THE news this week that the Amsterdam Court of Appeal has ordered the prosecution of Dutch MP Geert Wilders for incitement to hatred has sent shock waves throughout the civilised world.
Dutch MP Geert Wilders
The court ruled that a criminal prosecution of Wilders for his film Fitna – which exposes the Koran as essentially a murder manual – was necessary:
Because of the comparisons made by Wilders of Islam with Nazism.
Readers of this blog can show solidarity with Wilders by signing a petition against the prosecution here.
It reads:
• Whereas Geert Wilders has exercised his fundamental human right of freedom of expression and spoken out, with facts and evidence, of the threat posed by radical Islam;
• Whereas certain elements within Islamic communities have threatened a boycott of Dutch goods if Geert Wilders is not punished by the Dutch government for exercising his freedom of expression; and
Whereas certain elements in Dutch industry and the Dutch government are suggesting that Geert Wilders be prosecuted civilly or criminally, in order to prevent such a boycott;• It is resolved that, in the event that the Dutch government attempts, in any way, to punish or prosecute Geert Wilders, civilly or criminally, for exercising his freedom of expression, the undersigned will initiate a boycott of any and all Dutch goods.
Says Robert Spencer, over at Jihad Watch:
The enemies of free speech are closing in, and we have to stand together now and defend it. Everyone who loves freedom and wants to resist the straitjacket of groupthink and the totalitarian imposition of Sharia norms should stand with Geert Wilders now.
Meanwhile, we learned yesterday from Mediawatchwatch that a planned showing of Fitna at the House of Lords on January 29 has been cancelled.
The decision to cancel the showing was taken on Friday when Lord Nazir Ahmed had a meeting with the Government Chief Whip of the House of Lords and Leader of the House of Lords, together with representatives from the Muslim Council of Britain, British Muslim Forum and other representatives from the British Muslim community.
As a result of the meeting at the House of Lords not going ahead, all protests and demonstrations have now been cancelled Lord Ahmed termed the decision as “a victory for the Muslim community.
This is a shame, observes MWW:
Because they [the protests] would no doubt have resembled the protests and demonstrations shown in the film itself, creating a pleasing symmetry.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
January 25th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
The sooner, Brown’s craven government is replaced the better off we all will be.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Yes but will a Tory government be any better? (The C of E is the ‘Tory party at Prayer’). We should all get together and vote for whichever party in our own area with a secular MP. Although the Lib Dems seem to have fewer god botherers than the others. If these morally craven politicians cannot do the right thing and uphold free speech, they must be replaced with those who can. My own MP Jim Knight (Minister for education), although not religious, was responsible for the government approval of Faith Schools being allowed to discriminate against teachers who are not ‘religious enough’ and not employ them or not promote them if they see fit. No-one else is allowed to abuse people’s human rights in this way, only religions, but then thats what has got them into their powerful positions in the first place. No religion really likes free speech and would repress us if they could in this country, so don’t let them creep up on us without doing anything about it!
I’ve signed the petition and I hope you all do too!!
January 25th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I just wanted you to know I signed the petition. I don’t agree with the Freethinker on many things but commend you for bringing this matter to our attention.
January 26th, 2009 at 12:21 am
Politically motivated prosecutions like this are gold. Bring it on. Nothing highlights the hypocrisy and stupidity of western cultural relativist “useful idiots” and their Islamic fellow travelers better than running smack-dab into the brick wall of free speech.
See, you just can’t argue against free expression. It’s the most fundamental human right. People know that, and the Netherlands will bring global shame on itself through this action. Try to repress mockery, and you will be mocked ever more vigorously.
And, of course, they haven’t totally lost their heads. Wilders will still be able to speak in his own defense, and he should have some choice words for these imbeciles. Fuckwittery is an apt description he might start with.
This will not stand.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:57 am
No, not for the film, but he should be prosecuted for that haircut.
Bob’s back. Hmmm…
January 26th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Blacksun: Thank you for stating that “you just can’t argue against free expression” , my sentiments entirely.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
LOL! I wonder if he goes to the same hairdresser as Mugatu?
January 27th, 2009 at 11:15 am
I am very relieved and grateful to the author of this petition. I read with dismay (though I was not in the least surprized) that Wilders was to be prosecuted for his accurate portrayal of islam in Fitna, a film which was very hard to watch.
I hope all governments, not just the Dutch goverment, get the message that people should not and will not be silenced about criticising religion. Unfortunately, I believe that no matter how many signaures are on this petition, the madness of `political correctness` and the increasing influence of the saudi’s on how the `free` world is run as they press hard for a global caliphate, will prevail.
When will the world waken up to what islam is really about? The religion of peace my ass!! We need to close our borders to muslims now to help prevent them from achieving their aim of breeding us out of our country our rights and our freedom.
January 27th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
I’m with BlackSun – Wilders must be prosecuted.
Not that I think he deserves to be – quite the opposite – but, like the Scopes trial, this has the potential to be a turning point. If he wins, it will encourage others to speak out; if he loses, the Dutch will be face to face with their (and our) future – and suitably appalled. I’m confident he would win – a prosecution which couldn’t see a way of proceeding a short while ago is unlikely to mount a strong case now – but my bet is that the case will somehow not make it to court. Islamists and their fellow travellers are not quite ready for the true face of islam to be unveiled.
February 15th, 2009 at 8:19 am
There is a lot of fine talk about “freedom of speech” and “free expression” here but the fact is that nearly all politicians, of right, left and centre will sacrifice it when it is expedient to do so. The real reason that Wilders was banned from entering Britain is that it is a low-cost way for Gordon Brown’s dodgy Labour Government to curry favour with the Muslims they are so eager to appease and win votes from in Labour’s heartland urban constituencies.
Most politicians – including most atheists I know – are also willing to sacrifice freedom of speech for short-term political advantage. The Liberal, Chris Huhne, has supported the ban on Wilders too – but then the Liberals, while attractive in some ways (many of them supported the abolition of the Blasphemy Law, for example), are weak on issues like immigration and Islam. The Conservatives may be more supportive in the Wilders case, but it is likely they would deny entry to fundamentalist Muslim clerics like Yusuf Al Qaradawi.
Of course, you could argue that Wilders has never condoned violence against Muslims, whereas Al Qaradawi has condoned domestic violence against women, the murder of homosexuals and terrorism targeted at Jewish people. The truth is, most people will sacrifice freedom of expression, very cheaply, cloaking their selfish political gains in so doing, by claiming that the Muslim cleric, the Holocaust denier, the Marxist vermin or right-wing barm-cake is some sort of threat to public order and well-being. It’s all puffed-up nonsense, of course.
Perhaps we should just let them all in, scrutinise them and – if necessary – hold them up to ridicule before kicking them out of Britain after making an example of them to the world? Geert Wilders has said and done much that is commendable, but the truth is, his anti-Muslim propaganda is flawed by its simplistic character (Koran = Mein Kampf) and by the unnecessary and insulting provocation that accompanies his basically sound arguments against Islam.
Tellingly, most people in opinion polls favour the entry of those with odious or contentious beliefs – not because they support those beliefs (they are usually kinder and more tolerant than the visiting loony) – but because ordinary people resent being “nannied” by politicians who assume they are gullible saps for any nutcase with an axe to grind that flies into our country.