Geert Wilders Anti-Islam Film Gets House of Lords Screening
THE GUARDIAN: Dutch far right politician, who was last year banned from the UK, said film showing was a 'victory for freedom of speech'
The controversial far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders appeared at the House of Lords today to screen an anti-Islam film and denounce the religion as "totalitarian" and incompatible with democracy.
The visit, which was originally planned for last year, sparked demonstrations from anti-fascists and a show of support from the far-right English Defence League.
Wilders, 46, who leads the Freedom party, was banned from the UK when Jacqui Smith was home secretary. She said his presence had the potential to "threaten community harmony and therefore public safety".
Wilders succeeded in getting the ban overturned and told a press conference that he had screened his film in the Lords and discussed it afterwards in what he termed a "victory for freedom of speech".
"I had to debate with people who disagreed with me and people who agreed with me," he said.
Wilders said he had "nothing against Muslims whatsoever" but Islam was a "totalitarian religion".
"Islamism and democracy are incompatible. The more Islam we have, the more freedom we will lose and this is something worth fighting for."
Wilders, whose film describes the Koran as a fascist book, has received death threats for denouncing Islam and has been under close protection for more than five years.
This afternoon he repeated the views that have angered Muslims in Europe and across the globe, saying Islam was a "fascist ideology", "a violent and dangerous religion and a retarded culture".
Wilders, who visited the Lords at the invitation of the UK Independence party leader Lord Pearson and the crossbencher Baroness Cox, said: "Cultural relativism is the greatest disease we face in Europe today."
Lord Pearson said that while he and Wilders – "a very great man" – agreed on many things he did not support his Dutch colleague's desire for the Koran to be outlawed.
"If Geert is still calling for the Koran to be banned like Mein Kampf then I would not agree with him," he said. "[But] the Koran should be very much more discussed among the Muslim community."
When Wilders was asked whether he would engage with Muslims who reinterpreted their holy book in a manner more compatible with his views, he replied: "If you tear the hateful passages out of the Koran, you would get Donald Duck."
In any case, he said, Muslims would never abandon the text of what he called "a terrible book". >>> Sam Jones | Friday, March 05, 2010
Geert Wilders celebrates the outcome of the municipal elections in Almere. Photograph: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: The Dutch anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders arrives in Britain today on the crest of an electoral triumph that could mean him entering government in a matter of months.
Mr Wilders’s Freedom Party made big gains in Dutch local elections this week, widely regarded as a dress rehearsal for the national poll on June 9.
He has been invited to the House of Lords by Lord Pearson of Rannoch, the UKIP leader, to show his controversial film Fitna. This has already provoked widespread anger for its crude juxtaposition of extremist atrocities, such as beheadings and the 9/11 attacks, with verses from the Koran.
The Freedom Party, founded by Mr Wilders in 2005, won in the town of Almere, near Amsterdam, and came second in The Hague, the only two places in which it fielded a candidate out of 394 cities and towns, aiming for maximum impact with minimum campaigning.
Opinion polls show Mr Wilders vying for the national lead with the Christian Democrats, whose coalition Government collapsed last month after the Labour Party walked out in a row over keeping Dutch troops in Afghanistan. >>> David Charter, Europe Correspondent | Friday, March 05, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT: Judges rule that London school's strict admissions policy is in breach of Race Discrimination Act
Britain's Jewish faith schools may have to revise their admission policies after the Court of Appeal ruled that the widely used criteria for selecting pupils breached the Race Discrimination Act.
In a far-reaching judgment, three judges found the well known JFS (formerly the Jews' Free School) in Brent, north-west London, racially discriminated against a 12-year-old boy by denying him a place at the school because his mother was not a recognised Jew.
The ruling was immediately attacked by the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sachs, who said he supported an appeal to the House of Lords to try to overturn the judgment so that Jews could "be true to the Jewish faith" by upholding the existing criteria for membership of the Jewish religion. >>> By Robert Verkaik, Law Editor | Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Very Honourable Indeed, M’Lords!
THE TELEGRAPH: Two Labour peers have been suspended from the House of Lords after they were found guilty of offering to change the law in return for money.
The Lords Committee for Privileges found the pair had broken rules . Photos courtesy of The Telegraph
Lord Truscott and Lord Taylor of Blackburn were unanimously found to have breached the Upper House's code of conduct which requires members to "always act on their personal honour". It is the first time in 350 years that peers have been banned in this way.
Four peers were caught speaking to undercover journalists posing as lobbyists and appeared willing to amend a Bill in return for cash.
The other peers implicated in the affair, Lord Moonie and Lord Snape, were cleared of wrongdoing but ordered to apologise to the Lords.
Lord Brabazon of Tara, Chairman of Committees, said: "This episode has done serious damage to the reputation of the House. We all have responsibility individually and collectively to uphold that reputation.
Geert Wilders Banned from the UK - Shameless Censorship
For God’s sake, the British government is so YELLOW! Appeasement of Islam is the name of the game! Gordon Brown, Jacqui Smith (Jackboot Jacqui), and David Miliband are all part of the ‘axis of cowardice’!
By disallowing Geert Wilders into the United Kingdom to show his film, Fitna, to the House of Lords, the UK has shown that it is well on the road to dhimmitude, well on the path which will lead to Eurabia.
Not since Neville Chamberlain has any British government shown such readiness to appease its enemies. And let’s make no mistake about it, Islam is the enemy, for it is the enemy of democracy and freedom, but nobody in the MSM or in politics wants to admit that this is so. But it is so. What else can an ideology be when it doesn’t recognize the separation of religion and politics? Whichever way anyone slices it, any ideology that does not regognize this separation, the sine qua non of democracy, can only be one thing: the enemy of democracy.
If you are aware of what is going on, then you must be, as am I, absolutely fed up with reading articles in the press which make excuses for the excesses of Islam and its adherents. You must also be sick to death of listening to, or reading about, politicians stating that Islam is not the problem. These people insist that some radical Muslims who espouse an extremist version of Islam are the problem. This is HS! Islam is the problem; and Islam pure and simple. There is, anyway, but one Islam. Any Muslim will tell you that. The moderate Muslims that politicians tell you about are non-existent, for moderate Islam doesn’t exist. There is but one Islam, and that’s Islam! The real deal!
A so-called ‘moderate Muslim’ is a Muslim who doesn’t follow his religion; and that’s no real Muslim at all!
What are we to do? Are we to wait until the crocodile devours us? Or are we to find our spunk and backbone, and confront this problem NOW, head on?
Our politicians and the people you watch on TV and listen to on your radio are spinning yarns, they’re peddling lies. They will go on doing so until YOU stop them! Tell them you’ll have no more of this crap, no more of this nonsense, no more of this poppycock! Tell them you want the truth. Insist on the truth; it’s your right.
That’s why banning Geert Wilders from the shores of the United Kingdom is such a nonsense. If what he has to say is false, then it will soon be seen as such. Nothing exposes the truth like the light of day. And if it is true, then we will have to confront the reality that faces us. But isn’t that the problem? Isn’t that what people like Jacqui Smith, David Miliband, and Gordon Brown do not want: the truth?
House of Lords Apathetic about the Islamization of the United Kingdom and Europe!
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: The film Fitna was shown in the British upper house of parliament on Thursday despite the British authorities' refusal to allow its maker, Dutch rightwing populist MP Geert Wilders, into the United Kingdom.
Only around 30 people attended the screening, five of them members of the upper house.
All 743 members of the upper house were invited, as were the 646 members of the lower house, none of whom attended. Few Attend UK Screening of Wilders' Film >>> RNW | Friday, February 13, 2009
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
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
RADIO NETHERLANDS WORLDWIDE: Dutch Right-wing politician and controversial anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders has been refused entry to the United Kingdom despite being invited to visit by a member of the House of Lords, the British parliament's upper chamber.
Mr Wilders (pictured), who was due to go to London this Thursday, received a letter today, 10 February, from the British ambassador to the Netherlands telling him that he was not welcome, reportedly because his visit would constitute a threat to public order.
Handcuffs
Mr Wilders responded to the decision in fighting mood, telling Dutch media that he still intended to travel to London:
"I'll see what happens at the border. Let them put me in handcuffs."
Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen's response was also firm. He contacted his UK counterpart, David Miliband, by telephone and voiced his dissatisfaction that a member of the Dutch parliament - Geert Wilders is in fact also the leader of a political grouping, the Freedom Party - has been prohibited from entering a fellow European Union member state. >>> By RNW Internet, (Sources: ANP/Elsevier) | Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Send your PROTESTS to the Foreign Secretary:
private.office@fco.gov.uk OR milibandd@parliament.uk
TELEGRAPH BLOGS: Geert Wilders, Anti-Islamic Politician, Banned from Britain
Can this really be true? An elected representative, the leader of a legitimate political party, banned from entering the United Kingdom? On what possible grounds?
It's true that Geert Wilders is a controversialist, who takes pleasure in causing offence. He needs 24-hour protection, so serious are the death-threats he has attracted from jihadis. He revels in offending liberals as well as Muslims: his call for the Koran to be banned struck me as rather inconsistent with his stated commitment to civic freedoms. I wouldn't vote for him if I were Dutch.
But what I think of him is neither here nor there. Freedom means the freedom to express any opinion, however eccentric, however offensive. The Dutch foreign minister, a political opponent of Mr Wilders, has complained to David Miliband. Good for him. Whether our government is actuated by cowardice or authoritarianism, it's equally ugly. We are a meaner country than we were this morning. Comment here >>> Daniel Hannan | Tuesday, February 10, 2009
EUROPE NEWS: Geert Wilders’ short film Fitna will soon be shown in the House of Lords despite the opposition of Lord Ahmed, who effectively threatened to encourage Muslims to protest the event. The scheduled screening on Thursday 29 January was postponed apparently due to opposing voices.
In any case, Lord Ahmed may have done the counter jihad cause a favour. The publicity that has surrounded the apparent House of Lord’s capitulation will ensure that the event gets even more widespread coverage than it would otherwise have received. The decision to show the film after all has demonstrated the sovereignty of Parliament and to some degree restored its tarnished honour. >>> Beernsandwiches | Thursday, February 5, 2009
*I should like to remind my visitors that I do NOT endorse ANY political party. The fact that this video was made by the BNP shouldn't be construed IN ANY WAY as an endorsement of that party. Similarly, I do not endorse any other parties either. –Mark
THE SPECTATOR: I have been travelling during the past few days and so have built up a bit of a backlog of events upon which I have not yet commented. One of these is the apparently gross abuse of Parliament by Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, which remarkably has not been covered at all in the mainstream British media. Another member of the House of Lords invited the Dutch politician Geert Wilders, who is currently facing prosecution in the Netherlands for his outspoken analysis of the Islamist war on civilisation, to screen his controversial film ‘Fitna’ in the Lords on January 29 and discuss his views.
But various representatives of the British Muslim community protested; and Lord Ahmed issued a threat that he would personally mobilise 10,000 Muslims to prevent Wilders from entering the Upper House and would take the peer organising the event to court. In the face of such threats, the meeting was cancelled. >>> Melanie Phillips | Tuesday, February 3, 2009
THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE: Lords 'Caved In to Muslims' Over Film
A House of Lords screening of a film linking Islam to violent extremism was blocked after pressure from Muslim groups, according to reports.
The screening, planned for last Thursday, was cancelled after a meeting between Lord Nazir Ahmed, senior House of Lords figures and Muslim leaders, according to a Pakistani news agency.
The Associated Press of Pakistan quotes Lord Ahmed terming the cancellation “a victory for the Muslim community”.
The decision to cancel the Lords showing was reportedly reached after Lord Ahmed met with the Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords and Leader of the House of Lords.
Representatives from the Muslim Council of Britain, British Muslim Forum and others from the British Muslim community were also present at the meeting.
The film, Fitna, was made by Dutch MP Geert Wilders. It juxtaposes quotations from the Koran with footage of terrorist atrocities and speeches by Muslim preachers. >>> | Tuesday, February 3, 2009
ASSOCIATED PRESS OF PAKISTAN: LONDON‑The British Parliament has cancelled the showing of a controversial film “Fitna” by the right‑win Dutch MP Geert Wilders following vociferous protest by the Muslim community.
The screening was to take place on January 29 at the House of Lords.
The decision to cancel the showing was taken on Friday when Lord Nazir Ahmed had a meeting with the Government Chief Whip of the House of Lords and Leader of the House of Lords, together with representatives from the Muslim Council of Britain, British Muslim Forum and other representatives from the British Muslim community. British Parliament Calls Off Screening of Controversial Film >>> APP | Friday, January 23, 2009
Sharia Incompatible with Human Rights: House of Lords
THE TIMES OF INDIA: LONDON: The House of Lords on Friday described the Islamic legal code Sharia as "wholly incompatible" with human rights legislation, a comment that could spark an outcry among Muslims in the United Kingdom.
The Upper House of the British Parliament has drawn sharp attention to the conflict between Sharia and UK law, calling the Islamic legal code "wholly incompatible" with human rights legislation.
The controversial remarks came amidst a debate in Britain over the appropriateness of incorporating Sharia courts into the UK's legal system, a move advocated by figures including the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams and Lords Phillips, the new senior law lord.
The comments in the House of Lords came today as it considered the case of a woman who, if she was sent back to Lebanon, would be obliged under Sharia law to hand over custody of her 12-year-old son to a man who beat her, threw her off a balcony and, on one occasion, attempted to strangle her. >>> | October 24, 2008
THE TELEGRAPH: The number of immigrants entering Britain should be capped, an influential House of Lords committee has warned.
Its analysis concludes that record levels of immigration are bringing no economic benefit to the country.
The report says that ministers should urgently review immigration policies as plans to increase the population by 190,000 a year threaten to have "major impacts" on public services and housing.
The economic affairs committee - whose members include eminent economists, businessmen and politicians - rebukes the Government for using "irrelevant and misleading" economic statistics to justify the boom in immigration in the past decade.
Lord Wakeham, the former energy minister who led the eight-month inquiry, said ministers risked stoking social tensions if they pursued policies that "didn't make economic sense". Limit Immigration, Warns House of Lords >>>
