THE OBSERVER: Radical anti-Islamic politics are under the microscope as a hero of the far right tries to capitalise on cultural divisions
In the street market outside Almere's glass-fronted Stadhuis – the council offices – stalls are selling clothes and toys, typical Dutch sausages and cuts of glistening ham. At another stall, occasional shoppers inspect piles of Islamic headscarves and ankle-length gowns. But if many of the councillors in the Stadhuis have their way, that stall will not be doing a roaring trade for much longer.
The party that won most seats in the municipal elections in Almere earlier this year – although it failed to form a governing coalition – would like to ban the wearing of headscarves in public buildings such as the Stadhuis, as well as banning the construction of new mosques. That party is the far-right Freedom Party (PVV), of Geert Wilders, the populist firebrand behind the anti-Islamic film Fitna, who has accused Muslims of trying to "colonise" his country.
Three months ago, almost a quarter of Almere's voters backed the PVV and Wilders was being tipped as a possible prime minister in forthcoming elections on 9 June. "Today Almere and The Hague," said Wilders –"tomorrow the whole of the Netherlands. This is our springboard for success."
His poll fortunes may have diminished somewhat since then, as the country's mainstream parties have toughened up their own acts on immigration. But the blond-mulleted Islamophobe may yet be credited with transforming how Holland does its politics. >>> Peter Beaumont, Almere | Sunday, May 16, 2010
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