Category Archives: Netherlands

UKIP welcomes European anti-immigration parties to its conference

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Ukip has been accused of pandering to xenophobia by inviting two prominent figures from European anti-immigration parties to address its annual conference today.

The star speaker will be Timo Soini, the leader of the True Finns, a previously fringe nationalist party which scored a surprise success by coming third in the Finnish general election. Ukip has been attracted by the fiercely Eurosceptic outlook of the party, which tapped into opposition to offering financial support for Mediterranean nations hit by the Eurozone crisis.

But the True Finns have also described immigrants as “parasites on taxpayers’ money” and suggested ethnically Finnish women should study less and spend more time having babies.

Mr Soini will be joined by the MEP Barry Madlener, of the Dutch Freedom Party. Its leader, Geert Wilders, has attacked Islam as a violent religion and compared the Koran to Mein Kampf.

Independent, 9 September 2011

Update:  UKIP reports that Madlener “gave a strong speech on the importance of retaining national identity and received a standing ovation for his inspirational words”.

Catholic school may ban Islamic headscarves, Amsterdam court rules

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Imane MahssanA Catholic secondary school in Volendam is within its right to ban pupils from wearing Islamic headscarves, Amsterdam appeal court said on Tuesday.

The court said independent schools, such as the Don Bosco College, can set standards to uphold their own values, as long as they apply the rules consistently. This is the case at the Volendam school, the court said.

In addition, the pupil was well aware the school was a Catholic institution when she applied and should have realised that adopting Islamic dress would not be allowed.

The school in the former fishing village introduced the ban several months after Imane Mahssan had requested permission to wear a headscarf and had begun doing so. She was then banned from attending lessons.

The girl’s father took the case to the Equal Opportunities Commission. It ruled in the girl’s favour, but the school decided to ignore the ruling, prompting the girl to go to court. It found in favour of the school, prompting the girl to take the case to appeal.

Dutch News, 6 September 2011

Wilders’ PVV will boycott parliamentary debate on xenophobia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam party PVV will boycott any eventual parliamentary debate on xenophobia, MP Joram van Klaveren is reported as saying in Trouw. GroenLinks MP Tofik Dibi said this summer he plans to call for such a debate in relation to the Norwegian killings but has not yet done so.

Other parties support the debate, but not in connection to events in Norway. Trouw says they would prefer to discuss the issues as part of the general debate on the queen’s speech and government policy following the presentation of the cabinet’s 2012 spending plans later this month.

Van Klaveren said the PVV sees no merit in any debate and will not attend.

Dutch News, 7 September 2011

See also “De Pers: Do we really have to talk about this?”, Dutch News, 6 September 2011

More evidence of Cory Bernardi’s anti-Islamic views

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cory Bernardi (2)The Liberal senator accused of supporting a self-confessed Islamophobic Dutch politician has asked a Sydney Muslim to “publicly denounce” fundamentalist Islam before he corresponded with him.

Arch-conservative South Australian senator Cory Bernardi has been under fire from moderates in his own party for extending an invitation to visit Australia to Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

Yesterday, more evidence of Senator Bernardi’s anti-Islamic views were revealed when the online Muslim forum muslimvillage.com published a letter from the senator to a Sydney Muslim.

Senator Bernardi was responding to concerns expressed by the man about his comments regarding Islam. In the letter he declared Islam had been linked with hate speech, terrorism, gang rapes, racism, segregation and isolationism.

He wrote: “You have identified yourself as an Australian Muslim. I would be interested to know if you subscribe to fundamentalist Islamic practices. If not, I ask then for evidence that you have publicly denounced the above mentioned practices and the preachers who advocate for non-engagement of Muslims and ‘infidels’.”

The Sydney man replied and listed types of extremism associated with other religions.

On August 12, Senator Bernardi wrote another letter stating the man was ”incapable of critically analysing the actions of Islamic fundamentalists”. ”In the absence of your condemnation, one can only conclude you agree with their conduct.”

The Age, 8 September 2011

See also “Is Cory Bernardi Australia’s Geert Wilders?”, MuslimVillage.com, 7 September 2011

Cory Bernardi invites Geert Wilders to Australia

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cory BernardiControversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders is coming to Australia with the support of senior Liberal senator Cory Bernardi.

Mr Wilders, who controls the balance of power in the Netherlands’ parliament, has outraged Dutch Muslims by comparing the Koran to Hitler’s Mein Kampf and calling the Prophet Muhammad a paedophile.

In a statement to Foreign Correspondent, Senator Bernardi confirmed he has offered to help arrange meetings and a schedule for Mr Wilders in Australia. “I hope to be able within … this year, or maybe the beginning of next year, to visit Australia,” Mr Wilders said.

“I met one of your senators, Senator Cory Bernardi, not so long ago. He invited me to help him at least when I would visit Australia, and I will certainly do that as soon as I can. We all face immigration also from people from Islamic countries. We all see that, for instance, that is something that Senator Bernardi and now I believe also others in Australia is fighting against.”

Senator Bernardi’s approach is in marked contrast to Britain, where in 2009 the home secretary tried to ban Mr Wilders as an undesirable person.

ABC News, 6 August 2011

See also the Herald Sun, which reports Bernardi as saying of Wilders: “I think he’s got an important message to heed. Any rejection … of Mr Wilders’ attempt to come to this country would be a tacit admission that extremism or fundamentalism are already dominating public discourse.”

Victorian Labor MP Rob Mitchell is quoted as saying: “Australia is no place for a freak show; Geert can take his views back to the gutter he got them from.”

Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration Kate Lundy called for opposition leader Tony Abbott to “clarify if he supports his parliamentary secretary bringing out such a divisive figure and promoting his extreme views”.

Germany: small party attracts small crowd for Wilders appearance

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wilders with Freysinger and Stadtkewitzc
Wilders on the platform with Oskar Freysinger of the Swiss People’s Party and (right) René Stadtkewitz of Die Freiheit

Dutch populist MP Geert Wilders has hit out at both the EU and Islam at a small far-right German party in Berlin.

Amid tight security, the Dutch anti-Islam politician spoke at a gathering of Die Freiheit, led by René Stadtkewitz, widely seen as the German version of Mr Wilders’ Freedom Party. Mr Stadtkewitz accuses the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, of selling Germany to Europe. He also claims that most of Germany’s unemployed come from Muslim countries.

In his speech, Mr Wilders attacked the European Union and Islam, which he described as the two biggest threats. He stressed, however, that “Breivik is not one of us”. He was referring to the Norwegian far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik who invoked Mr Wilders as an inspiring example after killing 77 people in twin attacks in and near the capital Oslo in July. “We reject violence, we are democrats, we believe in peacefulness, we reject Islam for its violent character,” Mr Wilders said.

The meeting was attended by 600 people, far fewer than expected. Police had cordoned off the area around the hotel where it was held. Several hundred demonstrators protested against the meeting.

RNW, 3 September 2011

Die Freiheit had originally tried to charge €100 a seat for the meeting. Unable to attract sufficient interest at that inflated figure, the organisers were forced to slash the price to €5 in an attempt to fill the 1,000-capacity venue. All in vain, it would appear.

Wilders’ PVV almost level with ruling VVD in latest opinion poll

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The latest opinion poll from Maurice de Hond puts the populist Freedom Party (PVV) almost on a par with the conservative VVD, the senior partner in the current Dutch coalition.

The poll indicates that, if an election were to be held now, the VVD would just remain the largest party with 30 MPs, down from its present 31. It also forecasts that the PVV would get 29 seats in parliament, up from its current 24. The Socialist Party would, according to Maurice de Hond, become the third largest group in the 150-strong parliament.

The present coalition is made up of the VVD and the Christian Democrats. This minority government relies on parliamentary support for most of its policies from the PVV.

RNW, 21 August 2011

Tennessee: protestors oppose Wilders film

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Cookeville protestCOOKEVILLE — A crowd of more than 100 peaceful protestors gathered outside the courthouse last night with signs saying “We love Muslims” and “All religions believe in justice,” among many others, showing their opposition to the Tennessee Freedom Coalition’s showing of what they call a highly controversial film about the Islamic religion.

“A Warning to America,” by Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician who has spoken out against Islam, was shown in the county commission chambers last night. DVDs of the film were also available for purchase at the event.

“We’re here to voice another side,” Pat Handlson, minister of Cookeville First Presbyterian Church and event organizer said. “I think it’s sad there’s been such negativity surrounding the Murfreesboro mosque.”

Wilders, according to Rachel Welch, organizer of the film showing and vice-chair of the Putnam County Republican Party, has been under persecution in his country for hate speech and speaking out against Shariah law. “This is certainly not a hate film,” Welch said. “It’s about facts and Islam being a political ideology shrouded in a religion.”

Very few confrontations between the two sides were reported and both Welch and Handlson were pleased with how peaceful it was.

“I just wanted everyone here to be a witness to this event,” Handlson continued. “To be a witness to love your God and love your neighbor. We all can co-exist.” Handlson is concerned about this film being shown locally because Cookeville is home to a large group of Saudi Muslims.

Herald-Citizen, 20 August 2011

See also Cookeville Times, 20 August 2011

Rutte finally gets round to criticising Wilders’ description of mosques as ‘hate palaces’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Wilders and RuttePrime minister Mark Rutte on Friday condemned Geert Wilders, leader of the coalition’s PVV alliance partner, for describing mosques as “palaces of hate”.

Wilders used the term in an interview with the Telegraaf newspaper shortly after the Norwegian shootings. Rutte told a news conference that Wilders’ comment was “terrible” and went too far. It was an extremely inappropriate remark, the PM said.

The PVV leader was mentioned 30 times in the manifesto left behind by gunman Anders Breivik. In the interview, Wilders said the left is out to demonise him by trying to connect him to shootings.

Rutte told reporters it is wrong to try to connect Wilders to the shootings. And while calling for the debate to be carried out with respect, he said he had no intention of limiting anyone’s right to say what they want. “Every bird sings its own tune,” Rutte said.

Dutch News, 12 August 2011

Considering that Wilders made this disgraceful comment nearly two weeks ago, and that Rutte has been under pressure ever since to condemn it, you can only say – about time too.

Dutch Labour leader writes on Wilders and the Norway atrocities

Posted on by Bob Pitt

‘A bad word whispered will echo a hundred miles’, a Chinese saying goes. ‘Wilders is not responsible for what Breivik did but words count for something and politicians should be aware of it.’

This was my reaction when I was asked whether Geert Wilders was in any way responsible for the attack in Oslo in which 7 people were killed and the massacre on Utoya where 69 young social democrats lost their lives, slaughtered by a man whose writings show he was inspired by right wing anti-Islam ideology. We must ask how this could have happened so we can do our utmost to make sure it never happens again….

What does it do to people who increasingly are born in this country when it is drummed into them that their efforts to help build a society counts for nothing because their faith is a totalitarian ideology which is completely alien to Western society? And what about those who are starting to believe that this is true and that this ideology is bent on destroying our society? …

My call to moderate our tone is not meant to avoid debate but to engage in it openly and with mutual respect.

Dutch Labour party leader Job Cohen writes in Volkskrant.

Translation by Dutch News.