Interfaith Dialogue — FAIL

Here is another case of well-meaning non-Muslim religious people — in this case, Jews and Christians — attempting to “build bridges”, “enter into dialogue”, and “build trust” between Muslims and people of their own faith.

The outcome was predictable. No regular Gates of Vienna reader would be surprised by it. I don’t know whether or not it was a surprise to the Jewish leaders of Amsterdam — I’ll leave that to our Dutch readers to determine.

Here’s the story from NIS News. All bolding, except for the title, was added by me:

Anti-Jewish Slogans During Dialogue Ramble

AMSTERDAM, 11/02/11 - An ‘interreligious dialogue march’ in Amsterdam has been marred by anti-Semitic shouting.

Prominent religious leaders walked from the Nour mosque in Amsterdam West to a church and a synagogue on Wednesday. Which synagogue this would be was not announced beforehand to avoid intimidation by Islamic youths.

Whoops — we’ve already hit a speed bump on the road to mutual understanding. How can leaders build bridges among the religions when interfaith dialogue has to be hidden from the youths of one of the religions involved?

Did anyone think the event needed to be kept secret from Jewish youths? Or Christian youths?

Why didn’t the leaders expect Muslim youths to pick up their guitars and sing “Kumbaya” along with the earnest youngsters from the synagogues and the churches of Amsterdam? What makes all those Muslim lads so different?

We must presume that discrimination, racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia on the part of Jews and Christians were what made the Muslim kids so hostile. What other reason could there be?

The article continues:

Among the participants were Kursat Bal of the Muslims and Government Contact Body (CMO), Rabbi Raphael Evers and J. Plaisier of the Protestant Church Netherlands (PKN). In fact, they spoke more with the press than with each other.


Along the route, anti-Jewish slogans regularly sounded from the mouths of Islamic youths. Arriving at the synagogue, Kursat Bal excused himself for them. “These youngsters do not know Jews and they do not know their own Islam.”

Well, evidently I don’t know Islam, either. The last time I looked at the Koran and hadith, these sacred books told the faithful to hate Jews and Christians. Islamic Scripture insists that the infidel People of the Book are the offspring of apes and pigs, and that Muslims must never take them as friends. The Koran says there is a special place in hell for Jews, who are the worst of the unbelievers because they rejected Mohammed.

Maybe my copy is a misprint. And maybe the youths of Amsterdam are reading the same bum copy of the Koran.

But here’s the punch line:

The solution that Bal suggested was remarkable. “They would not have shouted these things if they had been going to Islamic schools.”

That’s right: Imam Bal believes that the “youths” need more madrassas to keep them from hating Jews.

If only Muslim children in the Netherlands could receive a more intensive Islamic education, their anti-Semitic tendencies would be reduced!

More Koran + more sunna + more sharia = less anti-Semitism.

What a great idea! Why didn’t anyone ever think of it before?

I hope they try it and see how it works out.


Hat tip: C. Cantoni.