Theo Francken speaking at the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism: “The new guises of Islamism”

MP Theo Francken is speaking on the occasion of 9/11 today at the World Summit on Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel. He is doing this in his capacity as the head of the Belgian delegation in the NATO parliament. He summarises the essence of his message below.

On 11 September 2001, two planes drill into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, a jewel in the crown of the United States, “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Nearly 3,000 people lose their lives. The Western world is in shock. The Salafist world cheers. Osama Bin Laden is honoured as the folk hero who brings the United States to its knees.

Varying degrees of success

We are still fighting a war 22 years later, with varying degrees of success. After 20 years, we had to withdraw from Afghanistan, which was inhospitable in all respects. The Taliban is stronger than ever there. The Arab Spring failed. Even democratic bright spot Tunisia recently fell to yet another pan-Arab despot. We defeated IS, but their attacks and atrocities aroused the darkest of European minds, and the Syrian asylum crisis rocked Europe to its foundations. We lost Mali and recently Niger. The Sahel falls to Wagner, al-Qaeda and IS. 

Democracy versus Islamism

This is basically about world power translated into a war between clashing views of life. Western secular democracy versus Islamism: political Islam with divine worship and morality as a concept of society. 

Has the West learned its lesson? 

In many ways, yes: there is more cooperation, more information sharing and even left-wing forces are calling for more investment in security. We are learning - step by step - to fight back for our Western way of life. Even though we stumble and sometimes fall; regarding our fundamental rights, our liberal constitution and ourselves. 

Weak spots

But there are some major weaknesses. 

• The first is the declining success of democracy as a form of society. For the first time since World War II, the number of democracies worldwide is declining. Our high point seems to have been reached. Enlightened despots, military juntas and illiberal pseudo-democrats are mushrooming. This provides the ideal breeding ground for Islamists. 
• The second is our internal divisions within the West, but even more so within Europe. Due to internal geopolitical competition, we are unable to align ourselves against a regime such as that of the ayatollahs in Iran. I think the biggest threat comes from Tehran from Islamic quarters because it is strong and organised by the state. 
  • IRGC: Put the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, jihad’s shock troops) on the European terror list? The European Parliament votes in favour of it, but some Member States - including France - are blocking it. Belgium invites executioner/mayor Zakani with open arms, and the European Commission happily attends the swearing-in of the new Iranian president Raisi, “the butcher of Tehran”. 
  • Hezbollah: Label Hezbollah in its entirety (including its political wing) as a terrorist organisation? Germany did this, but the rest did not. Deal with the Muslim Brotherhood harshly? France banned its political wing, the Islamist Collective Contre l’Islamophobie en France (CCIF), while Belgium gives subsidies to the Belgian wing and the French wing was re-established in Brussels under the guise of being European. Deal with Palestinian terror organisations and their satellites? Yes, but Israel...
  • Foreign fighters in Syria: And I have not yet mentioned the divided European order of action in dealing with foreign fighters in Syria. France unceremoniously put them on the hit list of its elite troops and eliminated them - sniper-wise. In Belgium, they were imprisoned for several months, and the government actively repatriated the women. 
• Our third weak spot is our naive immigration policy. With an expected European asylum figure for 2023 of one million asylum seekers, illegal migration is flourishing more than ever. Afghans, Syrians, Somalis and Palestinians - all from strict Muslim countries - are migrating en masse to Western Europe. Our major cities are transforming at a hellish pace. Belgium is ageing, but is achieving a demographic growth rate of over 1% due to mass immigration. This is unsustainable. 

Many of these people come with the best of intentions. Many, but far from all of them. And yes, our screening is better than before, but the loopholes are still huge. Very often, we have no idea of precisely who is entering our country. 

Ramallah in Brussels

What is certain is that this has a strong influence on the European popularity of terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, IS, IRGC, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP, Samidoun, al-Qaeda, etc. Go to any pro-Palestinian or Sunni/Shia gathering in Western Europe, and you will feel like you are in Ramallah, Gaza or Tehran. 

Conclusion

To defeat Islamism in its new guises, we must focus on the following four items:

• Actively defend and promote democracy as a form of society.
• Uniform Western dealings with terrorist organisations. The IRGC and others must be put on the European terror list. 
• Identify all European terrorist satellites and NGOs and make them completely ineffective. Unity of command under the European flag is indispensable to this end. 
• Make illegal immigration to Europe impossible. Immediate closure of European asylum registration points. The Australian model can serve as inspiration. 

Time to wake up, Europe.