Back in 2009 I travelled to Europe to see the impact of their immigration program and how it had affected the cultural and social fabric of a number of countries.
I was horrified by what I saw because the inevitable consequences were obvious to anyone prepared to confront reality. At the time there were very few prepared to do so. One was Dutch politician Geert Wilders, whom I met in Amsterdam.
Wilders lives under 24-hour security because he has dared criticise the impact of migration, specifically Muslim migration, on the Netherlands. I am still amazed that he is considered an extremist whilst those that want to kill him for his views are rarely condemned.
For the record, I found Wilders a charming and personable man, vastly different from the media’s portrayal of him.
Whilst my meeting with him created national headlines here – and the inevitable calls for me to be sacked by Liberal and Labor colleagues, the media and an assortment of appeasers and apologists – the meeting wasn’t the most memorable part of my trip.
That took place in Belgium immediately after alighting from the Brussels train station. I hopped in a cab from the rank on the street and asked the driver to take me to my hotel.
After some pleasantries, he asked me the purpose of my trip to Brussels. I told him I was an Australian politician interested in seeing the impact of migration on European nations.
Well, that started him off! He told me story after story about his personal experiences and drove me around for over an hour showing me things that I am sure the Brussels tourist bureau would prefer no visitor see.
He also issued a very clear warning about the danger that faced Belgium and the possible consequences unless changes were made.
Unfortunately his premonition was realised this week. Bomb blasts in Brussels killed at least 34 people and injured many more.
As of writing, the SMH reported that “a witness said he heard shouts in Arabic and shots shortly before two blasts struck a packed airport departure lounge at Brussels airport. The federal prosecutor said one of the explosions was probably triggered by a suicide bomber.”
Responsibility for the blasts has been claimed by Islamic State.
This is a tragedy, just like so many other diabolical acts by extremists justifying their actions in the name of Islam.
I imagine it will only be a matter of time before the first mealy-mouthed, cultural-relativist politician will say religion has nothing to do with these most recent attacks.
They are wrong, but it is the inconvenient truth that too few are brave enough to confront.
The conditioning of these suicide bombers is done in the name of their religion. Their actions are justified using their religious texts. The fruits of martyrdom in the afterlife are drawn from their religion. I could go on, but the point is that this has everything to do with religion.
Even the name ‘Islamic State’ should provide the most clueless of apologists with some idea as to what underlies the greatest terror threat we face today.
Now here’s the disclaimer for all those who are leaping out of their skin to claim ‘racist bigot Bernardi is picking on the Muslims again’: I am not picking on anyone – most Muslims live peaceably – but I am merely stating the bleeding obvious for anyone who cares to see the truth.
We have a growing global problem and its origins lie within the Islamic community.
Maajid Nawaz – a former Hizb ut-Tahrir radical, now a counter-extremist commentator – has said:
“…the Islamists, those who want to impose a version of Islam over society, and the jihadists, those who use force to bring about Islamism, have a plausible reading of scripture.
“It’s incorrect for we, as Muslims and generally, actually, I’d say, those on the left of centre in this debate, to insist that Islamists and jihadists have nothing to do with Islam. That’s actually an exercise in dishonesty. Of course they have something to do with Islam. I would argue it’s equally incorrect to say that they are Islam per se because of course I’m a Muslim and I’m not ISIS, I’m not an Islamist. And so I think the answer is somewhere in the middle and that is that they have something to do with Islam.”
The big problem is that the West alone cannot fix it. Only the Muslim population can do what needs to be done: reject, refute and reform Islam.
They need to reject the verses of war contained within the Quran and the Hadith and state they are not relevant to the modern world.
They need to publicly and perpetually refute the claims of the theocratic devils that their actions are justifiable under any circumstances.
Then they need to reform Islam to ensure that the Ummah are united in peaceful religious belief free of the theocratic state.
They also need to lend their support to an open discussion about the problem and the solution without the cacophony of abuse that inevitably follows questioning Islam.
Only then can we hope to restore the peace and goodwill that our world so desperately needs.
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
