Unbowed Dutch populist defends 'fewer Moroccans' vow
22/03/2014
expatica.com
An unrepentant Geert Wilders fought back Saturday against a storm of protest and an exodus from within his own anti-Muslim party after he vowed "fewer Moroccans" in the Netherlands.
The platinum-haired populist was forced to deny parallels with Nazi leaders after he was widely perceived as having gone too far in his attack on a specific ethnic group on Wednesday.
"I spoke the truth, I'm not sorry and will not apologise for the truth and expressing my political ideals," Wilders told an impromptu press conference on Saturday evening.
Dutch media have spoken of an "exodus" after the head of his Party for Freedom (PVV) bloc in the European parliament, two Dutch MPs and several councillors quit the party.
The unprecedented storm of protest was sparked when a jovial Wilders on Wednesday promised his chanting supporters he would arrange for there to be fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands.
But an agitated Wilders tried to backpedal on Saturday, saying "I never said all Moroccans should leave the country", only "the criminals and those who want to leave".
"Media and websites and politicians have made comparisons with abject figures from the past," Wilders said, amid widespread comparisons of his words with those of Nazi leaders, including Hitler.
"I don't know where this is going to end but I hope it ends well for the PVV," Wilders said, admitting that he did not know if more members would leave his party.
The public prosecutor's office has stopped counting the hundreds of complaints filed against Wilders and police stations have produced partly pre-filled complaint forms targeting Wilders to save them time.
A Facebook page "I'm filing a complaint against Wilders" had over 93,000 likes by Saturday evening.
"Why? Because we're Dutch like you. We believe in our country and not in sowing hatred," the Facebook page said.
A similar page entitled "I'm not filing a complaint against Wilders because everyone is entitled to their own opinion" had meanwhile garnered 845 "Likes".
The entire city council of Nijmegen said they would go to the police station to file a discrimination complaint against Wilders, whose PVV party had been the most popular in the Netherlands, according to opinion polls before the furore erupted.
Wilders cancelled a trip to Belgium to meet with the far-right Vlaams Belang party "for security reasons".
The Flemish anti-immigrant party voiced support for Wilders, describing criticism of him as "a black day for freedom and democracy".
Television pictures at a post-local election rally on Wednesday showed Wilders in The Hague asking party faithful whether they wanted "fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands?".
"Fewer! Fewer!" the crowd shouted, with a smiling Wilders answering: "We're going to organise that."
A court in 2011 acquitted the platinum-haired politician on hate-speech charges, ruling that he had targeted a religion, which is permitted under Dutch freedom-of-speech laws, rather than a specific ethnic group.
Wilders, who is often reviled in Dutch immigrant communities for his fiery anti-Islam rhetoric, has in the past compared the Koran to Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and has called Islam a fascist religion.
Dutch Moroccans took to Twitter this week in response to Wilders, posting often-humorous selfie photographs with their Dutch passports along with the hashtag #bornhere.
Dutch Jewish groups have also distanced themselves from the pro-Israel Wilders' statements.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who has relied on Wilders in the past to stay in power, has also criticised Wilders, saying his comments "left a bad taste in the mouth". |
