"There is a climate of hate and fear in the Netherlands"

The films released, this is old news.

The Islamophobe Wilders just showed himself for that and nothing else with it. By and large those who reacted to it quickly to watching it, found it a boring re-hash of the bitterness he has show before. Lots of cut and paste. He mistakenly put a picture of a Dutch rapper in place of a murder - obviously couldn't tell the difference. He used the picture by the Danish cartoonist that caused the fuss - the cartoonist wants the picture removed (copyright) because it was used in a context opposite to it's intention.

Wilders hyped the film by claiming that no one would let him show it. But in fact the Muslim broadcaster in The Netherlands had offered to broadcast it as long as he came for a debate afterwards. He refused.

For those who have experienced his politics before the whole thing is no surprise. He has been accused by the leader of his previous party of asking questions for the Israeli Embassy - his rebuttal is that he 'wrote' all his questions himself. He has proudly reported his links and to Mossad. He has even been investigated by the Dutch Secret Service because of it. A frequent visitor to countries through out the Middle East when questioned about his favorite holiday destination, Syria, he replied that he loved the place despite the fact it 'smells' and the people 'are mean'. When traveling he has been saddened by the state of the Islamic countries, but feels 'at home' as soon as he lands at Ben Gurion.

Geert Wilders is a Dutch right wing parliamentarian. Though brought up as a catholic, he became an atheist. Wilders has made a reputation for his racist slurs on Islam. He wants the Holy Qu’ran to be banned in the Netherlands. He has also equated the Qu’ran with Adolph Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’. In past interviews he compared the Prophet Muhammad to the German dictator. Not content with his hitherto local hate-Islam campaign, Geert is now on the verge of a world wide release of a 15-minute anti-Qu’ran movie called Fitna [Arabic for civil strife]. The film links verses from the Qu'ran to violence.

Tempers are running high. Holland has a sizeable Muslim population. Of the Netherlands’16.5 million residents, a million are Muslim. News about the film has fueled ethnic tension in the country and sparked anger in the Muslim world. Threats have started flying. For record no Dutch TV station is willing to air the highly provocative film. Undeterred, Wilders decided to release the movie on Internet. March 23, even its US hosting service, Network Solutions temporarily suspended the website.

Geert Wilders is a very confrontational character. A nut-case racist, who colors his hair extreme platinum blond, he gained early notoriety because of his rants against immigrants and Islam. His party PVV [Freedom Party] has managed to win 9 seats [in the 150 seat parliament] owing to his fierce fascist diatribe. In his new role as the film director, Geert wants to dismiss Qu’ran – a book loved by 1.5 billion people world over – in less than 15 minutes. It remains to be seen how. New York Times adds …’some here have started wondering if it is as fake as his hair color’.

Whatever the ulterior designs swirling in his hate-filled head, Wilders is no more than a rank opportunist with absolutely no respect for other beliefs. As a commentator observes, "while everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, and even to voice out that opinion, there is a responsibility when [one] tends to bring out the debate to the public. Else we will just turn into barbaric bunch that throw insults to each other. But launching a film where he [Geert] knew would be perceived as an open insult by millions of people is really showing his selfish motives."

Geert Wilders has made a career for himself on a very hateful, racist ideology. Day before yesterday, not withstanding his loathsome brand of politics, thousands of people marched to Amsterdam to protest against his latest anti-Islamic rhetoric. ‘We want to show that there's something other than Wilders,' Rene Danen, chairman of anti-racism group Nederland Bekent Kleur, [The Netherlands Shows Its Colors] said on the occasion. A majority of Dutch people want a colorful society. It is people like Geert who let them down. And also create an ugly schism with other cultures and faiths, that he doesn’t seem to have the mental faculties to understand. That is incidentally the first signs of any feeble mind. It cannot understand, it can only afford to hate.

Geert, by the bye, supports his claims citing the now misused cliché Freedom of Expression. They use it all the time, as a European readymade tool. [Freedom of speech goes to dogs when Prof David Irving suggests Holocaust revision. He was jailed in Austria in 2006 for saying so]. Wilders ‘freedom of speech’ crosses the line, as Lairedon points out in his excellent blog, and turns into discrimination thus violating Article 1 of the Dutch Constitution where discrimination of people on their race, religion, political view, gender, sexual orientation or any other ground is prohibited.

I reckon Muslims have got to be a little thick skinned and let such things pass. They shouldn't construe this as yet another insult from the western civilisation. The world has always witnessed some really awful xenophobes, intolerant and narrow-minded bigots. Geert has just added his name to the infamous list.

The likes of him are relegated to the trash-bin on history, rather ingloriously.

And precisely which Muslim-majority country is "colourful"? Pakistan, where they are blowing each other up at a frightening rate for being the wrong kind of Muslims? Iran, where an 8 year old boy was punished for petty stealing by being held down while a truck was driven over his arm?

Rather than ranting against the Dutch maybe you should look at the Islamic world and consider why they might be apprehensive apprehensive about Islam. Simply bleating about "racism" when people raise rational and legitimate concerns has become trite and doesn't wash with more and more people these days.

LOL, I think this post should be awarded a prize for Orwellian doublespeak!

There is certainly a climate of fear and hatred in the Netherlands, with prominent people who have criticised Islam living under constant guard because radical Islamists have threatened to murder them. So serious was the threat that the Dutch security services have met to discuss the film and the government begged Wilders not to release it. The stabbing to death of Theo van Gogh showed that the threat is real.

But no, those who are threatening violence and murder (and who have already demonstrated this is not an idle threat) are not what the "fear and hatred" are about, just a permed politician and his controvertial film!

Would the Dutch security services have gone on high alert if a film had been made about the supposedly evil nature of the pope or the evil of Buddhism etc rather than the cult of the perpetually offended and outraged?

Freedom is slavery
War is peace

Wankers like Wilders and the Islamists are essentially pretty similar.It's the same as in the Cold War, where the spectres of "communism" and "Amerikan imperialism" were the best tools for the rulers on either side to keep their respective populations in line. This film'll be a great recruiting tool for the Islamists, just like the Danish cartoons were, and the outraged reaction to it'll be a great recruiting tool for Wilders and the BNP. The bigots on both sides are equally terrified of genuine, respectful dialogue and peaceful co-existence. Fuck the lot of 'em. (Although it's worth bearing in mind that both sides aren't equally strong, and in Western countries where the white far-right have got much more chance of gaining power, we need to focus our attention on them as being the main enemies.)

"The young, attractive Somali woman has become a darling of the American corporate media. Ayaan Hirsi Ali started out as a heroine to a portion of the Dutch public, who rewarded her with a parliamentary seat for denouncing all things Muslim. Apparently, flagellating one's own non-white, non-Christian people is a sure route to success in Europe, just like in the U.S. Ms. Ali lost her halo in The Netherlands when it was discovered she had lied on her immigration papers, but was soon recruited into the self-hating Black grouplet at the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, where she pretends to be a "scholar." America - what a country! Denounce your own people, and they'll make you a star."


URL:

 https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/388318.html

"Iran, where an 8 year old boy was punished for petty stealing by being held down while a truck was driven over his arm?"
Please check your propaganda before you swallow it whole.
 http://www.snopes.com/photos/gruesome/crushboy.asp
Cheers.