The U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands Peter Hoekstra was attacked by CNN earlier this month for claiming that 10 to 15 percent of Muslims were extremists but one of its hosts called the statistic a “fair point” in 2014.
The interview came after an appearance by noted neuroscientist and author Sam Harris on Bill Maher’s show who debated Islamic radicalism with actor Ben Affleck.
During the segment, which was hosted by CNN’s Brian Stelter, Harris said that as many as 20 per cent of Muslims could be radicals according to polling data done by Pew Research and Gallup. Stelter, instead of attacking Harris called the claim a “fair point”.
Ambassador Hoekstra made similar remarks in 2015, months after the CNN interview, saying that he believed extremists made up between 10 and 15 per cent of the Muslim community.
The comments of Harris and Hoekstra are likely based on a 2013 Pew Research study which examined the attitudes of 38,000 Muslims in 39 countries. The survey showed that in some regions like Afghanistan, one of the main sources for asylum seekers in Europe, that 79 per cent of Muslims believe in the death penalty for anyone who leaves the Islamic faith.
Last year, an Afghan who was likely a part of that 79 per cent acted on his beliefs and killed a Christian convert in front of her children in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany. He is currently on trial for stabbing her to death.
CNN totally changed their view on the accepted number of radical Islamic extremists and seemed to forget Mr. Stelter’s acceptance of them three years prior when they attacked Ambassador Hoekstra along with much of the Dutch media earlier this month.
Breitbart London showed that Ambassador Hoekstra was largely correct in claiming that mass migration, particularly from the Islamic world, had caused problems in the Netherlands.
Mass migration lead to the murder of politician Pim Fortuyn after he criticised Islam and was assassinated by a far-leftist who claimed to be “protecting” Muslims. It also led to the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh who was assassinated by a radical Islamic extremist.