(updated below)
The most popular article published on LoonWatch was released in January of 2010: that article showed that, according to the official FBI website, only 6% of terrorist attacks in the United States from 1980-2005 (the only years where data was available) were committed by Muslims.
I published a follow-up article to look at the picture across the pond: I cited official data from Europol, which releases an annual terrorism report entitled EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT). The first available such report was for the year 2006. The data from 2006, 2007, and 2008 showed that about 0.4% of terrorist attacks in the European Union were committed by Muslims–less than 1% (actually, less than half of 1%).
Today, I’d like to update our readers with new Europol data: the data for 2009 and 2010 is now available.
Once again, a minuscule percentage of terrorist attacks in Europe were committed by Muslims. In 2009 and 2010, there were a grand total of 543 terrorist attacks, of which only 4 were committed by Muslims. This means that only 0.7% of terrorist attacks–again, less than 1%–were committed by Muslims.
Meanwhile, in that same time frame, separatist groups in Europe committed 397 terrorist attacks, or 73% of terrorist attacks overall. In other words, separatist groups committed 99.2 times (almost 100 times) more terrorist attacks than Muslims.
Another 85 attacks were committed by left-wing groups, accounting for about 16% of terrorist attacks overall.
Here is the data for 2009:
And for 2010:
In the 2010 report, the annex contains a summary of the results from the previous and current years:
(Due to size constraints, the table is a bit difficult to read here; you can see the actual report here.)
This “mega-table” shows that from 2007 to 2009, out of 1,317 terrorist attacks only 3 of them were committed by Muslims. From a percentage standpoint, that means only about 0.2% of terrorist attacks in Europe were committed by Muslims in those years–again, far less than 1%.
If we combine the data from the years Europol started keeping track of terrorist attacks–including 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010–we see that out of a grand total of 2,139 terrorist attacks only 10 of them were committed by Muslims. You can count the number of terrorist attacks by Muslims on your fingertips. Percentage wise, this means that 0.5% of terrorist attacks in Europe–half of 1%–were committed by Muslims.
In spite of this fact, all we ever hear about in the media and national discourse is the threat of “Islamist terrorism.” The data, however, does not support such fear-mongering. Yet, it is amazing how many people will persist in the belief that “Islamist terrorism” is an existential threat to America and Europe.
What is more amazing, however, are the Europol reports themselves. Year after year they report the same data, with terrorist attacks by Muslims numbering anywhere from zero to four incidents, always less than 1% of the total. For example, the 2010 EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report showed that only 1 Islamist terrorist attack took place in the entire previous year. In that year (as in every year), separatist and leftist terrorism dwarfed Islamist terrorism by a magnitude of 237:1 and 40:1 respectively. Nonetheless, the report notes that “Islamist terrorism is still perceived as the biggest threat to most Member States” and concludes that “the threat remains real and serious.” No statement in the publication indicates that the perceived threat is exaggerated.
In 2010, there were 249 terrorist attacks; only 3 of these were committed by Islamists and the attacks themselves were described by the 2011 Europol report as “caus[ing] minimal damage.” Yet, the same report ominously warns that “the threat of Islamist terrorism by Al-Qaeda inspired groups and affiliates is high.” The report also includes xenophobic warnings about the threat of Muslim immigration to Europe, warning:
The current and future flow of immigrants originating from North Africa could have an influence on the EU’s security situation. Individuals with terrorist aims could easily enter Europe amongst the large numbers of immigrants.
So, three goons do something, and then the entire North African community is to be stigmatized?
Instead of drawing the obvious conclusion that the threat of “Islamic terrorism” is heavily exaggerated, the authors of these Europol reports continue to publish alarmist conclusions that simply do not match up with the data that they themselves provide.
* * * * *
When I published my previous article on terrorist attacks inside America and Europe, anti-Muslim critics giddily pointed out that the very same reports warned of the threat of Islamist terrorism. The data also showed that a disproportionately large minority of suspects arrested, detained, or wanted for terrorism-related offenses were Muslims.
This is not something I dispute. In fact, this finding supports my main argument: the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, the United States government, and their European counterparts are wrongfully targeting the Muslim community. The disparity between actual terrorist attacks committed by Muslims on the one hand and the number of Muslims arrested on the other speaks to this grave injustice, blatant discrimination, and misguided policy.
The 2010 Europol report notes:
Reported court decisions related to separatist and left-wing terrorism have the highest acquittal rate (15 %).
Guess who has the lowest acquittal rate? If your name is Abdallah ibn Masood al-Tamimi, you don’t stand a chance.
Furthermore, the report goes on to say (emphasis is mine):
Suspected membership of a terrorist organisation and the financing of terrorism were the two most common reasons for arrests related to Islamist terrorism.
In fact:
The majority of arrests were made on suspicion of membership of a terrorist organisation.
In other words, the most common reasons Muslims were arrested were not for actually planning or carrying out terrorist attacks…not even for being suspected of that. Rather, it was for suspected membership of a terrorist organization. But, here’s the real gem:
As in 2008, two-thirds of the individuals arrested on suspicion of involvement in Islamist terrorism could not be linked to specific terrorist organisations known to the authorities.
So, let me get this straight: Muslims were arrested for suspected links to terrorist groups, except the authorities didn’t even know to which ones? How much evidence could these authorities possibly have if they didn’t even know the names of the supposed groups that these Muslims were allegedly affiliated to were suspected to be affiliated to?
As for financing terrorism, we all know how that works: there is the famous case of the highly-esteemed Islamic intellectual Dr. Tariq Ramadan who donated money to two Palestinian charities between 1998 and 2002. In 2003, the United States designated both of these charities as “terrorist fundraising organizations” for their alleged support of Hamas. Dr. Ramadan did not give any more money to these charities after that. Even so, the United States government accused Tariq Ramadan of “providing material support to a terrorist organization.” They argued that he “reasonably should have known” that the charities provided money to Hamas. Ramadan naturally responded: “How should I reasonably have known of their activities before the U.S. government itself knew?”
The same situation happens with other Muslims, to the point where now Muslim communities are too scared to donate to Islamic charities or to charities located in their ancestral countries. Even President Barack Obama seemed to appreciate this problem in a speech he gave in Cairo.
Muslims are arrested at a rate that does not correlate with the actual number of terrorist acts committed by Muslims simply because the majority of them are arrested not for actual, attempted, or even planned terrorist attacks. Rather, they are arrested for “providing material support for terrorism”–the absolutest vaguest of charges, one that I suspect a future generation will be smart enough to prohibit by law. Using such Gestapo style laws, Muslims can be arrested for mere suspicion of being part of an unknown terrorist organization, with little or no proof needed to levy such charges; alternatively, they can be arrested for “financing terrorism,” which often just means donating to charities that even the government hasn’t banned yet. Other offenses for which Muslims are arrested for include producing “propaganda”, which here in the U.S. would be considered Constitutionally protected freedom of speech (but is now prosecuted due to the curtailing of freedoms of speech in the War on of Terror) or even for merely expressing unpopular political views.
* * * * *
Clearly, the data proves that Islamist terrorism is not a major threat to the United States or Europe. Anyone who believes it to be an existential threat should be considered alarmist and even a bit insane.
We’ve all heard the oft-repeated saying of Islamophobes that “all Muslims might not be terrorists, but (almost) all terrorists are Muslims!” Without any shadow of doubt, this mantra is patently false. Not just that, but certainly in the case of Europe it’s completely reversed from reality: all Muslims aren’t terrorists, and almost no terrorist attacks are committed by them–less than 1%.
Danios was the Brass Crescent Award Honorary Mention for Best Writer in 2010 and the Brass Crescent Award Winner for Best Writer in 2011.
Update I:
An anti-Muslim critic responded with the following snarky comment:
Perhaps ‘scale’ rather than ‘quantity’ is the real issue here?
Several others used a similar line of argumentation. Therefore, I have responded in full here: Europol Reports Zero Deaths from Islamic Terrorism in Europe. The title of that article is self-explanatory.
November 23rd, 2011 at 6:25 am
Nice piece, Danios.
It is also worth noting that, for example, in 2010, all of the “Unspecified” attacks were in the UK, which classified all attacks in that category. That counters the argument some have made that Islamist attacks are being hidden in an “unspecified” category due to political correctness.
November 23rd, 2011 at 6:38 am
thank you, good work Danios. thanks for the update.
November 23rd, 2011 at 6:48 am
yet the Islamophobes will ignore this and say that Europol is practicing Taqqiya (and is allied with the Muslamic Empire ;P)
no amount of facts can penetrate the thick skulls of these Loons no matter who gives the facts, they’re only interested in there version of what is going on in this world to satisfy their hatred
November 23rd, 2011 at 7:00 am
Don’t challenge my Mighty System!
After failing to win through rational argument, violently suppressed dissension to the point where entire populations are terrorized into conformity.
As Castillo, one of the followers of the sixteenth-century theologian Servetus, commented, “To burn a man is not to prove a doctrine.” One can reduce a man to ashes but can only eliminate his arguments through intelligent rebuttal.
Typical of those who lack the ability to substantiate their ideology but who possess the power of oppression, violent response has been the historical reflex against those who challenged their Might.
November 23rd, 2011 at 7:16 am
What is “politically correct” about so-called “European jihadist” and “Islamist terrorism” is the amount of money and manpower thrown at it, given the data cited in the above article. So-called “European jihad” is a politically correct for of terrorism. The threat from religious inspired terrorism comes for outside Europe and America, as one can see in the Europol reports.
The growing threat of European and American domestic terrorism comes from the radical, anti-Muslim, anti-Left radical right. There were probably more deaths in Norway that from so-called “European jihadists” this year.
It is quite possible that European Muslims who were arrested and detained were pious Muslims, as religious piety is now taken in the field as “radicalization.” I know that in the Netherlands (the one country I’ve studied the most) being a religious Muslim can get on investigated by the Dutch intelligence services and “personal disruption measures” instituted. This is where your bank accounts are stopped and police follow, call and otherwise harass you during the day. This happened to a woman and her children in Amsterdam after her and her children converted to Islam and she became pious.
Yes – what is politically correct is to throw a large amount of euros and dollars at the small amount of “Islamist terrorism,” while ignoring and downplaying the threat from the anti-Muslim radicalized right. The real threat in Europe and American stems from radical right terrorists that somehow believe they are “defending Western civilization.” The reality is that ant-Muslim terrorists want ethic cleansing and removal of Islam from the Western world (and possibly the political Left too) and this is something that they cannot have in free, democratic societies, with human rights and plurality.
November 23rd, 2011 at 8:13 am
Its just the same fear mongering that happened against the Jews several decades ago. Same crap, different target.
November 23rd, 2011 at 9:01 am
Facts are a good counterpart to paranoia
November 23rd, 2011 at 9:13 am
these numbers clearly show that the “17,oo muslims terrorist attacks since 9-11″ is a load of crap.
November 23rd, 2011 at 9:22 am
I absolutely -love- your works, Danios. The way you and the whole Loonwatch staff make the Islamophobes shiver in their pants – it is lovely!
I couldn’t praise you guys enough, so we should probably leave it at that.
That being said, there is something I’ve been wondering about. Some people, after being confronted with the fact that very few terrorist attacks can be attributed to Muslims, move the goalposts further by claiming that the ones commited by Muslims are more dangerous. They do this because they have already lost that battle (they can no longer say that most terrorists are Muslims), but still want to have something to accuse the Muslims of. I’m just wondering how one could answer such people?
Lastly, again, Loonwatch is an oasis in the desert, and a bright moon in a dark night.
November 23rd, 2011 at 9:58 am
@ Danious:As an appologist for Muslims,you are not doing them a great service.It is foolish to ignore if you detect a malignent tissue in your body.It has got to be treated or removed.Terrorism is a part and parcel of Islamic way of life.You seem to be either too ignorant or too naive.To save your Muslims from future dire consequences,you have got to educate them to behave as normal human beings.Quran is the source of all terrorism.The Muslims are suffering themselves now through their own medicine of terrorism evenin Muslim countries.We do not want the last crusade into the third world war.The backward Muslims don’t stand a chance even to survive.
November 23rd, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Wait…you mean Muslims aren’t terrorists?!?! Stop the presses! Alert the local media! lol
November 23rd, 2011 at 12:31 pm
@ Eslaporte:
I think it’s far easier for any group to criticize subcultures and ideologies which are perceived as ‘foreign.’ It prevents them from raising potentially uncomfortable questions about themselves and their own culture. It’s far easy to blame those ‘foreigners.’ For instance, when Hungarians talk about history, they tend to blame all the atrocities of the Nazi and Communist eras upon FOREIGN Germans and Russians while conveniently ignoring or downplaying the role that local Hungarian sympathizers played in both. In the US, we have people who WANT to believe Obama is a foreigner (and a Muslim) because they disagree with his policies.
Moreover, for politicians, it gives them a convenient scapegoat upon which to vent all of their fears and prejudices upon without fear of retaliation. If a politician comes out denouncing Nazism, for example, there is always the fear that he could lose votes. Because Muslims are perceived as ‘foreign,’ our votes don’t matter. In all fairness, we Muslims have NOT been very good at political organization, at least not in Europe. If we could form voting blocs and special interest groups, we could just as easily make our voices heard. Instead, most of our brothers and sisters have been to quick to allow bigots like Geert to spread hatred like a cancer in the interest of showing how moderate we are.
On a related topic, I’m curious as to why ‘Right Wing’ attacks are so low in general, especially since I can think of several examples of European violence and terrorism that I would classify as right wing. Admittedly, several right wing organizations are likely covered as ‘separatist movements,’ which they are, but it strikes me as rather disingenuous. Perhaps they are intentionally downplaying the role of neo-Nazi type groups due to their surprising political resurgence? After all, groups like the EDL and Wilder’s ‘Freedom party’ would have been all but unthinkable only generation or two ago. Sure, neo-Nazis existed, but the very idea of them wielding any real political influence in Europe was absurd.
November 23rd, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Another excellent piece by Danios that puts the Islamophobes (like the guy above who calls himself “Truth Seeker”…) in their place.
@TruthSeeker the irony of your comment is that the report that Danios just cited proves you wrong. Can you see it? Can you see the irony?
November 23rd, 2011 at 12:54 pm
Pffft you crazy liberals, what with your cold hard “facts” and “data.” I mean–just… psshhht. I think we all realize that “reality” has a well-known pro-creeping-Shariah/Islamic-world-domination bias.
November 23rd, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Another hard-hitting piece, Danios, congrats. How about if we go back to 2005 when 52 people were slaughtered in London by Religion of Peace enthusiasts? Or maybe 2004, when Islamic Holy Warriors blew 191 poor souls to bits in Madrid?
“Nothing to see here folks. No reason for concern, please move along.”
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Lulz @Peakofelephants
@Truth Seeker
Hm… This name-thing is going to be a bit awkward…
Anywho, that comment made me lol. Danios is no Muslim apologist (apparently, he is not Muslim at all.) – he simply puts the facts to the table. He has cited his sources, and they have a lot more weight behind them than some random commenter vomiting nonsense. Please, brother; either come with arguments against the article, or shuddup. Alternatively, you can keep ranting, and thus prove how weak the Islamophobe case is – personally, I would prefer that last one.
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:57 pm
@truthseeeker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F32tnLiJX10 did you read the article like at all it like the last article it disproves the “all terroist are muslims” mantra that various morons like to spread around.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:05 pm
As has been mentioned above, the absence of right wing attacks is strange.
The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological. – Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. US Department of Defense 2005.
Any attack or threat of attack on mosques, graveyards, community centres, businesses, homes or individuals should be labelled as terrorism, whether right wing, single issue or not specified.
It’s possible that the UK figure of 40 unspecified attacks includes anti-Muslim attacks, but the report doesn’t expand on this. As the UK includes Northern Ireland these could be separatist incidents. I’ve attempted to log as many incidents as possible in a blog post that was intended to highlight the ignored rise of far right terrorism using the exact definition. At the time of writing I’d found a possible 18 incidents in Europe for 2011. There have been numerous incidents since. I’d hazard a guess that these attacks are probably filed under ‘Hate Crime’ rather than terrorism, so next years report will be interesting.
http://tweetsrhymesandlife.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/anders-breivik-an-escalation-not-an-exception-the-terrorists-next-door/
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:15 pm
I also intended to say that if, indeed, the Islamophobic attacks in the EU are being classed as racial hate crimes rather than terrorism. Using accurate categorisation for these crimes would see the % of Islamic attacks shrink even more. When next years report is published with the Breivik atrocity included it will be impossible to sweep far right extremism under the carpet.
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Prescient points BBoyBlue!
November 23rd, 2011 at 3:32 pm
@ “Truth Seeker” :As a CHARLATAN for the Zionists, you are not doing them a great service.It is foolish to ignore if you detect a malignent tissue in your body.It has got to be treated or removed.Terrorism is a part and parcel of the Zionist way of life.You seem to be either too ignorant or too naive.To save your Zionists from future dire consequences,you have got to educate them to behave as normal human beings. The Talmud/Bible is the source of all terrorism.
Hey “Truth Seeker”, consider this:
“…For freethinkers and believers alike, Akerley has done a great service, because the Bible is a manual designed to manipulate the masses. The fact that very few believers actually read the “Good Book” and know little about its endless chronicling of perversion and genocide, constitutes proof that it serves as mind-control, as does the fact that those selfsame believers mindlessly believe the Bible is some great, spiritual work because their priests and pastors have selectively fed them “feel-good” passages. In reality, a close examination of the Bible will nauseate all but the most insensate. As the great statesman Thomas Paine said, quoted by Akerley:
“Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness, that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is cruel.”
And the eminent freethinker Robert Ingersoll stated:
“Nobody holds with greater contempt than I the writers, publishers, or dealers in obscene literature. One of my objections to the Bible is that it contains hundreds of grossly obscene passages not fit to be read by any decent man; thousands of passages, in my judgment, calculated to corrupt the minds of youth.”
http://www.konformist.com/blasphemy/xbible.htm
Let us NOT forget what George Bernard Shaw said about the Bible:
“The Bible is the most dangerous book on earth”.
November 23rd, 2011 at 4:15 pm
The extremist Rabbi Yitzchak Shapira advocates the killing of Gentile BABIES (in any circumstance) lest they will “grow up and harm us”. He wrote a book entitled “The Torah of the King” or the “Kings’s Torah” in which he states:
“There is justification for killing babies if it is clear that they will grow up to harm us, and in such a situation they may be harmed deliberately, and not only during combat with adults.”
http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/6762-rabbi-preaches-for-the-killing-of-non-jews-and-their-babies.html
This genocidal rabbi also says:
“… their presence assists murder, and there is reason to harm children if it is clear that they will grow up to harm us … it is permissible to harm the children of a leader in order to stop him from acting evilly … we have seen in the Halakha that even babies of gentiles who do not violate the seven Noahide laws, there is cause to kill them because of the future threat that will be caused if they are raised to be wicked people like their parents.”
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/who-is-funding-the-rabbi-who-endorses-killing-gentile-babies-1.4005
The book sanctions the killing of non-Jewish children and babies! Isn’t this murder and terrorism? This genocidal and WICKED rabbi is behaving just like PHARAOH, who commanded the killing of babies “lest they grow up”.
The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” (Exodus. 1:15-22)
Moses’ parents feared the God who created their son more than the Pharaoh who wished to kill him. Thus they hid the child in their home for the first three months of his life (Exod. 3:2). Keeping the boy-child from being discovered eventually became impossible. The time came when something different had to be done. The result was a feigned obedience to the letter of the Law of Pharaoh. Moses was “thrown into the Nile” but in a woven “ark,” which was sealed with tar. The sister of Moses was tasked to stand at a distance to “see what would happen to the child” (Exod. 2:4).
In the providence of God, Pharaoh’s daughter arrived at the banks of the Nile to bathe. She saw the basket, sent one of her maids to fetch it, and discovered a Hebrew baby boy inside. At this point we should remember the order which the Pharaoh, this woman’s father, had given to all of those in his kingdom which would include his daughter: “Every boy that is born you must throw into the river …” (Exod. 1:22).
The Pharaoh could sit upon his throne and pass down edicts which caused untold sorrow, suffering, and death without ever being touched by the consequences of his decisions. Now, the Pharaoh’s daughter came face to face with the implications of her father’s policy of genocide. Looking into that basket, she saw a Hebrew baby—there was no mistaking its identity (v. 6). The child was crying, perhaps already having been adversely affected by his period of exposure. Nevertheless, this was a pathetic sight, one that tugged at the compassion and maternal instincts of this woman.
What her father, the Pharaoh, had commanded was not only unthinkable; it was undoable. (The Preservation and Preparation of Israel’s Deliverer,
Study By: Bob Deffinbaugh
(Online Source: http://bible.org/seriespage/preservation-and-preparation-israel%E2%80%99s-deliverer-exodus-2)
This genocidal rabbi behaves just like HEROD:
When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matt. 2:17-28)
November 23rd, 2011 at 5:15 pm
Some have asked why ‘right wing’ attacks have been so low.
I would attempt to guess an answer. We can kick the idea I present around, and maybe make a plausable explaination.
First, let us understand that, it isnt really Islam that the right wingers are hating against, it is simply that most of the immigrants who they fear are Muslim. Islam is the justification that the bigots use to hide thier hatred of non European skinned people.
More than likely, most of the attacks that right wingers commit are against immigrants, and not necessarily because they are Muslim. These incidents, such as attacking gravesites, or attacking women wearing hijab in these nations are treated as simple crimes, and do not register as hatecrime, unlike if the same crime would be committed by a person with an Arabi sounding name, or an immigrant, or a Muslim.
It is simply minimising the hate factor in the society because it has infiltrated the discourse, and Europeans have a hard time accepting that they may have a little racism in them, like most of us do, yet we will deny it.
I would suppose that a hatecrime committed against an immigrant would be minimised, much like the Nazis allowed hatecrime to be committed against Jews during the Nazi regime.
November 23rd, 2011 at 5:39 pm
Thanks for this report Danios. Unfortunately this report will not alleviate bigotry and fear-mongering amongst Europeans against Muslim-Europeans or Muslim immigrants. European politicians like Geert Wilders like to perpetuate a psuedo-theory called “Eurabia” first devised by Bat Ye’or (Mark Steyn is the biggest peddler of this myth in the U.S.). They fear that there society will be transformed from a predominant Juedeo-Christian society to a predominant Muslim society.
But this is false. Even Geert Wilder’s mentor Frits Bolkestein believes that Wilders exaggerates. He says that Turkish women are having fewer children than Dutch women http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/wilders-mentor-thinks-he-exaggerating
Also check out rationalwiki where the myth gets deflated http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Eurabia
Oh boy I am typing too fast and I don’t know if I misspelled anything.
November 23rd, 2011 at 5:55 pm
Thanks for this report and we need to let people know jihad does not mean terrorist or terrorism. People never call freedom fighters of the French or American revolution terrorist! May Allah bless you and this ummah and make us victorious over the evil liars!
November 23rd, 2011 at 6:03 pm
I’m surprised the right wing number isn’t high. 2011 one may be different.
@Defender of Truth. Well stated, the bible is indeed the most dangerous book on Earth.
November 23rd, 2011 at 6:50 pm
In my opinion, the claim that the Bible is the most dangerous book on Earth is an exaggeration, unhelpful, and as offensive as saying the same to the Quran.
In any case, I have updated the article: Europol Reports Zero Deaths from Islamic Terrorism in Europe.
As for Hopper’s comment, my analysis was limited to the years in which Europol published its annual reports, which started in 2006. The fact that you have to look outside that window and more than five years ago to find fatalities from Islamist terrorism underscores how few Islamist terrorist attacks result in any harm, something I analyze in Europol Reports Zero Deaths from Islamic Terrorism in Europe.
November 23rd, 2011 at 7:23 pm
The Bible is not solely the most dangerous book on earth. All of the Abrahamic faiths advocate for death or eternal damnation of non-believers. That is why religions, which are non-theistic (such as Jainism or Buddhism) are more tolerant than the Abrahamic faiths. I personally believe the most tolerant monotheistic faith is Bahaism. If I were a believer in the divine I would be a Bahai.
November 23rd, 2011 at 9:59 pm
These figures confirm that in most western countries you are more likely to be eaten by a shark or hit by lightning than die from Islamist terror attack. I know for a fact that more people in my country die from snakebite and sharks than ANY terrorist attacks.
November 23rd, 2011 at 10:02 pm
@ Believing Atheist:
The Bible is not solely the most dangerous book on earth.
When you say “the most dangerous book on earth,” one can only assume you mean “the most dangerous book on earth.”
As for the rest of your comment, I agree with you that monotheistic faiths have the potential to be more intolerant. However, this is a more nuanced statement than saying “they are intolerant,” which is too sweeping of a statement. Religions have different interpretations that can range from tolerant to intolerant. This is something that atheists need to understand, instead of speaking of a faith as if it is monolithic.
November 23rd, 2011 at 10:45 pm
You’re right Danios. However, as Bernard Lewis states there are only two universal religions on earth (Christianity and Islam), which claim that only one way is the right way meaning either follow my way or suffer the consequence of eternal damnation. Non-universal religions i.e., non-proselytizing religions such as Judaism, Hinduism and Sikhism do not believe either you follow my way or suffer the consequences in this life or the next.
In this regard I favor religions, which uphold reincarnation over religions which believe in a heaven or a hell. At least you get multiple chances at redemption through reincarnation. The same can’t be said with the universal religions.
November 23rd, 2011 at 11:21 pm
Danios I made a mistake. I meant to say Jainism instead of Judaism. Sorry. My earlier post has indicated that Judaism too has scriptural authority which seeks the destruction of non-Jews (but only in life not in death).
November 23rd, 2011 at 11:24 pm
@ Believing Atheist:
And Bernard Lewis is wrong. He was an Orientalist and bigoted against Islam.
Edward Said’s criticism of Bernard Lewis was spot on. Since this is just a comment, forgive me for using Wikipedia:
[Edward] Said contended that Lewis treats Islam as a monolithic entity without the nuance of its plurality, internal dynamics, and historical complexities, and accused him of “demagogy and downright ignorance.”[22]
Furthermore, your characterization of Christianity and Islam on the one hand, and Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism on the other is completely faulty. Yes, Christianity and Islam have intolerant interpretations, but so too do Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. People just aren’t as familiar with them, because Judaism is the one religion nobody other than Jews can criticize or else be accused of Anti-Semitism, and meanwhile people in the West romanticize Eastern traditions such as Hinduism and Sikhism. But, if you want to take a critical look at Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, you could just as easily find offensive views in their traditions.
Bottom line is that all faith traditions have serious problems, but they shouldn’t be viewed in a monolithic fashion. Tolerant interpretations do exist, including for Christianity and Islam–as well as for Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism.
You sound like an intelligent, open-minded guy. In that spirit, I think you should abstain from making sweeping statements.
November 24th, 2011 at 3:41 am
@ Danious : With all your knowledge and scholarship,It will be interesting if you could highlight any violence and terrorism in the life and teacing of JESUS-THE CHRIST?Did He commit any SIN through out His life?
November 24th, 2011 at 4:02 am
H. G. Wells commented on the teachings Muhammad conveyed as follows:
“…they established in the world a great tradition of dignified fair dealing, they breathe a spirit of generosity, and they are human and workable. They created a society more free from widespread cruelty and social oppression than any society had ever been in the world before….It
(i.e., Islam) was full of the spirit of kindliness, generosity, and brotherhood; it was a simple and understandable religion; it was instinct with the chivalrous sentiment of the desert; and it made its appeal straight to the commonest instincts in the composition of ordinary men….. The bulk of the people to whom the challenge of Islam came did not trouble very much whether Muhammad was lustful or not, or whether he had done some shifty and questionable things; what appealed to them was that this God, Allah, he preached, was by the test of the conscience in their hearts, a God of righteousness, and that the honest acceptance of his doctrine and method opened the door wide in a world of uncertainty, treachery, and intolerable divisions to a great and increasing brotherhood of trustworthy men on earth, and to a paradise not of perpetual exercises in praise and worship, in which saints, priests, and anointed kings were still to have the upper places, but of equal fellowship and simple and understandable delights such as their soul craved for. Without any ambiguous symbolism, without any darkening of altars or chanting of priests, Muhammad had brought home those attractive doctrines to the hearts of mankind.” [Wells, H. G. 1922. The Outline of History. Fourth Edition. Volume 2 pp 686-688]
November 24th, 2011 at 4:15 am
@ Truth Seeker: I’ve already published an article on that, entitled Jesus Loves His Enemies…and Then Kills Them All.
November 24th, 2011 at 7:46 am
This report is correct.
The Muslims in Europe are not terrorists.
They just like to target Jewish communities with their outward display of anti-Semitism in their Sharia controlled zones.
November 24th, 2011 at 9:56 am
@Defender of faith: I have read your comments.You do not have the stomach to face the naked truth.You MUSLIMS created so much RIOTS about SATANANIC VERSES by Sir.Salaman RUSDIE because he exposed the TRUTH about Mohammad.Without BLASPHEMY LAWS, ISLAM has no leg to stand on.Watch the video about SEX in ISLAM on faith freedom.org and come back with your comments.
November 24th, 2011 at 10:06 am
lol Danios, what a scream,
That Truthseeker is HaramPork/Cartoon, now with another monikor, he doesn’t have the imagination to give up gmail.com
November 24th, 2011 at 11:17 am
Yeah, sadly he/she/it gives themselves away rather quickly… on the other hand lots of these types are so similar that its hard to tell them apart; I’m sure they are clones!
Jack
November 24th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
I deleted a comment by How Islam Created the Modern World and Believing Atheist as they were off topic. Please focus on the topic of the article. Thank you.
November 25th, 2011 at 3:51 am
Believing Atheist (you believe you’re an atheist?) writes: … as Bernard Lewis states there are only two universal religions on earth (Christianity and Islam), which claim that only one way is the right way meaning either follow my way or suffer the consequence of eternal damnation. Non-universal religions i.e., non-proselytizing religions such as Judaism, Hinduism and Sikhism do not believe either you follow my way or suffer the consequences in this life or the next.
Bernard Lewis is mistaken about Islam.
November 26th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Hey LoonWatch do a article comparing the media coverage of Jose Pimentel vs Oscar Ortega (He believed Obama was the Anti-Christ and attempted to assassinate him and firing rounds in the white house )
but they only talked about Jose in the national security debate
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/11/oscar-ortega-hernandez-charged-with-trying-to-kill-president-obama/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/us/suspect-in-white-house-shooting-appears-in-court.html
November 26th, 2011 at 6:51 pm
^^^^meant to write by not and
November 30th, 2011 at 1:00 am
“They just like to target Jewish communities with their outward display of anti-Semitism in their Sharia controlled zones.”
Nonsensical @Skeptic, are you a semite?? And by that I mean a real descendant of middle eastern ancient Hebrews(and please don’t even bother giving me the laughable “ethnic genetic” Jew card, used for propaganda purposes ) or are you a middle eastern Arab? If neither, and you call yourself a “semite” simply by being a Jew because you practice the religion of Judaism who by the way is open for conversions and always has, if that is your sole reason to claim you’re a “semite”, then in that case bare in mind since Islam also is a semitic religion, and Shariah is a semitic set of laws, that Muslims are also “semites” in the sense that they practice Islam, and so are all Christians for that matter. Therefore if you cannot answer to those two questions, do not use the ugly baseless slur that non-semitic zionists are so fond of to use as hateful propaganda for their unholy behaviours.