While the world is still shocked by the attack of 21-year-old Tunisian citizen Brahim Aouissaoui on the worshippers at the Catholic Church in Nice, the former Malaysian Prime Minister twitted that France deserves to be attacked. We asked a religious scholar, Drago K. Ocvirk, who is considered one of the greatest intellectuals in the Church in Slovenia and a connoisseur of events related to Islamism, for a comment regarding the current situation we are witnessing in Europe. He is not surprised by the comment of the former Malaysian Prime Minister, as he says: “The scenario is always the same, when someone is accused of, say, an attack in one of the European countries, they immediately label it as an insult to Muhammad and the Islamic faith.” He says it is interesting that certain European Social Democrats have even begun to wake up, realizing that it is high time for Europe to start defending its democracy. “Now, Muslims are feeling as if they are the victims, and Europeans are feeling that it is our fault that Muslims are so oppressed,” he said. According to him, if the left became aware of the seriousness of the situation in Europe, the extreme right-wing parties and movements could lose their support, which would actually be better for finding solutions between the two sides.
In his murderous march on Thursday at the main Catholic church in Nice, 21-year-old Tunisian Brahim Aouissaoui murdered three people. He nearly cut off the head of a 60-year-old women and inflicted deep stab wounds and cuts on a 55-year-old man’s neck. A third victim, a 44-year-old woman, managed to escape from the church and take refuge in a nearby restaurant, where she later died as a result of several stab wounds. According to media reports, in addition to the 30 cm long knife used in the attack at the crime scene, the police discovered two blades, a bag, two mobile phones and a copy of the Koran. At first, the motive was not clear, but after the discovery, the authorities allegedly consider it an act related to “Islamist terrorism”.
Religiologist Drago K. Ocvirk says that these assassinations should be understood from a broader spatial and temporal framework. “Some, especially those on the left, attribute these attacks to the psychological disorders and confusion of individuals migrating to Europe,” he warned. In doing so, he relies on the opinion of one of the editors at the French newspaper Le Monde, Jean Birnbaum, who years ago began to study the attacks more closely. According to Birnbaum, we are witnessing the same scenario, from Salman Rushdie onwards, who hid for thirty years because he was sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Muhammad with his book Satanic Verses. “The scenario is always the same, when someone is accused of, say, an attack in one of the European countries, they immediately label it as an insult to Muhammad and Islam. Then they try to kill him/her or they actually kill him/her,” Ocvirk explained, pointing out that then the whole Muslim world is horrified how someone insulted Muhammad. “There are protests taking place everywhere and Muslim countries are starting to attack the West,” he explained.
We could witness what Ocvirk explained today – former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad attacked French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron on Twitter, writing: “Since you have blamed all Muslims and the Muslims’ religion for what was done by one angry person, the Muslims have a right to punish the French. The boycott cannot compensate the wrongs committed by the French all these years.” According to Ocvirk, this time the leader of the Muslim machinery – from the background – is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Erdogan supports members of the Islamic State, supports the Islamist government in Libya, in Syria, has open Karabakh, which has become a new hotbed of war and is in conflict with Europe. “Qatar is working closely with him, a country that has also built a mosque in Ljubljana. Qatar has money, it is at odds with other countries in the Arabian Peninsula, and only Erdogan can help it, ”he added.
He continues to say that everyone adds a little something to this whole Muslim machinery, so that the hatred against Europe spreads even further and faster. “Islamic sages in Abu Dhabi have recently decided to prosecute the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, where twelve people were killed in a shooting by extremists, including nine of their journalists,” he recalled. He goes on to remind about one of the most elite Sunni universities, Al Azhart, which has decided to prosecute anyone who attacks Islam in Europe. “Thus, within and outside of Islam, they create an impression that Islam is inviolable and should not be critiqued by anyone,” he explained. All other ideologies can be critiqued, but only Islam is untouchable and holy. “This is what incites the so-called jihadists the most,” he said, adding that even some French left-wing politicians believe that “islamo-gauchistes” – leftists who support the inviolability of Islam and label their fellow citizens Islamophobes – are to blame.
“In France, state-forming leftists (such as former socialist Prime Minister Cazeneuve) have now begun to point the finger at those leftists who are preventing France, and thus Europe, from adopting stricter legislation when it comes to respecting freedom of expression, and religion, to protect it more,” he explained. According to him, they are constantly giving in to Muslims, and everything contrary to their feelings, is immediately labeled as Islamophobia. “Now, Muslims are feeling as if they are the victims and are being oppressed, and Europeans are feeling that it is our fault that Muslims are so oppressed,” he described the current situation. He says that partially the left is to be blamed for this, which the French call Islamic leftism for Islam (islamo-gauchisme). “Muslim oil countries heavily fund institutions, which in Europe write and talk about how poor, oppressed and persecuted Muslims are here,” he explained. Recently, it has become possible to see how Muslim countries are claiming that we are persecuting Muslims in Europe, treating them badly and trying to convert them, to which they have added a boycott of French goods. “We are now at a point where Europe must decide whether it will kneel down or put an end to this and try to preserve democracy,” he added.
“There were a lot of Muslim thinkers who had to flee the Muslim world. They are critical of Islam and call on us, the Europeans, to wake up and be aware of who we are dealing with and to defend democracy more resolutely, ”he stressed. He says that even the classical Social Democrats have begun to draw attention to this issue in the French media. For example, one of these is the French MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, who said: “Comrades, we had turned a blind eye and covered our ears, even though we were often embarrassed because we knew we were defending fanatics and we did actually defend those who are now killing across Europe.” Ocvirk also explained that in the current legislation, if a Muslim attacks a European, it is not written about, but if the opposite happened, it would be in all the media. “Obviously, the French classic leftists are overwhelmed, because things went too far,” he added.
The attacks that occur are not isolated cases, rather they are parts of a well-oiled mechanism
While left-wing supporters of Islamists still defend their human rights, some other leftists are of the opinion that there should be no way to support and grant rights to those who want massacres across Europe. “All the attacks that are occurring are not isolated cases, rather they are parts of a well-oiled mechanism,” he added. For many, the reference to human rights is a disguise to protect Islamists and jihadists, and in such cases serve “human rights” as cellophane, with a time bomb wrapped in this cellophane. In order to avoid this, we should be more careful and send the army at the border, which our left is effectively blocking. According to dr. Ocvirk if the left became aware of the seriousness of the situation in Europe, the extreme right-wing parties and movements could lose their support, which would actually be better for finding solutions and compromises between the two sides.