Category Archives: Netherlands

Moroccan Islamist leader threatens to sue Dutch newspapers over false terrorism accusations

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Hassan BakirMoroccan Islamist Hassan Bakir has fled back from Spain to the Netherlands. After ten weeks of detention and house arrest, waiting for a Spanish decision about his extradition to Morocco, he thought it was time to go. Back in the Netherlands, he wants to clear his reputation. “I am falsely depicted here as a dangerous terrorist.”

Last Friday, the Spanish council of ministers authorized the judge to proceed with the extradition procedure of Hassan Bakir to Morocco. For Bakir it was the last drop. “I didn’t do anything wrong. All that time I have waited for them to find that out and release me. But the decision of the council of ministers really scared me so I decided to flee.” He left the address where he was under house arrest and travelled over land to the Netherlands in two days.

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Wilders’ anti-Islam book set for US launch next April

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam Freedom Party, is currently working on a book about the history of Islam. Press agency Novum has announced that the book will be launched in the US in late April 2012 and then published in other countries.

The work will examine the “true nature of Islam” and the worldwide battle against Islamisation. The populist politician claims Islam is not a religion, but 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.”

The book on Islam will be Mr Wilders’ second major publication. In 2005, he wrote a short autobiography, entitled Kies voor vrijheid (Choose Freedom).

RNW, 3 October 2011

Wilders’ website hacked

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-Islam PVV party leader Geert Wilders said on Friday that his website has been hacked. The hacker called himself a “Turkish Muslim Hacker” and left a photo of Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a verse from the Koran on the site.

The hacking follows a clash between Wilders and Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte on Thursday which focused on the PVV attitude to Erdogan.

The page has now been taken off-line and it is not known what action Wilders will take.

Dutch News, 23 September 2011

Dutch PM clashes with Wilders

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Prime Minister Mark Rutte has crossed swords in parliament with populist Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders. The PVV has an agreement to support the minority centre-right government from parliament on most issues.

At one point, the two men shouted at each other to “behave normally”. The exchange followed the prime minister objecting to an earlier statement by a PVV MP, calling Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan an “Islamic monkey”.

Mr Rutte also warned the PVV leader against overemphasising the problem of criminality amongst Dutch-Moroccan youths. He told Mr Wilders that this could lead to the alienation of law-abiding and highly qualified members of the Dutch-Moroccan community. Mr Wilders countered that such people should take the criminal members of their community in hand.

The prime minister also made it clear that the government is against holding a referendum on banning the construction of new minarets on mosques in the Netherlands. On Wednesday, the PVV put forward holding such a referendum.

RNW, 22 September 2011

Wilders calls for referendum on minaret ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The anti-Islam PVV wants to hold a referendum on the building of new minarets in the Netherlands, along the line of the Swiss vote, party leader Geert Wilders said on Wednesday. Wilders said he is to submit draft legislation to parliament to pave the way for a public vote.

“Minarets hurt the eyes. They are the towers of a rising desert ideology,” the Telegraaf quoted Wilders as saying. Minarets have nothing to do with religion, he said. Rather, they are meant to be an “imperialist and ideological sign of domination’.

Dutch News, 21 September 2011

French businessman to pay ‘burqa’ fines in Netherlands too

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Netherlands is about to ban burqas in public. In doing so it is following the example of France and Belgium. Rachid Nekkaz, a Muslim with an Algerian background, has set up a million-euro fund in France to pay the fines.

He thinks burqa bans violate European constitutional rights and fundamental freedoms, which is strange because personally he believes burkas do not help integration: “Personally I am against burqas, because I don’t think wearing a niqaab helps the integration of these women into French society.”

After the introduction of a burqa ban in France, Mr Nekkaz set up the organisation Touche Pas à Ma Constitution or Don’t Touch My Constitution. The organisation will also help Dutch women if the ban is introduced. “Dutch women who get fined can phone me.” Mr Nekkaz says. “My number is on the internet.”

And it is not just an empty promise. The rich 38-year-old entrepreneur has already paid fines for two girls in Brussels. He says one million euros may be a lot of money, but it is nothing if it enables you to defend civil liberties.

The cabinet will decide on the ban today. Then it still has to go through parliament, but it is already clear that a parliamentary majority backs the measure.

In Belgium, legal proceedings have been taken against the ban (which includes the niqaab). The court’s verdict is expected soon.

RNW, 16 September 2011

Dutch government drafts veil ban legislation

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Dutch prime minister says the government has drawn up legislation to ban face-covering veils such as the burqa worn by some Muslim women.

Mark Rutte says the proposed ban will be sent to the government’s legal advisory body, the Council of State, before lawmakers vote on it, a process likely to take months.

The government said in a statement Friday that the ban aims at “protecting the character and customs of public life in the Netherlands.”

Associated Press, 16 September 2011

Dutch government to introduce veil ban backed by €380 fine as part of deal with Wilders

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Women wearing the Islamic burqa (full body cloak) or niqab (face veil) in public will soon be subject to a maximum fine of 380 euros. The planned measure is to be discussed by the Dutch cabinet on Friday.

A “burqa ban” formed part of the minority Dutch government’s programme agreed with the populist Freedom Party (PVV) on whose parliamentary support the cabinet relies.

The senior partner in the coalition, the conservative VVD, is in favour of a general ban on people wearing clothes that cover the face including not only burqas but also balaclavas and helmets with opaque visors. On the VVD website, it is argued that people can find such clothing threatening.

The Christian Democrats are the smaller party in the coalition and say: “Clothing covering the face makes it harder to indentify people, hinders communication and makes people feel less safe.”

From 2007, the PVV has called for a “burqa ban” punishable by higher fines and even imprisonment. It describes the garment as “an expression of the rejection of the West’s core values”.

It is estimated that about 150 women in the Netherlands always wear the burqa or niqab when they go out in public. A maximum of a few hundred women wear the garments occasionally.

RNW, 15 September 2011

PVV politician describes Erdoğan as an ‘Islamic monkey’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Foreign affairs minister Uri Rosenthal has formally distanced himself from comments by PVV MP Raymond de Roon, who described the Turkish prime minister as an “Islamic monkey”.

The remark was made in the context of the Dutch saying daar komt de aap uit de mouw (here comes the monkey out of the sleeve) which means to reveal your true colours or intentions.

“Once again the Islamic monkey has shown himself,” De Roon said during parliamentary questions. “This time he is in Ankara and his name is Erdogan.” De Roon was refering to what he called Turkey’s anti-Israel rhetoric.

Alexander Pechtold, leader of the Liberal democrats D66, challenged Rosenthal to refute the statement. Rosenthal said De Roon had used a “misplaced metaphor”. MPs from the ruling VVD and CDA also condemned the statement.

Dutch News, 14 September 2011

Australia: Greens move to censure Cory Bernardi

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The Greens today will ask Parliament to condemn Liberal senator Cory Bernardi for offering to help controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders in his trip to Australia.

Mr Wilders has compared the Koran to Mein Kampf, called the prophet Muhammad a paedophile and said Islam was not a religion, rather it was a totalitarian ideology.

Last week it was reported that Senator Bernardi met Mr Wilders and offered to help him when he visited Australia, prompting calls for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to dump him from the front bench.

The Age understands some Labor MPs have inquired about meeting Mr Wilders should he visit Australia.

Greens spokesman for multiculturalism Richard di Natale will move that the Senate condemn the invitation by Senator Bernardi to Mr Wilders and call on the Senator to withdraw that invitation; and if not for Mr Abbott to intervene.

”Senator Bernardi has expressed similar views in the past and there should be no room for extremists like Bernardi on Tony Abbott’s front bench,” Senator di Natale said.

The Age, 14 September 2011