THE HAGUE – Freedom Party PVV leader Geert Wilders refuses to enter dialogue with the Dutch Muslim Council, the Volkskrant reports. The council has invited him to talk about the ban on the Koran that the politician suggested in an article two weeks ago. Chairman of the Muslim Council Khairoun says that Wilders was taking passages from the Koran out of context.
The PVV leader said in the AD on Saturday that he was not interested in a talk with the organisation. “I will refrain from doing that not because I don’t want dialogue, but because a debate on this is not possible. It is pointless,” says Wilders. The Muslim Council has proposed a “constructive dialogue” to combat polarisation and feelings of fear in society.
Wilders contests in the AD that he is sowing hate. “That is what the Koran does. It is a fascist book. That is not a book we should have here. Maybe if you take all the harmful verses out of it, but then there wouldn’t be much left. Then the Koran would be about as thick as a comic book.”