Van Gogh Murderer: "I would do it again"

Van Gogh's murderer has elected to break his silence:

“I did what I did purely out my beliefs,” the 27-year-old Muslim told judges after entering court clutching a Quran. “I want you to know that I acted out of conviction and not that I took his life because he was Dutch or because I was Moroccan and felt insulted.”

The bearded suspect, dressed in a black robe and black and white headscarf, praised Allah and the Prophet Mohammed before admitting to the killing on the second day of his trial in Amsterdam’s high-security court. ...

Bouyeri told judges he had acted according to his convictions. Unrepentant, he told the victim’s mother — who was in court — that he did not sympathize with her loss and would be prepared to do the same again.

“If I ever get free, I would do it again," he said.

Van Gogh's fate can reasonably be expected by anyone who "offends Islam" in the eyes of its most radical practitioners. Salman Rushdie, Ayaan Hirsi-Ali and Steve Emerson are only the most notable examples of famous people who have had to go into permanent hiding because the leaders of the Muslim religion have issued fatwas against them. These leaders are quick to issue fatwas against kuffars who say things they don't like, but do any of the Muslim leaders issue fatwas against those who murder in the name of Islam? No. As Thomas Friedman recently opined:

The Muslim village has been derelict in condemning the madness of jihadist attacks. When Salman Rushdie wrote a controversial novel involving the prophet Muhammad, he was sentenced to death by the leader of Iran. To this day - to this day - no major Muslim cleric or religious body has ever issued a fatwa condemning Osama bin Laden.

It's time to clean house, folks. Most Muslims are not actively aiding bin Laden, but it is long since time that they move off the fence. If they don't move off the fence, then the public will become increasingly convinced that the "moderate" Muslims tacitly side with the likes of bin Laden and Zarqawi. If public opinion gets to that point, unfortunate and disruptive things will happen. Are mass deportations possible? In the wake of another major bombing in the U.S. or Britain, who knows what could happen? Is this what Muslims want? I think it's fair to say that it's not what most Muslims want, but there are people named bin Laden and Zarqawi who would like nothing more than to drive a wedge between the West and Islam. I think it's also fair to say that they are currently managing to succeed in that goal. They will continue to make progress unless and until Muslim leaders draw a sharp line of distinction between themselves and bin Laden. Until that time, the trust and friendship between the non-Muslim West and the Muslim residents in the West will continue to erode.

Update: There apparently has been one fatwa issued against bin Laden by some Muslim clerics in Spain, which was issued earlier this year. The family of Daniel Pearl asks, and rightly so, why only one? Why, indeed.