DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: GEERT WILDERS UNDER ATTACK

Hirsi Ali's ally attacked by fellow Islam critics
by Michel Hoebink

In the past few weeks, a debate on the alleged conflict of interest presented by the dual nationality held by two deputy ministers in the Dutch government has demonstrated the ability of right-wing Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders to set the political agenda.

But opposition to Mr Wilders is growing among fellow politicians and journalists, and even well-known Islam critics such as Afshin Ellian and Sylvain Ephimenco are now publicly distancing themselves from the PVV leader. Their opponents, in turn, are jeering at them, saying they must be scared of the monster they helped create. These developments appear to mark a new episode in the Dutch Islam debate.

An open letter to Geert Wilders published in the 12 March edition of the magazine Opinio states: "You are using pseudo-theological one-liners about the Koran and the Prophet to intentionally create as much resentment as possible among offended Muslims."

Sharp-tongued critic

The letter would not have created much of a stir had it been written by anyone other than columnist Sylvain Ephimenco, who in the past years has manifested himself as a sharp-tongued critic of Islam. He is one of a group of intellectuals known as The Friends of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who give their unconditional support to the former Somali-Dutch MP in her campaign against the "excesses of Islam."

Geert Wilders has never made a secret of the fact that his objections against immigrants mainly concern Muslims. But he has outdone himself with his recent diatribes against Islam. He has called the Prophet Muhammad a barbarian, an aggressive warlord and says that Muslims who want to stay in the Netherlands had better tear out and throw away half the Koran.

Popular broadsides

His broadsides against Islam are guaranteed to curry favour with a certain segment of the Dutch electorate, but create only increasing aversion among fellow politicians and leading commentators. Now Dutch Islam critics such as "The Friends of Ayaan Hirsi Ali" are turning against him, too.

Early this month, columnist Afshin Ellian dealt the first blow: Mr Wilders, Afshin Ellian wrote in his column in the NRC Handelsblad newspaper of 3 March, is radicalising and rapidly developing into an extreme right-wing politician.

Notably, Afshin Ellian backed his criticism with a reference to former conservative VVD politician Frits Bolkestein who, in the early 1990s, opened the attack on Islam but has been saying for some time now that people like Geert Wilders have taken things too far. Others, including author Leon de Winter, philosopher Bart Jan Spruijt and Labour ideologist Paul Scheffer have made similar comments.

Manifesto

Sylvain Ephimenco's open letter reads as something of a manifesto for this group of critics. In it, Geert Wilders is blamed for

"taking the debate hostage and polluting it by sponging off the words and
thoughts of others, turning them into caricatures. It will come as no surprise
that publicists who until recently took part in the debate are now leaving the
space you occupy, probably in fear of being associated with you."

Sylvain Ephimenco says Geert Wilders is not just turning against extremists but against Muslims as a group, and that his statements about the Prophet and the Koran appear only serve to insult as many Muslims as possible. And this, in the full knowledge that: "To a Muslim, every page in the Koran is sacred."

Backs turned

Sylvain Ephimenco says Geert Wilders is going too far, which is why The Friends of Ayaan Hirsi Ali have turned their backs on him. However, Professor Emeritus of Sociology J.A.A. van Doorn rejects their criticisms. He is an old-fashioned left-wing intellectual who has for years rejected the criticisms of Islam as propounded by Afshin Ellian and others which, he says, only serve to drive Dutch Muslims and non-Muslims further apart.He denies that Geert Wilders is turning the words of others into caricatures. In Trouw newspaper of 17 March he argues that:

"Geert Wilders' actions and statements follow on naturally from what Ayaan Hirsi
Ali en her admirers have been saying for years."

Professor Van Doorn writes that Sylvain Ephimenco's indignation over Geert Wilder's attacks on Islam does not ring true. Didn't his much admired Ayaan Hirsi Ali call the Prophet a paedophile? Didn't his ally Afshin Ellian recently wonder aloud whether the Koran should be banned as being a source of inspiration for terrorism?

Wilders as disciple

According to Professor Van Doorn, commentators like Afshin Ellian and Sylvain Ephimenco have for years been 'prompting' Geert Wilders. He is their disciple. But now that Geert Wilders is putting their words into action, they are taking fright and turning their backs on him. However, Professor Van Doorn argues it is now too late to pull back:

"The aforementioned commentators would do better to ask themselves
whether they are not complicit in Geert Wilders' crusade."

Even left-wing magazine De Groene Amsterdammer has devoted a sarcastic commentary to the 'change of heart' on the part of the Dutch Islam critics. The item's author, Hubert Smeets, says that Ayaan Hirsi Ali and her friends appreciated the outspokenness of the late populist politician Pim Fortuin who was killed in 2002.But Geert Wilders actually puts his money where his mouth is, and that's giving The Friends of Ayaan Hirsi Ali a bad case of cold feet. Fortunately they are honest enough to admit it squarely, which is much to be admired. De Groene Amsterdammer has created an award to express its admiration: the Woollen Sock. De Groene Amsterdammer says:

"The first to be awarded the Woollen Sock will be columnists Afshin Ellian
and Sylvain Ephimenco. At the end of the year, we will hand out a final
award on the basis of a shortlist of Woollen Sock winners: the Green Wellington
Boot."

Hat Tip:

Ummah News Links


Pertinent Links:

1) Hirsi Ali's ally attacked by fellow Islam critics

DAR AL HARB / ISLAM - NETHERLANDS / UMMAH: GEERT WILDERS SPEAKS, SAUDIS DEMAND APOLOGIES, GEERT SAYS THE SAUDIS ARE MAD

Geert Wilders responds to Saudi demands for an apology:

Wilders stands by anti-Islam comments
Monday 19 February 2007

Anti-immigration MP Geert Wilders said on Sunday he had no intention of apologising to Saudi Arabia for recent comments he made about the Koran. A foreign affairs ministry spokesman told ANP there had been informal contacts from the Saudi ambassador to the Netherlands but no official complaint had been made.

'Are they mad?,' Wilders told ANP. 'It is a scandal that a country without freedom of speech tries to teach me a lesson.'

In an interview with newspaper De Pers last week, Wilders said Moslims should tear out half of the Koran if they wanted to stay in the Netherlands. There were 'enough terrible things' in the book, Wilders said.

Outgoing foreign minister Ben Bot has said that he regretted Wilder's statement, which was not good for the Netherlands' reputation abroad.

On Saturday, Wilders told the Volkskrant that he was 'not happy' that there would soon be two Moslims in the cabinet. 'I would rather there were not,' he said.

It was reported that the Saudi ambassador had said the following (it appears to be paraphrased by the reporter):

...

Riyadh- Saudi ambassador Waleed al-Khareejy demanded Sunday that a Dutch right-wing politician apologize and retract remarks made last week and deemed insulting to Islam and its holy book.

A leader of the conservative Dutch Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, had told the press that half of the Koran should be torn and thrown away.

He also lashed out at the Prophet Mohammed, founder of Islam,describing Islam as a "violent" religion.

Al-Khareejy said an apology was "necessary" and that Wilders had to withdraw his statements.

However, the ambassador seemed reluctant to attract media, sayingthat the embassy would rather follow up the issue "away from thepress."

...


The comments made by Geert Wilders that began this kerfuffle were:

...

'Islam is a violent religion. If Mohammad lived here today I could imagine chasing him out of the country tarred and feathered as an extremist,' Wilders told De Pers daily in an interview.

Wilders, who is seen as an heir to murdered populist Pim Fortuyn and whose new party won nine seats out of the 150 in parliament in November elections, has warned of a 'tsunami of Islamisation' in a country home to 1 million Muslims.

'I know that we're not going to have a Muslim majority in the next couple of decades, but it is growing,' he said.

'You no longer feel that you're living in your own country. There is a battle under way and we must defend ourselves. There will soon be more mosques than churches here.'

...

Thanks to UmmahNewsLinks for bringing my attention to the story about Geert Wilders' response to Saudi demands.


Pertinent Links:

1) Wilders stands by anti-Islam comments

2) Saudi envoy insists Dutch politician retract anti-Islam remarks

3) Geert Wilders search of American Infidel

4) UmmahNewsLinks.com

DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: SAUID AMBASSADOR DEMANDS APOLOGY FOR THE CLAIM THAT "ISLAM IS VIOLENT" AS MADE BY WILDERS

Saudi envoy insists Dutch politician retract anti-Islam remarks
dpa German Press Agency

Riyadh- Saudi ambassador Waleed al-Khareejy demanded Sundaythat a Dutch right-wing politician apologize and retract remarks madelast week and deemed insulting to Islam and its holy book.A leader of the conservative Dutch Freedom Party, Geert Wilders,had told the press that half of the Koran should be torn and thrownaway.

He also lashed out at the Prophet Mohammed, founder of Islam,describing Islam as a "violent" religion.

Al-Khareejy said an apology was "necessary" and that Wilders hadto withdraw his statements.

However, the ambassador seemed reluctant to attract media, sayingthat the embassy would rather follow up the issue "away from thepress."

The main aim was to stop such insults to Islam, al-Khareejy toldthe Saudi-based al-Watan newspaper.

Geert Wilders made the following statements (ones that I have captured & posted on my blog at any rate):

Dutch populist attacks Koran, Prophet Mohammad

AMSTERDAM – Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders was quoted on Tuesday as urging Muslims to dump half the Koran and saying he would chase the Prophet Mohammad out of the country if he was alive today.

'Islam is a violent religion. If Mohammad lived here today I could imagine chasing him out of the country tarred and feathered as an extremist,' Wilders told De Pers daily in an interview.

Wilders, who is seen as an heir to murdered populist Pim Fortuyn and whose new party won nine seats out of the 150 in parliament in November elections, has warned of a 'tsunami of Islamisation' in a country home to 1 million Muslims.

'I know that we're not going to have a Muslim majority in the next couple of decades, but it is growing,' he said.

'You no longer feel that you're living in your own country. There is a battle under way and we must defend ourselves. There will soon be more mosques than churches here.'

...

and

Sleepwalking Dutch Lulled Into Complacency On Terrorism
...

Wilders, who has braved the constant death threats to campaign and crafted a party of people who are jeopardizing their own safety by joining with him, is fighting the good fight. He knows that a Muslim majority would be mean "the end of civilization as we know it' and be a death knell for Holland.

"The day there are more Muslims than Christians in the Netherlands, I will leave this country whether I am a parliamentarian or not," he says "I wouldn't feel it was my country any more."

In an interview with Ian Buruma, the author of "Murder in Amsterdam" Wilders criticized the Dutch immigration policies favored by the left.

"We just let everybody in. There is no sense of urgency…I'm furious that the Dutch government is incapable of taking hard measures. That would be better for the moderate Muslims, too. We must crack down. In this country, politicians have always tried to pacify minorities by mollycoddling them. All that holding of hands. It makes me sick."

The Green Party's demonization of Geert Wilders echoed the 2002 election campaign during which Pim Fortuyn - a prime ministerial candidate who had written a book entitled, "The Islamisation of Holland," warning of the demographic threat posed by Muslim immigration - was assassinated.

...


Pertinent Links:

1) Saudi envoy insists Dutch politician retract anti-Islam remarks

2) Geert Wilders search of American Infidel

E.U.-NETHERLANDS: ALLAH IS THE SCOURGE THAT WILL CONQUER AMSTERDAM

Sleepwalking Dutch Lulled Into Complacency On Terrorism
By Beila Rabinowitz, Director - MilitantIslamMonitor.org

November 1, 2006 - San Francisco, CA - PipeLineNews.org - Less than five months before Theo van Gogh's ritual murder at the hands of radical Islamists, he performed at a political event, convincingly dressed as an Imam in Muslim robe. Resplendent in beard he pontificated that his "conversion" to Islam benefited him in two ways, having "finally found clothes that fit as if tailor made" while nodding his approval of "a belief in which a woman knows her place."

His performance concluded with the sagacious observation, "Allah is the scourge which will conquer Amsterdam, sleep well, good Amsterdammers."

Holland's awakening after van Gogh's brutal killing was short lived, the Dutch since having gone back to sleep, a conclusion which is borne out by surveys that suggest - contrary to the evidence of a continuing Islamist juggernaught in that country - that 20% more people in 2006 than the previous year don't regard terrorism as their first concern, and that 13% more have confidence that the government is doing a good job of fighting terrorism.

Such complacency brings to mind Dr. Daniel Pipes' article "My Gloom-Back to September 10th," in which he wrote that the 9/11 attacks "made me feel more secure...finally the country was focused on issues that had long worried me" but pessimistically concluded that "If there ever was a crisis, it is over. Life is good, security appears adequate...sleep beckons."

The Dutch seem intent upon ignoring the Islamist threat, though it permeates their society, to the extent that it is markedly affecting the upcoming November 26 election in which control of the Lower House looms large.

The Freedom Party - a political movement built on the recognition of the threat to Holland posed by the Islamists - was nearly sidelined due to death threats against its leader, Geert Wilders who is campaigning on an anti-immigration platform.

Party activists are routinely harassed and attacked by Islamic immigrants and their sympathizers. Just days ago a group of Moroccan Muslim youths assaulted two campaign workers who were hanging political posters in the Hague, Holland's capital.

The omnipresent atmosphere of intolerance displayed by Holland's Muslim population seems to have cowed the society into silence.

In a recent interview the campaign volunteers said they no longer wanted to discuss the assault and a police spokesman declared that "he could not find a pattern in the incident concerning Wilders' poster hangers."

This assessment was contradicted by a member of the Pim Fortuyn's List - another party [named after Pym Fortuyn a politician who had been assassinated by a Green party activist with Islamist sympathies] concerned with Muslim immigration - who said that "it happens all the time, "our staff is regularly harassed and chased," adding that someone who works for a party with a controversial point of view has "problems on the street. You see how it is, especially if you have sharp views on immigration which elicits heavy reaction on the street. When it comes to other important topics it happens much less. And that is not just for people with right wing ideas. Look at the murder of Theo van Gogh."

Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders is forced to lead a nightmare existence, under 24 hour guard because of the death threats which obviously curtails his ability to campaign.

Wilders was targeted by van Gogh's murderer Mohammed Bouyeri who singled out the politician for assassination in the multi-page rant that he affixed to van Gogh's lifeless body with a butcher knife. Islamist websites continue to offer rewards for anyone who kills him, preferably by beheading and Wilders has reported that he receives at least 5 death threats a day.

Despite these constant reminders, the disruption of the Dutch electoral process due to the activities of the radical Islamists seem to have gone unnoticed by the public largely as a result of the Dutch media's complicity in hushing these incidents up.

As Geert Wilders commented after the beatings of his election workers, "the newspapers are not saying it was Moroccans."

For example last month, an on the dole and angry North African immigrant was responsible for creating a bloodbath in a Dutch welfare office, attacking and stabbing three of the staff members, yet only one paper mentioned the attacker's foreign origin, and that only in passing.
Demonstrating evidence of the "unholy alliance" between the Islamists and the left, Wilders who made headlines last month when he spoke about Holland being deluged by a "tsunami" of immigrants, was savaged by the leftwing Green Party as well as the Democrats 66, whose leader, Hans Pechtold called Wilders comments "Too disgusting for words."

Wilders responded by accusing both parties of "walking around for 30 years acting as if nothing was wrong."

The parties who oppose Wilders live in the shadow of demographic predictions showing that by 2020 Muslims will become the majority in four of Holland's largest cities, with Rotterdam already near a Muslim majority.

Wilders, who has braved the constant death threats to campaign and crafted a party of people who are jeopardizing their own safety by joining with him, is fighting the good fight. He knows that a Muslim majority would be mean "the end of civilization as we know it' and be a death knell for Holland.

"The day there are more Muslims than Christians in the Netherlands, I will leave this country whether I am a parliamentarian or not," he says "I wouldn't feel it was my country any more."

In an interview with Ian Buruma, the author of "Murder in Amsterdam" Wilders criticized the Dutch immigration policies favored by the left.

"We just let everybody in. There is no sense of urgency…I'm furious that the Dutch government is incapable of taking hard measures. That would be better for the moderate Muslims, too. We must crack down. In this country, politicians have always tried to pacify minorities by mollycoddling them. All that holding of hands. It makes me sick."

The Green Party's demonization of Geert Wilders echoed the 2002 election campaign during which Pim Fortuyn - a prime ministerial candidate who had written a book entitled, "The Islamisation of Holland," warning of the demographic threat posed by Muslim immigration - was assassinated.

It was the first political murder in Holland since the time of the House of Orange. The sentencing judge declared that the murder "was an attack on the democratic process."

Fortuyn was shot as he was exiting a radio station by 32 year old Volkert Van de Graaf. In 1990 Van de Graaf had started his own political party [Cow Foot] and participated in the local council elections in Wageningen [a suburb of The Hague]. The party received 202 votes and was disbanded in 2001.

Displaying the little regard that the Dutch legal system typically has for victims of violent crime, Van de Graaf only received a sentence of 18 years for the murder of Fortuyn and will be eligible for parole in 4 years time.

At his trial Van der Graaf [an "animal rights" extremist, who was the treasurer of the radical-eco group Foundation for Environmental Offensive] said he killed Fortuyn because he wore fur and planned to lift the ban on the breeding of animals for fur, and "because he used Muslims as scapegoats."

Presciently, Fortuyn's predicted his assassination. In an interview which can be seen on You Tube [Pim Fortuyn Als mij wat gebeurt, "If something happens to me] the prime ministerial candidate declared:

"If you see what I get in the mail from time to time - I mean all the threats - it wouldn't make you cheerful. And the Dutch government - I find that a bloody shame, [it] helps to create a climate, the demonizing of me as a person. And if something should happens to me soon, and I am happy you are giving me the opportunity - and if something happens to me soon, then they are partly responsible. And they cant remove their hands from responsibility and say but it wasn't me who committed the attack. You have created the climate. And that has to stop."

Theo van Gogh, joining in Fortyn's prediction, wrote:

"I suspect Fortuyn will be the first in a line of politically incorrect heretics to be eliminated. This is what our multicultural society has brought us: a climate of intimidation in which all sorts of goat fuckers can issue their threats freely."

In an interview before his murder Fortuyn had warned of the consequences of the denial rampant in Holland.

In this electoral battle the dhimmitude of the left - who blame Holland for causing Muslim rage - abounds, with Labour politicians variously eating Iftar meals with Moroccan Muslims youth [at events organized by the Socialist Party] while concluding that if "Muslim youth would feel that they were better understood, they would not radicalize so quickly."

After the 2002 murder of Pim Fortuyn, the editors and readers of an online publication called "Fundamentally Dutch" addressed an open letter to "Ladies and Gentlemen and Politicians of the Country," writing:

"In reality Pim Fortuyn was murdered by the politically correct left.

How long do you think that we can stand idly by and watch as our country is destroyed and our norms and values sold as worthless trinkets?

Politicians in The Hague wake up, take off the blinders and see how things are in this country. Look at the many, many thousands who stood in line for hours to pay their last respects to their hero, Pim Fortuyn, who listened to the people.

Wake up - dammit!"

As of this writing, Labour stands in a statistical dead-heat with the Christian Democrats.
If they do wrest control of the Lower House in this month's elections, Holland's Muslims - who are championed by the socialist laborites - will be doing more then just sharing Iftar dinners with politicians; they will be celebrating Ramadan in parliament instead and Geert Wilders and his Freedom Party will no longer have a country to save.

Pertinent Links:

1) Sleepwalking Dutch Lulled Into Complacency On Terrorism

DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS/E.U.: THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT STUFFED TO THE GILLS WITH DHIMMIS

SGP Wants FM Verhagen to Point out "Hypocrisy" of Islamic Countries

THE HAGUE, 26/01/08 - Small Christian party SGP wants the government to tell Islamic countries they are hypocrites if they complain about religious insults in the Netherlands. SGP MP Van der Staaij said so with reference to Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders' Koran film.

"If you see what is spewed out daily via various Arabic broadcasters over the world in hatred against the Jews, Israel, the US and the West, the criticism of Wilders' yet-to-be-shown mini-film is pure hypocrisy," said Van der Staaij in the Lower House. He wants Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen to address Arabic countries about this.

Apart from the PVV itself, the SGP is the only Lower House party so far in the 'Wilders question' to express criticism of Muslim regimes criticising the film. Wilders, who announced in November to make a short film on Islam's holy book, said this week he expected to show it within "several weeks".

Foreign Affairs State Secretary Frans Timmermans, who was deputising for Verhagen in the debate, considered that the SGP had a point, but did not want to say too much on behalf of the minister. Verhagen could not respond himself because he was in Syria.

In Syria, Verhagen explained to the government and press of that country that the Dutch government has different views to Wilders; the minister considers it irresponsible to lump groups in their totality into one box. "We are a country where Muslims and Christians can live together in harmony," he declared.


and

Minister "Pleased" about Movement against Wilders

THE HAGUE, 05/12/07 - Integration Minister Ella Vogelaar is "pleased" about the anti-Wilders campaign started by Doekle Terpstra. "I appreciate the initiative very much," she said yesterday.

Vogelaar supports the "initiative to set up a counter-movement against polarisation and for mutual respect." The Labour (PvdA) minister did say that she is not in a position to join the movement. She also said the action should not be directed against Wilders the person. "But binding society together, there I can find myself very much," she said, adding that she regards Terpstra's action as a "citizen initiative, which is wonderful".

Doekle Terpstra, in militant terms, called last weekend for a "movement outside parliament" against Wilders, the Party for Freedom (PVV) leader. "Wilders is evil and the evil must be stopped," he told newspaper Trouw. Following substantial criticism, he has meanwhile said that "it is not a movement against Wilders but a pro-movement to show that good things happen in society".

Annemarie Jorritsma, incoming chairwoman of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) and former vice-premier for the conservatives (VVD), has joined Terpstra's movement. The same applies to Eelco Brinkman, chairman of building sector organisation Bouwend Nederland and prominent member of the Christian democrats (CDA). Other prominent persons who have teamed up with Terpstra are national sporting umbrella organisation NOCNSF chairwoman Erica Terpstra (VVD), coach Foppe de Haan of the national football team for players under 21 and historian and EU enlargement propagandist Geert Mak.

Terpstra (CDA) is chairman of HBO Council, the umbrella body for colleges (HBOs), and former chairman of union federation CNV. He considers Wilders is "polarising" with his negative statements about Islam and the Koran. Wilders said yesterday Terpstra talks "like an Ayatollah" and is insulting PVV voters.

In the Lower House, the governing parties did not wish to react. But the Socialist Party (SP), leftwing Greens (GroenLinks) and centre-left D66 opposition parties consider it unwise for Terpstra to attack Wilders personally by calling him evil and urging for him to be stopped. SP MP Harry van Bommel added that "people in problem neighbourhoods are not helped by pointing out to them what is going well in the Netherlands."

Independent MP Rita Verdonk, an electoral competitor of Wilders with her new party Proud of the Netherlands (TON), considers the anti-Wilders campaign "a ridiculous idea." Verdonk pointed out that Wilders has the support of 600,000 voters and that he has the right to put forward his ideas. She considers it "cannot be allowed" for the chairman of a supposedly neutral organisation, HBO Council, to come up with such an initiative.

According to a poll by Algemeen Dagblad newspaper, 42.9 percent of the Dutch consider the counter-movement a good idea and 42.3 percent, a bad idea. Some 45 percent consider Terpstra's movement incites hatred against Wilders.



Pertinent Links:

1) SGP Wants FM Verhagen to Point out "Hypocrisy" of Islamic Countries

2) Minister "Pleased" about Movement against Wilders

DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: DID THE ANTI-TERRORISM NATIONAL COORDINATOR ATTEMPT TO INTIMIDATE GEERT WILDERS, AN OUTSPOKEN CRITIC OF ISLAM?!?

Anti-Terrorism Authority Denies It Intimidated Wilders

THE HAGUE, 28/04/07 - The Anti-terrorism National Coordinator (NCTb) denies that it tried to pressurise Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders to adopt a milder tone about Islam. The Lower House is unconvinced and wants clarification by Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin.

Wilders said on TV programme RTL Nieuws Thursday evening he had a three-hour meeting at the NCTb office two weeks ago. NCTb chief Tjibbe Joustra showed him "hundreds" of newspaper articles and TV pictures from the Arabic world with angry reactions to statements made by Wilders in February about the Koran and the Prophet Mohammed. The message was that the Netherlands could as a result of the PVV land up in a situation like that of Denmark after a Danish newspaper printed cartoons about Mohammed, Wilders averred.

Wilders stated that he did not at first feel intimidated by NCTb. "But when I requested the material after the interview, I was only sent untranslated documents in Persian and Arabic. Then I began to think that there was perhaps a double agenda."

In February, Wilders said Muslims in the Netherlands should tear up half the Koran because the content was unacceptable. He also stated that Mohammed, if he lived in the Netherlands today, would have to be tarred and feathered and deported from the country as an extremist.

The House wants clarification from the government on the behaviour of the NCTb. It may have tried to gag a public representative, say several parties. Wilders himself did not wish to draw this conclusion, but "I do feel a bit intimidated." A NCTb spokesman would only say "we reject any relationship that is laid with intimidation."

Wilders commented that in the interview, Joustra immediately corrected a NCTb staff member who suggested that Wilders would be better to moderate his tone. Nonetheless, the message came over that Dutch people in the Middle East could be endangered by Wilders' statements, as could exports of Dutch companies, according to the MP.

...


Pertinent Links:

1) Anti-Terrorism Authority Denies It Intimidated Wilders

DAR AL HARB-NETHERLANDS: GEERT WILDERS REFUSES TO DEBATE THE EVILS OF ISLAM UNTIL AFTER 'FITNA' HAS BEEN SCREENED

Wilders film not shown to anti-terror body

Anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders is refusing to allow the Dutch anti-terrorism coordinator to see his controversial anti-Koran film in advance, reports Tuesday’s Telegraaf.

Tjibbe Joustra, who is responsible for Wilders’ security, wants to see the film so that he can decide what steps he needs to take to protect the leader of the anti-immigration party, the paper says. But Wilders does not agree with the conditions under which he wants to see the film, according to the Telegraaf.

...

Meanwhile Tuesday’s Volkskrant reports that Wilders is consciously refusing to debate his anti-Islamic views with Muslims and has regularly rejected invitations from a variety of organisations to participate in discussions both on TV and elsewhere.

One of the groups that have invited Wilders to debate is what the paper calls the ‘connecting generation’ of eight young Dutch-Moroccan professionals who want to break the ‘negative spiral’ of the current debate on Islam in the Netherlands.

Others include the multicultural students’ organisation SUN whose secretary Harun Yildirim tells the Volkskrant that Wilders just ‘says things in the media and then just turns off his phone so that he gets away with it time after time’.

And Jihad Alariachi, one of the presenters of the tv discussion programme Meiden van Halal (Halal Girls) tells the paper: ‘I understand that he [Wilders] is scared that voters will walk away if we confront him with arguments, but for someone who has no problem with labelling others as cowards, it’s cowardly.’

In reply to the Volkskrant’s question as to why he would not debate issues with Muslims, Wilders sent a text message to the paper saying that he would not do so until after his film is screened.


One can only hope that Wilders is well versed on the qur'an & islam overall because both Dutch dhimmis & their moslem overlords will try to shred Wilders to pieces and show that he is only against islam because he is ignorant of its 'peaceful' aspects...


Pertinent Links:

1) Wilders film not shown to anti-terror body

DAR AL HARB-NETHERLANDS: DUTCH DHIMMIS ARE BESIDES THEMSELVES

FITNA

Dutch Establishment Threatens to Prosecute Wilders and Claim Damages
From the desk of Thomas Landen

Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician who is making a 10-minute movie about Islam entitled Fitna (Arabic for “ordeal”), has felt compelled to cancel the March 28 press conference where he intended to show his film. The Nieuwspoort press center in The Hague, which is run by a board of journalists, publishers and government press officers, demanded that Wilders pay 400,000 euros for extra safety measures. “Apparently, you have to be a millionaire to organize such an event,” Mr Wilders said. “Even if I had the money I am not going to spend it on a press conference.”

No Dutch broadcaster, public or private, has been willing to show the film. There are indications that Fitna will also be banned on Youtube, which removed a clip featuring Mr Wilders two week ago, on so-called “ethical grounds”.

Dutch international companies, fearing a boycott of their products by Muslims, have announced that they intend to hold Mr Wilders responsible for a loss of profits and markets in the event of a boycott. They have asked Gerard Spong, one of the top lawyers in the Netherlands, to see whether a court case claiming damages from Wilders will be possible. Mr Spong and several other lawyers have already lodged some fifty formal complaints against the politician for “incitement to racial hatred and discrimination of Muslims” because Mr Wilders expressed the opinion that the Koran is “a fascist book which should be banned in the Netherlands.”

Last November, when Wilders announced he was going to make a movie expressing his view on Islam and the Koran, Doekle Terpstra, a member of the board of directors of the Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever, told the Dutch media that “Geert Wilders is evil, and evil has to be stopped.” The Unilever director, anticipating a worldwide Muslim boycott of Unilever products (brands such as Axe, Ben and Jerry’s, Best Foods, Brooke Bond, Colman’s, Cif, Dove, Glidat Strauss, Heartbrand, Hellmann’s, Imperial Margarine, Knorr, Lipton, Pepsodent, Sunsilk, Unox, Vaseline, etc.), called upon the Dutch to “rise in order to stop Wilders from preaching his evil message.”

Mr Wilders, a member of the Dutch parliament, has been living under police protection for almost four years. Muslim fanatics have threatened to assassinate him for his outspoken criticism of Islam. The politician has no fixed residence and has to live in army barracks or other heavily secured premises.

...



Pertinent Links:

1) Dutch Establishment Threatens to Prosecute Wilders and Claim Damages

DAR AL HARB-NETHERLANDS: BANNING 'FITNA' BY GEERT WILDERS

Cabinet looked at legal ban on Wilders film

The government has taken legal advice about banning Geert Wilders' short anti-Koran film, the Telegraaf reports on Monday, quoting sources close to the cabinet.

The paper says that the government's legal officials told ministers that going to court ‘need not be entirely hopeless’ because of the danger to national security and public order the film could provoke.

Although the cabinet rejected the idea of trying to ban the film during Friday’s ministerial meeting, the idea has not yet been thrown out, sources told the paper.

However, the cabinet is divided on the issue and Labour ministers in particular are totally opposed to a ban, the paper says.

...

While stopping short of asking Wilders not to release the film, Balkenende said he was seriously worried about the effect it could have on Dutch citizens, soldiers and companies.

'It is our duty to point this out to Mr Wilders. That is why we are publicly speaking out,' Balkenende said after the weekly cabinet meeting.

'We have a duty to make clear to everyone that the methods and thoughts of one MP do not correspond to those of the government.'


Are these the same individuals that have the temerity to show up on Dutch television to announce that ISLAM IS THE RELIGION OF PEACE?!?

Perhaps this will put a period to that hypocrisy, at least by the Dutch, I don't see any way that moslems will see it...

And what will the implications be of the limiting of the 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH'?!?

Will the authorities in all of the dhimmi states of Europe then go on to curtail FREE SPEECH for all of their citizens?!? Ohhh I should clarify that, curtail FREE SPEECH only for the dhimmis, because their moslem overlords will be able to spout off about their jihad all they want...

In other words, limiting FREEDOM OF SPEECH for Geert Wilders will be just short of a 'death blow' to Western civilization...



Pertinent Links:

1) Cabinet looked at legal ban on Wilders film

DAR AL HARB-NETHERLANDS: FATWA OK HIT ON GEERT WILDERS

'Al Qaeda Fatwa against MP Wilders'

The terrorist network Al-Qaeda has given orders for the assassination of MP Geert Wilders, newspaper De Telegraaf reports. The Party for Freedom (PVV) leader must be 'slaughtered', the orders say, because he has insulted Islam and the prophet Mohammed.

The newspaper based its report on a recent message on a protected web forum of internet site al-ekhlaas.net, which De Telegraaf claims is affiliated with Al-Qaeda. The internet threat, which was posted on 28 January, was intercepted by the American research institute SITE Intelligence Group, the newspaper reports.

"In the name of Allah, we ask you to bring us the neck of this unbeliever who insults Islam and the Muslims and ridicules the prophet Mohammed," the site says about Wilders, according to the newspaper.

The message honours Mohammed Bouyeri as a hero. This Amsterdam-born Moroccan Muslim cut Islam-critic Theo van Gogh's throat on 2 November 2004. The message also appeals for readers to "terrorise" the Netherlands to prevent Wilders' controversial film on the Koran from being broadcast.

Wilders says his film is finished, and only still needs to be edited. He will try to show the film via an official broadcaster. He expects the negotiations to last between several days and several weeks.

Wilders has set up a separate website where his Koran film will be shown in any event. The host of this site, www.fitnathemovie.com, is located in the United States. Wilders also plans to put the film on the YouTube website.

The film takes place within the Koran, Wilders earlier explained, with the book opening and showing the viewer images of atrocities allegedly inspired by the verses. It lasts about 15 minutes and ends with a picture of the prophet Mohammed, to which "something happens", he added.



Pertinent Links:

1) 'Al Qaeda Fatwa against MP Wilders'

DAR AL HARB-NETHERLANDS: DUTCH DHIMMIS IN A PANIC - GEERT WILDERS SAYS: "MY FILM WILL BE RELEASED NO MATTER WHAT ! ! ! "

Cabinet Panic over Koran Film

If Dutch companies, citizens and interests abroad are hurt following MP Geert Wilders' film on the Koran, there is only one person responsible, according to Prime Minister Balkenende. "At this moment, a great responsibility is resting on Mr. Wilders".

...


"Do not broadcast it," said Verhagen to public broadcaster NOS on Thursday night.

Verhagen's Christian democrats (CDA) indicated that there was no question of a slip of the tongue. CDA parliamentary leader Pieter van Geel also made a plea to Wilders, who is leader of the 'anti-Islamisation' Party for Freedom (PVV), to drop the film due to "the seriousness of the possible consequences".

Labour (PvdA) however considered the CDA-Verhagen position was too explicit. In fact, all parties in the Lower House criticised the foreign minister. And so the cabinet, in which CDA and PvdA are the dominant factors, produced a statement on Friday trying to address both Wilders and Islamic countries.

"We condemn all threats, including those directed against Mr. Wilders. And we call on the governments (of Islamic countries) to abide to the principles of international law, such as the duty therein laid down to protect foreign interests, citizens and companies. At the same time, we have the duty to make it clear to all, that the conduct and thoughts of an individual MP do not match those of the government. We defend the core values of freedom and respect. We guarantee freedom of speech and freedom of religion," the CDA premier stated.

Less balanced than the declaration was the premier's response to questions from journalists after he had finished the statement.

...

"Ask yourself what your responsibility is at this moment," he said about Wilders. "And at this moment, a great responsibility is resting on Mr. Wilders," he added.

The premier summed up examples of "critical signals" he received. "At a festival, a Dutch product was refused; the Taliban announced action towards Dutch soldiers; and stewardesses are afraid to fly to certain destinations. These are only the examples of one day. This is the reality we are in. (...) Mr. Wilders cannot ignore the sentiments that are already being expressed." (...) Economic sanctions, attacks, threats, great consequences. The one carrying the responsibility for that, is the one who is currently providing grounds for that."

Wilders condemned the statement. "Although the cabinet is giving into and capitulating to Islam, I will never'', he stressed. "My film will be released no matter what". Nobody yet knows what it will show.



Perintnet Links:

1) Cabinet Panic over Koran Film

DAR AL HARB-NETHERLANDS: GEERT WILDERS SAYS THAT BALKENENDE IS A "WEAK, FRIGHTENED MAN WHO GIVES WAY TO THREATS"...

Wilders to show film to anti-terrorism tzar

Anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders says he will allow the Dutch anti-terrorism coordinator to see his controversial anti-Koran film before it is released, but only on condition that the viewing is not used as an excuse to ban it, NOS tv reports on Tuesday.

Earlier the Telegraaf said Wilders had refused to show the 10-minute film to Tjibbe Joustra, who is responsible for Wilders' security.

Wilders also blamed prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende for ‘all the trouble to come’, according to NOS. Balkenende is a ‘weak, frightened man who gives way to threats’, Wilders, leader of the PVV anti-immigration party said.

...



Pertinent Links:

1) Wilders to show film to anti-terrorism tzar

DAR AL HARB-E.U./NETHERLANDS: EUROPE SHOULD EXPLAIN GEERT WILDERS TO THEIR MOSLEM OVERLORDS & AWAIT INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO HANDLE IT

Europe should explain Wilders to world
by Erik Hesen

Dutch MP Alexander Pechtold wants the Netherlands to form a common front with other European countries to explain to Muslims around the world why the anti-Qur'an film by right-wing MP Geert Wilders has not been banned. The leader of the democrat party D66 wants the Dutch government to do more to spell out what democracy and freedom of expression exactly stand for in Europe.

The debate surrounding Mr Wilders' anti-Islam movie focuses too much on the Dutch context, according to Mr Pechtold.

"The cabinet constantly warns Mr Wilders about the film's consequences. We should address ourselves more to other countries. Here we are accustomed to democracy and freedom of expression but not everyone abroad is.

Elsewhere fundamentalists seize on these sort of films to preach hatred against the West. We have to explain what our fundamental rights represent. Maybe the prime minister should explain the matter on Al Jazeera. Or Mr Ahmed Aboutaleb [the deputy minister for social affairs], who speaks Arabic."

Europe Mr Pechtold stresses, however, that the Netherlands should not go it alone but join forces with other European countries, which have a stake in this too.

"The protests sparked by the Danish cartoons, for example, show this can happen to any country. In fact, we should now form a common front at the EU Council of Ministers. Democracy and freedom of expression are European inventions. But it now looks like each country is left to fend for itself."

...

Double agendas

Mr Pechthold does not, however, entirely share the prime minister's concerns.

"Maybe things won't be so bad, because we are dealing with them now. It's hard to say. It all depends on how foreign regimes will exploit the movie. Foreign regimes often have double agendas. Iran's authorities are using this incident to try and counter economic sanctions.

The thing to do, therefore, is to reach people directly, bypassing governments, to explain what democracy entails. I really regard democracy as an export product. We shouldn't just pursue economic interests but also strive to make people aware of our democratic values."

Mr Pechtold stresses, however, that it's Mr Wilders' own responsibility to decide whether or not to broadcast the film. The Public Prosecutor only can determine whether the film breaches any constitutional rights once it has been shown. Mr Wilders appears undeterred by all the commotion. He dismissed the prime minister's warnings accusing the cabinet of capitulating to Islam, something he vowed he will never do.



Pertinent Links:

1) Europe should explain Wilders to world

DAR AL HARB-NETHERLANDS: LEFTIST MEDIA CANCELS 'VIOLENT BIBLE' MOVIE BECAUSE THERE IS NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE FOR THEIR PREMISE

Public Broadcaster Axes Film on 'Violent Bible'

THE HAGUE, 29/02/08 - Public broadcaster KRO has dropped plans to make a Biblical variant of MP Geert Wilders' short film on the Koran. "After exhaustive discussion, journalists on various editorial staff have decided not to make a film on the Bible," KRO said in a statement.

"The aim of the project was to make a contribution to the debate on the method that Geert Wilders - according to Wilders himself - wants to apply in his film on the Koran. This aim could not however in the view of KRO journalists be achieved satisfactorily."

In his short film Fitna, intended to be shown in March, Wilders wants to show gruesome events said to be inspired by the Koran. KRO, nota bene itself a Catholic broadcaster, wanted to show that such a film could also be made about the Bible.

The film was "one of the plans for participating in the debate that Geert Wilders has aroused with his proposal to ban the Koran. After extensive research, linking Bible quotations with real political events and acts of violence however produced an insufficient basis for a thorough journalistic production."



Pertinent Links:

1) Public Broadcaster Axes Film on 'Violent Bible'

DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: GEERT WILDERS "PROPHET MOHAMMAD WAS A VIOLENT MAN"

Islam is taking over, says Dutch politician
By Bruno Waterfield in The Hague

An anti-immigrant politician is making a meteoric rise with his call on the Dutch - once one of the most tolerant nations in the world - to stop Islam taking over Europe.

Geert Wilders, the 43-year-old leader of the Freedom Party, is convinced that governments are being forced to accommodate a 'tsunami of Islamisation' that is fundamentally incompatible with European social values.

"Islam itself is the problem. Islam is a violent religion," he told The Daily Telegraph. "The Prophet Mohammed was a violent man. The Koran is mostly a violent book. We should invest in Muslim people but they have to first get rid of half the Koran and half of their beliefs," he said.

The Freedom Party has jumped from six to 10 per cent in opinion polls since November. His passionate campaign for a ban on the Islamic veil, or burqa, in public places is gaining such momentum that the country's new coalition government could be forced to introduce the ban it does not support.

On the burqa, Mr Wilders is adamant: "It is a medieval token of a barbaric time, of how not to treat women, even if they want to wear it themselves," he argues.

Allowing Muslims to wear the burqa in the Netherlands, or to have segregated swimming sessions so as not to offend religious sensitivities, amounts to "religious apartheid" he says.

The new government coalition of mainstream centre right and left political parties had planned to ditch a decision by the previous government to ban the burqa in the Netherlands which now has a population of one million Muslims, six per cent of the total population. But, Mr Wilders crows, weekend opinion polls show 66 per cent of Dutch citizens support a ban.

The minority opposition leader who has won two previous votes for a ban on the burqa is convinced that support will be there for new legislation he will table in the spring as the Dutch become increasingly concerned over Muslim separatism.

Wilders is convinced there is growing support for his views across Europe but its political leaders, particularly in Britain, are too obsessed with being politically correct.

"There is almost no country more politically correct than the UK. Look at the terrible things that happened in London after Madrid, you have more reason than most to make this debate transparent and public," he said.

Mr Wilders split from the Dutch liberals in September 2004 over their support for EU membership for Turkey.

Two months later he was living in fear after police arrested suspected terrorists, armed with grenades, accused of planning to kill him. The Dutch politician says he and his wife have received more than 600 death threats.

Mr Wilders, who is always surrounded by plain clothes police guards, said: "I lost my freedom and privacy because of my opposition to Islam."


Pertinent Links:

1) Islam is taking over, says Dutch politician

DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: DUTCH AROUND THE WORLD IN DANGER FROM 'MODERATE' MOSLEMS IF ANTI-KORAN FILM RELEASED BY GEERT WILDERS

Dutch soldiers 'at risk' over anti-Koran film
By Joan Clements in The Hague and Bruno Waterfield

Dutch soldiers serving with Nato in Afghanistan will face new threats if their country allows the broadcast of an anti-Islamic film, Bozorgmehr Ziaran, Iran's ambassador to the Netherlands, has said.

He announced his intention to rally global Muslim opinion against plans by Geert Wilders, the maverick Dutch MP, to show a short movie attacking the Koran.

Mr Ziaran also fuelled fears of a violent backlash by issuing a veiled threat that Dutch troops would be regarded as "representatives of people who besmirch the Koran".

"Afghans will view these troops as there to take our power, to destroy us and to ruin our values," he told De Volkskrant newspaper.

But Mr Wilders, the controversial leader of the anti-immigration Dutch Freedom Party (PVV) has vowed to ignore "daily death threats" and pressure from the authorities by broadcasting his film next month on the Koran, which he compares to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

"The serious threats to my life and the Dutch government's panicked response to my film underline the truth of what I am saying. The Koran is dangerous," he said.

"I am human so I sometimes feel real fear but I will not let the politics of fear stop me from saying what must be said."

Mr Wilders, 44, lives under police protection and regularly moves from one secure accommodation to another. He has kept details of his 10-minute film under wraps, leading to media speculation that it is a hoax. But Mr Wilders is adamant about its existence.

Jan Peter Balkenende, the Dutch prime minister, has given warning of a "national crisis" if Mr Wilders broadcasts his attack.

Secret plans have now been drawn up which include the evacuation of Dutch nationals from certain countries, amid fears of violent protests at home and abroad.

European Union officials have also been consulted over predictions that the film could see a repeat of the global anti-Western backlash that followed the publication of Danish cartoons mocking the prophet Mohammed two years ago.

Mr Wilders, who sees himself as the successor to Pim Fortuyn, the murdered anti-immigration Dutch politician, argues that the one million Muslims living in Holland should renounce parts of their religion or leave.

"I believe Christians and Jews have a lot in common, but the Koran is a non-liberal book, preaching totalitarianism and the hatred of women," he said.

...


It's soooo good to know that our elites keep repeating the stupidity that ISLAM IS A RELIGION OF PEACE...

LOLOLOL...


Pertinent Links:

1) Dutch soldiers 'at risk' over anti-Koran film

DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: BAN THE KORAN

Dutch politician calls for Koran ban

Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders has called for the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands, branding it a "fascist book" in the vein of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf which legitimises violence.

Writing in Dutch daily De Volkskrant Wilders said: "Ban this wretched book just like Mein Kampf is banned."

"Send a signal ... to Islamists that the Koran can never, ever be used in our country as an excuse or inspiration for violence."

Hitler's Mein Kampf, published in 1925, outlines the future Nazi dictator's racist ideology. It has been banned from sale in the Netherlands since the end of World War Two.

Ayhan Tonca, chairman of the CMO umbrella group of Dutch Muslim organisations said Wilders' comments were best ignored.

"This is typical Wilders. This is a ridiculous idea," he said "There is not much news at the moment so he is trying to create some."

Wilders, whose new party won nine seats out of the 150 in parliament in last November's elections, is well known for his firebrand remarks on Islam.

He has warned of a "tsunami of Islamisation" in a country home to 1 million Muslims, and has lived under heavy protection since receiving death threats from Islamist militants in 2004.

Wilders said an attack over the weekend by two Moroccans and a Somali on a young Iranian-born politician who heads a Dutch group for "ex-Muslims" had spurred him to write.

The attack on Ehsan Jami, 22, caused an outcry in the Netherlands, where the November 2004 murder of Theo Van Gogh, a filmmaker critical of Islam, by a Dutch-Moroccan Muslim militant led to an anti-Muslim backlash and exposed social tensions.

Issues of immigration and integration no longer top the political agenda, despite the efforts of Wilders and his allies.

"Allah sees the death penalty as fitting for those who no longer believe," Wilders wrote, adding this view had fuelled the attack on Jami, now under police protection.

The Muslim holy book should be banned from sale, from use in mosques and private households, Wilders added.

Earlier this year, Wilders called for a vote of no-confidence in two Muslim government ministers, questioning their loyalty to the country because of their dual nationality.

He has also campaigned to ban Muslim face veils, ban the building of new mosques and halt all Muslim immigration.

In April, Wilders was warned by the Dutch anti-terrorism chief that his anti-Islam statements had stoked anger in the Middle East, and that he was going too far.



Pertinent Links:

1) Dutch politician calls for Koran ban

DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: MOSLEM JUNIOR MINISTERS NOT TRUSTWORTHY

There is fresh news concerning a story I posted on February 25 about comments made by Dutch politician Geert Wilders and his doubts about the loyalty of two moslem that were appointed as "junior ministers" by the Dutch government.

First a refresher on the Wilders comments followed by the most recent article:

...

The leader of a Dutch anti-immigration party will call
for a vote of no-confidence in two Muslim government ministers next week, citing their dual nationality as the issue, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

...

In Saturday's interview, Wilders said: "I do not want to live
in a country where some day six or seven members of cabinet could be Muslim," adding that Islamic laws were "barbaric", referring to four people who were beheaded in Saudi-Arabia this week.

"I want to encourage Muslims to leave the Netherlands
voluntarily. The demographic development should become such, that the chance is small that we again have two Muslims in the cabinet."

...

Poll: Majority Backs Motion Against Muslim State Secretaries

THE HAGUE, 27/02/07 - A majority of the Dutch seem to be backing a motion of no confidence in State Secretaries Ahmed Aboutaleb and Nebahat Albayrak. They agree with the motion that Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders will put forward on Thursday.

Aboutaleb and Albayrak were appointed State Secretaries of Social Affairs and Justice last week.
As well as their Dutch passports, Aboutaleb also holds a Moroccan, and Albayrak, a Turkish passport. This could land them up in a conflict of loyalties, Wilders believes.

This weekend, Wilders said in newspaper NRC Handelsblad he would put forward a motion of no confidence in the two Labour (PvdA) state secretaries on Thursday, during the Lower House debate on the coalition accord. The entire Lower House is furious about this.

But radio programme Standpunt presented its listeners yesterday with the statement: 'The motion of no confidence against the state secretaries is correct.' Of the 10,000 voters, 59 percent agreed and 41 percent disagreed. If the motion were adopted - which will not happen - the House would implicitly be demanding the state secretaries' resignation.

...


HatTip: UmmahNewsLinks.com


Pertinent Links:

1) Poll: Majority Backs Motion Against Muslim State Secretaries

DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - CALIFORNIA: WHERE ARE THE 'MODERATE' MOSLEMS?!? ARE THERE ANY?!?

New wave of Muslim outrage?

Remember the 2005 uproar about supposedly blasphemous cartoons in a Danish newspaper? Extremist Muslim clerics claimed the cartoons mocked Mohammed, and sparked violent protests across the Islamic world. Danish embassies were set on fire. Death threats were issued. Rioters clashed with police, costing more than 100 lives. All because of some cartoons. Well, brace yourselves. We may be in store for another round of Islamic outrage, this time emanating from the Netherlands.

Geert Wilders is a controversial Dutch politician and Parliament member who takes a hard line against immigrants, especially Muslims. Last August, he wrote an inflammatory essay calling the Koran a "fascist book" and advocating it be legally banned just as Hitler's "Mein Kampf." Now he says he has produced a short film on the subject, which may show him defacing a Koran on camera. Wilder says it will soon appear on the popular media site YouTube, for a world-wide audience.

Wilders heads the recently-formed Party for Freedom (the Dutch acronym is PVV), which has just two main planks - "less tax, and less Islam." Just a decade ago, the PVV would be seen as a reactionary right-wing splinter group, but it did surprisingly well in 2006 elections, capturing nine seats and becoming the third largest opposition party.

Many Dutch citizens are alarmed at what they see as increasing "Islamization" of their country, with a growing minority population of non-assimilating Muslims. As in other European countries, Dutch Muslims are creating separate schools, communities and mind-sets. Out of 16.5 million people in the Netherlands, about 1 million - both citizens and non-citizens - are now Muslim.
More alarming are violent acts and threats of violence stemming from that minority. In 2004 film-maker Theo Van Gogh was murdered by a self-proclaimed jihadist. A young Dutch-born Muslim citizen shot him eight times, then cut his throat on a public street. Van Gogh's killing produced a backlash against the growing tide of Islamic immigration, and the rise of Geert Wilders and the PVV followed.

Now Wilders and his film are at the center of the storm. Muslims in and out of the Netherlands are threatening to lash out if Wilders releases his video. The Grand Mufti of Syria proclaimed that any "riots, bloodshed and violence" that result from the film will be Wilders' responsibility. A radical group inside the country, the Hizb ut-Tahrir, threaten that "if this film will be released, then it's WAR!"

How absurd. When those espousing the "religion of peace" advocate violence and mayhem and murder in reaction to any perceived disrespect of their faith, then what are we to think? More important, where are the moderate Muslims who reject such tactics of intimidation? Are there any?

Centuries ago, the Dutch carved out a country, protected by dikes to hold back the sea. And in their prosperous, modern country they have prided themselves on open immigration policies and "tolerance" for minority communities. Now that tolerance, of Islamic radicals who reject and dispise the very values that protect them, threatens to finally sink them.



Pertinent Links:

1) New wave of Muslim outrage?

DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: GEERT WILDERS SAID HE WOULD CHASE MOHAMMAD OUT OF THE NETHERLANDS, TARRED & FATHERED

Dutch populist attacks Koran, Prophet Mohammad

AMSTERDAM – Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders was quoted on Tuesday as urging Muslims to dump half the Koran and saying he would chase the Prophet Mohammad out of the country if he was alive today.

'Islam is a violent religion. If Mohammad lived here today I could imagine chasing him out of the country tarred and feathered as an extremist,' Wilders told De Pers daily in an interview.

Wilders, who is seen as an heir to murdered populist Pim Fortuyn and whose new party won nine seats out of the 150 in parliament in November elections, has warned of a 'tsunami of Islamisation' in a country home to 1 million Muslims.

'I know that we're not going to have a Muslim majority in the next couple of decades, but it is growing,' he said.

'You no longer feel that you're living in your own country. There is a battle under way and we must defend ourselves. There will soon be more mosques than churches here.'

Wilders, who has lived under heavy guard since 2004 when a Dutch-Moroccan killed filmmaker and Islam critic Theo van Gogh, has campaigned to ban the Muslim burqa veil, wants to freeze immigration and ban new mosques and religious schools.

...


Pertinent Links:

1) Dutch populist attacks Koran, Prophet Mohammad