by Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders is deeply concerned about Muslim integration. In our series Islam in the Netherlands he is warning about the "perishing"of our culture. "It is not five to twelve or two to twelve, it is almost morning!" The leader of the second party in the country is pondering about very far-reaching measures.
Geert Wilders (54) is not surprised at the shocking poll results released by daily newspaper De Telegraaf. The fact that only thirteen percent of the Dutch population feel that the problem of integration will solve itself is a writing on the wall, according to him. And that only eleven percent of the Dutch see Islam as an enrichment proves in his opinion that what he has been calling for years. "If I had said that three years ago, I would have had tens of thousands of police reports thrown at me. But people are completely fed up with it. "
How do you explain the figures?
"Decades ago, a few thousand people from Islamic countries would stay temporarily. But temporarily turned out to be permanently. Those thousands of guest workers became hundreds of thousands. And in Europe millions of people by now. Back then those people were called upon to integrate and assimilate. But Islam, the word says it already, seeks to dominate. Not long ago Professor Koopmans found that as much as seventy percent of Muslims find Islamic rules more important than secular laws. In Europe almost weekly innocent people are slaughtered in name of Allah and Islam. Proudly. We have been declared war and we refuse to defend ourselves."
Who is responsible for this?
"I think that probably the worst of all is that Western European politicians have allowed this to happen. Last week Sybrand Buma of the Christian democratic party CDA was suddenly critical of Islam. That is like a bank robber who, twenty years after the robbery, has spent all the money and apologizes for doing so. He is the one who did it. CDA has been in power in the Netherlands for 50 years. "
Is it not a bit blunt to say ...
"No!"
... that Muslims do not integrate?
"I am talking about Islam. But research also points out that 11 percent of Dutch Muslims in the Netherlands are prepared to use violence on behalf of their religion. That is a 110,000 people, twice the size of the Dutch army! "
But perhaps many Muslims in fact take Islam less serious and profess their faith behind the front door, peacefully. Secretary Asscher of Integration said in this paper last week that those people should not be held accountable for terrorist attacks.
"Do you know, secretary Asscher and Prime Minister Rutte are two sides of the same coin. After the second attack in June, Rutte said that Muslims are double the victim, because they are not only victims of attacks, but also blamed for it as a group. For all I care everyone is free to get all teary-eyed but we will perish if we continue. It reminds me of what happened after the murder of Theo van Gogh. Some people, even members of the Royal House, went to a mosque as a first response. That is total cowardice. We are the victims."
Who are we? Does it not also include those Muslims not engaged in fanaticism? This way people are categorized into a group they do not feel connected to at all.
"Then take your distance from that group. Of course I do not say that all Muslims are cheering at an attack. But I can hardly listen to it, the terror attack commemorations in Parliament. I think we have had ten to twelve this year. I am attending, out of respect for the relatives and the victims and will continue to do so. But every time Rutte reads the same a4-format paper, only altering the name of the city and country where the attack took place. The man does not show any action. "
How do you liberate yourself from the Islamic yoke in your opinion?
"Leave Islam."
So people must renounce their faith?
"There is nothing they must do. But I would tell: freedom is such a splendorous thing. You do not have anything like it in Islam. I can not force people to leave Islam. They must above all realize what is going on in their minds. But the real concern is what happens in the public space. What is happening in my country and whether we should have more or less of that. "
There are also Muslims who were born in the Netherlands. The country is just as much their country as it is yours.
"For those people that could apply, but not to Islam."
But according to the constitution it does, a Muslim born here is considered Dutch. According to the Constitution he or she has an equal right to express what the Netherlands should look like.
"We live in a free country. But in my opinion Islam is not a religion. It is a totalitarian, dangerous and violent ideology, dressed up as a religion. People are allowed to think whatever they like, but I also have the right to say that Islam should not be included in the constitutional freedoms.
Can a Muslim not just be moderate?
"According to the Quran that is not possible. I personally believe there are extremist people and moderate people. But I do not believe in two kinds of Islam. There is only one. One that is impossible to reform. And even if it would be the case, we can not afford to wait for another 150 or 300 years. I think it will never happen. You get your head chopped off should you wish to interpret Islam."
What do you think should happen?
"Recognize the problem. Dare to say that Islam does not integrate. Define Islam as a violent totalitarian undemocratic thing. And stop immigration from Islamic countries. During cabinet Rutte II, a 100,000 Muslims were added. These are not all terrorists or bad people, but it is 100,000 times more Islam entering the Netherlands."
There was a war. People were on the move, lost their homes.
"That was not the case. If they were refugees, they would have stopped in the first safe country after Syria. By the way, this is also part of the solution: all Syrians must return! Tomorrow! Why not? That country is safe. This is our country. Why would a Syrian be able to return from the refugee camps in Jordan or Lebanon and not from a refugee centre here? "
Because the land is in ruins and dictator Assad uses poison gas against his own people for example.
"There are many countries in the world that have not very pleasant regimes."
Back to the Netherlands. We also have a constitution in this country that protects such things as freedom of education and religion. Should that be altered?
"I do not see the word Islam in any constitution, but in jurisprudence Islam is considered to be a religion."
Do you want to put into law that Islam is not a religion?
"We will have to see about legal possibilities Can it be done, how can it be done and what way can it be done. But it's definitely worth studying"
So you want to ban Islam?
"I do not rule out that this may be necessary in the long run. It will concern the expressions. You can not ban an idea, that's impossible. You can not ban communism either. "
There is religious freedom in this country. But you want to record that Islam is not a religion.
"In my opinion it is not part of religious freedom. That is my political wish. How to execute such a thing is wish number two. "
That is very useful for a politician if he makes a statement. What should we think of?
"That is what we have to look into. I have now lifted a tip of the veil. "
Many people will be startled when they read this.
"We are not going to collect Qurans from people's homes. What is going on behind their front door is their business. We are talking about public space, but it is too early to say anything about it now. "
Does this not make it very casual?
"No. I have ventilated this for ten years.
" Some things you mention you have. But banning Islam is something different.
"If it is possible to put it into law, we will put it into law. But it will be about expressions. Recently we have also drafted an administrative detention bill for jihadists. I realize all problems will not be solved tomorrow by closing a mosque. You must make it unattractive in this country to profess Islam. People who want to come to the Netherlands from Islamic countries should think: this is not a place we want to go to! And we do not do this to bully Muslims, but to keep the Netherlands of the future a free Netherlands."
 Are Islam and modernity compatible? Photo: Wikipedia. |
This interview was published today in De Telegraaf , the largest daily newspaper in The Netherlands, and was translated by the Party for Freedom.
Geert Wilders born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who is the founder and the current leader of the Party for Freedom Wilders is the parliamentary group leader of his party in the House of Representatives ( Tweede Kamer ). In the 2010 formation of the Rutte cabinet , a minority cabinet of VVD and CDA, he actively participated in the negotiations, resulting in a "support agreement" between the PVV and these parties, but withdrew his support in April 2012, citing disagreements with the cabinet on proposed budget cuts. Wilders is best known for his criticism of Islam ; his views have made him a controversial figure in the Netherlands and abroad, and since 2004 he has been protected at all times by armed bodyguards.
Typical Right Wing paranoia. Afraid of everything that opposes their views and religion. It shows nothing but weakness and fear that another religion will take over their world and abolish their beliefs.
The fact that he has to be protected at all times by armed guards is not so far off of the fate of others who are not afraid to speak the truth, like Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Salmann Rushdie. That, in itself, speaks volumes.
Well said. It's not paranoia, if they are really trying to kill him and his nation's culture.
Yesterday I posted a comment on the thread of an article on religion, posted by kpr37, I told him the article was too long. Then today I posted this kinda long article.
I know, it's hypocritical. I take it back, the kpr article is not too long.
I almost posted this article myself, but I thought it was so long nobody would read it. Geert Wilders was, in my opinion, treated badly. It seems that European politicians who are in power tend to kill the (virtual) canaries in the coal mines. Their countries will pay the price one day because their fate is already on its way.
Their countries will pay the price one day because their fate is already on its way.
Are you under the impression Islam will eventually over the Netherlands?
I am under the impression Christianity and Islam and Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Sikhism and all the other 15 or 16 major religions of the world should be able to live together in peace.
But maybe I'm being naive.
Which of those religions that you refer to is intolerant of any other religion, considering all others to be inferior, requiring all others to pay a toll to exist, if even allowed to continue to exist? Which of those religions considers those who leave it to be targets for death?
And you think that all those religions will be able to live together in peace? Yes, perhaps in the future, when every person in the world has become followers of the SAME religion, or all with no religion at all. Only then.
You've nailed it!
It's not about decent folks trying hard to get along with radical extremists or leaders trying hard not to offend radical extremists. It's all about the radical extremists - until they are gone the fight goes on.
Vic,
Not that I disagree with getting rid of radical extremist, but we have been at this for 15 years now.. how do we do that?
I said should be able to live in peace. Guess we will have to wait another half a century for that to happen.
I guess my approach is a little naive.
But I don't think Geert was treated unfairly. He holds a controversial political position and he plays it for all it's worth. Sorta like the current president of the USA. But Trump doesn't know he's controversial. He thinks he's always right and everybody else is wrong.
No we haven't. We've only been half heartedly trying to get rid of it. When we insist on not offending them by confronting them, we are not fighting them.
The only way to not offend an extremist is to agree with them.
Any time you disagree with one of them, both on the Left and the Right, they think they are in a fight.
No, you were correct. I did it just to make a point, I knew it was too long and posted anyways.
But thank you for the thought.
LOL - The games people play. Tomorrow I intend to post the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Don't bother. I've been working on that project for weeks.
Already have half of Vol. 8 of the The Macropædia version downloaded.,
Ha ha !! Okay, then instead I'll post Journey to the West, a Chinese classic written during the Ming Dynasty. The Englixh translation I read was 2600 pages long.
Old news. Read it last week.
What was the name of the main character? And who did he protect on the journey? No fair using google.
Ha! I know, I know....
Completely serendipitously, I happened to watch, " Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back (2017) " , just this morning.
What are the odds!? ( smile )
While I can't recall the name of the Monk they were protecting, I did recognize the Monkey King, (of course), and the Swine guy but I admit I've never heard of that third disciple/protector for the journeying Monk.
Movie was OK, (kind of fun really), but was made with a Eastern audience in mind. I bet a lot of the cultural in jokes went right over my head and they showed the Monkey King in forms I'd never seen before.
Made me wonder if that was just the movie taken license or if it was their way of trying to stay more true to the legends.
I mean, in the movie, the Monkey King went from the mischievous scamp with a staff that I was familiar with to a powered up cross between King Kong and lava fulled Rock Monster for the final battle.
The monk
His Protectors
Ha ha !!! I wanted Jerry to answer, but I'm just as surprised and pleased that you did. I didn't realized there was a film that that was made recently that is watched outside of China, but many different films and TV series of the story are watched here. The Monkey King is a heroic figure in China, and is as well known as Mickey Mouse is in North America. His name is Sun Wukong, and yes, he was one of the three protectors of the Monk on his journey to the West, to obtain the Buddhist scriptures and bring them back. If you are not familiar with the customs and treditions and the places here that are mentioned in the story you will miss much of the significance and not know what is being referred to.
Ming Dynasty?! Oh, I thought you were talking about the Ming Diner down the road from me.
It wouldn't be so long if you hadn't pasted the same text in it 5 times
I have no idea how that happened. (I hope you didn't read it 5 times) It was really hard to find where it started and ended. I actually had to delete and repost the entire article to fix it. What is most strange is, the photo did not duplicate on the original post.
I'd ask Perrie, but it's not that important unless it has happened in other articles. Anyway, thanks for the heads up 96.
Sounds like our own home-grown extreme christians fit his description nicely.
Sounds like our own home-grown extreme christians fit his description nicely.
Extremist are extremist, no matter what flavor they are.
Not really. Christians may yell at you. Muslims will riot and murder when offended.
If you believe what CNN, Fox News and the other US news agencies tell you.
I see the Trump anti-media rhetoric is affecting your judgement.
If it wasn't for CNN, Fox News and the other agencies, how would you have any idea what is going on in the world?
..... and how would The Donald get his lies and insults passed on the the public?
I suppose we would all have to become twitter members so we wouldn't be able to read anything but what Trump wants us to read. That's what works for most dictatorships, so why wouldn't work for Trump?
Any news agency that overzealously applies PC and is afraid of being accused of Islamophobia (a weapon that suits the terrorists) is NOT going to tell you the truth about what is going on in the world. Charlie Hebdo was killed because he didn't kowtow to the "Islamophobia" label, and so was Van Gogh, Ayaan HIrsi Ali's partner, and why do she and Salmann Rushdie and Geert Wilders need 24 hour police protection?
If that's how you know what's going on in the world, you have a very small world. Recommend you get out more.
"and how would The Donald get his lies and insults passed on the the public?"
I learned during the Obama administration that what you see on the news sources like CNN, Fox and MSNBC is about 80% bullshit. Remember, these are the networks that told you (and apparently you sucked it right up) that Clinton would win the election without a doubt and that the ACA is good.
Islam is not the only religion soaked in blood. Your beloved christianity is just as guilty.
People who make false assumptions shouldn't be posting comments on social news siites.
What makes you think I'm a Christian, or that Christianity is beloved by me?
It was a bad call. If a ref in a sporting event makes a bad call, what do they do, throw him out of the game and never let him referee again?
Many people bought into a Clinton win, even Trump admitted he was surprised he won.
So what is your suggestion? Stop following the media and get our news from facebook, who gets it's news from the media?
Anyway, you have it backwards. Maybe 20% of the media is bullshit, as an intelligent reader it's up to you to separate the bullshit from the facts.
On the other hand, we could just drop our free press system and go by the Vladimir Putin example, letting the government decide what should be printed in the news.
As I said above, "Anyway, you have it backwards. Maybe 20% of the media is bullshit, as an intelligent reader it's up to you to separate the bullshit from the facts."
Give me a break Jeramey, what am I supposed to do travel around he world and demand they let me into any of the events I want, so I can get a first hand look into what is actually happening?
How do you find out what is happening in the world? My bet is you follow what is being talked about in the media.
I recommend you learn to apply a little more common sense into your comments.
I can remember when you could rely on the news to tell the truth and not whitewash it or censor the truth. But that was about 60 years ago. It was when the presently left-leaning Christian Science Monitor won awards for not being biased in any direction - when you could rely on its telling the absolute truth. We considered it the role model for our university Newspaper.
Most people that post what others believe is a false assumption is the reason we have a two way comment system here.
What makes you think I'm a Christian, or that Christianity is beloved by me?
I don't know if he intended to imply you are a Christian. He should have avoided implying an assumption and said, "The beloved christianity is just as guilty.".
(Watch your words Jeramey, and there is only one 'i' in sites Buzz)
I love nonsensical hyperbolic deflection as much as the next. But please!
Does murdering the entire planet count? Source; bible
In what way is that a serious statement? Are you a biblical literalist? How old is the earth in your opinion? (LOL)
Btw, the fact that I needed to point this out to you doesn't speak very highly of your awareness.
Delusions and facts have vastly different definitions. You seem confused on the concept.
Still waiting for an answer to my question.
It is not a religion but a system of brutal governance that masquerades as religion.