Gijs de Vries Quotes

They do not want people committing violence, either in their community or in the name of their faith, and so some of our most productive relationships are with people who see things and tell us things who happen to be Muslim.

Our strategy should be to strengthen the hand of moderate Muslims.

Confronting violent extremism requires an understanding of the true teachings of Islam, which reject black-and-white views and allow for interpretations that accommodate the needs of modern life.

Those who say that the West and Islam are eternally irreconcilable have more in common with the Islam extremists than they might like to think, for it's the very same argument of course advanced by Al-Qaida. And they do have it wrong. We need to work with mainstream Islam.

Muslim moderates, wherever they are, must be given every tool necessary to win a war of ideas with their co-religionists. Otherwise, we will have to win some very terrible wars in the future.

Al-Qa'ida seeks to portray America as an enemy of the world's Muslims. But President Obama has made it clear that the United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam.

We must work with moderate Moslems who are also the victims of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism.

Why should a great and powerful nation like the United States allow its relationship with more than a billion Muslims around the world to be defined by the narrow hatred and nihilistic actions of an exceptionally small minority of Muslims?

The only way we can challenge Islamism is to engage with one another. We need to make it as abhorrent as racism has become today. Only then will we stem the tide of angry young Muslims who turn to hate.

But the leaders of the OIC could not even accept Mahathir's proposal, yet they talk about respect and honour.

The United States is not, and never will be, at war with Islam.

Terrorists have failed to trigger mass conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims in Europe. We should draw strength from that fact.

The vast majority of Muslims are moderates working for a better future and seeking a peaceful life.

I think it's been hard for people to understand how Islam can be a good religion, and yet the Islamists are evil. Those of us who have had experience with Islam understand this, just as we understand the difference between snake handlers and people going to church on Sunday morning.

The only place in the Middle East where you can find moderate Moslems speaking is in those international conferences sponsored by Westerners…. They cannot have much of an influence if they are undermined by the majority and the fundamentalist clergy.

I think these Al-Qaida terrorists need to be forcibly converted to Christianity ... It's the only thing that can probably turn them into human beings

We need the help of Muslims to defeat the terrorists—so we have to care what they think [about us].

If we … are going to ask the decent, silent majority of Muslim men -- and women -- to have the courage to face down the extremist bullies, then we need to have the courage and character to stand shoulder to shoulder with them doing it.

In quiet ways far too complex to hold Trump's interest, Muslims in the United States and around the world are helping every day to prevent massacres such as Orlando from happening.

The forces that led to radical Islam, the Muslim Brotherhood, Al Qaeda, Islamic State, can ultimately only be defeated by moderate Muslims around the globe, countries like U.A.E. that have led the fight within their own border to promote tolerance.

The United States must continue to support efforts made by Middle Eastern governments to educate Muslim youth and steer them away from violent radicalization.

There's a difference between those who breed terrorism and those who fight terrorism. This difference should be recognised by the people of India.

Offending someone's religious sensibilities can never justify a violent response. There are no 'but' qualifiers, and the sooner that this lesson is internalized, the rosier our future will be.

Being a longstanding partner of the Arab world, we in India are also deeply concerned with the rise of fanaticism, extremism, and terrorism in parts of the region.

For future geopolitical stability and global prosperity, we need to build a culture of greater trust and understanding between China, America and the rest of the world.