This all sounds great, and is long overdue in view of the fact that such mosques teach hatred of unbelievers and the necessity ultimately to subjugate them under the rule of Islamic law, but how does Sigmar Gabriel propose to distinguish Salafist mosques from “moderate” ones? Will he monitor the teaching in all mosques? Will he require that mosques institute programs to teach against the jihadis’ understanding of Islam? What will he do if he discovers that a mosque previously deemed to be “moderate” is teaching an understanding of Islam he thought to be uniquely “Salafist”?

Gabriel, meanwhile, for all his tough talk about Salafist mosques, clearly has no clue about the nature of the problem. He called for making sure that “urban areas are not neglected, villages do not fall into disrepair and people do not become more and more radicalized,” indicating that he believes in the oft-discredited assumption that poverty causes terrorism. What will he do when he showers money on Muslim communities and then finds that they’re still preaching jihad and Islamic supremacism?

“German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel calls for ban on Islamist mosques,” DW, January 6, 2017: