The Wall Street Journal has provided Geert Wilders with a platform to re-run his “lights are going out all over Europe” spiel, though suitably toned down in order to present a more respectable image toWSJ readers.

According to Wilders, “Islam is primarily a totalitarian ideology aiming for world domination” and “the Koran orders Muslims to establish the realm of Allah in this world, if necessary by force”, but he indignantly denies that he has anything against Muslims as people.

The fact that he, along with fellow anti-Muslim racists like Lars Hedegaard and Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, has been prosecuted for inciting hatred against Muslims represents a major threat to freedom of expression, Wilders claims:

“When I stand before my judges I do so in defense of free speech and human liberty. 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. There is reason for concern if the erosion of our freedom of speech is the price we must pay to accommodate Islam. There is reason for concern if those who deny that Islam is a problem do not grant us the right to debate the issue. I want to be able to make my case without needing to fear criminal prosecution.”

In Wilders’ world-view, of course, freedom of speech doesn’t extend to Muslims. This is, after all, the man who wants to ban the Qur’an. It doesn’t extend to his leftist opponents either. A spoof anti-Wilders website parodying the official PVV website that was set up by a Dutch anti-fascist group has now been taken offline after threats of legal action by Wilders.