New Dark Age Alert! Islam Film Dutch MP to Be Charged
Photo of Geert Wilders courtesy of Google Images
"This is a black day for everyone who has voted for me and for everyone who thinks you are allowed to criticize Islam," he said. "In this country, you are apparently allowed to criticize only if you are politically correct in how you express yourself." – Geert Wilders [Source: SpiegelOnline International]

BBC: A Dutch court has ordered prosecutors to put a right-wing politician on trial for making anti-Islamic statements.

Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders made a controversial film last year equating Islam with violence and has likened the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

"In a democratic system, hate speech is considered so serious that it is in the general interest to... draw a clear line," the court in Amsterdam said.

Mr Wilders said the judgement was an "attack on the freedom of expression".

"Participation in the public debate has become a dangerous activity. If you give your opinion, you risk being prosecuted," he said.

Not only he, but all Dutch citizens opposed to the "Islamisation" of their country would be on trial, Mr Wilders warned.

"Who will stand up for our culture if I am silenced?" he added.

'Incitement'

The three judges said that they had weighed Mr Wilders's "one-sided generalisations" against his right to free speech, and ruled that he had gone beyond the normal leeway granted to politicians.

"The Amsterdam appeals court has ordered the prosecution of member of parliament Geert Wilders for inciting hatred and discrimination, based on comments by him in various media on Muslims and their beliefs," the court said in a statement.

"The court also considers appropriate criminal prosecution for insulting Muslim worshippers because of comparisons between Islam and Nazism made by Wilders," it added. >>> | Wednesday, January 21, 2009

NRC HANDELSBLAD: Geert Wilders Prosecuted for Hate Speech

Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders of the populist PVV party is to be charged with hate speech and inciting discrimination, the appeals court in Amsterdam ruled on Wednesday.

Last year the public prosecutor decided not to prosecute Wilders for his anti-Islamic statements, which include calling the Quran a fascist book and comparing it to Hilter's Mein Kampf. Wilders made headlines around the world in March 2008 with his film Fitna, which juxtaposed Quranic verses against a background of violent film clips and images of terrorism by Islamic radicals.

Dozens of organisations and individuals in the Netherlands wanted to bring charges against the politician, but the prosecutor decided that his remarks were painful for Muslims - but not criminal. The Amsterdam court disagreed and found that there was a case of inciting hatred to answer for, both because of the content of Wilders' remarks and the way in which they were presented. The judges said they had weighed Wilders' anti-Islam rhetoric against his right to free speech, and ruled he had gone beyond the normal leeway granted to politicians.

The court ruled that Wilders had personally insulted Muslim believers by attacking the symbols of Islam. The court found that many of Wilders' comments offensive because they "injure Muslims in their religious dignity." About Fitna the court said it was "one-sided, extremely generalising rhetoric to radical effect, using relentless repetition and increasing intensity." >>> News staff | Wednesday, January 21, 2009

DIE PRESSE: Islam-Film: Geert Wilders muss doch vor Gericht

Der Niederländer bezeichnete den Koran als faschistisch und den Propheten Mohammed als Barbaren. Entgegen eines vorangegangenen Richterspruchs muss sich Wilders nun doch vor dem Obersten Gericht in Amsterdam verteidigen.

Anti-islamische Attacken des niederländischen Rechtspopulisten Geert Wilders müssen doch noch von der Staatsanwaltschaft als mutmaßliche Straftaten verfolgt werden. Das entschied am Mittwoch das oberste Gericht in Amsterdam. Es stellte sich damit gegen den Spruch eines Richters in Den Haag, der Wilders Angriffe durch das Recht auf Meinungsfreiheit gedeckt sah. Wilders hatte den Koran als faschistisch und den Propheten Mohammed als Barbaren bezeichnet. >>> | Mittwoch, 21. Januar 2009

DIE PRESSE:
Bild für Bild: Der umstrittene Koran-Film >>>

Fitna: The Movie – فتنة

NRC HANDELSBLAD: Geert Wilders Meets an Israeli Kindred Spirit

Geert Wilders screened his controversial anti-Koran film Fitna in Jerusalem this weekend at the invitation of right-wing Zionist politician Arieh Eldad.

Geert Wilders, member of the Dutch parliament and leader of the populist PVV party, got a round of applause when he told his audience at the conference Facing Jihad that Jerusalem was on the front line of the Jihad, or Holy War. And they stood up when Wilders praised the parents of Israeli soldiers, and attacked the Netherlands “left-wing elite”.

But is is hardly surprising that his appearance went down so well. The Facing Jihad conference was organised by the Zionist Arieh Eldad, who describes Islam as “a global disease”. Its aim, just prior to Israeli elections, was to show “the true face of islam” Eldad said.

“I have not come here to comment on Israeli internal affairs”, Wilders stated in a telephone interview shortly before the conference. “I am not going to tell people which way to vote and I am not going to endorse Arieh Eldad. If the [right wing] Likud party had invited me, I would have come as well.”

Arieh Eldad is one of the most talked-of politicians in Israel. The plastic surgeon is a member of parliament (the Knesset ) for Ichud Leumi (the National Union, a merger of several far-right parties which has nine parliamentary seats). But he is also founder and leader of the new right-wing Zionist party Hativka (Hope). That party’s main goal is defending the interests of the settlers on the occupied West Bank. >>> Guus Valk in Jerusalem | Monday, 15. December 2009 / Wednesday, 21. January 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback – The Netherlands) >>>

Geert Wilders Comes to Britain. Welcome!
DAILY MAIL: Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders sparked angry protests today as he declared that Islamic culture is inferior to Christianity.

The MP was met by angry Muslim protesters when he arrived in the UK after winning a court battle to enter the country.

Around 40 demonstrators gathered near the Houses of Parliament as Mr Wilders, whose film Fitna criticises the Koran as a 'fascist book', arrived in central London.

Brandishing banners saying 'Sharia is the solution, freedom go to hell' and 'Geert Wilders deserves Islamic punishment', the protesters were held back by police.

Abu Muaz, from Islam For UK, said: 'If I were to say some of the things he has said I would be arrested under the Terrorism Act. But because there is a war on Muslims he gets an easy ride.'

Addressing journalists alongside UKIP peer Lord Pearson, Mr Wilders said his visit was 'a victory'.

Explaining his controversial views on Islam, he said: 'I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I feel that the more Islam that we get in our societies the less freedom we get.'

Mr Wilders was allowed into the UK after successfully overturning a Government decision to bar him from Britain. Far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders jets into Britain and declares Islam 'a bad religion' >>> | Friday, October 16, 2009

Fitna: The Original Version


BBC: After successfully overturning a ban on his presence in the country, Geert Wilders was never going to slip quietly into the UK.

The controversial Dutch politician sent a text message to Associated Press as he cleared customs at Heathrow to ensure the world's media had got the message.

But even he cannot have anticipated the scenes waiting for him in Westminster, as he swept into a side street opposite the Houses of Parliament.

His plan to stage an open-air news conference around the corner on College Green had to be abandoned when about 40 protesters arrived on the scene chanting "Wilders go to hell" and waving placards saying "Sharia for the Netherlands" and "Islam will be superior".

The MP, who is an outspoken critic of Muslim ideology and has called for the Koran to be banned, was bundled through a gate in the high stone wall surrounding Abbey Gardens, an outpost of the House of Lords which was to be the venue for his hastily rearranged conference.

The young Muslims outside, held in check by a line of police officers, chanted "Wilders running scared" and "Wilders come out" - but they were far outnumbered by reporters and photographers, many from the MP's native Netherlands, who seemed even more desperate to get into the overcrowded venue. >>> Brian Wheeler, Political Reporter, BBC News | Friday, October 16, 2009

Angry Protesters Greet Right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders


Far-right Dutch MP Geert Wilders Arrives in UK
THE GUARDIAN: Geert Wilders hails 'victory for freedom of speech' / Press conference moved inside Westminster amid safety fears

The Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders expanded on his controversial views on Islam on arrival in the UK today and described the decision to allow him into the country as a "victory for the freedom of speech".

At a press conference moved inside the Houses of Parliament because of fears for Wilders's safety, the Freedom party leader said that Islamic culture was inferior to western cultures.

"I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I feel that the more Islam that we get in our societies the less freedom that we get," he said.

Wilders, who won an appeal this week against a decision to deny him entry, will not be screening his film Fitna, which criticises the Qur'an as a "fascist book", on this trip. The film had been intended to be shown at the House of Lords in February. He said he still intended to screen the film in the Lords in the future.

"Being here is a victory," Wilders said. "Not a victory for myself but for the freedom of speech. It is ridiculous that the UK government thought my presence would in any way lead to violence. I have nothing to do with violence, I am no extremist, I am a politician who is democratically elected."

Wilders said he had "nothing against" Muslims, but had a problem with the "Islamification of our societies". >>> Adam Gabbatt | Friday, October 16, 2009

Geert Wilders Arrives in UK and Explains His 'Problems with Islam'
Geert Wilders, the right-wing Dutch politician who compared the Koran to Hitler's book Mein Kampf, was met with protests as he arrived in the UK.

Police held back a crowd of Muslim demonstrators as Geert Wilders met Ukip peer Lord Pearson opposite the Houses of Parliament.

Explaining his controversial views on Islam, he said: ''I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I feel that the more Islam that we get in our societies, the less freedom that we get.''

The leader of the Dutch Freedom Party was allowed into Britain after overturning a Government decision led by former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to bar him from the country.

It was feared that his outspoken views on Islam could spark religious violence, but this was rejected by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal on Tuesday.

Mr Wilders denied responsibility for the publicity which has greeted his visit.

The 46-year-old said: ''If anybody has responsibility for this publicity, it is the UK Government and the Home Secretary and not Geert Wilders.''

Mr Wilders, who wants the Koran banned, insisted: ''I am not extreme, I am not a racist either.'' >>> | Friday, October 16, 2009

THE GUARDIAN – View picture gallery here.

Wilders to Be Tried for Hate Speech
NRC HANDELSBLAD: Geert Wilders will be tried for hate speech and inciting discrimination in a Dutch court next Wednesday.

A ruling on Tuesday took away the last obstacle standing in the way of the case against anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, when the court dismissed his objections against prosecution.

Wilders’ lawyer, Bram Moszkowicz, had argued his client could not be prosecuted for discriminatory insults since the Dutch supreme court had very narrowly defined that concept in a ruling last March. The supreme court then found that insulting a religion did not automatically imply an insult to its believers, meaning it could be legal.

Last Tuesday however, the lower court hearing Wilder’s objections found that the supreme court ruling did not stand in the way of Wilder’s prosecution.

The ruling paves the way for the case against Wilders to be tried, which has been long in the making.

The case against Wilders originates in several complaints filed by the Dutch lawyer Gerard Spong on behalf of several clients, including the well known Dutch comedian Jörgen Raymann and the board of the As Soennah Mosque in The Hague. >>> NRC Handelsblad’s News Staff | Thursday, January 14, 2010

Niederlande: Bahn frei für Prozess gegen Wilders

DIE PRESSE: Der niederländische Rechtspopulist Geert Wilders muss sich im März wegen Aufstachelung zum Hass gegen Muslime vor Gericht verantworten. Seine Beschwerde gegen den Prozess ist zurückgewiesen worden.

Der niederländische Rechtspopulist Geert Wilders muss sich im März in einem mit Spannung erwarteten Prozess für die mutmaßliche Aufstachelung zum Hass gegen Muslime verantworten. Eine Beschwerde gegen das Verfahren wurde am Mittwoch von einem Gericht in Amsterdam zurückgewiesen. Wilders habe keine neuen Beweise vorgelegt, die zu einer Abschwächung der Anklage führen könnten.

Vorwurf eines "Schauprozesses"

Er habe keine Volksverhetzung betrieben, sagte der Chef der erstarkten rechtsgerichteten "Partei für die Freiheit" in der Gerichtsanhörung. Das, was er gegen Islam und Koran gesagt habe, sei von der Meinungsfreiheit geschützt. Nach der Anhörung warf er der niederländischen Justiz vor, einen politischen Schauprozess gegen ihn zu inszenieren. 

Selbst "das Rechtssystem in Nordkorea ist besser als das der Niederlande". Die Rahmenbedingungen bei der Anhörung zu seinem bevorstehenden Prozess in Amsterdam nannte Wilders "schlimmer als im Archipel Gulag", berichtete die Zeitung "de Volkskrant" am Donnerstag. Koran wie "Mein Kampf" verbieten >>> Ag. | Donnerstag, 14. Januar 2010

Pays-Bas: le député Wilders débouté
LE FIGARO: Un tribunal d'Amsterdam a rejeté mercredi une requête du député d'extrême droite néerlandais Geert Wilders, réalisateur du film anti-islam "Fitna", contre l'acte d'accusation du parquet qui le poursuit notamment pour incitation à la haine raciale. La requête de M. Wilders, qui conteste les poursuites dont il fait l'objet, est "non recevable", a indiqué le tribunal.



M. Wilders, 46 ans, est accusé d'avoir insulté les musulmans et d'avoir incité à la haine et à la discrimination à leur égard pour avoir comparé le Coran au "Mein Kampf" d'Adolf Hitler, selon l'acte d'accusation dont l'AFP a obtenu une copie. Il est également poursuivi pour incitation à la haine et à la discrimination envers les personnes d'origine étrangère, notamment marocaine, pour des propos tenus dans la presse et sur internet. >>> AFP | Mercredi 13 Janvier 2010

Lights Dim on West: Prosecution Widens Charges Against Free Speech in Geert Wilders Trial
ATLAS SHRUGS: They are creating new charges against Geert Wilders, this century's Winston Churchill. This is bad news for Wilders, but worse news for us. For Wilders is merely our proxy in this war on Western civilization and values. This is our battle.

The escalation in the persecution of Wilders is directly related to his popularity. He is now the number one party in the Netherlands (origin of recent Muslim plane attackers). So not only is Wilders being prosecuted, but so are a majority of beleaguered Dutch folks.

Islamic jihad can keep up its relentless destruction of the West but do not dare talk about it.

The trial begins January 20th. >>> Pamela Geller | Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Diplomatic Row After Jacqui Smith Bans from Britain Dutch MP Who Planned to Show Anti-Islam Film at House of Lords
Photo of Geert Wilders courtesy of Radio Netherlands Worldwide
MAIL Online: A bitter diplomatic row erupted today after Britain banned a controversial Right-wing Dutch politician from the UK.

Geert Wilders had been invited by the Ukip peer Lord Pearson to show his anti-Islam film 'Fitna' and hold a Q&A session in Parliament tomorrow.

The 17-minute documentary features verses from the Koran - which it brands a 'fascist book' - alongside images of the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks.

It equates Islam's holy text with violence and ends with a call to Muslims to remove its 'hate-preaching' verses.

After being alerted to the private screening, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith barred Mr Wilders on the grounds that his visit was a threat to 'community harmony and therefore public security'.

But the move brought a furious response from the Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen - a political opponent of Mr Wilders - who complained directly to the Foreign Secretary David Miliband in a 'curt' telephone call.

'The fact that a Dutch parliamentarian is refused entry to another EU country is highly regrettable,' he said.

However, Britain is refusing to give way, even though Mr Wilders is a democratically-elected politician and the leader of a legitimate political party.

A defiant Mr Wilders, who claims to have visited the House of Lords in December, called the decision 'cowardly' and vowed last night to go ahead with his visit.

'Let them try to detain me,' he said. 'I'll see what happens at the border. Let them put me in handcuffs. We are talking here about a European Union country, one of the oldest democracies in the Western world.'

While Mr Verhagen said the Dutch government would press Britain to reverse the ban, Lord Pearson said he was 'very surprised' to hear the news.

Under UK and EU immigration rules, a person can be refused entry to Britain, 'if his exclusion is justified on grounds of public policy, public security or public health.'

The Home Office refused to comment on the individual case of Mr Wilders.

But a spokesman said: 'The Government opposes extremism in all its forms. It will stop those who want to spread extremism, hatred and violent messages in our communities from coming to our country.

'We endorse the original condemnation of the film 'Fitna' by the Dutch Government, and feel that it serves no constructive purpose. >>> By Michael Lea | Wednesday, February 11, 2009

RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: Wilders to Travel to Great Britain Despite Ban

The leader of the populist Freedom Party, Geert Wilders, says he will travel to Great Britain on Thursday in spite of a decision by the British government to refuse him entry. The British authorities say he is not welcome because his visit could pose a threat to public order. Mr Wilders had been invited by a member of the House of Lords to show his film Fitna. Members of the British Muslim community have protested against plans to show the film.

The British refusal to deny entry to a Dutch MP has been condemned by politicians from across the Dutch political spectrum. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has contacted his British counterpart David Milibrand and protested against the decision. [Source: RNW] Wednesday, February 11, 2009

AFP: Far-right Dutch MP Ignores Britain on Entry Refusal

THE HAGUE — A far-right Dutch politician facing trial after likening Islam to Nazism vowed Wednesday to press ahead with a planned trip to London despite Britain's refusal to grant him entry.

"I am going tomorrow. We will see what will happen," Geert Wilders, best known for his anti-Islam short film "Fitna", told AFP.

He said his plane was scheduled to land at Heathrow airport on Thursday at 1305 GMT.

Wilders, 45, is the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV), which has nine seats in parliament.

British authorities informed Wilders on Tuesday that his presence in the United Kingdom would pose a "genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society".

"Your statements about Muslims and their beliefs, as expressed in your film 'Fitna' and elsewhere, would threaten community harmony and therefore public security," said a letter addressed to Wilders and made available to AFP. >>> | Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Listen BBC video: Geert Wilders will come to the UK regardless >>>

BBC:
Geert Wilders Banned from Entering UK >>>

THE GUARDIAN:
Twaddle, Twaddle, Twaddle from the Left-leaning Guardian >>>

THE SPECTATOR: Britain Capitulates to Terror

If anyone had doubted the extent to which Britain has capitulated to Islamic terror, the banning of Geert Wilders a few hours ago should surely open their eyes. Wilders, the Dutch member of parliament who had made an uncompromising stand against the Koranic sources of Islamist extremism and violence, was due to give a screening of Fitna, his film on this subject, at the House of Lords on Thursday. This meeting had been postponed after Lord Ahmed had previously threatened the House of Lords authorities that he would bring a force of 10,000 Muslims to lay siege to the Lords if Wilders was allowed to speak. To their credit, the Lords authorities had stood firm and said extra police would be drafted in to meet this threat and the Wilders meeting should go ahead.

But now the government has announced that it is banning Wilders from the country. A letter from the Home Secretary’s office to Wilders, delivered via the British embassy in the Hague, said:

...the Secretary of State is of the view that your presence in the UK would pose a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society. The Secretary of State is satisfied that your statements about Muslims and their beliefs, as expressed in your film Fitna and elsewhere would threaten community harmony and therefore public security in the UK.

So let’s get this straight. The British government allows people to march through British streets screaming support for Hamas, it allows Hizb ut Tahrir to recruit on campus for the jihad against Britain and the west, it takes no action against a Muslim peer who threatens mass intimidation of Parliament, but it bans from the country a member of parliament of a European democracy who wishes to address the British Parliament on the threat to life and liberty in the west from religious fascism.

It is he, not them, who is considered a ‘serious threat to one of the fundamental interests of society’. Why? Because the result of this stand for life and liberty against those who would destroy them might be an attack by violent thugs. The response is not to face down such a threat of violence but to capitulate to it instead. >>> Melanie Phillips | Wednesday, February 11, 2009

LIVE LEAK: Fitna


The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Outrageous! Geert Wilders to Be Deported from Cowardly Britain!
Geert Wilders, the controversial right-wing Dutch MP, is to be deported after being refused entry to Britain at London's Heathrow Aiport.

Photo of Geert Wilders courtesy of The Telegraph
Wilders, who is the leader of the Freedom Party, flew into the UK in the face of a ban from the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith just after 2pm to show an anti-Muslim film at the House of Lords.

He was seized by two border guards who boarded the BMI aircraft as it sat on the tarmac and was marched into a side room in the main Terminal One building.

The politician, who was invited by the UKIP peer Lord Pearson and cross-bencher Baroness Cox, had earlier been warned that Miss Smith viewed his presence in the country as a threat to the “fundamental interests of society”.

The Home Office refused to confirm the flight on which the politician would be placed.

But Mr Wilders’s spokesman in Amsterdam said that he understood that he would sent back to the Dutch capital within two hours.

As he was escorted off the aircraft Mr Wilders said: “Is this how Great Britain welcomes a democrat?” Geert Wilders to Be Deported after Being Refused Entry to Britain >>> | Thursday, February 12, 2009

THE SUN: Far-right MP Is Sent Packing

A CONTROVERSIAL far-right Dutch MP banned from the UK over his anti-Islamic views was stopped from entering Britain today.

Geert Wilders had been due to show his 17-minute film Fitna which refers to the Koran as a “fascist book”, in the House of Lords.

He arrived at Heathrow’s Terminal 1 today on a BMI flight from Amsterdam but was taken into a side room by immigration officials.

The politician then said he was being returned to Holland. >>> Staff Reporter, The Sun, Thursday, February 12, 2009

BBC: Dutch MP Banned from Entering UK

Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who once described the Koran as a "fascist book", has been banned from entering the UK, amid fears over public security. >>>

LIVE LEAK: Fitna


NZZ Online: Islamkritiker Wilders in London in Gewahrsam genommen: Trotz Verbots nach Grossbritannien gereist

Foto von Geert Wilders dank The Independent
Der wegen islamfeindlicher Äusserungen in Grossbritannien mit einem Einreiseverbot belegte niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders ist auf dem Londoner Flughafen Heathrow in Gewahrsam genommen worden. In den Niederlanden wird gegen Wilders wegen Volksverhetzung ermittelt.

Der wegen islamfeindlicher Äusserungen in Grossbritannien mit einem Einreiseverbot belegte niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders ist auf dem Londoner Flughafen Heathrow in Gewahrsam genommen worden. Seine Abschiebung in die Niederlande stehe unmittelbar bevor, sagte Wilders am Donnerstag der Nachrichtenagentur AP. Die britische Regierung hatte Wilders mitgeteilt, er sei nicht willkommen, weil er eine Bedrohung für «die Harmonie der Gemeinschaft und damit die öffentlichen Sicherheit» darstelle. >>> ap | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009

POLITIKEN: Denmark: Governing Liberal Party Spokesman Lambasts UK

Denmark’s governing Liberal Party Foreign Policy Spokesman Søren Pind has entered the debate concerning a decision by Britain to ban the entry of the populist Dutch politician Geert Wilders because of his extreme views about Islam.

“Unless you’re a terrorist or something like that, you of course should be able to travel freely within the European Union. That’s the whole idea behind European rights and freedoms,” says Pind.

Geert Wilders, who is the leader of the populist Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, is best-known abroad for his film ‘Fitna’ which compares Islam with terrorism and which has caused indignation across the world. The European Parliament has banned the film being shown in the EP.

Wilders was originally invited to the United Kingdom by a peer of the House of Lords to show his film Fitna and take part in a discussion afterwards.

EU rules

Under EU rules, Britain is entitled to deny Wilders entry into the country if he is considered to be a danger to public order.

But Pind says that while it is acceptable to deny large groups of Nazis, squatters and hooligans entry into a country – banning an elected politician from another EU country endangers basic freedoms.

“This case sounds all the alarm bells. When you subject an unimportant Dutch MP to this sort of treatment it shows just how far the authorities are willing to go to put the brakes on his freedoms. That is not gratifying,” Pind says.

Freedoms

“This is an elected politician who has a certain view about an ideology. Some see him as being drastic, but he doesn’t affect the groups that are a danger to public order. This case infringes on our view of freedom,” Pind says. >>> Edited by Julian Isherwood | Thursday, February 12, 2009

PINK NEWS: Gay Humanists Back Dutch MP's Right to Criticise Islam

A gay humanist group has said the Home Secretary was wrong to ban a Dutch MP who is critical of Islam.

Jaqui [sic] Smith said that Geert Wilders, a leading rightwing politician and a fierce critic of Muslims, has been denied permission to enter Britain on the grounds that his presence would damage community relations and threaten public order.

The Pink Triangle Trust (PTT) had declared its opposition to the ban.

"We maintain that in a free society anyone should have the right to criticise religion without being banned, dubbed racist or, even worse, threatened with death as the humanist author Saman Rushdie was over his book The Satanic Verses," said PTT secretary George Broadhead.

"There can be no doubt from reading its holy books, the Qur'an and the Hadith, that Islam is a homophobic religion, which at worst has lead to the barbaric torture and murder of LGBT people in Islamic theocracies like Iran and Saudi Arabia.

"But it is also deeply mysoginist and hostile to apostates and unbelievers like humanists. >>> Staff Writer, Pink News | Thursday, February 12, 2009

Jackboot Jacqui! >>>

THE TELEGRAPH: Whatever Happened to Free Speech?

Britain was once renowned around the world for defending people's right to speak out. Not any more, says Philip Johnston.

The refusal to admit the oddball Dutch MP Geert Wilders to Britain yesterday marks a further retreat from this country's traditions of free speech. It stands in stark contrast to what happened exactly 20 years ago tomorrow, when Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman Rushdie for insulting the Prophet Mohammed in his book The Satanic Verses.

In retrospect, that was a turning point in the country's history of free speech, an event that appeared to demonstrate indomitability, yet turned out to be a defeat. An unambiguous stand was taken on Rushdie's behalf by the government of the day, which denounced the threat to his life and broke off diplomatic relations with Iran. Sir Geoffrey Howe, then foreign secretary, told the Commons: "This action is taken in plain defence of the right within the law of freedom of speech and the right within the law of freedom of protest."

Despite mass book burnings, protests around the world, including in Bolton and Bradford, and threats of violence, the work continued to be published and sold. How could it be otherwise? This was Britain, after all, the citadel of free speech. We would not be brow beaten into denying the rights of one of our citizens, or anyone else for that matter, from having their say, however controversial or offensive their opinion might be.

Sadly, the past two decades have seen a pusillanimous flight into cowering capitulation. We seem to have forgotten what free speech entails, how hard it was fought for and how important it is to defend. It is the value with which this country is most associated throughout the world. It is why Britain has been home, over the centuries, to so many political dissidents who would have been persecuted elsewhere, and why those who live in autocracies that brook no criticism tune into the BBC World Service.

They see this as a place able to accommodate opinions that are obviously crazy, offensive or even seditious, a country where a view can be held and expressed, provided – and this has always been true – that it does not foment violence.

Geert Wilders is an anti-Islamist who regards the Koran as inherently inflammatory and believes he is justified in saying so. He has made a 17-minute film, Fitna – an Arabic word meaning test of faith – setting out this thesis and was invited to show it at a private screening in the House of Lords. The film can be seen on the internet, so there is no question of stopping its dissemination. It contains some unpleasant images of bomb explosions, of captured hostages facing death and of chanting mobs interlaced with passages from the Koran.

Wilders claims that these verses from the holy book of Islam are being used today to incite modern Muslims to behave violently and anti-democratically. You may think he is wrong to say this; you may agree with him; you might, like the lords who invited him to Britain, think it is something worthy of discussion, given the obvious problems caused around the world by radical Islamism and the violence perpetrated in the name of the religion. It is hard, in a free country, to understand why it is a view that must be suppressed.

What, then, possessed the Home Office to ban Wilders – an unprecedented action against a democratically-elected politician from a European state, who is entitled to free movement within the EU? By any measure, it was an extraordinary decision; yet it was not even raised in parliament, the supposed guardian of our freedoms, though some MPs have commented on the ban, largely to support it. >>> Philip Johnston | Thursday, February 12, 2009

BBC: Geert Wilders Ban: Your Comments

A Dutch MP who described the Koran as a "fascist book" has been banned by the Home Office from entering the UK amid fears his presence would endanger public security.

Freedom Party MP Geert Wilders was due to show his controversial film - which links the Islamic holy book to terrorism - in the UK's House of Lords.

BBC News website readers have been getting in touch with their views on the decision.

Below is a selection [censored, maybe?] of your comments: >>> | Thursday, February 12, 2009

TIMES ONLINE: Anti-Islamist Politician Geert Wilders Refused Entry to Britain

The far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders was turned away from Heathrow today after testing the Home Secretary’s ban on him entering the country.

Immigration officials denied the Dutch MP entry to the country after the Government decided he should not be allowed to attend a screening of his controversial anti-Islamist film tonight.

Mr Wilders said: "I am in a detention centre at Heathrow ... I am detained. They took my passport. I will not be allowed to enter the country. They will send me back within a few hours.”

On his flight to London, he told The Times that the British Government was “the biggest bunch of cowards in Europe”.

”It is easy to invite people you agree with, it is more difficult to invite people you disagree with and this is the proof of the pudding," he said. >>> David Charter, Heathrow, and Nico Hines | Thursday, February 12, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback (US) Barnes & Noble >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Hardcover (US) Barnes & Noble >>>

Thomas Landen's Viewpoint - The Wilders Controversy: Do Europeans Still Belong in Europe?
Geert Wilders likens Al-Qur’an al Karim (القرآن الكريم), ‘The Glorious Qur’an’, to Hitler’s Mein Kampf
BRUSSELS JOURNAL: While America is focused on its elections, which might bring the first Muslim-born president in the White House, Europe is anxiously awaiting Geert Wilders’ movie on the Koran. The Dutch government fears that the release of the movie might lead to terror attacks on the Netherlands or on Dutch citizens abroad. There are rumours that the government may seek to ban the film. NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, a Dutchman, has also expressed concern about the Wilders movie. On Sunday he told Dutch television that he fears retaliations against Dutch NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Last week Wilders complained that the Dutch authorities are putting him under pressure not to release his 10-minute film. Yesterday, a poll showed that the governing Dutch Christian-Democrats of Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende are losing popularity because of their attempts to tone Wilders down. Dutch public opinion, however, tends to be very volatile. Two month ago, I wrote here that “if the Wilders movie results in (fatal) attacks on Dutch citizens and Dutch interests abroad, it might lead to an anti-Wilders backlash. The Dutch are not Danes. They have a history of swinging from one extreme to another. Like the Spanish after the Madrid bombings they might paint their hands white and surrender.”

There is little doubt that Muslim radicals are already preparing ‘punishment’ for the Dutch if they deem the Wilders movie to be ‘blasphemous.’ Westerners do not seem to have a clue about what Muslims consider to be blasphemous. The mere depiction of Muhammad enrages Muslims, even if Wilders were to do it ‘in a respectful way.’ On the other hand, however, things that seem outrageous to Westerners will not at all be outrageous to Muslims. Wilders likes to point out that the Koran is “as intolerant and dangerous as Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.” If his movie shows praying Muslims next to marching Nazis, or if it compares Koran verses to anti-Semitic rants by Hitler, that may seem outrageous to Western eyes. However, a Nazi comparison, which is the worst form of libel in contemporary Holland and destroys a man’s reputation there, will hardly affect Muslim radicals who tend to agree with Hitler and who will in all likelihood take the comparison as a compliment rather than an insult.

Al-Qaeda is not going to blow The Hague to Kingdom Come for comparing Osama bin-Laden to Adolf Hitler, but they will be inclined to take revenge over a cartoon, a picture or a joke. Suppose Wilders’ movie is outrageous by our standards, but not by those of Muslim extremists. Hence, nothing happens after the release of the movie. Then Dutch public opinion will in all likelihood regard Wilders as the extremist, as someone who tries to provoke others with Nazi slurs, and the Muslim radicals as paragons of tolerance.

Obviously, Westerners – and especially elected officials such as Geert Wilders – should never be forced to take the sensitivities of other cultures into account when making public statements (be it in a film or otherwise) in their own countries. The fact that Wilders is under considerable pressure to do just that shows that the Netherlands is no longer his home country and that it has already been penetrated and colonized by another culture. There is no place anymore that Europeans can call their own. The Wilders Controversy: Do Europeans Still Belong in Europe? >>> By Thomas Landen | Tue, 2008-03-04

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Einreise verweigert: Den Haag und London streiten über Wilders
Das Einreiseverbot für den niederländischen Rechtspopulisten sorgt für diplomatische Verstimmungen zwischen den Niederlanden und Großbritannien. Den Haag ortet eine Verletzung der Bewegungsfreiheit.

Nachdem dem niederländischen Rechtspopulisten und Islam-Kritiker Geert Wilders die Einreise nach Großbritannien verweigert worden ist, herrscht diplomatische Verstimmung zwischen beiden Ländern. Der Botschafter der Niederlande in London, Pim Waldeck, habe das "Missfallen" seiner Regierung zum Ausdruck gebracht, berichteten Zeitungen am Freitag. Der christdemokratische Außenminister Maxime Verhagen sah sich gezwungen, dem Rechtspopulisten Wilders Unterstützung bei einer möglichen gerichtlichen Beschwerde gegen die britischen Behörden anzubieten.

Zugleich machte Verhagen deutlich, dass Den Haag kein Interesse an einer Eskalation des Streits mit einem seiner engsten Verbündeten habe. Mit dem Versuch, Druck auszuüben, sei eine Einreise Wilders in Großbritannien nicht zu erreichen, sagte er.

Nach Angaben der niederländischen Zeitung "Trouw" reagierte London auf diplomatischem Wege "gereizt" auf die Kritik. In Kommentaren hieß es, das Vorgehen der Briten gegen ein gewähltes Mitglied des niederländischen Parlaments sei ungeachtet der Ansichten von Wilders eine klare Verletzung des Rechts auf Bewegungs- und Meinungsfreiheit in der EU. >>> Ag, DiePresee.com | Freitag, 13, Februar 2009

TAGES ANZEIGER: Holländischer Politiker am Flughafen London festgenommen

Der niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders darf wegen seiner islamkritischen Äusserungen nicht mehr nach England einreisen. Jetzt tat er es doch – und wurde in Heathrow abgefangen.

Die britische Regierung hatte Wilders mitgeteilt, er sei nicht willkommen, weil er eine Bedrohung für «die Harmonie der Gemeinschaft und damit die öffentlichen Sicherheit» darstelle. Seine Abschiebung zurück in die Niederlande stehe unmittelbar bevor, sagte Wilders heute.

Die britische Botschaft in den Niederlanden informierte Wilders in dieser Woche darüber, dass er nicht ins Vereinigte Königreich einreisen dürfe. Der Abgeordnete kritisierte das Verbot als Versuch, die Redefreiheit zu unterdrücken, und reiste dennoch nach Grossbritannien. Dem britischen Premierminister Gordon Brown warf er vor, eine servile Haltung gegenüber dem Islam einzunehmen. Der britische Aussenminister David Miliband sagte dem Sender BBC, Wilders habe sich eines «extremen anti-muslimischen Hasses» schuldig gemacht. >>> oku/ap | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Briten verbieten Wilders die Einreise

Der niederländische Islamkritiker Geert Wilders sorgte erneut für Furore: Wegen seiner radikalen Ansichten durfte er nicht nach Großbritannien reisen. In seiner Heimat spricht man von einem Affront - Wilders ist immerhin Parlamentarier.

Hamburg - Eigentlich wollte er Mitgliedern des britischen Oberhauses seinen islamkritischen Film "Fitna" zeigen und mit ihnen über Meinungsfreiheit diskutieren. Doch Geert Wilders kam lediglich bis zum Londoner Flughafen Heathrow. Dort nahmen ihn Zollbeamte in Gewahrsam und teilten ihm mit, dass er nicht willkommen sei und abgeschoben werde. Unverrichteter Dinge musste Wilders zurück in die Niederlande.

Das britische Innenministerium hatte ihm zuvor die Einreise verboten. Begründung: Der niederländische Rechtspopulist sei eine Gefahr für die öffentliche Sicherheit. Wilders war am Donnerstagnachmittag mit den Worten "wir werden ja sehen, was passiert" trotzdem losgeflogen.

Insgeheim hatte er wohl auf ein Einknicken der britischen Behörden gehofft. Großbritanniens Premierminister Gordon Brown bezeichnete er als "größten Feigling in Europa". >>> Von Christian Wiesel | Donnerstag, 12. Februar 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Taschenbuch) – Deutschland & Österreich >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Gebundene Ausgabe) – Deutschland & Österreich >>>

Ezra Levant on Geert Wilders' Acquittal
A Dutch court on Thursday acquitted controversial right-wing populist politician Geert Wilders on all charges relating to anti-Islamic statements he made in his films and on the Internet. The court said Wilders' comments had been part of a legitimate public debate.

After nearly six months, a trial against Dutch firebrand Geert Wilders ended Thursday in Amsterdam. A court acquitted the right-wing populist politician on charges of incitement, racial hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

In his verdict, leading judge Marcel van Oosten said that, while Wilders' statements were indeed offensive to Muslims, they were also part of the legitimate political debate. Wilders' claim that Islam is a violent religion and his demands for an immigration ban for Muslims had to be viewed in the context of the larger societal debate about immigration policies, the judge argued. He said the statements could not be directly blamed for increasing levels of discrimination against Dutch Muslims.

Wilders' supporters greeted the ruling, and the politician himself smiled as he left the courtroom.

The politician had been on trial since October 2010 because he compared the Koran with Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in Internet forums and in "Fitna" , a film he made that was extremely critical of Islam. In his closing statement, Wilders said that his controversial statements against Islam were protected by the right to free speech. Wilders said he believed the process of Islamization presents a threat to Europe and that it is his right and duty to warn the public about it.

If he had been convicted, Wilders could have faced up to one year in jail or a fine of up to €7,600 ($10,865). At the peak of the controversy over his statements, Wilders was once even banned from entering the United Kingdom.

After making strong gains in elections in the Netherlands last summer, Wilders' party has become the third strongest in parliament. Although it is not technically part of the government, Wilders party supports the minority government, which is comprised of the center-right Liberal Party and the conservative Christian Democrats and which would collapse without backing from Wilders' Party of Freedom.

Wilders' comments sparked a massive debate on the integration of Muslims in Europe that has helped fuel other populist movements around the continent. In Germany , politician Thilo Sarrazin wrote a bestselling book warning that Muslim immigrants were dumbing the country down.


HT: Gates Of Vienna »

Dutch Unilever Director Wants Wilders Stopped
BRUSSELS JOURNAL: “Geert Wilders is evil, and evil has to be stopped.” These are the words of Doekle Terpstra, a member of the board of directors of Unilever Nederland. Last week Mr Terpstra founded an Anti-Wilders Movement. He told De Telegraaf newspaper (2 December): “It is important that the indigenous Dutch, too, rise in order to stop Wilders.” Unilever is an Anglo-Dutch multinational which manufactures and sells nutrition, hygiene and personal care products on five continents.

Geert Wilders is the leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV). He is an outspoken opponent of Islam and is living in hiding following death threats by Jihadists. Mr Wilders was one of the victors of the November 2006 general elections when his new party won 9 out of 150 seats in the Dutch Parliament. Recent polls indicate that the popularity of Geert Wilders’ PVV is increasing.

Mr Wilders has been accused of “Islamophobia” after calling the Koran a “fascist” book. He wants the Koran to be outlawed in the Netherlands because it “incites to hatred and killing and therefore has no place in our legal order.”

Last week Mr Wilders announced that he is launching a movie about Islam next month. Doekle Terpstra responded, saying the politician was abusing freedom of speech. Mr Terpstra launched an appeal to his countrymen to stop the PVV leader from preaching his “evil message.” To De Telegraaf, the largest paper in the Netherlands, he said that “Geert Wilders is evil, and evil has to be stopped.” Following Mr Terpstra’s appeal the death threats against Mr Wilders have intensified dramatically. In Gouda anti-Wilders activists painted swastikas and the slogan “Wilders must die” on the walls of a school.

Meanwhile pro-Wilders groups have begun a boycott of Unilever products because Mr Terpstra, though a former leftist trade unionist, is today a member of the board of directors of Unilever Nederland. Dutch Unilever Director Wants Wilders Stopped >>> From Thomas Landen

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Pays-Bas : un appel au meurtre de Geert Wilders lancé sur un site djihadiste
Dans cette intervention sur un site djihadiste, le populiste néerlandais Geert Wilders est accusé d'insulter le prophète et de se moquer de l'islam. Photo : Le Monde
LE MONDE: Feiz Muhammad, un prédicateur islamiste radical, a lancé un appel en vue du meurtre de Geert Wilders, le leader populiste du Parti pour la liberté (PVV) aux Pays-Bas. Les services antiterroristes néerlandais (AIVD) sont en possession de l'enregistrement d'un message posté sur un site djihadiste par cette figure connue de la mouvance radicale. Etabli en Australie, Feiz Muhammad répondait aux questions de jeune radicaux néerlandais, explique, vendredi 3 septembre, le site Web du quotidien De Telegraaf, où le message peut être consulté.

Dans cette intervention, M. Wilders est accusé d'insulter le prophète et de se moquer de l'islam. Dès lors, il convient de "le tuer" et de "le décapiter", indique le prédicateur. Informé par De Telegraaf, M. Wilders s'est dit "choqué". Il a eu, jeudi soir, un entretien avec le coordinateur néerlandais de la lutte antiterroriste, Erik Akerboom, auquel il reproche de ne pas l'avoir immédiatement informé de cette affaire. >>> Jean-Pierre Stroobants, Bruxelles, correspondant | Vendredi 03 Septembre 2010

Radical Jihadist Terrorist & Hate Preacher Threatens to Behead Geert Wilders


LE MONDE: Aux Pays-Bas, Geert Wilders irrite en se prononçant contre la mosquée de Ground Zero >>> Jean-Pierre Stroobants, Bruxelles, correspondant | Lundi 09 Août 2010

Geert Wilders Denounces Australian Muslim Leader's Call for Beheading
THE TELEGRAPH: Geert Wilders, the maverick Dutch politician, denounced a Australian Muslim leader’s call for his beheading for denigrating Islam.

Mr Wilders, who lives under perpetual death threat and is the country’s most heavily guarded politician, demanded assurance from the country’s Interior Ministry that the message was been treated seriously.

“This is really terrible news and a very serious threat, unfortunately,” Mr Wilders said.“I will ask for clarification from the Dutch minister of interior/justice why the secret service and anti-terrorism unit NCTb have not informed me before and what the consequences will be for me.”

Sydney-born Feiz Muhammad posted a speech on an Internet site in which he condemned Mr Wilders as “this Satan, this devil, this politician in Holland” and called on his followers to “chop off his head” because Wilders “denigrated” Islam. >>> | Friday, September 03, 2010

FINANCIAL TIMES: Wilders pulls out as Dutch talks fail: Geert Wilders, the anti-Islamic Dutch politician, ruled himself out of a government role on Friday as the latest attempt to form a ruling coalition in the Netherlands collapsed. >>> Michael Steen in Amsterdam | Friday, September 03, 2010

Bullshit from ‘The Financial Times’ on Islam and Immigration >>>

Congress Shows Its Commitment to Freedom of Expression by Welcoming Geert Wilders. Americans Have More Backbone Than Craven Brits
It is a nonsense to imply that only Geert Wilders claims that Islam inspires terrorism. It is a fact that it does so; and anybody who knows anything about Islam knows that. It should come as no surprise to those at the top. In fact, if they were on top of their jobs, they wouldn’t need people like Geert Wilders to tell them the facts!

It is shameful and idiotic for the British government to have turned Geert Wilders away at Heathrow. In doing so, Brown & Co have shot the messenger. Always a stupid thing to do! In doing so, they have shown that they are not committed to freedom of expression, and not committed to liberty, either. The Brown government, with its craven Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, and Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, a woman of manifest incompetence, has disgraced Great Britain. She has destroyed Britain’s image of being the mother of all democracies. I can think of no action this government could have taken to do more damage to the freedoms Brits have enjoyed over the centuries, and nor can I think of any action it could have taken to demean the reputation of this once proud nation. Churchill will surely be turning in his grave!

But, of course, anyone with a few grey cells knows why this government banned him: Out of fear of Muslims, fear of Islam, and fear of losing the Muslim vote. Far more Muslims vote Labour than Conservative. Furthermore, Lord Ahmed, the Muslim peer, wields far too much power in the House of Lords. He should be cut down to size.

For anyone who thinks that Geert Wilders is showing double standards by wanting freedom for himself to warn the West of the dangers of Islam and Islamofascism whilst wanting to ban the Koran at the same time, divest yourself of the notion. There are no double standards there at all. Even in a free society, if you find that there is a growing ideology out there which wants to destroy the freedoms you enjoy, then you’d be a fool not to ban it. After all, this is not without precedence, is it? Nobody can form a Nazi party in the United Kingdom; and as Geert Wilders says, Mein Kampf is banned in the Netherlands, as it is in Germany and Austria. Yet these nations still enjoy freedom.

This government needs to get a grip. – ©Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Republican Senator Jon Kyl is hosting a film screening at the Capitol building in Washington for a [sic] the controversial Right-wing Dutch politician who claims that Islam inspires terrorism.

Mr Kyl is sponsoring the Thursday event for Geert Wilders, who was denied entry to Britain earlier this month after British officials said he posed a threat to public order.

The Home Office refused him entry on the grounds he "would threaten community security and therefore public security".

The elected Dutch MP had been invited to the House of Lords to show his 17-minute film, Fitna, which criticises the Koran as a "fascist book" and compares Islam to Nazism.

Mr Wilders' 15-minute film, Fitna, juxtaposes verses from the Koran with images of violence and compares Islam to Nazism.

Mr Wilders has defended himself against accusations of "double standards" over his own demand for freedom of speech alongside his calls for the Koran to be banned.

"I want to ban the Koran," he admitted.

"In the Netherlands we have banned Mein Kampf. I see a comparison between the two books. Not only are both books of totalitarian ideology but they both also incite violence." Dutch Anti-Muslim Politician Geert Wilders to Screen Fitna Film in Washington >>> | Tuesday, February 24, 2009

MAIL Online: Now Dutch MP Who Was Banned from Britain for His Anti-Islam Film Is Welcomed in the U.S.

Jon Kyl, host of the American film screening of Fitna, Geert Wilders’ amazingly accurate depiction of Islam. Photo courtesy of the Mail Online
A controversial Dutch MP banned from Britain for his fair right views will be allowed to screen his controversial anti-Islamic film in United States.

Geert Wilders, who was last month refused entry into Britain, will screen screen his anti-Islam film Fitna in Washington in two days time.

Republican Senator Jon Kyl will host Thursday's film screening for the far-right Dutch lawmaker who claims that Islam inspires terrorism.

The 15-minute film sparked controversy after it juxtaposed verses from the Koran with images of violence by Muslims.
Wilders had been invited to Britain by a member of Parliament's upper house, the House of Lords, to show his film.

But the British government refused his entry into the country, saying he posed a threat to 'community harmony.'
The Dutch MP also called Koran a 'fascist book' and said it should be banned.

But Kyl agreed to hold the event because he said 'all too often, people who have the courage to point out the dangers of militant Islamists find themselves vilified and endangered.'

Thursday's event is being sponsored by the International Free Press Society and is headed by Danish activist Lars Hedegaard, and the Center for Security Policy, a think tank in Washington led by Republican Frank Gaffney. >>> Mail Foreign Service | Tuesday, February 24, 2009

VIDDLER: Fitna


DIE PRESSE: Islam-Kritiker Wilders zeigt seinen Film im US-Kapitol

Der niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders wird am Donnerstag seinen umstrittenen Kurzfilm "Fitna" auf Einladung des republikanischen Senators Kyl vorführen. Ein ähnliches Vorhaben in London scheiterte wegen eines Einreiseverbots.

Der niederländische Abgeordnete Geert Wilders wird am Donnerstag seinen umstrittenen Anti-Islam-Kurzfilm "Fitna" im Kapitol, dem Sitz des US-Kongresses in Washington, zeigen. Eingeladen hat ihn der republikanische US-Senator Jon Kyl. Das teilte Kyls Sprecher Ryan Patmintra am Montag mit.

Mit einem ähnlichen Vorhaben in Großbritannien war Wilders Anfang des Monats gescheitert. Auch dort wollte er auf Einladung eines Mitglieds des Oberhauses den Film zeigen. Die britische Regierung belegte den Rechtspopulisten jedoch wegen Islam-feindlicher Äußerungen mit einem Einreiseverbot. Er sei nicht willkommen, weil er eine Bedrohung für "die Harmonie der Gemeinschaft und damit die öffentlichen Sicherheit" darstelle, erklärte die Regierung. Film-Vorführung nicht öffentlich >>> Ag | Dienstag, 24. Februar 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Hip, Hip, Hoorah! Geert Can Enter the United Kingdom!
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: It’s being reported that Dutch MP Geert Wilders has won his appeal against being banned from the UK. According to Radio Netherlands:

The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in London has ruled that the British government was wrong to deny populist Dutch politician Geert Wilders entry to the United Kingdom. Mr Wilders planned to show his film Fitna to the British parliament. The government refused to allow him to enter the UK on the grounds that he represented a threat to public order. It is not clear whether the tribunal’s decision means that Mr Wilders is now free to travel to the UK. The British government has not yet reacted to the ruling.

Whether or not one agrees with Wilders’ views on Islam, which make me look like “Koran” Armstrong in comparison, the ban was outrageous. Britain allows all sorts of shady and colourful foreigners to use our premises for their nefarious activities – in contrast here was an elected representative of a democratic European party who was invited by two British parliamentarians to privately broadcast a film about religious fundamentalism.

Wilders had every right to come here, and as far as I can see the only reason he was banned was cowardly British fear of French-style riots. Lord Ahmed, a self-proclaimed Muslim “leader” who, unlike Wilders, has never been elected by anyone, said that Wilders’s criticism of his religion was “an incitement of religious and racial hatred”. He denies saying he would bring down 10,000 protesters to the Lords, but there was a definite air of surrender in the air.

Meanwhile the Government’s great friends, the Muslim Council of Britain, called Wilders “an open and relentless preacher of hate”. (This is the same MCB that has been reluctant to attend Holocaust Memorial Day and objects to mention of the “alleged Armenian genocide” and the “so-called gay Holocaust”.)

Wilders for his part has never preached hatred against any people, only a religion, and has flatly said “I don’t hate Muslims, I hate Islam”. (Plenty of my friends absolutely hate Christianity and wish it driven off the face of the earth, but I don’t take it as a personal affront. That’s because I’m a grown-up). Wilders has also compared the Koran to Mein Kampf and its founder to a terrorist, and has talked about a growing Islamic population with dread. He said: “Take a walk down the street and see where this is going. You no longer feel like you are living in your own country. There is a battle going on and we have to defend ourselves. Before you know it there will be more mosques than churches.” Geert Wilders is free to enter Britain >>> Ed West | Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Fitna: The Original Version


NRC HANDELSBLAD: Court rules UK was wrong to bar Geert Wilders >>> Reuters, RNW | Tuesday, October 13, 2009

NRC HANDELSBLAD audio: Wilders reacts to UK ruling >>>

On Geert Wilders
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: "Wilders, Wilders, Wilders" screams another full-page article over Dutch Freedom Party MP Geert Wilders in today's Volkskrant. This time however de Volkskrant is not reporting about the Dutch media, but about the media in Muslim countries.

According to Gulsen Devre who has been working in the Egyptian capital Cairo for the past year as correspondent for islamonline.net, an international Islamic website, "Here they hardly know anything about the film made by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Wilders is getting all the attention". She says the Wilders effect first surfaced last February when he introduced his ‘ripping up the Qu'ran plan': "If Muslims wanted to remain in the Netherlands they had to rip up the half of the holy book."

De Volkskrant writes that the Dutch woman of Turkish origin was surprised how well-informed Egyptians were about Wilders. Now his plans to make a film about the Qu'ran have led to even more attention in the Egyptian media. She says much of the image of the Netherlands is being formed by the Freedom Party leader. "While many Dutch people have an extreme image of the Muslim world, many Egyptians have the same kind of image of the Netherlands. They think it must be really awful for Muslims to live in the midst of people such as Wilders."

Wilders spreading through virtual Muslim world at 'speed of lightning'


De Volkskrant reports that Wilders' ‘provocations' are spreading through the virtual Muslim world ‘at the speed of lightning'. "All of his statements - from the banning of the Qu'ran to that comparing the Prophet Muhammad with Hitler - are getting a lot of attention. They are being reported in quality newspapers and forum users air their rage on the Internet. " The paper writes that while coverage in serious media such as Al Jazeera is usually fairly balanced "the Netherlands still doesn't look so good".

The ultra-conservative Iranian newspaper Keyhan had a full-page anti-Dutch article in December that described the Netherlands as "the cultural NATO against Islam". A member of a pro-democracy and human rights group in Iran told de Volkskrant that people in Iran and dictatorial Arab countries "don't make a difference between the government, parliament, political parties and the media. They don't understand that governments can't ban a cartoon or film."

Wilders scores big in hits on Arabic-language Internet


The newspaper Trouw has scanned the Arabic-language Internet and writes that "Wilders doesn't have anything to complain about when it comes to having his name recognised in the virtual Arab world." So far the populist MP can claim 66,000 hits on the Arabic-language version of Google, most of them concerning his controversial statements about Muslims and the Qu'ran. Dutch Press Review (January 22, 2008) >>> By Frank Scimone

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Christopher Caldwell: In Defence of the Right to Offend
FINANCIAL TIMES: The Netherlands has spent the past several weeks in a political crisis out of a novel by Borges. People are worried that a politician might say something he has already said. And they are divided over how to interpret a film that may not exist. Last August, the anti-immigration legislator, Geert Wilders, wrote in the daily De Volkskrant: “I’ve had enough of Islam in the Netherlands – not one more Muslim immigrant. I’ve had enough of Allah and Mohammed in the Netherlands – not one more mosque.” Mr Wilders, whose Freedom party controls nine of the 150 seats in the Dutch lower house, also urged banning the Koran, which he calls “the Islamic Mein Kampf ”.

But his announcement in late November that he would make a short film to that effect sent the government into a panic. The cabinet met in secret. It ordered foreign embassies to draw up evacuation plans in case of mob violence. It put the mayors of Dutch cities on alert. It arranged meetings with imams and other Muslim representatives, distancing itself from Mr Wilders’ positions. The interior, justice and foreign ministers summoned Mr Wilders to meetings, and the country’s terrorism co-ordinator warned him that he might have to leave the country for his own security. The government reportedly investigated whether it would be possible to block or delay Mr Wilders’s broadcast.

Not that there is anything illogical about taking precautions against radical Islam. When the director, Theo van Gogh, made a 10-minute film critical of Islam in 2004, he was murdered on the streets of Amsterdam by a Dutch-born Muslim. The printing of cartoons showing the prophet Mohammed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten sparked deadly riots around the world. Each time a gauntlet is thrown down, someone will credibly promise violence in the name of Islam. Mr Wilders’ film idea was no exception. At the European parliament in Strasbourg last week, Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun, Grand Mufti of Syria, warned that Mr Wilders would be responsible for any “violence and bloodshed” that resulted from his film – and that the Dutch people would, in turn, be responsible for reining him in. Noor Farida Ariffin, the departing Malaysian ambassador, told De Volkskrant: “Compared to what I’m expecting, the riots over the Danish cartoons will look like a picnic.”

The climate has grown still more raw in the Netherlands lately. Ehsan Jami, the controversial leader of a new “Ex-Muslims Committee”, founded in protest against the Koranic prescription of death for apostasy, has allied himself with Mr Wilders. The municipal museum in the Hague cancelled an exhibition by the Iranian Dutch photographer, Sooreh Hera, who had planned to show two homosexuals wearing masks of Mohammed and his revered son-in-law, Ali. Mr Wilders wrote a triumphant op-ed in de Volkskrant this week asking people to imagine what would happen if he had made a film describing the Bible as “fascistic”: “Would Dutch embassies in countries where a lot of Christians live, like Germany and Belgium, have notified Dutch residents and dusted off their evacuation plans?”

Was Mr Wilders asserting a right to free speech? Or was he dressing up a gratuitous religious insult in constitutional language? He was doing both, of course. In their eagerness to keep Mr Wilders from airing his argument, the Dutch authorities helped make it for him. They were unable to admit that widespread worries about violence stem from a problem (extremism in the Muslim world) and not just from an approach to a problem (Mr Wilders’s brusqueness). At a speech in Madrid, Maxime Verhagen, the foreign minister, said: “It is difficult to anticipate the content of the film, but freedom of expression doesn’t mean the right to offend.” It doesn’t? Well, if it doesn’t, then freedom of expression is not much of a right. But that does not end the discussion. >>> By Christopher Caldwell

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Bruce Bawer: A Dark Day for the Enlightenment
CITY JOURNAL: The Geert Wilders trial is an affront to Western liberty.

Since 9/11, there has been a series of red-letter dates that should figure in any future history of the Islamization of Europe. One thinks, for example, of the Madrid train bombings on March 11, 2004, and of the general election three days later, in which Spanish citizens, apparently bowing to the terrorists’ wishes, voted in the Socialists, who had promised to pull the nation’s troops out of Iraq. One thinks, too, of the London bombings on July 7, 2005; of the international violence that followed the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten’s publication of cartoons of Mohammed on September 30, 2005; and of the shameful episode in which editor Vebjørn Selbekk, under intense pressure from craven Norwegian government leaders, apologized to a gathering of imams on February 10, 2006, for having bravely reprinted the cartoons.

Many of these red-letter dates have been concentrated in the Netherlands, a small country that once upon a time—not so long ago, in fact—was perceived around the world as a beacon of freedom and tolerance. The murder of professor, author, and Islam critic Pim Fortuyn in Hilversum on May 6, 2002, was followed by that of filmmaker, raconteur, and Islam critic Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam on November 2, 2004, and by the resignation of politician and Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali from the Dutch parliament on May 16, 2006. Ali’s resignation came as the result of a cowardly effort by her legislative colleagues to remove from their ranks the voice of a heroine of liberty, whom they plainly perceived as nothing more than a troublemaker in a country whose political and cultural elite has, in modern times, been less driven by principle than by consensus and compromise.

Today, alas, is also a red-letter date in the terrible history of this period, and once again the setting is the Netherlands. The figure at the center of today’s infamy is Islam critic Geert Wilders, member of the Dutch Parliament, head of the Freedom Party, and currently the most popular politician in the country—a man who, like Fortuyn eight years ago, looks like a strong prospect to be his nation’s next prime minister. Yet if Wilders enjoys strong backing from the Dutch electorate, he is also—again like Fortuyn, and for that matter like van Gogh and Hirsi Ali—despised by the Dutch political, cultural, educational, media, and business establishment, which has plainly decided not to fight the Netherlands’ Islamization but rather to help the process go as smoothly as possible.

Members of this establishment have made many efforts to silence Wilders. When he announced in November 2007 that he was making a film about the Koran, members of the Dutch cabinet expressed regret that they had no authority to stop him. During the same month, a leading member of the Dutch establishment, Doekle Terpstra, organized a coalition of influential Dutchmen whose goal was to exclude Wilders’s views from the public square. “Wilders is the evil,” said Terpstra, “and that evil must be stopped.” In January 2008, a long list of celebrated Dutchmen signed a statement that appeared on the front page of the newspaper Trouw condemning Wilders’s “intolerance” and calling for “a new balance between the values of then and now.” Bernard Welten, Amsterdam’s police chief, held talks with imams about Wilders’s film; the country’s national counterterrorism coordinator proposed that Wilders leave the country after its release. Commenting on Wilders, a long line of top Dutch politicians declared, in effect, that freedom of speech didn’t include the freedom to offend. In April 2007, intelligence and security officials had called Wilders on the carpet and demanded that he tone down his rhetoric about Islam; in February 2008, the Dutch ministers of justice and foreign affairs summoned him to a similar dressing-down. Wilders’s film, Fitna, appeared online on March 27, 2008. … >>> Bruce Bawer | Wednesday, January 20, 2010

English translation: Summons of the Accused >>>

Bruce Bawer blogs here

Fitna the Movie

Judges Told to Step Down in Wilders Trial
Geert Wilders says freedom of speech in the Netherlands is on trial. Photo: BBC
BBC: Judges in the hate speech trial of Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders have been ordered to step down by an independent appeals panel.

The move follows a request by Mr Wilders' lawyers who said they feared the judges were biased against him.

The legal process that began in January must now begin again with new judges. The trial itself started in October.

Mr Wilders faces five charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

If found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail.

Mr Wilders' lawyer Bram Moszkowicz had argued that the bench at Amsterdam District Court had created "an impression of partiality" by putting off a decision on the defence's request to recall a witness.

Being denied the opportunity to recall the witness would "make it impossible for the defence to substantiate a crucial part of its case", he added.

A hastily convened panel said on Friday that it found the trial judges' decision to be "incomprehensible in the absence of any motivation".

They said that Mr Wilders' fear of bias as a result was "understandable". >>> | Friday, October 22, 2010

Geert Wilders Trial Faces Restart After Judges Dismissed
THE TELEGRAPH: The trial of Geert Wilders on charges of inciting racial hatred against Muslims will have [to] begin all over again after the controversial Dutch anti-Islam politician won an appeal to have his judges sacked for bias.

A Dutch court ruled in favour of a request by Mr Wilders' defence lawyer to have new trial judges installed after allegations of improper conduct by a member of a judicial appeals panel directly involved in the case.

"This gives me a new chance of a new fair trial. I am confident that I can only be acquitted because I have broken no law, but spoken the truth," he said.

Mr Wilders, 47, went on trial on October 4 for inciting hatred by describing Islam as Nazism and for comparing the "fascist" Koran to Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf", which is banned in the Netherlands.

The charges were laid before Dutch elections last June returned Mr Wilders' Freedom Party as the third largest in the country's parliament.

He and his party's 23 other MPs have lent their support to a minority Dutch conservative government in return for key policy concessions, such as a burka ban and new curbs on immigration. >>> Bruno Waterfield | Friday, October 22, 2010