Author: Alicia Colon
Publication: Jewish World Review
Date: January 17, 2005
URL: http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0105/dutch_mp.php3
New York City is the epitome of
the great melting pot of America. In just a five-block radius around my
house, I can find residents from eleven different countries. My neighbors
include Albanian, Palestinian and Pakistani Muslims; Polish, Puerto Rican,
Honduran and Mexican Catholics; Korean Methodists; Hindus from India; and
Buddhists from Sri Lanka. Everyone seems to get along without too much
fuss. As much as we think that immigration is a serious problem here in
the United States, we should thank our lucky stars we don't live in Holland.
Last week I attended a dinner meeting
of think-tank representatives, foundation executives and other corporate
luminaries there to meet two Dutch visitors, Dr. Bart Jan Spruyt, founder
of the Edmund Burke Foundation and a Member of the Dutch Parliament, Geert
Wilders.
MP Wilders has been making the rounds
here in the States to publicize what is happening to his country because
of the rise of radical Islam and why he is promoting a moratorium on non-western
immigration. He is also on record as objecting to Turkey joining the European
Union. He resigned from the Freedom and Democracy People's Party (VVD)
and is starting his own conservative political party.
Dr. Spruyt is the head of a Dutch
conservative think tank and brought Wilders to America to network with
those who advise him on how to proceed with promoting conservatism in the
Netherlands. Holland has always been known for its liberalism and tolerance
but the death of filmmaker Theo Van Gogh in November is turning out to
be Holland's 9/11.
Geert Wilders is an MP in hiding
when he is at home. He makes public appearances only when the legislature
is in session. Dr. Spruyt, who has also received death threats from radical
Islamists, told me that Wilders no longer has a home he can stay at. He
travels with armed guards and lives on various military bases.
Exactly 911 days after the murder
of another popular Dutch figure, Pim Fortuyn, the grandson of Theo Van
Gogh, Vincent's brother, was slaughtered in broad daylight. He was a filmmaker
who dared to do the unthinkable in Europe. He made a short film called
"Submission" which dared to criticize the Islamic treatment of women.
"In broad daylight," Wilders said,
" Van Gogh was shot eight or nine times, then he was stabbed several times.
His throat was cut and he was almost decapitated. A five page- anti-Semitic
rant was found held in place by a knife through Van Gogh's body."
Someone asked Wilders if there was
any condemnation of this heinous act from moderate Muslims. He answered,
" there was one or two but generally the response was silence. Television
reporters went around to these moderate Muslim communities and we heard
them say things like, 'he deserved it. '"
According to Wilders, the Dutch
Prime Minister went to the Muslims in a gesture of charity telling them
that this is the time for everyone to stay together. Instead of getting
tough on the radicals, he went around wearing an orange bracelet, which
signifies tolerance. Wilders said, "That is the trouble. We have been too
tolerant for too long."
I have a strong feeling that liberal
reporters will portray Geert Wilders as a Dutch supremacist. He admits
that he has already been accused of being a racist. That is far from the
truth. Wilders says that moderates will be the first to benefit from a
tough policy on the radical Islamists. Holland has bent over backward for
the Muslim immigrants. The government created Muslim schools. It even used
public money to build mosques. The Netherlands foolishly believed that
the new immigrants would assimilate into the Dutch culture. Instead, Wilders
claims, over a million Muslims there, have already opted for radical Islam."
He considers Turkey to be a "Trojan
Horse" because it is an Islamic country and does not share the same values
as Europe, which is Judeo-Christian. After the Van Gogh slaughter, police
discovered Pakistani, Kurdish and Moroccan terrorist cells. An Islamic
mole was uncovered working as a translator in the AIVD, the national investigative
service. Wilders is hoping his government will pass a Patriot Act to coordinate
the different agencies. He fully supports President Bush's war on terrorism
and recent polls indicate that Wilders is gaining support across all party
lines.
In Holland, the people are starting
to feel that perhaps it is not just the radicals that are the problem but
Islam itself because it does not co-exist well in a democracy. It will
take the determination of moderate Muslims to prove them wrong by cleansing
their religion of the extremists.
How likely is that to happen?
Alicia Colon is a columnist for
_The New York Sun_ (http://nysun.com/)
