HAGUE LETTER:Geert Wilders has built his career on top of inflammatory attacks on immigrants, writes ISABEL CONWAY.
DUTCH POLITICIAN Geert Wilders has built a political career on controversy as leader of the anti-immigration PVV (Party for Freedom).
Notorious for his criticism of Islam, he regularly hurls provocative insults at Muslim immigrants. He has compared the Koranto Mein Kampfand claimed his country has been flooded by "a tsunami of Muslims", demanding that those who are unwilling to denounce their religion should be sent "back to where they came from".
Outraged by his continuous rants, at last his critics will have their day in court.
But Wilders, maker of a widely publicised propaganda film, Fitna, described as "offensively anti-Islamic" by UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon, is stealing a march by challenging the recent decision to have him prosecuted before the Dutch high court.
He has brought in a celebrity lawyer to take his case, “the best advocate in the Netherlands” he says on his website.
It has all the makings of a judicial soap opera and if nothing else will ensure even greater exposure for Wilders and his provocative views at home and abroad, something which concerns those who wish to advance the integration of Muslim immigrants.
The Dutch cabinet has just pledged €40 million, at a time of widespread budgetary cutbacks, specifically to improve the social integration of problem immigrants, and in particular Moroccan youths whose anti-social and criminal behaviour has turned some suburbs into no-go areas.
Amsterdam’s appeals court ruled last month that the public prosecution service was wrong not to prosecute Wilders for inciting hatred and discrimination for a series of anti-Muslim statements, and in particular for comparing Islam to Nazism.
The judgment followed complaints from citizens over the prosecution service’s refusal to press charges against Wilders, who has repeatedly called for the banning of the Koran, which he calls “fascist”.
A former speechwriter for the right-wing liberal VVD party, later elected to parliament, he became foreign affairs spokesman but left after constant rows as his anti-immigration outbursts became more extreme.
Wilders’s unconventional approach to politics has alienated politicians and commentators who believe he is giving the country a bad name abroad.
Holland’s reputation as one of the most liberal and tolerant societies in Europe may have eroded in recent times, and populist politicians such as Wilders and the controversial populist Pim Fortuyn, who was assassinated, significantly contributed to that change. Both were successful in tapping into growing anti-immigration and anti-Muslim feelings, coasting on a change in the public mood that other parties had not seen or addressed.
When Geert Wilders declared that if the prophet Muhammad were alive today he should be “tarred and feathered” and deported as an extremist, his political colleagues cringed. But in deprived working class inner city areas reporting high levels of crime carried out by gangs of predominantly Moroccan youths, his support base was growing steadily.
There are constant threats to Wilders’s life and that has comforted his conviction that he is at war with Islam. Following numerous threats from Muslim fundamentalists, he regularly changes addresses, surrounded by an army of bodyguards funded by the Dutch state.
Critics claim that the 45-year-old politician, who wears sharp suits and has wavy peroxide blonde hair (reportedly dyed) is obsessed with Islam and impervious to reason and alternative points of view.
He has nothing to offer beyond political theatre, they claim. Yet there is perhaps also an element of jealousy of the ease with which Wilders attracts so many voters and so much press coverage – without actually ever achieving anything.
The political party he founded has soared in popularity since the court supported his prosecution. Currently with nine seats in the 150-seat parliament, the PVV would win about 25 if there were an election now, the latest poll shows.
The prosecution of Geert Wilders for inciting racial hatred and his own challenge to the court order that he be put on trial sets the stage for a highly charged judicial battle. He described his prosecution as “a black day for freedom of speech”. But it is likely that he will relish his day in court, attacking what he sees as a culture of political correctness and picking up more votes, he hopes, along the way.