Blogging

 

Those who know me and follow me on Facebook, know that first and foremost I’m an aviation artist, who uses this medium to advertise his artwork. However, every now and then, I have the urge to advertise something else. An opinion on World events that affect all of us. Through the occasional, uncensored blog. Who the hell am I? Well, just your friendly neighbourhood artist/bus driver. Is that blogging vanity? Not in the least. I just try to put in my humble fifty cents regarding the subject at hand. To even out the balance in a discussion.

 

Now, some will say ‘you just stick to your plane images, that’s what you do best.’ I’m sorry, I’m a thinker. And I also realise that when I express my observations, I’m risking criticism. Some folks will label or downright crucify me, through comments under my posts or via Private Messages. That’s OK, I still believe that we live in a free world. Criticism is OK, if it’s founded on valid argumentation. It needs to be informed. Name calling and threats are not OK at all. And recently, that has happened. So now, while staying decent, it’s my turn.

 

This is me. Correct, but politically incorrect on purpose. I am not pro or anti Muslim or Christian. I am an Atheist. I am not politically Left or Right Wing. I am a-political. I take only one side, mine. When I’m intrigued or affected by a World event, I start researching. Like a dog, I keep digging to that bone six feet under, until I’ve got it in my mouth. I’d like to be in the know. And preferrably, I’d like to learn all sides of a story. Knowledge is power in my opinion. I will probably keep on learning until my last breath. And then, I say goodbye.

 

Take the latest, overwhelmingly dominant Worldwide discussion about Islam, IS, recent terrorist attacks and the refugee influx into Europe and USA. Those who really know and follow me, may discern a pattern and development in my blogs. That’s because I’m becoming more informed every day. The folks who apparently know me a bit less may say stuff like: how can you tolerate Muslims and be friends with them? ‘Are you that naïve, ignorant, living under a rock? Islam is about submission, it wants to dominate the World, Sharia everywhere!’

 

Well, let me inform you. I do not believe in ‘moderate’ or ‘extremist’ Muslims. I see Muslims and non-Muslims, Christians and non-Christians, and so on. In my country, with a population of about seventeen Million souls, about one Million Muslims are living side-by-side with non-Muslims. They have been from the 1960s. I count them among my friends, neighbours and co-workers. I have noticed Muslims who are completely integrated as upstanding Dutch citizens, and Christians who are total scum of the earth assholes. So, cut the crap, please!

 

That is not to say that we have no problems here, because we do. However, is that a matter related to Islam? No, not in my opinion. In all larger cities in this World, suburbs are developed. Some of those areas become ‘ethnic ghettos’. Because it’s human nature to stick together with the familiar ones, with the same culture and background. Negro, Hispanic, Chinese, Middle-Eastern communities rise there. One community is more successful in integrating into society than another. However, in Holland, we have a ‘Moroccan’ problem.

 

In my daily life and through my job as a city bus driver in Amsterdam, I’ve encountered that problem up close and personal. And I mean REALLY personal. The physical kind. And, after having been confronted with that, it would be so incredibly easy to generalize and label ALL Moroccans as ‘bad’, couple that to Islam, and become ‘Islamophobic’. Next step is giving your vote to an extremely Right Wing ‘one issue’ party in upcoming elections. That is, if you are the naïve, ignorant non-thinker. And there you have it: polarization. It’s happening now…

 

That Dutch ‘Moroccan’ problem looks like this: youngster, born in The Netherlands, of Third Generation Moroccan descendance. At home, he or she receives no upbringing at all. No values, boundaries or discipline instilled. Not Moroccan enough at home, not Dutch enough outside. Lost, spiritually homeless, looking to belong somewhere. Emotionally and mentally challenged and vulnerable. Forming a gang, dealing in drugs, becoming a ‘lover boy’. Stumbles across the wrong friends or wrong Saudi-imported Imam. Radicalizes. May even travel to Syria and become an ‘IS Jihadist’. Or performs a terrorist attack, inspired by IS, and the latter taking the credit for it. The majority of Paris attackers came from the Molenbeek ghetto in Belgium’s Capital Brussels. They were born there. Similar to their Dutch siblings.

 

Are these mentally challenged youngsters representative for all of the Moroccan population or all Muslims? Not at all. Now, some of you may say ‘In the Third Reich, the overwhelming majority was not Nazi but went along with it.’ Brigitte Gabriel said ‘The silent majority is irrelevant.’ So, we all have a job to do. Next to totally physically annihilate IS overthere in the Middle-East, we have to get in touch with and educate that silent majority. IS does not stand for Islam. It has hijacked parts of the Qur’an, the black Shahada flag with the Seal of Muhammad, and uses all this to act out its barbaric Salafist agenda: establish a Caliphate, set the World on fire, bring about the End Of Times and prepare for the arrival of the Mahdi. And the problem is, once IS ceases to exist, ten more IS-es will rise up again. Because the root of the problem is not cut off: Western meddling in the Middle-East, out of self-interest.

 

It is my conviction that this silent Muslim majority is thoroughly anti-IS, and that they themselves are paying a very heavy price for it all. Double the price that we Dutch natives do. They are cornered more and more in our Western societies. The Dutch PVV (Party For Freedom, led by Geert Wilders) is gaining momentum big time now. I am sure that, through Dutch jihadists and the Internet, IS is aware of this. I am also sure that IS is elated about the PVV, it’s a blessing. This one-issue political movement, looking for ousting out all Muslims from Dutch soil, plays right into the hands of that Caliphate. The more we Dutch become anti-Islam, the more Muslims are driven into the arms of IS, or so the Salafists believe. As stated in that video of The Project, every mass media coverage, every hate blog from individuals in social media makes IS stronger and bigger than they actually are. So, DO NOT fall for it!

 

Because of all those Middle-Eastern atrocities, a refugee exodus has been mounted to Europe and USA. Among the real refugees, seeking safety, there are fortune seekers, looking for a better life, and of course the occasional IS-jihadist, a Trojan Horse slipping through. You only need just one to reek havoc here, for IS it’s too good to pass up. So, yeah, I’m concerned. But, I have also seen the refugees firsthand, I have transported them in my bus. Many men, yes, and I can’t for the life of God understand why they travel here and leave their women and kids behind in danger and dispair. I would opt for sending them first and myself come later. These days I do see more women and children. And as far as I’m concerned, they’re welcome.

 

Point is, people lose perspective. They are influenced like brainless sheep. By mass and social media, by politicians. They all put up a French flag on their Facebook profile photo. Where are the flags of all the Middle-Eastern countries who suffer thousands of deaths on a daily basis? Very selective, isn’t it? Because Paris is World famous, in Europe, close to home. Those casualties in the Middle-East are just as dead as those in Paris. My heart goes out to all of them. Contrary to Obama, Putin is ‘kicking ass’ in Syria. In his own interest of course and with dirty hands. Suddenly, Putin is playing every other politician big time. Sadly the best chess player of them all.

 

I have paid some direct and indirect prices for my stance. Yet I persevere. So tell me, who is naïve, ignorant, living under a rock? Am I, because I think, learn and have an open mind? Or is it you, the uninformed, unfounded critic, that brainless sheep, labelling me all that? You, who have read the Bible, but never have read the Qur’an, yet condemning Islam and all Muslims? Am I a weakling? Quite the opposite. I merely use my brain as a weapon. I use the blog phenomenon to attack issues that move me. That sentence is my Kalashnikov, the words are my bullets. Against a mainstream opinion, I form my own opinion. I stand my ground and will never be tamed. Regardless of crucifiction and threats. Ain’t nobody calling me a pussy.

 

Not on my watch…