A video of Belgian politician Filip Dewinter calling Quran a “cause of lot of misery” has been revived on social media after the terror attacks in France. While some falsely claim that Dewinter’s remarks were made in the Belgian Parliament in light of the recent attacks in France, others have claimed that the remarks were made in the French parliament.
The video is actually from 2015 when far-right political leader Dewinter of the Vlaams Belang party made these remarks in the Belgian Parliament.
CLAIM
Some users shared the video as ‘discussions on Quran in the French Parliament’.
Others shared it as Dewinter’s remarks against Quran in the Belgian Parliament after the attacks in France.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
A keyword search of “Filip Dewinter Quran" led us to YouTube video uploaded in January 2015, with the description, “Filip Dewinter of Vlaams Belang targeted the Quran in the Chamber on Thursday.”
We also found an image of the leader holding the Quran on Getty Images with the caption, “Vlaams Belang Filip Dewinter holds the Quran during a speech at a plenary session of the Chamber at the federal parliament, in Brussels, Thursday 22 January 2015.”
With a relevant keyword search, we came across an article on Flemish newspaper, Het Nieuwsblad dated 22 January 2015.
The article states that the Vlaams Belang’s leader Filip Dewinter caused an uproar in the Belgian Parliament at the capital, Brussels, by calling the Quran, “the reason for a lot of disaster, the source of all evil, a license to kill,” while talking about radicalisation in mosques.
However, then Minister of the Internal Affairs, Jan Jambon disapproved of his speech stating, “you are here waving a book that for a lot of people in this country is a book they have a lot of respect for. You're going to upset the whole community here.”
A report on the incident can also be found on Vlaams Belang’s official website.
Evidently, an old 2015 video of Filip Dewinter remarks in the Belgian Parliament has been revived as a recent discussion on Quran in the French Parliament.
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