“Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! They ask you to condemn it, but never do that! And never forget that the Palestinians are the oppressed and Israel is the oppressor. These people are waging war for their homes and for their lives and we are with you, Palestine. Don't you dare be shocked! Don't you dare let yourself be fooled!”
The controversial Australian preacher Mohamed Hoblos said these words at the end of October a meeting in Sydney. He is talking about the war between Hamas and Israel and seems to be referring to October 7, the day of the Hamas attack on Israel after which the war started. He also said: “You guys [de Palestijnen] have filled our hearts with joy and pride!”
Hoblos is currently on a tour through Europe and would also visit the Utrecht Jaarbeurs next weekend. But Thursday morning reported The Telegraph about the above texts and about a video in which Hoblos says that Muslims who miss a prayer are worse than “a murderer, rapist, terrorist and pedophile.” Concerned urgent questions followed in the House of Representatives to outgoing Minister Dilan Yesilgöz (Justice and Security, VVD) and outgoing State Secretary Eric van der Burg (Asylum and Migration, VVD). Germany, where Hoblos was also scheduled to perform, had already refused him entry to the country.
Hoblos turned out to be registered in the Schengen Information System (SIS), in which European countries share information about extremists, among others. On that basis, Minister Yesilgöz could deny him entry to the Netherlands, which she did. “There is no place in our country for people who propagate extremist ideas,” tweeted them Thursday evening.
According to a spokesperson for the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV), twenty extremist speakers have been banned from the Netherlands by the Minister of Justice since 2015, including conspiracy theorist David Icke, who was scheduled to speak at a demonstration at the end of 2022. A speaker does not necessarily have to call for violence to be denied entry. “If we assess that the person poses a danger to public order and/or safety, that is sufficient reason.”
Hoblos has half a million followers on YouTube, tens of thousands on TikTok and Facebook. The Salafist preacher with Lebanese roots speaks to Muslims worldwide, using English as his main language. These are often conservative young adults who are looking for meaning and a way to combine their reading of Islam and life in the West. He tells European Muslims that they do not have to be ashamed of professing their faith in its entirety and that they can demand their rights.
Confronting
A popular video on his TikTok account shows Hoblos in full detail: dramatic and compelling. The video is in black and white and features violin music. In the middle of a crowd of people, you see Hoblos smiling and proclaiming his message with many hand gestures. “Return to Allah! Don't you understand, he loves you! But we are like vultures, wild beasts. We try to find our own happiness and success, not understanding that everything lies with Allah. Go back to him.”
In his videos, Hoblos is confrontational and strict. At the same time, he proclaims that forgiveness is always possible. “That is between you and Allah.” He is socially critical, gives his viewers guidelines on how to live and appeals to them about their own responsibility. For example, he preaches about young people who want to make “quick money” with drugs, which, according to Hoblos, is a logical consequence of a world that revolves around money, convenience and status. In a TikTok video from 2022 with half a million likes, Hoblos speaks loudly: “I experienced that too, man. When I was 20, my life revolved around women, drugs and cars, but I was empty inside and alone. And then what?!”
Hoblos was invited by the Salafist Utrecht foundation Dawah Group. This organization has been on the radar of the NCTV for some time, because the foundation is said to be able to 'normalize' Salafism among Dutch Muslims. For example, the Dutch imam Abu Ismail is affiliated with Dawah Group. In an Islam course, that NRC attended in 2018, he spoke about unbelievers for whom Allah would have “prepared a fire.” The only thing they will have to drink in hell is “boiling oil.” “It gets so hot that “their faces start to peel.”
Dawah Group often invites foreign (political) Salafists to speak, such as the British imam Haitham al-Haddad, who advocates the death penalty for unbelievers. The event with Mohamed Hoblos, The purpose of life was sold out with seven thousand tickets within 48 hours, the organization says.
Quran burning
There is criticism from the Islamic community about the decision to refuse Hoblos. “This is double standards,” says mosque director Khaled Mouhouti of the Arnhem Nour Al Houda mosque. He refers to Pegida leader Edwin Wagensveld, convicted last year for insulting Muslims, who was allowed to burn a Koran in Arnhem last Saturday with a police escort (which ultimately failed). “That is all tolerated and falls within the framework of freedom of expression.”
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According to Mouhouti, Muslims feel like “second-class citizens”, also in view of “the statements” of the PVV, and this – “when the limit is reached” – provokes a counter-reaction.
“Is this the democracy that Thorbecke had in mind?” Mouhouti wonders. “And is there even freedom of religion in this country? Many Muslims now think differently about this. That freedom is not there for them.”
Dawah Group calls on Instagram to still come to the Jaarbeurs this Saturday evening. “We are going to send a historic signal to those who want to undermine the message of Islam and restrict the rights of Muslims.”
The organization did not respond to questions from Friday afternoon NRC.
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