ISLAM EQUALS NAZISM, HOLLAND EQUALS COWARDICE, MICE EQUAL ELEPHANTS

Freedom of speech is under siege in the Netherlands. Predictably, it is the freedom of politically incorrect speech, because the Dutch have always been able to nuance their own democratic failings, and it would be a grievous wound to the Dutch establishment if they were accused of not being politically correct.



COMPARING ISLAM TO NAZISM

Member of Parliament Geert Wilders, who leads the anti-immigration PVV party, should be prosecuted for comparing Islam to Nazism, per the Court of Appeals in Amsterdam today. By such utterances, he was inciting racial hatred according to Dutch laws limiting freedom of speech.
[Note the absurdity ..... This meshune decision suggests that Islam is a race.]

However, the statement made by so many people in the Netherlands that Israel equals Nazism (and it's companion slogan "Jews equal Nazis") does not seem of much concern to the Dutch justice system. I am hard put to find any example of any person making that comparison - for instance, screaming it at the top of his lungs during a demonstration (as many have done) - being held liable for inciting racial hate.
The only possible conclusion has to be that, in the Dutch mind, Jews are not a race and anti-Semitism does not exist in the Netherlands.
[Based on my own experiences while living there I have to say that this is patently absurd. Did I ever mention that the thought of wandering around a Dutch city wearing a kippah gives me the heebee-jeebies? That isn't because the kippah might move a fashion-conscious Dutchman to advocate more stylish headgear.]


Haroon Raza, one of lawyers who petitioned the court of appeal, asserts that Geert Wilders' points of view have generated "massive social unrest", and says this is why he should be prosecuted.
[Note: fuelling anti-Semitism by outrageous statements, such as done so often by the Widow Duisenberg, former prime-minister Van Agt, and the politburo of the Socialist Party in the Netherlands, is by no means 'generating massive social unrest'. There are so few Jews in the Netherlands that most Dutch do not even know a Jew, whereas the Muslim community outnumbers Jews nearly thirty to one, and everyone knows at least several Muslims against whom they could 'not rest socially' on a massive scale.]



ATTACK ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH

Statement by Geert Wilders' political party about the decision by the Court of Appeals
[I provide an English translation underneath.]


De Partij voor de Vrijheid is aangeslagen door de uitspraak van het gerechtshof in Amsterdam. PVV-leider Geert Wilders wordt nu vervolgd om zijn denkbeelden en uitspraken.

Geert Wilders ziet de uitspraak van het Hof als een aanslag op de vrijheid van meningsuiting. "Zo zit Nederland blijkbaar in elkaar. Als je je mening geeft loop je het risico vervolgd te worden. Deelnemen aan het publieke debat is een gevaarlijke activiteit geworden."

"Als ik moet voorkomen, sta niet alleen ik terecht maar ook de honderdduizenden Nederlanders die de islamisering van Nederland afwijzen. Hun mening wordt in Den Haag alleen vertolkt door de Partij voor de Vrijheid. Wie komt er nog op voor onze cultuur als ik moet zwijgen? Dat sterkt me in deze barre dagen."

De politiek leider van de PVV wordt nu veroordeeld tot een rechtsgang die waarschijnlijk jaren gaat duren en die enorme kosten met zich meebrengt. Geert Wilders: "Wij zijn afhankelijk van kleine giften. De PVV is de enige partij die zich niet afhankelijk heeft gemaakt van subsidies. De uitspraak van het Hof brengt het voortbestaan van de Partij voor de Vrijheid in gevaar. De tonnen die we kwijt zijn aan kosten kunnen we onmogelijk opbrengen."

Wilders: "Ik beschouw dit als een zwarte dag".


Translation: The Party for Freedom (PVV) is appalled by the statement of the Appeals Court in Amsterdam. PVV-leader Geert Wilders is now being persecuted because of his thoughts and speech.

Geert Wilders sees the statement of the court as an assault on free speech. "This is how the Netherlands is apparently structured. If you voice your opinion, you are at risk of being prosecuted. Participation in the public discourse has become a dangerous activity."

"If I am summoned to appear (before the court), I will not be the only one on trial, but also the hundreds of thousands of Dutch who reject the Islamicization of the Netherlands. Their opinion is given voice in the Hague only by the Party for Freedom. Who else will (dare) stand up for their own culture if I am silenced? This gives will strengthen me in these perilous times."

The political leader of the PVV has been condemned to a legal battle that will probably span years and which brings enormous expense with it. Geert Wilders: "We depend upon small donations. The PVV is the only party that has not made itself dependent on government subsidies. The decision by the court jeopardizes the survival of the Party for Freedom. Affording the legal expense will be impossible."

Wilders: "I consider this a black day."


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ORANGES = LEMONS
DOG = ATTACK HAMSTER
ISLAM = NAZISM


The comparison between Islam and the Nazis is just as incorrect as the comparison of Israel with Nazi Germany. Such comparisons obscure the true nature of the entities and concepts in question, and by themselves certainly do not contribute to a further understanding.

But as rhetoric, such comparisons prompt reactions - that is the entire point of making such a statement. And in that respect they are valid. Only by examination and debate about issues of concern can an understanding of the issues at hand be achieved, and certainly as regards the ideologies active among large segments of the population that attention is essential.

I myself would not compare Islam with Nazism. But I defend the right of anybody else to do so.
It is a free speech issue.



THE AMERICAN POINT OF VIEW

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."



CONCLUSION

If mr. Wilders wishes to call Islam barbaric, Muhammad an insane pedophile, and Sharia a brutally repressive system, he should by all means be permitted to do precisely that.

The Dutch would do well to remember that during their eighty years war with Spain (1568 - 1648) they themselves said far worse about Catholicism, the Pope, and the leaders of Catholic countries. As well as their own leaders. Which they continued to do for the next few centuries.
More recently similar statements were made, by Dutch public figures, about America and our politicians.
There is a long tradition in the Netherlands of outrageous statements and over-the-top commentary.


What the Dutch Socialist Party and its stooges still say about the United States and Israel goes so far beyond anything Geert Wilders has ever said that I am flabbergasted that they are still allowed to speak.

But then, their repulsive utterances are politically correct in the Netherlands today, and the Dutch establishment will sacrifice anything and everything for that particular sacred cow.