UKIP leader Paul Nuttall has called on the government to block Saudi Arabian funding of UK mosques. This follows Wednesday’s “Islamist inspired” terrorist attack in London that resulted in four dead and 40 more injured.
Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged that the attacker was “inspired by Islamist ideology.” She added: “We know the threat from Islamist terrorism is very real.”
On Thursday, Nuttall told Christian Today that the UK should follow the lead of a number of European countries that had blocked Saudi financing of mosques, since “with Saudi funding of mosques comes radicalization.”
“Maybe the government should look at the funding of mosques in this country because I don’t believe that Saudi Arabia should be funding mosques in this country particularly as it’s a country that spreads radicalization,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has been accused of providing “huge funding” for Islamist terrorism throughout the world. Earlier this month, noted human rights lawyer Gavriel Mairone asserted that “many of their princes are part of the financial jihad that’s been waged.”
Last Monday, families of 9/11 terror attack victims and first responders filed a federal lawsuit against Saudi Arabia, accusing the country of funding al-Qaida’s plane bombing of the World Trade Center and providing “cover” for Osama bin Laden and his terrorists.
On Thursday, Nuttall called on the Muslim community in the UK to “stand up and be counted and pin-point these guys who have been radicalised and ensure they are reported to the police.”
Noting the important differences between moderate and radical forms of Islam, Nuttall said that there is “a small group of people in this country within the Muslim community who hate the way we live, hate who we are, hate our democracy, and want to see it destroyed.”
“This is only a tiny minority,” he insisted. “This isn’t the broad majority of Muslims who are peace-loving people and beyond that there should be no knee-jerk reactions. There should no rise in hate crimes or anything like that.”
“But this cancer of radicalization really needs to be dealt with,” he said.
The UKIP leader also took the occasion to underscore the risks involved in mass immigration.
“Immigration is certainly to blame for a lack of community cohesion,” he said. “We have got so many people coming to the country at the moment, which in essence ensures a lack of community cohesion.”
“That in a way can lead to radicalization,” he said.
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