Belgian Prime Minister Threatens to Shut Down 'Extremist Mosques'

It seems that European politicians have finally woken up to the threat Islamists pose to Western societies. French President Francois Hollande has basically declared war on ISIS, anti-Islam protests have broken out all over the Old Continent, and the Belgian prime minister has now threatened to close certain mosques in neighborhoods filled with extremists:

Belgian prime minister Charles Michel has threatened to close “certain radical mosques” in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels that security services are increasingly viewing as a launch pad for the worst terror attack in French history.

The only problem I have with this statement? Why threaten to do it? Just shut them down. Now. There’s no need whatsoever to wait. We know that these mosques are hotbeds of jihadism. It’s where they meet each other, make plans to kill innocent Westerners, and where they spread their radical views. In short: it’s their own little safe haven.

Of course, there are local Muslims who say they oppose any such plans. According to them, young Muslims aren’t radicalized in mosques, but on the Internet. Although websites certainly play a role in the radicalization process, the fact of the matter is that there are entire mosques led by extremists; these people certainly do have an impact on young Muslims trying to figure out what their faith means. And if those mosques aren’t led by radicals, the latter have at least infiltrated them and are working behind the scenes to convert as many mosque-goers as possible to their radical, violent form of Islam.

It makes perfect sense to shut these radical mosques down. And there’s no reason to wait: we know the role they play in the radicalization process, so they have to be closed. I couldn’t care less if this upsets local Muslims. They are at least co-responsible for the Paris attacks: they knew there were radicals among them, yet did nothing to stop them or to counter their Islamist propaganda. Perhaps they were too afraid to stand up and do something, or perhaps they secretly shared the radicals’ views: I don’t know. What I do know is that there could be no mass movement of radical Islam if other Muslims would resist it: that goes for the Middle East and Europe.