Mainstreaming Hate in the Netherlands (ForeignPolicy)

Here is an excerpt from an article by former Financial Times writer and Dutch media Middle East correspondent Ferry Biedermann published on ForeignPolicy.com on October 4, 2010.

The rise of the far right has hardly caused a ripple in the Netherlands. The Dutch coalition deal was done before the end of September, marking the political whitewashing of the previously unacceptable Geert Wilders, the provocative, and peroxide-blond political wunderkind MP, and his right-wing Party for Freedom. He has agreed to lend his support to a minority government [and] in return Wilders has been given freedom to pursue anti-immigrant measures and several openly anti-Muslim initiatives, including a burqa ban and closer monitoring of Islamic schools.

His outspokenness has made him a hated figure for some Muslims, and he lives under constant police protection. Recently, an Australian imam called for his beheading, the last in a long line of threats. Wilders himself argued in July on the website muslimsdebate.com that he does not hate Muslims — he just opposes Islam and wants Muslims to liberate themselves from its shackles. [But] Geert Wilders is slowly but surely making Islamophobia an accepted element of political rhetoric in the Netherlands. To give an idea of the tone of his discourse in the Netherlands, he has called for a “head rag tax” on women wearing headscarves. He favors banning the Quran, wants to close Muslim schools but not equivalent Christian or Jewish ones, wants to force immigrants to sign “assimilation contracts,” and wants to include the “Judeo-Christian character” of the state in the constitution.


Read the full article here

4 thoughts on “Mainstreaming Hate in the Netherlands (ForeignPolicy)”

  1. Thebourneforpresenttruth

    It is not easy being a Christian in todays time. And living in Holland doesn’t make it any easier. As an Haitian-American living in this country, I find my self praying before, during and after leaving school. I attend a school that half of the students are muslims and some come from country’s that kill christians. I try to let them know that not all Christian people believe in the samethings, but I guess you can say it’s like a muslim trying to explain to a non-believer that ” not all muslim believers have the same views”.

    And as for as Geert “Satan’s Puppet” Wilder goes, his fruits are far from being a christian. That is nothing but a satanic agent at work in what he’s doing. He’s instigating a “Religious War” and people are falling for his gimick about freedom. How much freedom do you need in a counrty that has marijuana shops on every corner, free to be with the same sex and marry,the prison system is a joke for the criminals and they also make a mockery out of blacks slaves as part of their holiday season (Zwate Pete). I can go on and on, but who am I to judge when I’m just a stranger in someone elses country (Sodom and Gomorrah) with the chances of getting booted out also.

  2. Thebourneforpresenttruth

    It is not easy being a Christian in todays time. And living in Holland doesn’t make it any easier. As an Haitian-American living in this country, I find my self praying before, during and after leaving school. I attend a school that half of the students are muslims and some come from country’s that kill christians. I try to let them know that not all Christian people believe in the samethings, but I guess you can say it’s like a muslim trying to explain to a non-believer that ” not all muslim believers have the same views”.

    And as for as Geert “Satan’s Puppet” Wilder goes, his fruits are far from being a christian. That is nothing but a satanic agent at work in what he’s doing. He’s instigating a “Religious War” and people are falling for his gimick about freedom. How much freedom do you need in a counrty that has marijuana shops on every corner, free to be with the same sex and marry,the prison system is a joke for the criminals and they also make a mockery out of blacks slaves as part of their holiday season (Zwate Pete). I can go on and on, but who am I to judge when I’m just a stranger in someone elses country (Sodom and Gomorrah) with the chances of getting booted out also.

  3. Thebourneforpresenttruth

    Oh yes, Happy Sabbath to everyone or else someone else will try to take that away from you also.

  4. Thebourneforpresenttruth

    Oh yes, Happy Sabbath to everyone or else someone else will try to take that away from you also.

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