The Morgunablaðið co-editor and presidential hopeful shared his thoughts this morning on Islam, which he described as an “extremist belief.”
Stundin reports that Davíð Oddsson told listeners he is concerned about the “rise of Muslims in Europe” and that he wants to give asylum seekers “time to adjust”.
“A President should not allow men to prohibit discussions,” he said in an interview with radio station Bylgjan this morning. “I am not going to allow people to silence discussions. If you are defending Islam, it means you are accepting this limited and extremist belief which is mostly controlled by fanatical men.”
When interviewer Heimir Karlsson asked him about the “rise of Muslims” and his attitude towards asylum seekers Davíð said, “Of course we have to be open-minded about helping our acquaintances, but it must be done in a rational way. If they will not assimilate, then it will not only affect us, but also the ones entering Iceland.” He also lamented that he cannot answer questions about “silencing through political correctness” without “being called a racist”.
Davíð is currently co-editor of Morgunblaðið, one of Iceland’s largest newspapers, as he has been since 2009. His hiring caused many to resign and readership to plummet, primarily because of his involvement with the financial crisis.
The anonymous column ‘Staksteinn’ in Morgunblaðið – long suspected to be penned by Davíð – has made some harsh statements about asylum seekers in the past. In 2012, the column portrayed them as liars, stating in part: “As declared on television, ‘refugees’ are coming to Iceland that just fled their alcoholic father in Algeria, and have been to many European countries before ‘fleeing’ to Iceland.”
Last August, the same column stated that authorities should take measures in order to limit the stream of refugees and asylum seekers to the country. At the end of the same month, this column also complained that the “refugee explosion” has not been discussed here in Iceland.
In related news, Stundin also reports that journalists at Morgunblaðið are now encouraged to sign the petition supporting Davíð’s President candidacy. Guðjón Idir, Director of the International Modern Media Institute, believes it is “abnormal” that journalists are put in this position.
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