Why I Stand with Geert Wilder

Why I Stand with Geert Wilders

Originally Posted by Daniel Pipes

Who is the most important European alive today? I nominate the Dutch politician Geert Wilders. I do so because he is best placed to deal with the Islamic challenge facing the continent. He has the potential to emerge as a world-historical figure.

That Islamic challenge consists of two components: on the one hand, an indigenous population’s withering Christian faith, inadequate birthrate, and cultural diffidence, and on the other an influx of devout, prolific, and culturally assertive Muslim immigrants. This fast-moving situation raises profound questions about Europe: will it retain its historic civilization or become a majority-Muslim continent living under Islamic law (the Shari’a)?

Wilders, 46, founder and head of the Party for Freedom (PVV), is the unrivaled leader of those Europeans who wish to retain their historic identity. That’s because he and the PVV differ from most of Europe’s other nationalist, anti-immigrant parties.

The PVV is libertarian and mainstream conservative, without roots in neo-Fascism, nativism, conspiricism, antisemitism, or other forms of extremism. (Wilders publicly emulates Ronald Reagan.) Indicative of this moderation is Wilders’ long-standing affection for Israel that includes two years’ residence in the Jewish state, dozens of visits, and his advocating the transfer of the Dutch embassy to Jerusalem.

In addition, Wilders is a charismatic, savvy, principled, and outspoken leader who has rapidly become the most dynamic political force in the Netherlands. While he opines on the full range of topics, Islam and Muslims constitute his signature issue. Overcoming the tendency of Dutch politicians to play it safe, he calls Muhammad a devil and demands that Muslims “tear out half of the Koran if they wish to stay in the Netherlands.” More broadly, he sees Islam itself as the problem, not just a virulent version of it called Islamism.

Finally, the PVV benefits from the fact that, uniquely in Europe, the Dutch are receptive to a non-nativist rejection of Shari’a. This first became apparent a decade ago, when Pim Fortuyn, a left-leaning former communist homosexual professor began arguing that his values and lifestyle were irrevocably threatened by the Shari’a. Fortuyn anticipated Wilders in founding his own political party and calling for a halt to Muslim immigration to the Netherlands. Following Fortuyn’s 2002 assassination by a leftist, Wilders effectively inherited his mantle and his constituency.

The PVV has done well electorally, winning 6 percent of the seats in the November 2006 national parliamentary elections and 16 percent of Dutch seats in the June 2009 European Union elections. Polls now generally show the PVV winning a plurality of votes and becoming the country’s largest party. Were Wilders to become prime minister, he could take on a leadership role for all Europe.

But he faces daunting challenges.

The Netherlands’ fractured political scene means the PVV must either find willing partners to form a governing coalition (a difficult task, given how leftists and Muslims have demonized Wilders as a “right-wing extremist“) or win a majority of the seats in parliament (a distant prospect).

Wilders must also overcome his opponents’ dirty tactics. Most notably, they have finally, after 2½ years of preliminary skirmishes, succeeded in dragging him to court on charges of hate speech and incitement to hatred. The public prosecutor’s case against Wilders opens in Amsterdam on January 20; if convicted, Wilders faces a fine of up to US$14,000 or as many as 16 months in jail.

Remember, he is his country’s leading politician. Plus, due to threats against his life, he always travels with bodyguards and incessantly changes safe houses. Who exactly, one wonders, is the victim of incitement?

[dadof18x'er]

Originally Posted by HowardCohodas

Why I Stand with Geert Wilders

what a remarkable man, how few in Europe have a set of balls. I have this gut feeling that what happens in Europe is a precursor of what will be here but for the fact that we have so many cowboys. thanks for the post

[Warrior-Mentor]

Thanks for the post. Great article. Related articles below:


Geert Wilders: "If a politician is not allowed to criticize an ideology anymore
this means that we are lost, and it will lead to the end of our freedom"
Jihad Watch
Jan 20, 2010

Note the standard use below of the "far-right" epithet, which is mainstream media-speak for "frightens children, barks at other people's dogs, and makes Cratchit work on Christmas." Nonetheless, Wilders' argument as quoted below ought to be compelling to any reasonable member of a free society. The prosecution of Wilders is indeed a politically motivated attempt to silence him, and a short-sighted move that will come back to haunt the Dutch authorities who are bringing the case, when they find the precedent they have set can hamstring their own ability to speak without fear.

"Far-right MP Geert Wilders on trial for discrimination against Muslims," by David Charter for the Times Online, January 20:

Geert Wilders, the far-right MP who likens the Koran to Hitler's Mein Kampf, goes on trial today in a politically charged test of the limits of tolerance and free speech in the Netherlands.

Mr Wilders, 46, leader of the Freedom Party, is charged with incitement and discrimination against Muslims over his outspoken comments attacking Islam and for his film, Fitna, which juxtaposed images of 9/11 and beheadings with verses of the Koran. He has called the Koran "a fascist book" and described Islamic culture as retarded.

Mr Wilders, who has made no secret of his ambition to become Prime Minister, has called his indictment a political trial but the Amsterdam Court of Appeal decided that it was in the public interest to prosecute him because his comments have been "so insulting to Muslims".

"I am being prosecuted for my political convictions," Mr Wilders said this week.

"The freedom of speech is on the verge of collapsing," Mr Wilders added. "If a politician is not allowed to criticise an ideology anymore this means that we are lost, and it will lead to the end of our freedom. However, I remain combative: I am convinced that I will be acquitted." [...]

Mr Wilders has received numerous death threats for his campaign against the "Islamisation of our societies" views but has built a large following by exploiting a backlash against relaxed Dutch immigration policies, vowing to close Holland's borders if he comes to power.

"My supporters say, 'At last there is someone who dares to say what millions of people think'. That is what I do." Today's hearing in Amsterdam district court is a formal opening session to determine who will be called as witnesses and whether they will all be heard in public....

SOURCE:
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/01/ge...at-we-are.html


Full Article from TIMES ONLINE:


The Dutch far-right MP Geert Wilders was greeted with applause from the public gallery as he faced court for the first day of his landmark trial on charges of inciting racial hatred against Muslims.

Mr Wilders, 46, sat impassively as his lawyer argued that the leader of the Freedom Party, which made big gains at last summer's European elections, had made his critical remarks about Islam in his role as an elected Member of Parliament.

Bram Moszkowicz said that Mr Wilders had a mandate to speak out against what he saw as the Islamisation of the Netherlands and argued that he had not discriminated against a specific national group, saving his attacks for the ideology of political Islam.

Around 200 supporters of Mr Wilders had travelled from as far as Cologne in Germany to hold up placards declaring that free speech was under assault by Islam and by the politically correct. The case is being watched as a test of the limits of political tolerance in the Netherlands after years of relaxed immigration policies which have seen the Musim population rise to around 1 million out of 16 million.
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"This case is about more than Mr Wilders," Mr Moszkowicz told Amsterdam District Court this morning. "It touches us all. It is such an important and principled question that could have far-reaching consequences."

Mr Wilders faces a 70-page charge sheet covering five counts of breaking Dutch law on incitement and discriminiation against Muslims in more than 100 public statements, for example by likenening the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and calling for an end to the "Islamic invasion."

The alleged offences include Mr Wilders' film Fitna, which shows images of 9/11 and beheadings interspersed with verses from the Koran. It ends with a the controverisal Danish cartoon of the prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb as a turban.

At one point there was laughter in the public gallery when Mr Moszkowicz tried to insist on his client's right to have the entire charge sheet read out in court. The chief prosecutor refused saying that his voice would not hold out that long and the panel of four judges settled for a summary which still lasted almost 20 minutes.

"Mr Wilders has always made his statements in his capacity as a public representative," Mr Moszkowicz said, arguing that the Amsterdam court was the wrong arena and that the Supreme Court in The Hague was the place to hear allegations of misconduct by an MP.

But Birgit van Roessel, for the prosecution, countered that "expressing his opinion in the media or through other channels is not part of an MP's duties." She said that MPs only had immunity for what they said inside parliament. He faces a fine or the possbility of jail if convicted.

The public prosecution service initially decided not to bring charges but were ordered to press ahead by the appeals court. Otto van der Bijl, a spokesman for the prosecution service, today said: "It is possible that we may ask for an acquittal at the end of the trial."

Ulrich Rosendahl, 46, an engineer who took the day off work to travel from Cologne to support Mr Wilders, held up a banner outside the court which read: "Wilders does as [Charlie] Chaplin did. He attacks fascism — Islamo."

Mr Rosendahl said: "I support what he says and I know he has lived under police protection for many years and I think that he pays a high price to fight for freedom of speech."

Anne Wirix, 71, from Schagen in the north of Holland, travelled for two hours to come and support Mr Wilders. "This weekend I am 72 and never in my life have I demonstrated for something until now. I think it is necessary because of the lack of freedom to say what you want. Mr Wilders says the words that a lot of us think."


SOURCE:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle6995253.ece