Naser Khader Issues a Warning

Naser Khader, who is a moderate Muslim, a member of the Danish Parliament, and the founder of the Democratic Muslims, has just finished a visit to the United States. His final appearance was at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, where he took part in a conference entitled “Islam in Democratic Societies: The Struggle Between Radical and Moderate Islam and the Future of Islam in the West”. He took a tough stance against the appeasement of Muslim radicals, debated Irshad Manji, and warned his American listeners of the dangers of using radical Muslims as government advisors.

Coming on the heels of the latest dhimmi behavior of various government authorities throughout the West, Mr. Khader is delivering a timely message. After all, US government agencies, including the FBI (which Phanarath calls the “Federal Bureau of Islamists”), use CAIR and similar jihad-sympathetic organizations to give their employees “Muslim sensitivity training”.

We would do well to heed Naser Khader’s warning.

The article below is from yesterday’s Jyllands-Posten (my translation):

Khader uses PET’s group of imams as a frightening example

by Pernille Ammitzbøll

Both governments and information services should be very careful about which Muslims they consult as advisers in their affairs, warned Naser Khader, when he spoke on Friday afternoon to a controversial conference at Tufts University in Boston.

Boston — The university has a Saudi donor, who was quite indignant that the conference “Islam in Democratic Societies: The Struggle Between Radical and Moderate Islam and the Future of Islam in the West” had invited a controversial group which included the French-Algerian journalist Mohamad Sifaoui, the Canadian Muslim reformist Irshad Manji, and Naser Khader.

The conference was thorough, even though Mohamad Sifaoui was unable to be there because of visa problems.

Naser Khader used the occasion to once again present controversial material in his speech, which he has woven into his weeklong visit to the USA.

This trip he has focused on the naïveté of the authorities in relation to the Islamists, and he used examples from Denmark to show how the authorities err when they use Islamists as advisors.

- - - - - - - - - -

“In Denmark PET used the Danish information services; for many years the Islamist imam Abu Laban, who managed the campaign against Denmark during the Mohammed crisis, was an advisor. The earlier operations head of PET, Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen, in the bargain thanked these Islamist imams for their help in controlling Danish Muslims during the Mohammed crisis. Thus the Danish government showed its indirect approval for Abu Laban and his like-minded fellows and gave them in that way a powerful platform. Now they can stand in their mosques and say, ‘We are used as advisors for PET and the government, and that is because we are important and our interpretation of Islam is the correct one.’ This is totally naïve, but Hans Jørgen Bonnichsen is now fortunately retired on a pension,” said Naser Khader.

He spoke along with the popular Canadian activist Irshad Manji, who in her own presentation talked about the need for teaching women in Muslim countries to read, so they can read the Koran themselves.

“I know a woman in Kabul who had been fair game for her husband, but then she learned to read and found out that it does not say in the Koran that a man may beat his wife, and she showed it to her husband. From that day on he no longer beat her,” said Irshad Manji.

Naser Khader strongly disagreed with Irshad Manji in applying this as motivation for men to refrain from violence against their wives.

“If a man does not beat his wife, it should be because he loves and respects her as a person, and not because of what it says or does not say in the Koran,” said Naser Khader.

Over and above using PET’s group of imams as a frightening example for Denmark of naïveté concerning the Islamists, he also cites to the newly-developed Unity List [hos Enhedslisten; not sure what this is — BB] and their nomination of Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, whom Naser Khader describes as an Islamist — not on the basis of [the issue of] the veil, but on the basis of her conduct.

“Islamists use the victim mentality as leverage to gain influence, and the left wing and the Unity List love to sacrifice. Therefore they have now also nominated an Islamist to Parliament,” said Naser Khader.

With the conference in Boston his weeklong program in the USA has come to an end, and he returns to Denmark this weekend.

Hat tip: Steen.


Update: Corrections are coming in from Scandinavian readers. So far Phanarath and LN have helped me with changes. Many thanks!

LN tells me that “at the bottom Enhedlisten are old Stalinists who have turned ecological.”