Over half of Dutch say Wilders’ anti-Islamic rhetoric is fine

A majority of Dutch believe that Geert Wilders, the anti-immigration politician much admired by Norway’s mass murderer, does not need to tone down his inflammatory anti-Islamic comments, a poll on Friday showed.

The Norwegian gunman, Anders Behring Breivik, reproduced anti-Islamic comments that Wilders made to the Dutch parliament and expressed his admiration of the Dutch politician in his 1,500-page manifesto.

Polling firm Maurice de Hond said on Friday that 52 percent of those surveyed thought Wilders did not need to moderate his stance on the supposed “Islamisation of Europe” in the wake of the Norway killings, while 44 percent said Wilders should tone it down.

In the opinion poll published on Friday, 29 percent of those questioned said they supported the Freedom Party’s approach to Islam and Muslims in the Netherlands, more than those who agreed on the issue with the Liberals and the Christian Democrats combined.

Reuters, 29 July 2011