Category Archives: Netherlands

Wilders tried to claim legal fees from parliament: Volkskrant

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Pipes and WildersAnti-Islam politician Geert Wilders last year tried to claim between €500,000 and €600,000 as parliamentary expenses for legal fees incurred during a trial for inciting hatred, the Volkskrant said on Saturday.

Sources told the paper Wilders’ claim was rejected after discussions between members of parliament’s management committee, known as the presidium and on the advice of an accountant.

Parliamentary parties are allowed to submit expenses claims to the presidium if they are for services needed to support their work.

Civil servants and most members of the presidium decided the legal fees for the trial were private expenses. In addition, the claim itself was “not very concrete”, the paper said.

Wilders’ was represented at his trial by celebrity lawyer Bram Moszkowicz who has since been struck off. The bill was not broken down into daily costs and there was no proper explanation of all the charges, a source told the paper.

One member of the presidium told the paper: “I saw the bill and I thought ‘well there is someone who understands about expenses’. There was no supporting evidence. It was an amount between €500,000 and €600,000.”

Three other members of the presidium have also confirmed the story, the paper said.

Continue reading →

Dutch Muslims concerned by mosque attacks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

MoskNee

An unidentified man wearing a hoodie placed fireworks in the window of the Selimiye Mosque in Enschede, a city in the Netherlands, on December 14. A few seconds later, the fireworks exploded, breaking the window.

The motives of the perpetrator remain unclear – he has not yet been caught – but mosque board member Sezgin Akman said he suspects the attack was inspired by hatred of Islam. “Maybe someone wanted to tell us we are not welcome,” he said, adding the mosque has received several threatening letters in the past.

More than one-third of the Netherlands’ 475 mosques have experienced at least one incident of vandalism, threatening letters, attempted arson, the placement of pigs’ heads, or other aggressive actions in the past 10 years, according to research by Ineke van der Valk, author of the book Islamophobia and Discrimination.

The Kuba Mosque, in the city of IJmuiden, said it has counted more than 40 such incidents since its founding in 1993.

“Lines like ‘go to hell, Muslims’ on the wall, graffiti that contains Nazi symbols, pig heads on the doorstep, Molotov cocktails … A lot has happened,” said Suleyman Celik, a board member of the Kuba Mosque. “Two years ago, a female visitor who left the building was pelted with beer bottles by men driving by in a car. She broke her teeth and had to go to the hospital.”

On June 23, two men shouting racist slogans entered the Kuba Mosque after an argument outside. They threatened to kill those inside, and broke the nose of one of the mosque’s board members. They were arrested two days later by police.

Continue reading →

Wilders will be prosecuted for inciting hatred and discrimination

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Geert WildersThe public prosecution department is to take anti-Islam party leader Geert Wilders to court for discrimination and encouraging hatred after he led supporters in an anti-Moroccan chant at a post-election meeting.

“Politicians can go far in what they say, that is part of freedom of speech. But the freedom is limited by the ban on discrimination,” the short prosecution department statement said.

The department said in October it was investigating Wilders and formally questioned him on December 8. Wilders said in a statement at the time he would not take back his words and that he did want “fewer Moroccans” and “less Islam” in the Netherlands. Wilders also said he would not allow himself to be silenced.

The investigation dates back to a post-vote meeting with supporters in The Hague in March, when Wilders asked the crowd “and do you want more or fewer Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands?” To which the crowd chanted “fewer, fewer, fewer”. “We’ll arrange that,” Wilders said, smiling, when the chanting died down.

The chanting, and other comments made several days earlier, led to two MPs, MEPs and a handful of local and provincial councillors breaking ties with the PVV. The public prosecution department also received over 6,400 complaints.

Continue reading →

Turkish mosque attacked with fireworks in Netherlands

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Selimiye MosqueA Turkish mosque located in eastern Dutch city of Enschede was attacked with fireworks late on Saturday.

The attack caused material damage to the Selimiye Mosque, which is owned by the Foundation of Religious Affairs of Netherlands (Hollanda Diyanet Vakfı – HDV).

The chairman of the mosque’s foundation, Sebattin Yıldız, gave a statement to Anadolu Agency and said that the attack had taken place late on Saturday night and had caused the mosque’s windows to break.

“A person whose face was covered left a firework on the mosque’s window” Yıldız said, according to the footage recorded by security cameras.

Yıldız added that they had been exposed to similar attacks in the past that had included threat notes and xenophobic writing on the mosque’s walls.

Continue reading →

Wilders tells police he stands by anti‑Moroccan comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders said on Monday he had told police officers questioning him on discrimination charges that he stood by anti-Moroccan comments he made in March.

“I do not retract anything I have said,” Wilders, whose Party for Freedom (PVV) is leading opinion polls, said in a statement on Monday.

“In my fight for freedom and against the Islamisation of the Netherlands, I will never let anyone silence me. No matter the cost, no matter by whom, whatever the consequences may be,” he said.

Thousands of complaints were sent to police in March and April after Wilders spoke to a crowd chanting for “fewer, fewer, fewer” Moroccans in the Netherlands, during campaigning for local elections.

Wilders told the crowd: “We’ll take care of that.” In a later TV interview, he referred to “Moroccan scum”.

Continue reading →

Far-right leaders vow to ‘save Europe’ at French gathering

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Marine le Pen and Geert Wilders at Lyon conferenceRepresentatives of Eurosceptic and far-right groups from Italy to Bulgaria gathered at the National Front party conference in Lyon at the weekend to warn France and Europe of a “neo-Ottoman” onslaught of Islam-preaching, benefit-stealing migrants.

Digging through the history books, Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), warned that “Arab armies plundered Lyon in 725 and are now busy doing the same in Iraq and Syria”.

Strache went on to blast Europe’s mainstream parties for, among other things, stoking “mass immigration, ideological terror, gay marriage and gender theory”.

The Austrian far-right leader was one of seven foreign politicians invited by the National Front (FN) leader, Marine Le Pen, to showcase her so-called “Europe of nations” – which she hopes to build on the ruins of an increasingly unpopular EU.

“Our Europe stretches from the Atlantic to the Urals, not from Washington to Brussels,” she said, calling for closer ties with Vladimir Putin’s Russia and an end to “US domination”.

The weekend gathering capped a triumphant year for her party, which romped to victory in European elections with a whopping 25% of the vote.

Should France hold a presidential election next week, polls say Marine Le Pen would thrash her challengers in the first round of voting – but would likely come up short in a runoff vote.

Either way, analysts say there is a very real chance the FN, as it is known in France, may one day wield power in France.

Like the French far right, Le Pen’s foreign guests have thrived on the gloom and anxiety sweeping across Europe in the wake of the financial crisis.

Addressing the FN conference, they treated the audience to a mix of fear-mongering and unbridled optimism, claiming their impending victory would save Europe from the present apocalypse.

First to speak was Geert Wilders, the platinum blond leader of Dutch Islamophobic party PVV, who hailed Marine Le Pen as “France’s next president”.

“Just like you, we don’t want foreigners to tell us they are masters in our country. We say: kick the criminals, the jihadists, the illegal migrants out,” he told the entirely Caucasian audience to rapturous applause.

Wilders, who left without listening to his colleague’s speeches, blasted the “betrayal of our multicultural elites, who destroy our identities and traditions”.

Continue reading →

PVV calls for closure of all Dutch mosques to ‘de-Islam’ the Netherlands

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Machiel de Graaf and WildersThe anti-Islam PVV on Wednesday night called for the closure of all mosques in the Netherlands.

“We want to de-Islam the Netherlands,” MP Machiel de Graaf said during a debate on integration. Until now the PVV has only called for a freeze in mosque building programmes and the closure of mosques funded from abroad or which support violence.

De Graaf said schools are being hit by a landslide of children called Mohammed. “We will experience that a majority of school pupils are Islamic…. Dutch unity, identity and culture are being wrecked by immigration and via wombs,” he said. “Various Islamic leaders have said this, such as Gaddafi,” he continued. “But no one but the PVV takes it seriously.”

Continue reading →

Dutch prosecutors summon far-right leader over alleged racist remarks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Dutch authorities moved closer toward prosecuting far-right politician Geert Wilders on Thursday, naming him as a suspect and summoning him for interrogation over alleged racist remarks he made in March.

Wilders will be questioned on suspicion of insulting a group on the basis of race and inciting discrimination and hatred, prosecutors said in a statement. If convicted, he could face up to a year in prison or a fine of up to 7,400 euros ($9,400).

Wilders, whose controversial brand of anti-immigration, anti-Muslim populism has propelled his Freedom Party to second place in opinion polls, provoked widespread condemnation when he called for “fewer Moroccans” at a campaign rally in March.

Interrogating a suspect is the final step in the process of bringing charges, prosecutors said. A spokeswoman stressed no decision had yet been taken about charging Wilders but said there was a “significant chance” he would end up in court.

“I’m furious … that I am being investigated by prosecutors and will probably end up in court,” Wilders told journalists in parliament after learning of the summons.

Prosecutors received over 6,400 complaints and several of his party’s most prominent lawmakers resigned from the party after Wilders asked supporters at a rally in The Hague if they wanted “more or fewer Moroccans in this city?” The crowd chanted: “Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!” Wilders smiled and responded: “We’ll take care of that.”

In a later interview with broadcaster RTL Z, he said “Moroccan scum” should leave the Netherlands. Moroccans were over-represented in crime statistics and in the number of people receiving social benefits, he argued.

Continue reading →

Dutch Jewish group dumps Wilders over Islam comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

geen excuus voor jodenhaatA Dutch Jewish group dropped the politician Geert Wilders from a petition against anti-Semitism.

The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, or CIDI, had approached Wilders for his signature along with other well-known Dutchmen. But the group dropped Wilders’ name when the petition appeared on Thursday as a full-page ad in De Telegraaf daily.

“In the Netherlands, everyone must live safely, also Jews,” read the petition. The petition noted that it was not an “expression of solidarity with Israel’s government.” Rather, the 86 signatories said: “Criticism of Israel? Okay. Jew-hatred? No way.”

CIDI director Esther Voet told the Volkskrant daily that Wilders, the leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, was removed after he criticized a joint declaration earlier this week by Jewish community representatives and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

In an open letter this week, Wilders accused Rutte of ignoring “the elephant in the room,” adding: “You fear Islam so you will not say what everybody knows: The more Islam grows in the Netherlands, the more anti-Semitism grows.”

Continue reading →

Le Pen and Wilders fail to form anti-EU bloc

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Marine Le Pen and Geert WildersFrance’s far-right National Front (FN) has failed to form an alliance with the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV) of Geert Wilders, reducing both parties’ influence in the European Parliament.

Pan-European party blocs get more funding, staff and speaking time in the parliament. The deadline for forming a bloc expired on Monday night.

The new 751-seat assembly, elected in May, holds its first session next week.

The UK Independence Party (UKIP) has formed a bloc with other Eurosceptics. UKIP’s new allies are the Italian Five Star Movement of comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, Lithuania’s Order and Justice Party, the nationalist Sweden Democrats and a few anti-EU MEPs from Latvia, the Czech Republic and France. Jointly they are called the New EFD (Europe of Freedom and Democracy).

Under parliament rules, a faction has to consist of at least 25 MEPs from a minimum of seven EU countries. The EU has a total of 28 member states. The FN and PVV failed to satisfy the seven-country rule.

Before the election Mr Wilders and FN leader Marine Le Pen had spoken of their common ambition to return powers from the EU to the nation states.

Ms Le Pen’s triumph, leading the FN to first place in the French election, gave her party 23 seats. It was one of the biggest surprises on an election night that saw big gains for anti-EU parties across Europe. In the last parliament the FN had just three seats.

Mr Wilders was disappointed with the PVV’s result, however. The party won just three seats and fell to fourth place in the Netherlands – well behind liberal and centre-left, pro-EU parties.

Both the FN and PVV want tougher immigration controls, reject the euro and want their countries to leave the EU. Both parties also campaign strongly against the spread of Islam in Europe.

Continue reading →