NIS NEWS BULLETIN: 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. [SGP Wants FM Verhagen to Point out "Hypocrisy" of Islamic Countries]
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