‘Allahu akbar’ is terrorism??

This 11 February 2017 Dutch video is about police having closed down shopping mall Winkelhof in Leiderdorp village.

According to the video, on 11 April 2017 two boys in shopping center Winkelhof had shouted ‘Allahu akbar’!

That means ‘God is the greatest‘ in Arabic. It is a very common saying in mostly Muslim countries; eg, at funerals. The expression expresses the hope of the person using the saying that the forces of good will ultimately prevail, even in difficult circumstances.

In a very small percentage of the saying being used, it is by ISIS or similar terrorists during acts of violence. It was also said by Canadian islamophobic terrorist and Donald Trump and Marine Le Pen supporter Alexandre Bissonnette as he committed mass murder at a Quebec mosque, as a cynical reference to Islam intended to wrongfoot police investigations.

However, in far over 99% of cases, saying ‘Allahu akbar’ has nothing to do with terrorism. Just like saying ‘Thank God’ or a similar expression from a Christian tradition in the big majority of cases does not mean that the person saying it is a Christian fundamentalist terrorist aiming at killing supposedly ‘un-Christian’ persons.

How did police react to the reported saying of ‘Allahu akbar’? According to a newspaper report (translated):

The shopping mall was searched for suspicious objects and the environment was closed off. Police allowed no one to go inside.

The police took the threat seriously and called on people to avoid the Winkelhof area. The bowling center and the gym could not be reached any more. A police helicopter was deployed to track down the perpetrators.

Who ultimately could not be found. Because no hazardous objects were found, the shopping center became accessible again at approximately 18.45.

Would police have reacted as massively to some non-Islamic saying?

When you send a helicopter to catch a candy thief — no really, they did that in Canada.