Hugh Fitzgerald: Van Klaveren Converted — Should We Be Disconcerted? (Part Three)
The latest revert to make a splash is Joram van Klaveren, like van Doorn a member of the PVV Party who was close to Wilders himself. His story is the most dramatic, for he had in the past campaigned ad nauseam in the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament against Islam in the Netherlands, calling it “a lie,” and referring to the Quran as “poison.” He had also pushed for a ban on the burqa and on mosque minarets. At the time of his conversion, which took place in October 2018, but was not made public until this February, he had been researching a new book, From Christianity to Islam in the Time of Terror, when he had his remarkable change of heart. “If you believe that there is one God and that Muhammad was one of the prophets, besides Jesus and Moses, then you are formally Muslim,” van Klaveren told a local radio station after his conversion. That’s a misstatement of the faith: Muslims believe Muhammad was not just “one of the prophets,” but the last of the prophets, the Seal of the Prophets. And that’s not the only belief required of a Muslim. As van Klaveren well knows, Muslims are commanded to wage Jihad against Unbelievers, until Islam everywhere dominates, and Muslims rule, everywhere. Is it possible that after years of opposing Islam, and seeing so little being accomplished in Europe, where May and Macron and Merkel seem incapable of grasping the mortal threat of Islam, where every month ever more Muslims arrive in Europe, where they cause mayhem, and yet even the Pope has endorsed “authentic Islam” as having “no room for violence.” and continues to defend that faith on every conceivable occasion, that van Klaveren simply had become sufficiently disheartened, after so many years of opposing Islam, that he gave up, and rather than strengthening his resolve, despairingly threw in his lot with what could certainly appear to be the winning side?
And what should be the reaction to these three reverts? Muslims, of course, feel a sense of triumphalism. Does that mean we should feel a sense of despair? Of course not. These reverts to Islam do not represent an unstoppable wave, but are very much sui generis. Arthur Wagner is certainly a bizarre creature, choosing to become a Muslim only in order to express his disapproval of his Protestant church’s acceptance of homosexual marriage. Arnoud van Doorn is another doubtful character, has been involved in several criminal activities, including selling drugs to the young. And he has been accused of sending a group of Muslims to gang-rape one of his political opponents. Not exactly a sterling example of rectitude. And who knows what material benefits have come to this high-profile revert as President of the European Da’wah Foundation, and Ambassador of Celebrity Relations for the Canadian Da’wah Association in Europe? And what does he derive from his travels to the Gulf, where Muslim Arabs might have shown their appreciation in tangible ways?
As for Joram van Klaveren, I suspect that, as stated above, it was not the truth and beauty of Islam, as Muslims allow themselves to believe, that finally led him to turn Turk and embrace the faith, but rather, to repeat, his own mental exhaustion and despair over Islam’s steady expansion in Europe, and the failure of so many of Europe’s leaders to recognize the meaning, and menace, of Islam. Not for the first time, defeatism would have claimed its victim.
Meanwhile, let’s think of all the morally and intellectually advanced people, very different from these three curious “reverts,” who have converted the other way, to Christianity from Islam, or have left Islam for Unbelief. These include such figures as Magdi Allam, the brilliant writer and political figure who, born a Muslim in Egypt, in Italy converted to Christianity — with Pope Benedict himself presiding at his baptism — and since Oriana Fallaci’s death has been the most effective opponent of Islam on the Italian scene. There is Ibn Warraq, who is both a profound scholar of early Islam and author of Why I Am Not A Muslim. There is Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who long ago abandoned Islam as a murderous cult, and whose autobiographical works — Nomad, Infidel –have had an important effect in revealing for Unbelievers what the texts and tenets of Islam inculcate. There is Wafa Sultan, the author of A God Who Hates, who considers herself a “cultural Muslim” even though she does not believe in any part of the faith: “I even don’t believe in Islam, but I am a Muslim.” Imposing figures, every one, and all of them exceedingly brave because, as publicly-declared apostates from Islam, they are under a permanent death threat. Those who revert to Islam, on the other hand, face no threats or harmful consequences.
There are other bizarre figures among the converts to Islam. There was French “philosopher” Roger Garaudy, an antisemite and Holocaust-denier who, unsurprisingly, found his spiritual home in Islam. There is Tony Blair’s sister-in-law. Lauren Booth, who converted following an “inspiring experience” while visiting Iran. What was that was so inspiring? The women being picked up by the religious police if they weren’t correctly covered? The mass rallies where people screamed “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”? The public executions of homosexuals? Lauren Booth is also a great friend of the “Palestinians,” and has been since long before she converted to Islam. She described Gaza as “the largest concentration camp in the world,” but made the mistake of having photographs taken of her in a well-stocked Gazan grocery story. She’s been honored by Hamas with a VIP Passport.
On October 23, 2010, wearing a hijab, she made a video: “My name is Lauren Booth, and I am a Muslim.” She attributed her awakening to her experiences in Palestine as a reporter. She has given hundreds of speeches on her conversion, also attributing her conversion to her experiences with Palestinian families in the West Bank and Gaza. How much might she have earned from those hundreds of speeches?
We know she has a great interest in money, that has been known to get her into trouble. It seems that Lauren and her Muslim husband have been helping themselves to funds meant for others. In June 2011, Booth joined Cageprisoners as a patron. However, from 2015 Booth was no longer a patron of the organization. Apparently Lauren Booth and the chief executive of Peacetrail (another NGO), her husband Sohale Ahmed, were disqualified from holding any trustee positions after the Charity Commission could not account for about half of Peacetrail’s income. It seems that Lauren Booth and her Muslim husband had a particular interest in helping only certain Muslims — namely, themselves.
Another high-profile female convert to Islam is Sinead O’Connor. She has changed her name twice: to Magda Davitt, and then to the more Muslim Shuhada Davitt. You can see her at YouTube, giving the Call to Prayer. She famously tweeted, after her conversion, that she found white people “disgusting”: “I’m terribly sorry,” her tweet said. “What I’m about to say is something so racist I never thought my soul could ever feel it. But truly I never wanna spend time with white people again (if that’s what non-muslims are called). Not for one moment, for any reason. They are disgusting.” Make of that bizarrerie what you wish.
On one side, we have such converts to Islam as Arthur Wagner, Arnoud van Doorn, Joram van Klaveren, Lauren Booth, and Shuhada Devitt. And then there are also many “reverts” among prisoners in the West who, in converting to Islam, become part of an instant community of fellow Muslims, who provide security as the strongest prison gang. Furthermore, as Muslims, these converts will now be subject to a Complete Regulation of Life, which will replace their previous mental disarray.
On the other side, we have, among those who have abandoned Islam, such people as Magdi Allam, Ibn Warraq, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Wafa Sultan. A most unequal contest.
The Camp of Islam gets the worst people from our world, and we get the best people from theirs. No contest. People are waking up and deserting the Camp of Islam. We are winning. Just keep up the good work, and don’t lose heart.
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