Joram van Klaveren, a Dutch former far-right MP and right-hand man of anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, set tongues wagging in the Netherlands on Tuesday after revealing he has converted to Islam.
For years Van Klaveren fought a relentless campaign in the Lower House against Islam in the Netherlands as a lawmaker for Wilders' party.
At the time, the “hardliner pleaded for banning the burqa and minarets, saying 'we don't want any Islam, or at least as little as possible in the Netherlands',” the daily tabloid Algemeen Dagblad (AD) said.
But the 40-year-old Van Klaveren said he had changed his mind halfway through writing an anti-Islam book.
The work “became a refutation of objections non-Muslims have” against the religion, he told the respected NRC daily on Tuesday.
“If everything I wrote up to that point is true, and I believe that, then I am a de facto Muslim,” he told the NRC.
Van Klaveren converted to Islam on October 26 last year, the NRC added in the interview piece ahead of the release of Van Klaveren's book titled: “Apostate: From Christianity to Islam in the Time of Secular Terror.”
The former politician who grew up in a Protestant Christian environment said of his conversion that he “has been searching for a long time.”
“It feels a bit like a religious homecoming for me,” he told Dutch newspapers.
Van Klaveren could not be immediately reached for comment on Tuesday.
'No words'
I have no words,” Wilders told RTL television news.
“It's up to him of course. But it's good that he left the PVV five years ago, otherwise it would have been time for him to go now.
“I expect a lot but I didn't see this coming.”
Van Klaveren split with Wilders in 2014 after the PVV leader's controversial comments that year when asking supporters whether they wanted “fewer or more Moroccans in your city and the Netherlands”.
Wilders in 2016 was found guilty on discrimination charges. The sentence is currently being appealed.
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Van Klaveren went on to form his own far-right party called “For Netherlands” (VNL) but left politics after failing to win a single seat in the 2017 elections.
“If this really isn't a PR stunt to promote his book, then it really is an extraordinary choice for somebody who had a lot to say about Islam,” his former VNL co-founder Jan Roos told the AD.
“But we have religious freedom in the Netherlands. He can worship whomever he wants,” Roos added.
Said Bouharrou, who serves on the Board of Moroccan Mosques in the Netherlands, praised Van Klaveren.
“It is great when somebody who has been so critical of Islam... realises that it is not so bad or perverse,” he told the AD.
“It is brave that he's prepared to do it in public,” Bouharrou said.
Around five per cent of the Dutch population of 17 million people, or some 850,000, are Muslim, according to the Dutch Central Statistics Bureau (CBS).
Despite Wilders' objections, the religion is growing, with experts expecting that number to double by 2050.
The Netherlands also last year introduced a partial burqa ban in some public places such as schools and hospitals, ending years of discussions on the hot-button issue.
Van Klaveren is not the first high-profile PVV member to convert to Islam.
He follows in the footsteps of Arnoud van Doorn, a former Hague-based PVV city councillor who switched in 2013.
Comments (30) Closed
Religion is a too personal matter.
Islam speaks for itself....
May peace be with him and all the people around the world.
Good for Mr. Van Klaveren and Mr. Doorn to accept the facts above fantasies of hate and discrimination . Soon Mr. Wilders will be left alone in his country with his agenda of hate and discrmination. His only friends will be a few like him in other neighboring countries and a few in USA.
Religion is a personal choice.
Good, no more complaints.
Good for him and hope violence will cone down in Netherlands and rest of the world
welcome to the true religion of universe
@shahid, welcome to religion of peace
V.K welcome to Islam.Ours is a religion of peace and brotherhood.Islam has mostly been misunderstood by people.People need to study Islam with a clear and unbiased mind and I am sure they will come to the same conclusion as V.K
Welcome
He criticized; he studied; he realized; he converted. A message for all those who speak against Islam without knowing the ABC.
The news made my day....
Every religion is a great religion. Respect every faith.
Welcome, brother. Seek and promote peace that Islam teaches.
I would like some information about the book
oh wow,, thats quite a surprize
good news
This is called the victory of truth,
Remarkable. I am sad that some people mentioned in the article think it is a stunt for selling the book.
May the enlightened embrace Islam and those born in it be enlightened by Islam.
Welcome
Welcome sir, it’s your choice, hatred against Islam or any other religion has no place in humanity.
No doubt, Islam is a true religion
Soon the world will realise, Islam is the best and the only true religion.
@Prateik,
'Religion is a personal choice.'
Then why didn't everyone choose to be a Brahmin?
@Sha b,
'Respect every faith.'
We respect anyone's right to follow his/her faith, as long as it does not violate the legitimate rights of others. But faith for us is not devoid of logic and we don't respect illogic.
@Prateik, not if you make it your personal agenda to attack another religion on the basis of hate. I see your true colours are coming ever to the fore.
Xi Jinping will not like it.
Thanks for your nice post . I hope I will see this type of post again in your blog. Thanks