, especially about Israel," he said. Even with those who van Rooy said have become skeptical about mainstream media over the last decades, "when it's about the Jewish state, quite a few people suddenly start believing the mainstream media again."
"They don't believe the media on climate change. They don't believe them on immigration. But suddenly, they believe Israel is an apartheid state."
“Then I know it comes from their own antisemitic sentiment. Because why would you only trust the mainstream media when they talk about the Jewish state?”
Van Rooy said he sees Israel as a litmus test for Belgian media and politicians, right or left wing: "If you're anti-Israel, I can never deal with you."
For van Rooy, condemning antisemitism is not enough.
“I ask ministers in the [Belgian Federal] Parliament questions about antisemitism, and they always start their answer with: ‘I condemn antisemitism, and we should fight it.’”
“Then I ask them what they plan to do about it,” he continued. “Then I don’t get an answer anymore.”
“Because then it’s measures that would focus on the Muslim community, for example, or that would hurt a famous writer that they like so much [such as Brusselmans], or that would put a restriction on freedom of speech, so they always have a reason not to take measures because of other interests.”
Van Rooy also addressed the common criticism concerning some pro-Israel politicians in Europe, which proposes that they are taking this stance for personal reasons – to gain votes.
“I don’t do this for the votes. I do this because I believe in it, because it's the right thing to do,” van Rooy said.
Mathilda Heller
Source: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-884777
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