Johannes JG Jansen

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Prof. Dr Johannes J.G. Jansen (born 1942 - ) was Houtsma professor for Contemporary Islamic Thought in the Department of Arabic, Persian and Turkish at the University of Utrecht (The Netherlands) from 2003 till his retirement in 2008. In Dutch he writes as ‘Hans Jansen'[1] and is said to have inspired the anti-Muslim Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

Background

He studied in Amsterdam (1960-1964), Cairo (1966-1967) and Leiden (1964-1968). He received degrees from the Theological Faculty of Amsterdam University (Biblical Hebrew and the History of Philosophy, 1961), the Amsterdam University Faculty of Arts (BA, Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic, 1964) and the Leiden Faculty of Arts (MA, Arabic, Turkish, and History of the Middle East). He received a doctorate at Leiden in 1974.[2]

Dr Jansen taught Arabic and Islamic Studies at Leiden University from 1982 till May 2005. From early 1979 till the summer of 1982 he was director of the Dutch research center in Cairo, the Nederlands Instituut voor Arabische Studiën en Egyptische Archeologie. He also taught at Groningen University (1975-1979) and at Amsterdam University (1982).[3]

Counterjihad connections

Jansen was employed by Theo van Gogh as his tutor on Islam.[4]

Jansen has described the Netherlands as "a peaceful enclave" whose people have "forgotten that peace sometimes needs to be defended through violence." Writing in the magazine Opinio, he argued that "We do not realise that the threat of violence, and violence itself, can only be stopped through the controlled and cunning use of violence". He called for the Dutch secret service to create a department "that gets its hands dirty, if need be".[5]

Jansen was an important source of inspiration for the Dutch politician Geert Wilders and appeared on several TV programmes to explain the content of Wilders' anti-Muslim film Fitna.[6]Jansen said of the film, "Wilders has caused the whole of the Leftwing Church to look foolish".[7]He also criticised the response of the Dutch Christian Democrats to Fitna's release, saying "Don't they even have an intern in the party who could look up what happened with the church under Islam?"[8]

Other Dutch scholars, including Professor Martin van Bruinessen and Professor Dick Douwes, have accused Jansen of engaging in unscientific polemic.[9]

In August 2008, Jansen accused the SNS Bank of engaging in Islamist propaganda because of its advertising featured a picture of women in Muslim headscarves.[10]

Affiliations

Connections

Website

References

  1. Short CV in English, Arabist Jansen, accessed 12 December 2008 (Word document).
  2. Short CV in English, Arabist Jansen, accessed 12 December 2008 (Word document).
  3. Short CV in English, Arabist Jansen, accessed 12 December 2008 (Word document).
  4. Islam Expert: Netherlands Tolerates Muslim Excesses NIS News Bulletin, 24 March 2007.
  5. Islam Expert: Netherlands Tolerates Muslim Excesses NIS News Bulletin, 24 March 2007.
  6. [Dutch Arabist causes irritation among his peers],by Michel Hoebink, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 24 April 2008.
  7. Media divided on Wilders film, NIS News Bulletin, 29 March 2008.
  8. Churches, Muslims in Joint Statement against MP Wilders, NIS News Bulletin, 19 March 2008.
  9. [Dutch Arabist causes irritation among his peers],by Michel Hoebink, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 24 April 2008.
  10. 'SNS Bank bedrijft islamitische propaganda', by Robbert de Witt, Elsevier.nl, 6 August 2008 (Dutch).