From Holland, with courage


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Posted: March 10, 2009
1:00 am Eastern

© 2009

Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, a leader of the Party for Freedom, in the Netherlands, told a standing-room-only audience in one of the largest rooms at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, among other things, the following (in an event unreported by both the Washington Post and the New York Times):

"Today, unfortunately, the dearest of our many freedoms is under attack all throughout Europe. Free speech is no longer a given."

"As you know, I will be prosecuted in my own country because of my film 'Fitna,' my remarks regarding Islam and my views concerning what some call 'the religion of peace.' And a few years from now I might be criminal. On top of that, the Kingdom of Jordan also threatens to prosecute me for insulting Islam, and is threatening to ask for my extradition as well."


"I gave up my own freedom four and a half years ago when I came under full-time police protection, because of death threats from Muslims and terrorists groups linked to al-Qaida. I live in 'safe houses' with my family, in Army barracks, even in prison cells to be safe. ... The real question is: Will free speech be put behind bars?

"And the larger question to the West is: Will we leave our children – will we leave Europe's children the values of Rome, of Athens and Jerusalem? Or the values of Gaza, Mecca and Teheran?"


"About my prosecution, the Wall Street Journal noted – and I quote: 'It is not a small victory for Islamic regimes in seeking to export their censorship laws wherever Muslims resist.' The Journal concluded: 'By exacting the free speech standards of Saudi Arabia, Arabic Muslim immigration is eroding traditional Dutch liberties.'"


"Lead politicians in the streets of Amsterdam have no problems participating in demonstrations where Muslims shout: 'Death to the Jews!' Seventy years after Auschwitz, they have no shame!"


"Ladies and gentlemen, two weeks ago I tried to get into Britain, a fellow EU country.

"I was invited to speak in Parliament, in the House of Lords.

"However, upon arrival at London's Heathrow Airport, I was refused entry into the United Kingdom for three hours and sent back on the first plane to the Netherlands.

"And the reason: I would threaten community harmony – and therefore public security. And all this because of my film 'Fitna.' It was an absolute disgrace.

"The British Home Secretary even publicly admitted on BBC television that she never watched the film 'Fitna,' but decided to ban me from the United Kingdom anyway.

"Today the news from Britain is that the spokesman from Hezbollah was invited to and welcomed in the United Kingdom."

"If … I would have been allowed to speak at the House of Lords, I would have loved to have reminded the British audience of a great man who once spoke in the House of Commons.

"In 1982, President Reagan, in a speech that very few people in the United Kingdom liked, Reagan called upon the West to reject communism, to defend freedom, and he introduced the phrase: 'Evil Empire.'

"President Reagan's speech stands out as a clarion call to preserve our liberties. And I quote these very important words of President Reagan. He said:

"'If history teaches anything, it teaches that self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly.'

"And what Reagan, of course, meant was: You cannot run away; you cannot hide away from history. You cannot escape the dangers of ideologies that are out to destroy you. Denial is no option. Communism was the threat. Today Islamism is the threat to the West."

"I propose a European 'First Amendment,' … that we defend freedom of speech as you Americans do.

"In Europe, freedom of speech should be extended, instead of restricted. The right to criticize ideologies and religions are necessary conditions for vital democracy.

"As George Orwell once said: If ... liberty means anything, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

"There is no stronger power in the world than the force of free men fighting for the great cause of liberty. Because freedom is the birthright of all men."



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