Dutch anti-Islam politician creates stir in UK
By RAPHAEL G. SATTER and ARTHUR MAX, Associated Press Writers – 1 hr 43 mins ago
LONDON – Dutch anti-Islam maverick Geert Wilders took his cinematic assault on the Quran to Britain's House of Lords on Friday, sparking heated debate inside the building and angry protests outside.
The invitation to Parliament, and Wilders' stunning political gains in the Netherlands this week, highlight a growing dichotomy in Europe: concern at the increasing number of Muslims who reject long-cherished liberal values, against the liberal tradition of welcoming the world's unfortunates and embracing multiculturalism.
Wilders screened his 15-minute film "Fitna" to about 60 people, including a half-dozen peers, in a wood-paneled committee room in Parliament. The film associates the Quran with terrorism, homophobia and repression of women.
Outside, about 200 protesters jeered and chanted "Fascist thugs off our streets." Police scuffled with several demonstrators who tried to block a street to prevent a demonstration of pro-Wilders activists from the English Defense League from approaching Parliament. The bleach-blond politician later held court for the British media, replete with quotes from Thomas Jefferson, George Orwell and references to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
"I believe Islam is a violent and dangerous religion — but I have nothing against Muslims," he told reporters. Nevertheless, he said he wanted a Europe-wide ban on Muslim immigrants because "I believe they bring along a fascist ideology. "The visit, and the controversy surrounding it, added to Wilders' visibility as he heads into a national election campaign with his popularity soaring and polls predicting that his come-from-nowhere Freedom Party will be among the two largest in the next Dutch parliament.
His party scored well in local elections this week, winning one city outright and placing second in another. But his 4-year-old party lacks a national organization, and it declined to field candidates in nearly 400 other town hall races. Wilders said he might even become prime minister after the June 9 election, although Dutch political analysts say it is unlikely he could garner a majority coalition if his party emerged as the largest.
The 46-year-old lawmaker said that if he came to power he would create a Dutch equivalent to the First Amendment — as well as closing all Muslim schools, forbidding the construction of any new mosque and banning the Quran, which he described as more dangerous than Hitler's manifesto Mein Kampf. The Prophet Muhammad, he said, "was a barbarian and a pedophile. "The intemperate language — heard in Britain only on obscure reaches of the extreme right — made even his hosts uncomfortable.
"I don't necessarily believe that," said Lord Pearson, the leader of Britain's U.K. Independence Party, a fringe group defined principally by its opposition to the European Union. Wilders describes himself as a libertarian and rejects comparisons with right-wing European politicians such as Jorg Haider in Austria and Jean-Marie Le Pen in France. His special blend of traditional Dutch tolerance and anti-Islamic rhetoric defies easy categorization, and others throughout Europe have taken note of his success. The English Defense League — a newly formed, self-described "counter-jihad" movement with reported links to the U.K. far-right — has mimicked Wielder's relentless focus on Islam.
France's immigration minister in November launched a series of "national identity debates" that stirred up anti-immigrant, and sometimes anti-Islam, sentiment that alarmed some in the mainstream. France's conservative government is also moving toward banning face-covering Islamic veils. In Denmark, discontent about immigration fueled the rise of the nationalist Danish People's Party, whose leaders regularly bash Islam and urge Muslim immigrants to adopt Danish values and culture. The party won 25 of 175 seats in Parliament in the last election in 2007, making it Denmark's third biggest political party. It has used its leverage with the center-right minority government to push through sharp restrictions on immigration.
Outside the British Parliament, protesters calling themselves antifascists denounced Wilders and his backers of the English League as racists. Jack Kavanagh, one of the people wrestled out of the crowd by police, expressed scorn for Wilders, calling his movie "racist tripe. "Across the way, 70-year-old retiree Ian Birchall said the English League was composed of "a particularly unpleasant bunch of racists" intent on setting Britons against the country's approximately 2 million strong Muslim community.
Back in the Netherlands, Wilders' outspoken attacks on Islam have brought charges against him for "hate speech," a little-enforced crime subject to a maximum one-year jail sentence and fine. He appealed to have the case dismissed, saying his remarks were not against Muslims but rather against Islam, and were protected by freedom of speech. Last month the court ruled against the objection, but is yet to set a trial date.
He has been under permanent police protection since his life was threatened in 2004 by the Muslim radical who killed filmmaker Theo van Gogh. His name was in a note pegged with a knife to van Gogh's lifeless chest.
END
Earlier this summer I figured Wilders was going to be a problem. I'm very disappointed to see the path Euro seems to be taking.![]()
Ignorance wins again, just as it did in '33.Originally posted by MB_Avro_UK:
Hi all,
But if an 'extremist' is elected democratically, what's the answer?
Good question. Personally I see Wilders as an extremist but others don't. That might be the scary part of it all. I might be right. Wilders wants to ban Islam from Europe and that is pretty extreme.Originally posted by MB_Avro_UK:
And what is an 'extremist'? Someone we don't agree with perhaps?
Sorry, the last question doesn't make sense to me. Can you reword it please?Originally posted by MB_Avro_UK:
Or perhaps someone that only a minority agree with?
And are minorities therefore wrong?
@ Urufu,
my thought exactly.
Actually, some of it exists today in some Islamic countries, most notably Saudi Arabia. There is no freedom of religion there and even the mere possession of a Christian Bible can land one in prison. A muslim who converts to Christianity (or any other religion) can be put to death for apostasy.Originally posted by Urufu_Shinjiro:
Wow, scary stuff. Shades of '30s Germany....
Double standards are amazing, aren't they?![]()
Actually, some of it exists today in some Islamic countries, most notably Saudi Arabia. There is no freedom of religion there and even the mere possession of a Christian Bible can land one in prison. A muslim who converts to Christianity (or any other religion) can be put to death for apostasy.Originally posted by jarink:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Urufu_Shinjiro:
Wow, scary stuff. Shades of '30s Germany....
Double standards are amazing, aren't they?</div></BLOCKQUOTE>
So these countries can do it so we should too? We all know these extreme theocratic hell holes are terrible, they have no place in a modern world, but the kind of rhetoric this guy is spouting is just as bad. One can condemn these terrible nations and repressive governments without inciting racism and hatred. The USSR was a repressive regime, does that mean we should drive out everyone with "vich" in their surname with a strong beard and furry hat?
Well that is them and out of our jurisdiction. I agree with you it is wrong but it really has nothing to do with Europe and Wilders or the EDL.
Europe has agreed to a human rights agreement and Wilders and the EDL is going against it. They officially claim they are anti-Islamic-terrorist but they target Muslims in general. By trying to ban Islam from Europe they are going against the fundamentals of human rights in Europe.
Double standards?
Not really: Geert Wilders is anti-Islam but pro Israël. So you can't compare him with the 30's in that way.Originally posted by Urufu_Shinjiro:
Wow, scary stuff. Shades of '30s Germany....
He is a zionist, well known at the Israëlian embassy where he has his contacts and he has been many times in Israël and as a youngster he worked in the kibuts.
By the way he has a Jewish well respected lawyer who's father survived the concentration camps.
He is entitled as a right wing radical but not an 'extremist'.
I don't agree with him at all but hopefully he doesn't end like the before mentioned Theo van Gogh (his greatgrandfater was the brother of the painter Vincent van Gogh by the way) or the other popular right wing politician Pim Fortuyn who got shot in 2002.
Irony: a lot of Jewish people has sympathy for Geert Wilders. Especially the younger generation as they are more outspoken in their opinion.
People never seem to learn...