Press Release
Muslims are Adhering to Islam,
While Political Parties Abandon their own Values
(Translated)

Following the launch of the publicity campaign for the parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, which are due to be held on the fifteenth of this month, political parties have shown all the enmity they carry in their sleeves to Islam and Muslims, a sample of some of the statments of Dutch politicians include: “we must prevent Muslim immigrants from entering the Netherlands”, “we must ban the Qur’an and mosques”, “external support for mosques should be stopped”, “You can be racist to a Muslim, but not to a Christian”, “ a full ban on the veil”, “foreigners who hold dual nationality should be stripped of their Dutch nationality if they commit a criminal action”, “those who hold views contrary to the views of the majority in Dutch society must leave the country”. Very briefly, the message that Dutch politicians would like to convay to the ears of the Muslims is: be like us, otherwise there is no place for you in this country!

Therefore as a result of this hostile policy towards Islam and Muslims, the findings of the new report prepared by ”the Office of the Cultural and Social Planning” were not surprising , which showed that 40% of Turks and Moroccans living in the Netherlands feel worried and uneasy, and that the country where they were born is no longer their own, all this is because of the continued the attack on the Islamic identity, and this is not just to give the feeling and portrayal of Muslims as always being the victim, but this truely how the Muslims feel. This can be seen clearly when we see Muslims who were born in the Netherlands  show closeness and inclination to Islam despite all the campaigns to distort it. While it is easy for them to bow down to the pressure exerted on them, but they chose Islam and decided to walk against the current, and in this there is a sign of their willingness to struggle to maintain their identity; this willingness is strengthens and becomes visible the more pressure is put on the Muslims.

If we compare the results of the research conducted by a committee of professors commissioned by the Union of Dutch lawyers to study how much are the elections in line with the rule of law, democracy and human rights, we will see an opposite trend  when it comes to the Muslim community, according to the research mentioned, all election programs include one or more actions that could undermine the rule of law, and that five out of thirteen proposed measures contradict democracy and the rule of law. It is surprising that these parties have long accused the Muslims for standing against the values ​​and standards and for posing a threat to democracy and the rule of law, when it is themselves who do so. The one who threaten your values ​​and your democracy and the rule of law are your representatives, the secular politicians who are elected by millions of their supporters, and this is happening either because they have lost their confidence in their democracy and the rule of law for being unfit to organize society, or that they are tampering with their democracy and the rule of law to achieve their  oppressive agenda.

In both cases it appears to the observer their lack of confidence in their secular ideology, they see that it is unfit to be the foundation for the organization of society, and we see with our own eyes how they deviate from their ideas and betray it, unlike the Muslim community which is trying despite the difficult conditions they face to adhere to Islam and Muslims are trying hard to shape their lives according to its rule, its values ​​and its standards.

A closer look at all of the above, it is expected that these secular parties with their supporters, who always portray Islam as a scarecrow, will be more powerful after the elections, despite their success they would have lost, because the strength and success is measured by adherence to the values ​​and principles not by abandoning them, and man’s abandonment of his values ​​and principles means loss and weakness.

Okay Pala
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in The Netherlands