Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian Islamic preacher Amr Khaled, which aired on Dream 2 TV on May 10, 2008.
To view this clip, visit http://www.memri.org/legacy/clip/1821.
"The Muslims Keep Having Children, While the Europeans Do Not – This Means That Within 20 Years, the Muslims Will Be a Majority"
Interviewer: "How do you view the Islamic scene in Europe?"
Amr Khaled: "The most important thing is that there are 25-30 million Muslims in Europe. This figure has many implications."
Interviewer: "There are 25-30 million Muslims in Europe."
Khaled: "The Muslims keep having children, while the Europeans do not. This means that within 20 years, the Muslims will be a majority, which may have an exceptional influence on the decision-making. This makes other groups very angry, and they consider this to be very dangerous. These are the enemies of Islam, as we know full well.
"But the peoples of the West know nothing about the Muslims. Statistics show that 70% do not know who the Prophet of the Muslims is. The fact that Muhammad is the Prophet of the Muslims is not known to many people in the West. That's just one example."
Interviewer: "The name of the Prophet is unknown to..."
Khaled: "Not just his name, but who he was. Even if they know that the name of the Muslims' Prophet is Muhammad, they know nothing about him, about his history, when he lived, and so on. They know nothing about him.
"The goal of the enemies of Islam is to drive the 20-30 million [Muslims] out of Europe, or to provoke them in a way that would lead to their banishment. If [the Muslims] remain in Europe, this will be dangerous, so they must leave."
Interviewer: "So you are making a very important claim – that there are intentional and premeditated provocations in order to drive the Muslims out of their current home – Europe."
Khaled: "Yes. When the offensive cartoons first appeared, it was strange to see that the button they press [to provoke] the Muslims – the Koran and the Prophet Muhammad, which are sacred to them – is the same button that is sacred to the West – freedom of speech. What is sacred in the West – freedom of speech – is their equivalent of the Koran... That is what they hold sacred. The West is attacking what the Muslims hold sacred by means of what the West itself holds sacred."[...]
"In Order to Drive the Muslims Out of Europe, the European Peoples Must Have a Pretext... Their Solution Is... To Do Things That Would Provoke the Muslims"
Khaled: "In order to drive the Muslims out of Europe, the European peoples must have a pretext giving them legitimacy to do so, like they had in Bosnia. After all, Bosnia is in Europe, so nobody can claim this is far-fetched. Bosnia is not far away. Therefore, their solution is to continue the provocation [against the Muslims], and to continue to do things that would provoke the Muslims, who would make mistakes, such as bombings and other unusual responses. Then the European peoples would say: 'What's this? What are they doing?' Then they would have a pretext for what would follow."
Interviewer: "So this is mental preparation for the Europeans to drive out the Muslims. These are very serious claims."
Khaled: "This is my interpretation of things. Otherwise, what do they gain by offending [the Muslims] in different ways all the time, when the outcome is known in advance?"
Interviewer: "It is indeed illogical."
Khaled: "People will tell you that Denmark suffered economic losses, and this is true. So why does it continue? Because some believe that it is more beneficial to [drive out] the 30 million, and that it outweighs the boycott. So they are pushing in that direction."
Europe's "30 Million Muslims... [Must] Infiltrate [Society]... Each Person Should Say: 'I Am An Ambassador For Islam'"
"What is the solution? We must be very realistic and positive. What needs to be done? What we need is for the 30 million Muslims in Europe to infiltrate [society], and to show European and Western society how respectable and successful they are. Those are the key words: 'I am respectable and successful.' If the 30 million Muslims manage to ignore these provocations, and to channel their anger in support of the Prophet Muhammad and of Islam into becoming walking propaganda machines...
"Each person should say: 'I am an ambassador for Islam,' and they should all take action throughout Europe – in the companies where they work, in sports clubs, and in any place where they can mingle and fit in with the Europeans, and where they can show them their moral values and success. That will abolish the plan, and the Muslims will remain in Europe. We really need 10 years for the Muslims in Europe to become firmly established and very successful."