By Ian Jobling • 2/19/08
I got into an argument last weekend with a commenter named JAB over my idea that white preservationists should present themselves as the true defenders of liberal values. JAB thought that this kind of critique of multiculturalism would never lead any farther than programs for the integration of non-whites into white societies. Well, there’s at least one European anti-immigration party that proves him wrong: the Dutch Freedom Party, headed by Geert Wilders. Wilders, whose party occupies nine of the 150 seats in the Dutch parliament, objects to Islam in the name of liberal values:
“My allies are not Le Pen or Haider,’ he emphasises. “We’ll never join up with the fascists and Mussolinis of Italy. I’m very afraid of being linked with the wrong rightist fascist groups.” Dutch iconoclasm, Scandinavian insistence on free expression, the right to provoke are what drive him, he says.
Wilders actually calls himself a liberal and, accordingly, criticizes Islam on the basis of its illiberal treatment of women and its intolerance towards homosexuality. “There is no equality between our culture and the retarded Islamic culture. Look at their views on homosexuality or women.”
And Wilders is no integrationist: “he wants the ‘fascist Koran’ outlawed in Holland, the constitution rewritten to make that possible, all immigration from Muslim countries halted, Muslim immigrants paid to leave and all Muslim ‘criminals’ stripped of Dutch citizenship and deported ‘back where they came from.’”
Repeat: he wants to pay Muslims to leave, as well as to make it impossible for them to practice their culture by outlawing the Koran.
The strategy is working well for him. He enjoys 15 percent support among the Dutch electorate. He’s currently working on a film that will “show the real face of Islam.” The majority of the Dutch people think it should be aired, but the government may suppress it out of concern over the reaction in the Islamic world.
Wilders has paid the price for his campaign against Islam. Because of constant death threats, he’s had to live for three years under police guard and often in secret locations.
The man’s story and political program have plainly captured the hearts of a large part of the Dutch public. I think realists the world over should take a page from his book and argue for white preservation in the name of liberal values.