JDL Rally For Freedom with Paul Weston from the New Freedom Party in England

Monday, February 20, 2012 —– 7:30 pm
Toronto Zionist Center, 788 Marlee Avenue, Toronto, ON

Please join us Monday, February 20th @ 7:30pm for a truly important evening with Paul Weston, leader of the new British Freedom Party in England.

Following in the footsteps of Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party of the Netherlands, Mr. Weston’s goals are to counteract the spread of …fundamentalist Islam in Britain.

His platform consists of:

• Stopping Immigration from Countries that promote the Muslim Brotherhood.
• Repairing the damage done to the nation’s education system.
• Tackle the growth in crime.
• Promote British values and culture.

We have witnessed the spread of fundamentalist Islam across Europe and are witnessing the same trend in North America. An evening with Paul Weston will shed light on this issue and how to keep North America free.

Michael Coren with Paul Weston, British Freedom Party

(h/t: Blazing Cat Fur)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Uploaded by SDAMatt2a on Dec 8, 2011
Paul Weston, leader of the British Freedom Party, joins Michael Coren to discuss his party’s raison d’être.

From Radio Netherlands:

Egypt is concerned about a book Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders plans to publish in the spring. Earlier today, the German Press Agency DPA reported that Dutch ambassador Susan Blankhart was summoned by the Egyptian foreign minister in November to explain anti-Islamic comments by the controversial MP.

According to diplomats, Egypt says it is unable to ignore Mr Wilders’ unacceptable behaviour. In early November, Egypt refused to issue a visa to Freedom Party MP Raymond de Roon after he had accused Cairo of the ethnic cleansing of Christians Copts. As a result, a parliamentary foreign affairs delegation of Dutch MPs cancelled a working visit to the Arab country.

A spokesperson for the Dutch foreign ministry says various issues were discussed at the meeting on 21 November, including the publication of Mr Wilders’ book. The ambassador told the Egyptian authorities that freedom of speech is a right in the Netherlands and everyone is at liberty to write a book. The book, which is believed to be about the history of Islam, argues that the religion is an ideology.

In response to the news, Mr Wilders said: “Fortunately we have freedom of opinion here. The Egyptian military regime should concern itself with the rights and protection of Christians in Egypt and preventing further bloodshed rather than worrying about me.”

Wilders’ book: Islam is ideology

Populist MP Geert Wilders is writing a book about the history of Islam that argues it is not a religion but an ideology.

The book, which was to be published in the first half of 2011, is now due to appear in the second half of the year, Mr Wilders told news website NU.nl.

The initiative for the book, Mr Wilders says, comes from the United States, where it will appear first, to be followed by a Dutch translation.

Mr Wilders also revealed he is working on a continuation of his short anti-Islam film Fitna, but he couldn’t yet say when it would be completed.

Regarding the unrest in the Arab world, the far-right politician claims that democracy will not take hold in the Maghreb and the Middle East unless people turn away from Islam.

He warned that things could go either way and the future could see regimes that are even worse than those of ousted Presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia or that of Libya’s Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Zilla has the story:

The title of this post is from a comment, made by a reader named Robert, at Blazing Cat Fur to a post about the blatant islamic supremacism in Toronto, Canada. Robert is absolutely correct, and unfortunately, the islamization is rampant, aided and abetted by useful idiots who are too cowed by Orwellian “political correctness” to even attempt to defend our Western Civilization and right to live as free people. As Geert Wilders famously said of Europe, “The lights are going out” all over the West, and soon it will be too late to stop the suffocating darkness of islamic supremacist conquest that has already resulted in horrible oppression, persecution, institutionalized misogyny, and mass genocide all over the world…

Shari’a has even invaded our Thanksgiving dinner table:

Not even the American Thanksgiving Day dinner is safe from islamization. ALL Butterball whole turkeys are ritually islamically tortured to death while the butcher mutters islamic praise to the bloodthirsty moongod demon allah over the suffering, dying, animal (halal). Butterball does not identify the turkeys sold as halal so unsuspecting customers are denied the opportunity to choose for themselves whether or not they want to eat meat from islamically tortured animals if they buy from Butterball. If you do not wish to have your holiday islamitized, you can buy from Shady brook Farms, whose turkeys are NOT halal at all.

I realize that most have already gotten their holiday turkeys, so if you discover that you are in possession of a halal turkey and would like to unislamitize your meal, I recommend stuffing it with ham and garnishing it with a few slices of bacon on top; bacon topped turkey is as delicious as it is haram! Some people think that halal meat is no big deal, they say it doesn’t matter if the animal was tortured while someone praises allah over the dying creature, but follow the money and you will see a greater evil connected with halal food: money from halal food goes to fund islamic jihad terrorism via the islamic supremacist Muslim Brotherhood and is an invisible tax (jizya) to non-muslims (dhimmies). Read about it at BNI. Boycott Butterball Turkey page is here. Call 1-800-BUTTERBALL to register your complaint, the CS reps are taking notes and escalating the calls.
[...]
Much, much more here!

Finally, something to be thankful for:

Blazing Cat Fur: Occupy Toronto is being shut down

Geert Wilders explains why Muslim immigration threatens our freedom and our ability to govern ourselves according to western values and principles. (English language with Danish subtitles.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Uploaded by MegaFraudbuster on Sep 15, 2011
with a rising islamic population ………. this might be the only solution.

Although I never watch the tax-payer-funded ABC I was alerted to a show they ran tonight.

It seems that Geert Wilders is coming to Australia after being invited by Liberal Party Senator Cory Bernardi.

(Please note that in Australia the Liberal Party is the Conservative Party.)

This text from the ABC site:

H/T: SheikYerMami

A controversial Dutch politician who’s been prosecuted for hate speech says he’s coming to Australia.

Geert 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.

But Wilders has his supporters, among them Liberal Senator, Cory Bernardi.
(pictured above).

by Eric Campbell

Audio here.

Further reading – Senator Cory Bernardi:
Australia: No Place for Sharia Law

From Winds of Jihad:

AFDI/SIOA 9/11 Freedom Rally: Stand Against Ground Zero Mosque, and Durban III, Stand for America

And if you’re in Germany on the 3rd of September, the Parteitag of Die Freiheit is the place to be:

NEW YORK: The human rights organization American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) will be hosting its second annual 9/11 Freedom Rally on September 11 at 3pm at Park Place and West Broadway.

Free citizens are coming from all over the U.S. to attend the rally. “It is crucial to stand for freedom on this tenth anniversary of the heinous 9/11 jihad attacks,” said AFDI Executive Director Pamela Geller. “We must show the jihadists we are unbowed in the defense of freedom. As a judge yesterday dismissed a suit by a New York firefighter challenging the construction of the mosque, the last legal hurdle blocking it has been removed. But we are not giving up. It is time for free citizens to make a stand.”

AFDI and its Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) program are encouraging all Americans to stand against the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero and the anti-Semitic Durban III conference that will be held in New York City at the same time, and for American values on the tenth anniversary of the worst attack ever on American soil.

The confirmed list of speakers includes 9/11 family members Alexander and Maureen Santora, who lost their firefighter son Christopher; Sally Regenhard, whose son Christian was killed on 9/11; Nelly Braginsky, who lost her son Alexander; and others.

Other speakers include former U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton (video message); German MP René Stadtkewitz, leader of Germany’s Freedom Party; the courageous ex-Muslim human rights activist Wafa Sultan; war hero and North Carolina Congressional candidate Ilario Pantano; former prosecutor and bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy; popular radio host Joyce Kaufman; Darla Dawald, National Director of the Patriot Action Network; James Lafferty of the Virginia Anti-Sharia Taskforce (VAST); Coptic Christian activist Joseph Nassralla; Iraqi ex-Muslim Paul Gaynos; and others.

Hosting the rally are Pamela Geller, publisher of the acclaimed AtlasShrugs.com blog, executive director of AFDI and SIOA, and author of Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance (WND Books); and AFDI/SIOA associate director Robert Spencer, the bestselling author and director of Jihad Watch.

Building the Ground Zero mosque is not an issue of religious freedom, but of resisting an effort to insult the victims of 9/11 and to establish a beachhead for political Islam and Islamic supremacism in New York. Cordoba Initiative board member imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is an open proponent of Sharia, Islamic law, a system that denies the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and the equality of rights of all people before the law. Given the thousands of triumphal mosques that have been built on the cherished sites of conquered peoples throughout Islamic history, the mosque leaders’ claim that this mosque would be understood differently by Muslims worldwide lack foundation.

The Durban III conference follows upon two previous conferences that scapegoated and demonized the state of Israel in service of Islamic jihad and Islamic supremacist interests. The rally will defend Israel against the defamation to which it will be subjected at this conference. It will also call upon the city to remove roadblocks to the reconstruction of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed on 9/11 and since then mired in bureaucratic red tape that has prevented its rebuilding – in stark contrast to the help Mayor Bloomberg and other city officials have given to the Ground Zero Mosque project.

AFDI/SIOA is one of America’s foremost organizations defending human rights, religious liberty, and the freedom of speech against Islamic supremacist intimidation and attempts to bring elements of Sharia to the United States.

From Gates of Vienna:

The following article about Geert Wilders’ response to the recent attacks against him was published today in De Telegraaf. Many thanks to the PVV for sending this translation:

Wilders furious at ‘witch hunt’ after the Norwegian drama

“The ‘Left’ can get lost”

Geert Wilders is furious. The chairman of the Party for Freedom feels he is being demonized by left-wing politicians such as Dutch Labour party leader PvdA-leader Job Cohen. In no possible way has he contributed to a climate in which murderers such as Anders Breivik feel called upon to the urge to use violence, states Wilders. Right after the drama in Norway, Wilders disassociated himself of the murderer Breivik, who seems to nourish a fascination for right politicians such as Wilders. A few days ago Wilders sent a statement to the press as he remained under attack. Again he stated he did not have anything to do with Breivik (‘a lonely idiot’). Nevertheless, the pressure remained on the PVV-frontman to explain whether his words and ideas could be a stimulant breeding ground for loners such as Breivik. He received over 200 interview requests from the national and international press, says Wilders. He tells his story to the Dutch newspaper Telegraaf, from his holiday address.

Last week there was a ‘witch hunt’ against him, according to Wilders. “If a Muslim pleads a terrorist attack, it’s not the fault of Islam, according to the leftists; if a crazy maniac pleads an attack in Norway then the Freedom Party all of sudden takes it on the chin.”

The Freedom party PVV-leader feels that he should not be blamed for any of this. “Left-wing parties have grasped this opportunity to try to demolish the PVV and they demonize us with a morbid eagerness. But it’s all in vain — fortunately our voters have common sense knowledge and will not be talked into these lies from the left-wing parties. Our voters know that the PVV is against violence, only uses democratic means, and loathes what happened in Norway.” He said he does have any intention of explaining himself to these leftist politicians as he stated: “They can get lost. All of them”.

Hate palaces

He even wants to even take it up a notch. “Islam is the biggest danger threatening our country and the free West. We have too much mass immigration from Islamic countries, and too many hate palaces — Cohen call them mosques, I believe — and immigrants are still overrepresented in the crime figures. Enough is enough.”

Wilders does not shun tough language during debates. Last week Cohen suggested that politicians should watch their words due to the far-reaching influence they could have. Wilders does not feel addressed by this statement. “I speak the truth concerning Islam and the enormous dangers of this violent totalitarian ideology.”

Wilders continues: “And the truth must be told, because the coddlers of Islam such as Cohen of the Party of the Arabs have caused these problems and systematically ignored them. Against Cohen and the rest of the ‘left’ Netherlands I say: Not my words, but your silence concerning the dangers of Islam has a negative influence. Not the discussion of the problems and the coming up with solutions of the Party for Freedom PVV, but your cowardly attitude to just turn your head away from problems, and the coddlers of Islam have worsened the problems!”

Wilders proposes to merely debate about the content. That he would incite hatred as critics reproach him, he calls nonsense. Whoever throws the ball can expect it to be thrown back?

“The truth is that the Islamisation of the Netherlands must be stopped. That is not inciting hatred, as the judge as a matter of fact also finds, but standing up for the Netherlands and our own culture and freedom, where Islam does not belong. Islam and freedom do not go together. Those are the facts, that is the truth. The truth is also that we have nothing to do with that psychopath from Norway and that we only want to reach our goals in a democratic and non-violent way. For this reason it is not a question of what goes around expecting to come around, throwing a ball and expecting it to be thrown back, but a fake political game of left-wing parties and other mentally disturbed people who try to exploit political popularity by abusing this terrible mass murder in Norway. How low can you go?”

Gates of Vienna – Wilders to Ezra Levant: Hate Speech Laws Should Go

YouTube: Ezra Levant on Geert Wilders’ acquittal

The video is a conversation between Wilders and Ezra Levant following the former’s acquittal. In sum, Mr. Wilders says hate speech laws have to go. To which I will add, “Amen”, though not nearly as fervently as does the battle-tried Mr. Levant.

The following quote is excerpted from the Youtube notes put up by user sdamatt, who posted the video:

…in his closing statement, Wilders said that his controversial statements against Islam were protected by the right to free speech. Wilders said he believed the process of Islamization presents a threat to Europe and that it is his right and duty to warn the public about it.

If he had been convicted, Wilders could have faced up to one year in jail or a fine of up to €7,600 ($10,865). At the peak of the controversy over his statements, Wilders was once even banned from entering the United Kingdom.
[…]
Wilders’ comments sparked a massive debate on the integration of Muslims in Europe that has helped fuel other populist movements around the continent. In Germany , politician Thilo Sarrazin wrote a bestselling book warning that Muslim immigrants were dumbing down the country.

Meanwhile, don’t forget the OIC is certain that the phenomenon known as Geert Wilders is due solely to those naughty Swiss who voted to ban minarets (no I don’t have the link anymore. Look for their 2009 summary. It’s a pdf and a real slog). [see footnote below]

OIC officials continue to harass the Swiss government. They are sure the Swiss could simply void that referendum if they wanted. It appears that the OIC is not ready for prime time when it comes to a full grasp of the elements of democracy. We may have a chasm here that no amount of explaining will bridge.

Mr. Levant’s “Victory Conversation” with Wilders is above. Notice the tone of both voices. Very happy warriors indeed.

Hat Tip: Steen

Footnote:

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law: Panacea or Pathetic Fallacy? The Swiss Ban on Minarets, by Lorenz Langer, Volume 43, Number 10, October 2010

Gates of Vienna: Geert Wilders Walks

Reprinted with permission.

[And according to new reports, he's gonna keep on walking, right into a candystore]

A few readers have emailed with further stories, plus a reminder or two:

Mark Steyn, on NRO, says in part:

“On the edge of legal acceptability,” eh? As for the latter part – “the broad context of a political and social debate” – the genius “jurists” are effectively conceding what I said when this racket got going – that the Dutch state was attempting to criminalize the political platform of a popular opposition party. That’s the sort of thing free societies should leave to Mubarak & Co, and even then, you can only get away with it for a while before people draw the obvious conclusion.

Nevertheless, as in all these cases, the process is the punishment. The intent is to make it more and more difficult for apostates of the multiculti state to broaden the terms of political discourse. Very few Europeans would have had the stomach to go through what Wilders did – and the British Government’s refusal to permit a Dutch Member of Parliament to land at Heathrow testifies to how easily the craven squishes of the broader political culture fall into line.

And at the end the awkward fact remains: Geert Wilders lives under 24-hour armed guard because of explicit death threats made against him by the killer of Theo van Gogh and by other Muslims. Yet he’s the one who gets puts on trial.

That’s the Netherlands, 2011.

The Netherlands has been like that centuries before 2011. Our favorite Dutch historian, Arthur Legger, has been outing the Dutch elites for years. He has suggested repeatedly that we return to the truth of what the Dutch really did — or tried to do – to Spinoza. They might have succeeded but Spinoza had the last laugh: he died before they could kill him.

Legger says (in 2008) that his friends from other countries were asking what was going on:

How is it possible that so many Dutch politicians favour censorship and lawsuits, and that leading men of opinion openly and repeatedly compare Wilders to Goebbels and Hitler? How is this possible with your tradition of Spinoza?”

“How” indeed. As Mr. Legger has said reiterated to those willing to listen [my emphasis below - D], Dutch freedoms are limited to those the state considers ‘safe’:

The public comparison of a well known individual with Hitler, Mussolini or Mussert (leading Dutch Nazi collaborator) and the removing of the social safety net belongs to an ingrained Dutch tradition, well known to the Dutch. If you’re judged too harmful to the Dutch State, Culture and/or its Business (and these three are highly intertwined), the ruthless reflex sets in and it’s game over – including, sometimes, death. Recently the world was able to witness this flaw in our character: Pim Fortuyn, “fascist” adversary of the Left and winner of the elections, was murdered in 2002; Theo van Gogh, “racist” mocker of muslims, jews and the Left, was murdered in 2004; Ayaan Hirsi Ali, “heretic” critic of the Left and of islam, was effectively banished in 2006.

As I remember the story, she realized that her university studies in the Netherlands hadn’t included any knowledge of Dutch history, of what the state authorities do to people like her. That is, they simply leave the miscreants alone and unprotected and ignorant of Dutch history:

Tellingly, all four of them, if you include Wilders, used ‘Spinoza’ as their buzz word – it was his Enlightenment ideals against those of the attackers of western freedom. Fortuyn, Hirsi Ali and Wilders mainly opposed orthodox islam, Van Gogh mainly wrote against the naive fool who hands his freedom over out of laziness and decadence.

[…]

…state terrorism [is] sanctioned by Dutch mentality: ‘if you stick out your head too often, we’ll chop it off’. Also, the Dutch Constitution’s Article 7 on the Freedom of Expression was not written with John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty in mind. Mill preached total freedom of speech because “even a raving madman might say something sound”. In Holland this position is only defended by some philosophers of the University of Amsterdam. Philosophy professor Pieter Pekelharing (University of Amsterdam) is a bit of a loner when he states that: “Geert Wilders is an intolerant fool who nevertheless has every right to say stupid things. Also, we cannot rule out the remote possibility that he is right on the dangers of Islam” (The Volkskrant, 15 March 2008).

Indeed. The “remote possibility” that Wilders may be right is surely staring this man in the face every time he visits a Moroccan enclave after dark. Oops. You mean he doesn’t do that? If Mr. Wilders says “stupid things” then surely the tolerant wise man, Professor Pieter Pekelharing, is brave enough to visit a no-go zone and prove Wilders’ assessments of the dangers of Islam-in-your-face is just talk?

Back to the politically incorrect and inconvenient truth about Dutch history from Mr. Legger:

Mill’s ideas on liberty were never fully incorporated into the Dutch rule of law because the reshuffling of power that took place in 1848, and which in the following decades led to our present parliamentary system, was mainly intended to check and balance a despotic and incompetent king – and had very little to do with a democratic revolution. The constitution handed power exclusively to a very small group of high-brow, male ‘haves’, who were allowed to vote and sit in Parliament because they paid a high amount of taxes (and where of good social standing).

The “solution of 1848” decidedly did two things: the King’s power was curbed and the growing unrest of the elite (“we pay taxes, but we have no say”) was eased. Whatever happened later on – the first political parties after the 1880s, men’s general vote in 1917, women’s vote in 1919, and so on- was never the intention. On the contrary the constitution was intended to curb freedom, and we are now stuck with it, mentally and legally.

The will could be found to free ourselves if the faculties of Reason and Discernment hadn’t atrophied over the years. In the West we have come to love these “curbs” on freedom. Kiss your shackles.

One has only to look at the treatment of poor Gregorius Nekshot to know the Dutch fear of those who stick their necks out…so to speak. In fact, this man’s nom de plume is brilliant:

…With “Gregorius” he refers to Pope Gregory IX, who instituted the Papal Inquisition, and “Nekschot” means literally “shot in the neck,” a method used, according to the cartoonist, by “fascists and communists to get rid of their opponents.”

By coincidence Nekshot appeared with Mark Steyn when they both received the Sappho Prize in Denmark. The former wore a burka to the event since he is still at risk from the Islamothugs in Europe.

But never mind. Mr. Nekshot is so obviously dangerous that it took ten policemen to haul him away for hours and hours of “questioning”. Maybe they thought his cartoonist’s pen was loaded? Maybe they’ve watched too many SWAT-team movies?

[…]

A short while [after his acquittal], Mr Wilders emerged to speak to a throng of more than 50 journalists, many from foreign news organisations. Mr Wilders was visibly relieved. He is a tall man, but he stood even taller as he spoke of his victory.

“I am very pleased and happy. Its not just a victory for me, but for freedom of expression in Holland …. A great burden has been lifted off me.

He concluded his remarks with the Dutch equivalent of “I’m as happy as a kid in a candy store.”

This report also includes some plans his enemies – known as “the injured parties” – have to drag this through the EU. They’ve gone as far as they can in the Netherlands, but we’ll have to see what the Euroweenies can create out of these spurious charges. They have lots of money and too much time on their hands.

Mr. Wilders will continue to need support in this ongoing lawfare war. Given the deep pockets of those determined to destroy him, that means practical support like funding from those of us who stand behind him.

But meanwhile, back in Holland, even as Mr. Wilders savors his victory Arthur Legger nudges us about the reality of Dutch democracy:

…our heritage is not Spinoza and his professed freedom. Our heritage is Providence, propaganda and social control: the one who deviates will not go unpunished.

Acquittal for Wilders

The court of Amsterdam has Geert Wilders acquitted on all charges.

The court acquitted Wilders of group-insults. According to the court it was sufficiently shown that Wilders statements were addressing islam as a religion, not to individual muslims nor as a group.

The court also acquitted Wilders of inciting hatred or discrimination.He made his statements as politician. Some of his statements were,according to the court, course and on the edge of what is legally allowed, but not punishable.

The court specifically talked about the movie Fitna. The movie has,according to the court, offensive, shocking passages, but the PVV leader remained within the boundaries of the law. Therefore, also full acquittal also on this charge. [my emphasis - D]

Is everybody happy or what??

As the prosecutor himself said back in May, Geert Wilders did not incite hatred.

So the judges, perhaps, had no choice? I wonder what scared them off?

Gates of Vienna: Geert Wilders’ Final Remarks in Court

Reprinted with permission.

Below is a subtitled video of Geert Wilders’ final remarks at his trial today in Amsterdam. The English text of his speech follows.

Many thanks to Kitman for subtitling and YouTubing this video:

Gates of Vienna: “The Truth is on Trial Today”

Reprinted with permission.

Below are the final remarks spoken today, June 1, 2011, by Geert Wilders at his trial in Amsterdam. The verdict is expected later this month.

I am here because of what I have said. I am here for having spoken. I have spoken, I speak and I shall continue to speak. Many have kept silent, but not Pim Fortuyn, not Theo Van Gogh, and not I.

I am obliged to speak. For the Netherlands is under threat of Islam. As I have argued many times, Islam is chiefly an ideology. An ideology of hatred, of destruction, of conquest. It is my strong conviction that Islam is a threat to Western values, to freedom of speech, to the equality of men and women, of heterosexuals and homosexuals, of believers and unbelievers.

All over the world we can see how freedom is fleeing from Islam. Day by day we see our freedoms dwindle.

Islam is opposed to freedom. Renowned scholars of Islam from all parts of the world agree on this. My expert witnesses subscribe to my view. There are more Islam scholars whom the court did not allow me to call upon to testify. All agree with my statements, they show that I speak the truth. That truth is on trial today.

We must live in the truth, said the dissidents under Communist rule, because the truth will set us free. Truth and freedom are inextricably connected. We must speak the truth because otherwise we shall lose our freedom.

That is why I have spoken, why I speak and why I shall continue to speak.

The statements for which I am being tried are statements which I made in my function as a politician participating in the public debate in our society. My statements were not aimed at individuals, but at Islam and the process of Islamization. That is why the Public Prosecutor has concluded that I should be acquitted.

Mister President, members of the Court,

I am acting within a long tradition which I wish to honour. I am risking my life in defence of freedom in the Netherlands. Of all our achievements freedom is the most precious and the most vulnerable. Many have given their lives for freedom. We have been reminded of that in the commemorations of the month of May. But the struggle for freedom is much older.

Every day the armoured cars drive me past the statue of Johan de Witt at the Hofvijver in The Hague. De Witt wrote the “Manifesto of True Freedom” and he paid for freedom with his life. Every day I go to my office through the Binnenhof where Johan van Oldenbarneveldt was beheaded after a political trial. Leaning on his stick the elderly Oldenbarneveldt addressed his last words to his people. He said: “I have acted honourably and piously as a good patriot.” Those words are also mine.

I do not wish to betray the trust of the 1.5 million voters of my party. I do not wish to betray my country. Inspired by Johan van Oldenbarneveldt and Johan de Witt I wish to be a politician who serves the truth end hence defends the freedom of the Dutch provinces and of the Dutch people. I wish to be honest, I wish to act with honesty and that is why I wish to protect my native land against Islam. Silence is treason.

That is why I have spoken, why I speak and why I shall continue to speak.

Freedom and truth. I pay the price every day. Day and night I have to be protected against people who want to kill me. I am not complaining about it; it has been my own decision to speak. However, those who threaten me and other critics of Islam are not being tried here today. I am being tried. And about that I do complain.

I consider this trial to be a political trial. The values of D66 [a Dutch leftist liberal party] and NRC Handelsblad [a Dutch leftist liberal paper] will never be brought before a judge in this country. One of the complainants clearly indicated that his intentions are political. Even questions I have asked in parliament and cooperation with the SGP are being brought as allegations against me by Mr Rabbae of GroenLinks [the leftist Dutch Green Party]. Those on the Left like to tamper with the separation of powers. When they cannot win politically because the Dutch people have discerned their sinister agenda, they try to win through the courts.

Whatever your verdict may be, that is the bitter conclusion of this trial.

This trial is also surrealistic. I am being compared with the Hutu murderers in Rwanda and with Mladic. Only a few minutes ago some here have doubted my mental health. I have been called a new Hitler. I wonder whether those who call me such names will also be sued, and if not, whether the Court will also order prosecution. Probably not. And that is just as well. Because freedom of speech applies also to my opponents.

My right to a fair trial has been violated. The order of the Amsterdam Court to prosecute me was not just a decision but a condemning verdict by judges who condemned me even before the actual trial had begun.

Mister President, members of the Court, you must now decide whether freedom still has a home in the Netherlands

Franz Kafka said: “one sees the sun slowly set, yet one is surprised when it suddenly becomes dark.”

Mister President, members of the Court, do not let the lights go out in the Netherlands.
Acquit me: Put an end to this Kafkaesque situation.

Acquit me. Political freedom requires that citizens and their elected representatives are allowed to voice opinions that are held in society.

Acquit me, for if I am convicted, you convict the freedom of opinion and expression of millions of Dutchmen.

Acquit me. I do not incite to hatred. I do not incite to discrimination. But I defend the character, the identity, the culture and the freedom of the Netherlands. That is the truth. That is why I am here. That is why I speak. That is why, like Luther before the Imperial Diet at Worms, I say: “Here I stand, I can do no other.”

That is why I have spoken, why I speak and why I shall continue to speak.

Mister President, members of the Court, though I stand here alone, my voice is the voice of many. This trial is not about me. It is about something much greater. Freedom of expression is the life source of our Western civilisation.

Do not let that source go dry just to cosy up to a totalitarian ideology. “Freedom,” said the American President Dwight Eisenhower, “has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed — else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”

Mister President, members of the Court, you have a great responsibility. Do not cut freedom in the Netherlands from its roots, our freedom of expression. Acquit me. Choose freedom.

I have spoken, I speak, and it is my duty — I cannot do otherwise — to continue to speak.

Thank you.

Gates of Vienna: Prosecutor: Geert Wilders Did Not Incite Hatred

Reprinted with permission.

As in the previous trial of Geert Wilders last year, the state prosecution office (Openbaar Ministerie, or OM) finds itself reluctant to recommend convicting the defendant on charges that obviously have no basis in law or justice. The prosecutors were compelled by the Amsterdam court to retry Mr. Wilders, but as of today they have decided he should be found not guilty of two of the charges against him — “incitement to hatred” and “insulting a group”.

No prosecutorial opinion on the remaining charge — “incitement to discrimination” — has been issued yet.

If I understand the Dutch justice system correctly, such statements by the prosecution do not bind the panel of judges in the case, who may ignore OM’s opinion and find the defendant guilty or not guilty as they see fit.

According to Dutch News:

Find Wilders Not Guilty of Inciting Hatred, Says Prosecution

The public prosecution department on Wednesday called for PVV leader Gert Wilders to be found not guilty of inciting hatred, as it tied up its case against the MP.

Prosecutors say Wilders’ remarks are critical of Islam which is not the same as inciting hatred against muslims themselves.

Earlier in the day the prosecutors said Wilders’ should be found not guilty of insulting a group because he has not stated any conclusions about muslims. Instead he has merely criticised their religion, the prosecutors said.

Reluctance

The decision to call on judges to find Wilders not guilty follows on from fact the department did not want to take the PVV leader to court in the first place.

However, it was forced to do so by the appeal court following protests from a number of ethnic minority groups.

The final charge against Wilders, incitement to discrimination, will be discussed later today.

Gates of Vienna: The Farce Continues

Reprinted with permission.

Geert Wilders took a bit of a vacation earlier this month, visiting Canada and Tennessee. Now everything has returned to normal, and he’s back in the dock in the Netherlands.

The Amsterdam court that is trying Mr. Wilders is engaged in a surgical operation for political purposes under the mandate of the Dutch ruling class. Its task is to excise the PVV leader from the Dutch body politic and restore the multicultural state to its previous dominance.

If there were ever any doubt that this is a kangaroo court, and that the verdict was determined well in advance, the following brief article would lay it to rest. Many thanks to our Dutch correspondent H. Numan for this translation from De Telegraaf:

Court: Wilders trial continues

AMSTERDAM – the court of Amsterdam decided on Monday the trial against PVV leader Geert Wilders will continue. At the beginning of this month, Wilders’ lawyer Bram Moszkowicz stated his client isn’t getting a fair trial and the case must be declared inadmissible by the prosecution.

The unfair trial was caused by amongst others Tom Schalken, councillor of the court, and in that position responsible for issuing the order for the prosecution to continue the trial against Wilders. The politician is on trial for sowing hatred and discrimination and insulting a group.

The order to continue the trial is according to Moszkowicz a conviction. Also, Schalken had tried to influence the expert-witness Hans Jansen, Arabist. Other influential magistrates had influenced the trial, by publicly voicing their own personal opinions.

The court rejected the arguments of the lawyer.

Comments at GoV: Does any nation deserve admiration?

The comments on this article are well worth reading. One in particular, from Sagunto in Amsterdam, caught my attention:

Sagunto said…

John in Cheshire -

wrote:

"I used to think the Dutch were a nation to be admired. Not any more."

Why admire any nation at all, one would think. One might – as an outsider – take a shot at understanding a foreign nation, but anyway..

Considering your judgement of nations is obviously based on the behaviour of its political and cultural elites, is there any nation left in the West today, that is worthy of your admiration?

Kind regs from Amsterdam,

Sag.

My take on American Exceptionalism

I comment fairly often at GoV, and attempted to post a reply to Sagunto’s comment. Unfortunately, Google Blogger seems to be having technical issues with their comment function again, so my comment could not be posted at that time. Here is what I would have liked to say:

As an Orthodox Christian, I believe and understand that we live in a fallen world, and that no country and no government deserves uncritical admiration. A quick glance at any newspaper, newscast, or news website, anywhere in the world, suffices to confirm that. The refusal to accept this as a basic principle is at the root of the errors of modern-day liberals.

It is up to each of us to rein in evil and to mitigate suffering and injustice wherever we can. We can never rely on governments to rein in evil and do justice on our behalf unless we hold their feet to the fire at every turn. Geert Wilders was free to speak his mind in Tennessee, and his audience, both in person and on the Internet, has the freedom to watch and listen. The question is, how long will we preserve our First Amendment rights for freedom of speech, assembly, and the press in an age of “political correctness”?

Whenever I hear the phrase “American exceptionalism,” I remind people that American exceptionalism is all about our Judaeo-Christian heritage and adherence to the US Constitution. Lose those, and it’s all over.

Gates of Vienna: A Warning to America: “It’s Islam, Stupid!”

Reprinted with permission.

Dear friends from Tennessee. I am very happy to be in your midst today. I am happy and proud to be in this impressive church.

My friends, I am here to speak words of truth and freedom.

Do you know why America is in a better state than Europe? Because you enjoy more freedom than Europeans.

And do you know why Americans enjoy more freedom than Europeans? Because you are still allowed to tell the truth.

In Europe and Canada people are dragged to court for telling the truth about Islam.

I, too, have been dragged to court. I am an elected member of the house of representatives in the Netherlands. I am currently standing in court like a common criminal for saying that Islam is a dangerous totalitarian ideology rather than a religion.

The court case is still pending, but I risk a jail sentence of 16 months.

Last week, my friend Lars Hedegaard, a journalist from Denmark, was fined because in a private conservation, which was recorded without his knowing, he had criticised the way women are treated in Islamic societies.

Recently, another friend, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, a human rights activist from Austria, was fined because she had criticised Islam’s founder Muhammad. She had said that Muhammad was a pedophile because he had married a 6-year old girl and raped her when she was 9.

Unfortunately, there are many similar cases.

I am especially happy to be in your midst because here I can say what I want to say without having to fear that I will be dragged to court upon leaving this church.

My dear American friends, you cannot imagine how we envy your First Amendment. The day when America follows the example of Europe and Canada and introduces so-called “hate speech crimes” which is only used to punish people who are critical of Islam, that day America will have lost its freedom.

My friends, let us hope that this never happens.

Last week, we celebrated Liberation Day in the Netherlands. We celebrated the liberation from the Nazi occupation in 1945. Many American soldiers, including many young Tennesseans, played a decisive role in the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi tyranny. We are immensely grateful for that. Young Americans gave their lives so that the Dutch might be free. I assure you: The Dutch people will never forget this.

Unfortunately, however, the Europe which your fathers and grandfathers fought and died for is not the Europe we are living in today.

I travel the world to tell people what Europe has become. I wish I could take you all on a visit to my country and show you what Europe has become. It has changed beyond recognition as a result of mass immigration. And not just any mass immigration, but mass immigration driven by the dangerous force of Islam.

My friends, I am sorry. I am here today with an unpleasant message. I am here with a warning. I am here with a battle cry: “Wake up, Christians of Tennessee. Islam is at your gate.” Do not make the mistake which Europe made. Do not allow Islam to gain a foothold here.

Islam is dangerous. Islam wants to establish a state on earth, ruled by Islamic sharia law. Islam aims for the submission, whether by persuasion, intimidation or violence, of all non-Muslims, including Christians.

The results can be seen in Europe.

Islam is an ideology of conquest. It uses two methods to achieve this goal: the first method is the sword. Do you know what figures on the flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a country where Christian churches are banned and Christians are not even allowed to wear a tiny crucifix? There is a huge sword on that flag, just below the Islamic creed. The message is clear. Without the sword Islam would not have been able to spread its creed.

The second method is immigration. Islam’s founder Muhammad himself taught his followers how to conquer through immigration when they moved from Mecca to Medina. This phenomenon of conquest through immigration is called al-Hijra. My learned friend Sam Solomon has written a perfect book about it.

I had a copy of Sam’s book sent to all the members of the Dutch Parliament. But most of them are worse than Saint-Thomas in the Bible. Thomas did not believe what he had not seen. Most politicians refuse to believe the things they see before their very eyes.

In Europe we have been experiencing al-Hijra for over 30 years now. Many of our cities have changed beyond recognition. “In each one of our cities” wrote the well-known Italian author Oriana Fallaci shortly before her death in 2006, “there is a second city, a state within the state, a government within the government. A Muslim city, a city ruled by the Koran.” — end of quote.

How did the Europeans get into this situation? It is partly our own fault because we have foolishly adopted the concept of cultural relativism, which manifests itself in the ideology of multiculturalism.

Cultural relativism advocates that all cultures are equal. However, cultures wither away and die if people no longer believe that its values are better than those of another culture.

Islam is spreading like wildfire wherever people lack the guts to say that their values are better than the Islamic values.

Islam is spreading like wildfire because the Koran explicitly tells Muslims that they are “the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind” and that non-Muslims are “the worst of creatures.”

Islam is spreading like wildfire everywhere in the West where political, academic, cultural and media elites lack the guts to proudly proclaim, as I believe we all should proclaim:

Our Judeo-Christian Western culture is far better and far superior to the Islamic culture. We must be proud to say so!

Multiculturalism is a disaster. Almost everyone acknowledges this today, but few dare say why. Let me tell you why: Multiculturalism made us tolerate the intolerant, and now intolerance is annihilating tolerance.

We should, in the name of tolerance, claim the right not to tolerate the intolerant. Let us no longer be afraid and politically correct, let us be brave and bold. Let us tell the truth about Islam.

Before I continue I want to make clear that I do not have a problem with people. I always make a distinction between the people and the ideology, between Muslims and Islam.

Indeed, I have no problems with Muslims, but I do have a problem with the totalitarian Islamic ideology of hate and violence. The fact that there are many so-called moderate Muslims, does not imply that there exists a moderate Islam. A moderate Islam does not exist and will never exist.

And because there is no such thing as a moderate Islam, the Islamization of our free Western societies is an enormous danger.

Only two weeks ago, the British press revealed how the so-called “London Taliban” is threatening to kill women who do not wear veils in the London borough of Tower Hamlets.

In some neighbourhoods Islamic regulations are already being enforced, also on non-Muslims. Women’s rights are being trampled. We are confronted with headscarves and burqas, polygamy, female genital mutilation, honor-killings where men murder their wives, daughters or sisters because they do not behave in accordance with Islamic rules.

Polls show that the influence of those Muslims who live according to Islam’s aggressive requirements is growing, especially among young people.

Among 15-year-old German Muslims, 40 percent consider Islam more important than democracy.

Among Muslim university students in Britain, 40 percent support sharia. One in three of those students considers it legitimate to kill in the name of Islam.

Christians are asked to follow the example of Jesus. Muslims are ordered to follow the example of Muhammad. That is why Islam is dangerous. While Christianity preaches love, Islam preached hatred and practices violence. Hatred and violence for everyone who is not a Muslim.

Muhammad personally participated in the ethnic cleansing of Medina, where half the population once was Jewish. Muhammad helped to chop off their heads. On his deathbed, he ordered his followers to cleanse Arabia of all Jews and Christians.

To this very day, Christian symbols are prohibited in Saudi-Arabia. If you wear a cross in Saudi Arabia, they sent you to jail.

And now, Europe is beginning to look like Arabia.

Just today, a poll revealed that in Brussels, the capital of the European Union, half the Islamic youths are anti-Semitic. It is dangerous for Jews to walk the streets in Brussels.

If you wear a cross or a kippah in certain urban areas in Europe today, you risk being beaten up. In the capital of my own country, Amsterdam, a tram driver was forced to remove his crucifix from sight, while his Muslim colleagues are allowed to wear the veil.

In June 2008, the Christian church authorities in the Danish town of Århus decided to pay so-called “protection money” to Islamic so-called “security guards” who assure that church goers are not harassed by Islamic youths.

On March 31st, 2010, Muslims entered the Roman Catholic cathedral of Cordoba, Spain, and attacked the guards with knives. They claimed the cathedral was theirs.

Last month, the bishops of Sweden sent out a letter to priests advising them to avoid converting asylum seekers from Islamic countries to Christianity, because the converts would risk losing their lives.

In the Netherlands, the city authorities in Amsterdam register polygamous marriages. The authorities in Rotterdam serve only halal meals in municipal cafeterias. Theaters provide separate seats for women who are not allowed to sit next to men. Municipal swimming pools have separate swimming hours for men and women, Muslim lawyers do not have to stand when the judges enter court rooms.

Meanwhile Jews are no longer safe on our streets. In Amsterdam, the city of Anne Frank, Jews are again being harassed in the streets. Even political leaders acknowledged that life has become unsafe for Jews in Holland. Do you know what they said? They advised Jews to emigrate. Jews are already running for Israel. But I say: Jews must not leave, violent Muslims must leave!

What is needed, my friends, is a spirit of resistance.

I repeat: What we need is a spirit of resistance.

Why? Because resistance to evil is our moral duty. This resistance begins with expressing our solidarity to Christians, Jews, indeed, to all people worldwide, who are the victims of Islam. There are millions of them.

We can see what Islam has in store for us if we watch the fate of the Christians in the Islamic world, such as the Copts in Egypt, the Maronites in Lebanon, the Assyrians in Iraq, and Christians elsewhere.

Almost every day, churches are arsoned and Christians are assassinated in Islamic countries.

In a report on the persecution of Christians in the world, Archbishop Twal of Jerusalem, wrote recently— I quote: “In the Middle East to be Christian means accepting that you must make a great sacrifice. All too often and in many places, Christians suffer various threats. On some occasions, their homes and churches are burnt, and people are killed. How many atrocities must we endure before somebody somewhere comes to our aid?” — end of quote.

Indeed, how many atrocities before we come to their aid?

Rivers of tears are flowing from the Middle East, where there is only one safe haven for Christians. You know where that is. The only place in the Middle East where Christians are safe is Israel.

That is why Israel deserves our support. Israel is a safe haven for everyone, whatever their belief and opinions. Israel is a beacon of light in a region of total darkness. Israel is fighting our fight.

The jihad against Israel is a jihad against all of us. If Israel falls, we, too, will feel the consequences. If Jerusalem falls, Athens, Rome, Amsterdam and Nashville will fall. Therefore, we all are Israel. We should always support Israel!

Today, we are confronted with political unrest in the Arab countries. The Arab peoples long for freedom. However, the ideology and culture of Islam is so deeply entrenched in these countries that real freedom is simply impossible as long as Islam remains dominant.

A recent poll in post-revolution Egypt found that 85 percent of Egyptians are convinced that Islam’s influence on politics is good, 82 percent believe that adulterers should be stoned, 84 percent want the death penalty for apostates. The press refers to the events in the Arab world today as the Arab spring. I call it the Arab winter.

Islam and freedom, Islam and democracy are not compatible.

The death of Osama bin Laden last week was a victory for the free world, but we will be confronted with Islamic terrorism as long as Islam exists, because Islam’s founder Muhammad himself was a terrorist, worse than Bin Laden.

And here is another truth: The rise of Islam means the rise of sharia law in our judicial systems. In Europe we already have sharia wills, sharia schools, sharia banks. Britain even has sharia courts.

In my own country, the Netherlands, sharia is being applied by the courts in cases relating to divorce, child custody, inheritance, and property ownership. Women are always the victims of this because sharia discriminates women.

This is a disgrace. This is not the way we should treat women.

My friends, I told you that we have just remembered Liberation Day to commemorate the young Americans and all the heroes who offered their lives to free the Netherlands from Nazi tyranny. It would be an insult to them if we Europeans would give up that precious freedom for another totalitarian ideology called Islam.

That is the goal for which my party and I work day after day. And we are having success.

In the Netherlands, we are successfully starting to roll back Islam. The current Dutch government is a minority government which can only survive with the backing of my party, the Party for Freedom.

We have 24 seats of the 150 seats in parliament and we support the government, in return for measures to prohibit certain aspects of sharia law.

We have achieved that the Netherlands will soon ban the burqa and the niqab.

We will also restrict immigration from non-Western countries by up to 50% in the next four years. We are not going to allow Islam to steal our country from us. It was the land of our fathers, it is our land now, our values are based on Christianity, Judaism and Humanism and we will pass this on to our children with all the freedoms that the previous generations have fought for.

Let those who want to rob us from our freedoms, stay in their own countries. We do not need them. If you want to wear a burqa, stay in Saudi-Arabia. If you want four wives, stay in Iran. If you want to live in a country where the Islamic ideology is dominant, stay in Pakistan, if you don’t want to assimilate in our society, stay in Somalia. But don’t come over here.

We are also going to strip criminals who have a double nationality — for instance Dutch and Moroccan, and who repeatedly commit serious crimes, of their Dutch nationality. We will send them packing, back to their homeland.

My friends, what the Party for Freedom has achieved, shows that it can be done. We can fight the Islamization of our societies.

Dear friends, here is my warning. Make no mistake: Islam is also coming for America. In fact, it is already here. America is facing a stealth jihad, the Islamic attempt to introduce sharia law bit by bit. Last March, a judge in Tampa, Florida, ruled that a lawsuit against a mosque and involving the control of 2.4 million dollars, should proceed under Islamic law.

My friends, be aware that this is only the beginning. This is also how it started in Europe. If things continue like this, you will soon have the same problems as we are currently facing.

Leaders who talk about immigration without mentioning Islam are blind. They ignore the most important problem Europe and America are facing. I have a message for them: it’s Islam stupid!

My friends, fortunately, not all politicians are irresponsible. Here, in Tennessee, brave politicians want to pass legislation which gives the state the power to declare organisations as terrorist groups and allowing material supporters of terrorism to be prosecuted. I applaud them for that. They are true heroes.

Yesterday and today, I met some of those brave legislators. They told me that Tennessee in particular is a target of Islam. Help them win their battle.

They need your support.

While Tennessee is in the frontline, similar legislative initiatives are also being taken in the states of Oklahoma, Wyoming, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Arizona, Indiana. It is encouraging to see that so many politicians are willing to resist Islam.

This gives us hope and courage. I am not a pessimist. We can still turn the tide — even in Europe — if we act today.

There are five things which we must do.

First, we must defend freedom of speech.

Freedom is the source of human creativity and development. People and nations wither away without the freedom to question what is presented to them as the truth.

Without freedom of speech we risk becoming slaves. Frederick Douglass, the 19th century black American politician, the son of a slave, said — I quote — “To suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as well as those of the speaker.”

I have already told you about my court case. This legal charade will not, however, prevent me from saying the truth. Never. I will speak out, even if they drag me before 500 courts and threaten to jail me for a thousand years.

The fact that we are being treated as criminals for telling the truth must not deter us. We are doomed if we remain silent or let ourselves be silenced. Let us not forget, this is our first and most important obligation: defend the right to speak the truth.

Second, we must end cultural relativism and political correctness. We must repeat it over and over again, especially to our children: Our Western culture based on Christianity and Judaism is superior to the Islamic culture. Our laws are superior to sharia. Our Judaeo-Christian values are better than Islam’s totalitarian rules.

And because they are superior and better, we must defend them. We must fight for our own identity, or else we will lose it. We need to be warriors for the good, because the good is worth fighting for. Neutrality in the face of evil is evil.

Third, we must stop the Islamization of our countries. More Islam means less freedom. There is enough Islam in the West already. We must stop immigration from non-Western countries, which are mostly Islamic countries. We must expel criminal immigrants. We must forbid the construction of new hate palaces called mosques.

We must also close down all Islamic schools because educating children in a spirit of hate is one of the worst things imaginable. We must introduce anti-sharia legislation everywhere in the free world. Enough is enough.

Fourth, we must take pride in our nations again. We must cherish and preserve the culture and identity of our country. Preserving our own culture and identity is the best antidote against Islamization.

And fifth, last but certainly not least, we must elect wise and courageous leaders who are brave enough to address the problems which are facing us, including the threat of Islam.

Politicians who have the courage to speak the truth about Islam.

Politicians who dare to denounce the devastating results of the multicultural society.

Politicians who — without political correctness — say: enough is enough.

You and I, Americans and Europeans, we belong to a common Western culture. We share the ideas and ideals of our common Judeo-Christian heritage. In order to pass this heritage on to our children and grandchildren, we must stand together, side by side, in our struggle against Islamic barbarism.

That, my friends, is why I am here. I am here to forge an alliance. Our international freedom alliance. We must stand together for the Judeo-Christian West.

We will not allow Islam to overrun Israel and Europe, the cradle of the Judaeo-Christian civilization.

My friends, we will stand together.

We will stand firm.

We will not submit. Never. Not in Israel, not in Europe, not in America. Nowhere.

We will survive.

We will stop Islam.

We will defend our freedoms.

We will remain free.

Thank you.

If you aren’t reading Gates of Vienna every day, you’re missing a great deal. GoV truly is the voice of the European Counterjihad, as well as the voice of free speech for the Counterjihad. I am grateful to have have received permission to mirror many blog posts from GoV, but I strongly recommend that all readers visit the GoV website regularly. The GoV RSS feed appears in the sidebar of 1389 Blog; you can access blog posts simply by clicking on the titles. Readers with blogs of their own might consider posting the GoV RSS feed also.

Gates of Vienna: The Tennessean Weighs In

Reprinted with permission.

The online version is identical, except for a factual error in the print copy about the leadership of the Tennessee Freedom Coalition, which the paper corrected after having it brought to their attention.

All four stories on the same front page of B section are quite politically correct. Besides the article on Geert, we see:

• One about the retracing of the civil rights “Freedom Rides” on their fiftieth anniversary;

• A report which takes a disapproving tone about the attempt to reverse an anti-white set-aside law — ironically referred to as an “anti-bias law”; and
• An article about a judge who will retain his membership in a country club, even though “some judges say the club discriminates against women and African-Americans.”

So this gives you an idea of what kind of rag The Tennessean is. It is, after all, a Gannett paper, and Gannett seems to impose this sort of squishy vanilla liberalism on its local franchises all over the country.

The reporter had a hard time catching Geert out, however. Mr. Wilders has fined-tuned his message in the face of a far more hostile and more leftist European press, so that he is as bullet-proof against PC as it is possible to be while still remaining anti-Islam.

Below is the paper’s take on Nashville’s encounter with the Great Islamophobe. I’ll only include a few of my own comments, since I’ll have more to say in later posts about Geert’s visit to Tennessee:

Dutch politician brings anti-Islam views to TN

by Jennifer Brooks

Dutch politician Geert Wilders sees a kindred spirit in Tennessee — a state where new mosques draw protests and the legislature is considering a bill that once targeted adherents of Islamic law.

On trial for hate speech in his home country, Wilders brought his headline-grabbing views on Islam to Middle Tennessee on Thursday. He came to town as the invited guest of the Tennessee Freedom Coalition, a 2-week-old political coalition founded by Republican former congressional candidate Lou Ann Zelenik.

“I come with a warning for America,” said Wilders, a filmmaker and member of the Dutch parliament, and something of a cult celebrity in some conservative circles. [emphasis added]

Inserting the word “cult” before “celebrity” tips the reporter’s hand. No liberal-progressive celebrity would earn such a modifier. This is intended to tag those who are interested in Mr. Wilders’ message as right-wing kooks.

The article continues:

Close Islamic schools, he warned America. Halt construction of mosques — or “hate palaces,” as he calls them. Cut off immigration from “non-Western and especially Islamic countries,” and expel any immigrants who do not “assimilate.”

“I was happy to visit the state of Tennessee, where I know a lot of people — certainly a lot of Christians — feel the same threat as we do, and know when you talk about values, when you talk about who you are and who you are not, and that Christianity is for certain not the same as Islam,” said Wilders, who is not himself a Christian. “I compare Islam not with Christianity and Judaism. I compare Islam with fascism and communism.”

His first stop of the day was talk show host Steve Gill’s radio show, then a meet-and-greet and news conference at Williamson County Republican Party headquarters in Franklin. The evening ended with a closed-to-the-press speech at Cornerstone Church in Madison about what Wilders sees as the evils of the world’s second-largest religion.

And now for the protesters. Unlike, say, the BBC, The Tennessean is honest about how many there were — about ten or twelve. These were not anarchists or culture-enrichers, but ordinary Tennesseans of the secular liberal faith. I had a nice chat with some of them; I’ll report more on that later.

The important thing to notice about the events in Franklin and Nashville is that there were at most twenty or so demonstrators, whereas several thousand sympathetic listeners turned out to hear what Mr. Wilders had to say. The evening at the Cornerstone Church was unprecedented in my experience, and should be the model for future efforts.

Protesters turn out

In Franklin, about a dozen protesters stood in the punishing May sunshine across from Republican headquarters, waving signs that said “SHAME” and “Be nice or go away.”

Great motto, that — “Be nice or go away.” Does it ever apply to Anjem Choudary?

“It’s very inappropriate for an official political party here in Tennessee to bring in someone so notorious,” said Williamson County Democratic Party Chairman Peter Burr. “This guy is sort of the epitome of the outside agitator. That’s not the way we do business here in Tennessee.”

During the evening’s program, Bill Warner agreed with The Tennessean, and insisted that “outside agitators” should be sent home — which would then make his job unnecessary.

Across the street, about two dozen visitors milled outside Republican Party headquarters, eating lunch or filing inside to shake hands with Wilders. He traveled with a contingent of local and Dutch security, wary of the large number of death threats he has drawn over the years.

Despite the controversy, or perhaps because of it, his visit was a headline-grabbing coup for the fledgling Tennessee Freedom Coalition.

“Not bad for our first event,” said Jeff Hartline, the coalition’s director. Wilders’ visit was not an official fundraiser for the coalition or the GOP, although Hartline said he expected to see a spike in donations as a result.

Wilders’ visit comes as the Tennessee legislature moves toward a vote on what was once known as the anti-Shariah law bill. After a storm of protests, lawmakers stripped any reference to Shariah — the religious law of Islam — from the bill. Instead, it now grants the Tennessee governor and the state attorney general the power to declare organizations to be terrorist groups.

It is expected to pass overwhelmingly.

Wilders, meanwhile, squeezed in his Tennessee visit between a speaking tour of Canada and his return home to the Netherlands.

“We have nothing against Muslims, as such,” he said in parting. “We have nothing against people of any kind of origin. We have a problem with the Islamic ideology.”

I never saw any CAIR protesters at either event, although I heard there were a few out by the road in front of the Cornerstone Church, and at least one Muslima attended the speech wearing full hijab. However, CAIR was dutifully consulted by the newspaper for the occasion:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement condemning Wilders’ visit to Tennessee and asking state and local Republican officials to repudiate the decision to “honor one of the world’s leading Islam-haters.”

It will be interesting to see how many Tennessee Republicans run and hide under the bed after being called out by CAIR. Based on the handful I met, they are not lily-livered lickspittle cowards like most of their brethren at the national level in Washington D.C.

But we shall see.

Gates of Vienna: An Interview With Geert Wilders

Reprinted with permission.

“I’m Dutch. I am not a European.”

While he was in Ottawa last week, Geert Wilders was interviewed by James Cohen for the Free Thinking Film Society and IFPS-Canada. Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video:

Gates of Vienna: Geert Wilders’ Speech in Ottawa

Reprinted with permission.

As part of his North American tour, Geert Wilders gave a speech in Ottawa on May 10th. Many thanks to Vlad Tepes for uploading this video: