 The depths of treachery, mind-numbing legal prejudice and undisguised prosecutorial malice in the upcoming trial of Parliamentarian Geert Wilders within Amsterdam’s Criminal Court are a truly alarming indication of how deeply Islam has sunken its tentacles into the Dutch government. Wilders goes to trial on January 20 for numerous accusations that are crafted to kill Free Political Discourse.
A December 4, 2009 indictment was handed down after Muslims voiced objections to Wilders’ movie “Fitna”, which exposes bellicose Koranic verses, acts of Islamic violence and the in-progress Islamization of Europe. The fix is in, ladies and gents. Members of the Press were summarily barred from a January 13 pre-trial hearing, prosecutor Paul Vellerman said that the trial will not occur in a “super-secured” Courtroom, and more charges were added, to wit: Racism Against Muslims and Moroccans.
The tentacles of Islam and PC have a strangle-hold. There will be no fair trial. Besides facing two years in prison if convicted, Wilders’ life will be at risk. The trial will be held in a Courtroom that is not equipped to afford adequate security, making him more accessible to jihad assassins. Diana West’s take is in her blog here. Danish Free Press’ Arthur Legger’s coverage is here: “Any one who still claims that the trial against Geert Wilders MP, leader of the Party for Freedom (9 seats in Parliament and 27 in the polls), which starts on the 20th of January, is not a political process: get a grip. Accused by the Dutch ‘Openbaar Ministerie’ exactly a year ago for insulting Islam, comparing the Koran to Mein Kampf and delivering hate speeches, the coming trial against Wilders suddenly got a Kafkaesque and potentially murderous twist… … “It is irrelevant whether Wilder’s witnesses might prove Wilders’ observations to be correct”, the ‘Openbaar Ministerie’ stated, “what’s relevant is that his observations are illegal”… This is incredible. It does not matter to the prosecutor that Wilders might be telling the truth.
It is illegal to speak the truth. Please, awaken me from the nightmare and tell me that this cannot be happening in a “free” nation in the 21st Century. “…(the indictment) which Wilders received on the 4th of December and sums up in verbatim all of his Islam and Koran critique in interviews and Fitna, was amended with new accusations of racism against muslims (sic) and Moroccans… Paul Vellerman, the public prosecutor of the Amsterdam Court decided that the Wilders trial had to be regarded as “an ordinary trial open for public and with a normal procedure, which doesn’t deserve the Department of Justice’s highly secured bunker…” Really? Parliamentarian Pim Fortuyn and film maker Theo van Gogh, outspoken Dutch opponents of Islamic doctrine and Islamization, were both murdered on public streets, in the day time, in plain view of passers-by. A Muslim killed van Gogh and a pro-Muslim-immigrationist dispatched Fortuyn. Vellerman, knowing full-well Wilders’ status as a marked target of Islam, refuses to give him the protection of a properly secured Courtroom during trial. This is dastardly. It is villainy. A squid kills by attaching its tentacles and drawing the victim toward its beak-like mouth, where it is torn apart and eaten. We are now witnessing no less than the devouring by prosecution of an unarmed and innocent prey in The Netherlands’ Court. NewsReal Blog 
 PVV leader Geert Wilders wants Mohammed Bouyeri, the murderer of Theo van Gogh as a witness in his upcoming trial.
In this way Wilders wants to show that his criticism of Islam is correct. According to Wilders, Bouyeri is 'living proof' that Islam is a source of inspiration for violence.
The trial against Wilders will begin January 20. He's suspected of incitement to hate, discrimination and insulting a group.
Mohammed Bouyeri was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Theo van Gogh in 2004.
Source: AD (Dutch)
With thanks to Islam in Europe
 Not long ago Robert Spencer and another speaker were attempting to elucidate, for an audience in New York, the ideology of Islam, that ideology that explains, without much trouble, the behavior of many Muslims, and the real attitudes of many more. Someone in the audience caused a stir, and while the security guards ran to deal with it, from an unsecured side door out rushed two people bearing pies that they flung at Spencer (who successfully dodged the pie meant for him) and his associate, Mr. Elan Journo, who was not quite so quick, and was hit. These were pies, and pie-throwing may make us think of the late Soupy Sales, and campus shenanigans that are supposed to be hilarious but somehow never are. But in this case, the pie-throwing was no joke, because what the speakers were speaking about was Islam, and in many countries many death threats have been delivered, and some of those death threats acted upon, in many different places.
A Japanese translator of Salman Rushdie was stabbed to death; a Norwegian translator was attacked but survived. Political figures, such as Pim Fortuyn in the Netherlands, have been killed.
Cultural gadflies, who dared to deal with Islam as they dealt with Christianity or Judaism or the monarchy or anything else, such as Theo van Gogh, were killed.
Wafa Sultan must live in hiding. Geert Wilders, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Magdi Allam, in Europe, must all travel with a constant escort of armed guards, and Wilders, at least, must frequently move from house to army base to house. Read more here,, With thanks to JihadWatch
 New York, 6 novembre 2009 : Au cours d’une cérémonie qui s’est tenue le 4 novembre au Metropolitan Museum of Art, le secteur hollandais des bulbes floraux a baptisé une tulipe Ayaan en hommage à Ayaan Hirsi Ali pour sa défense de la liberté et des droits humains des femmes musulmanes.Madame Hirsi Ali, féministe, écrivain, activiste et ancien membre du parlement hollandais a conclu la traditionnelle cérémonie de baptême en éclaboussant du champagne sur les bulbes et en proclamant « De ce jour, cette tulipe sera appelée Ayaan ». M. Thijs Leenders, président de l’association nord-américaine des grossistes en bulbes floraux représentait à cette occasion le secteur hollandais des bulbes floraux. Était également présent M. Wim Pijbes, directeur du Rijksmuseum d’Amsterdam. Ayaan Hirsi Ali est née à Mogadiscio, en Somalie. Elle a immigré aux Pays-Bas en 1992, bénéficiant de l’asile politique. Elle a étudié les sciences politiques à l’université de Leiden et obtenu une maîtrise. En 2003, elle a été élue au parlement hollandais, où elle a siégé jusqu’en 2006. Pendant son mandat législatif, elle s’est beaucoup impliquée dans les questions d’assimilation des immigrés non occidentaux au sein de la société néerlandaise et à travers le monde. En 2004, elle s’est associée au réalisateur hollandais Theo van Gogh pour créer le film Submission, un documentaire sur le traitement des femmes par l’islam conservateur. Le caractère polémique du film a suscité beaucoup de colère dans la communauté musulmane des Pays-Bas. En 2004, Theo van Gogh a été assassiné dans une rue d’Amsterdam par un extrémiste islamique déclaré. Mme Hirsi Ali réside actuellement aux États-Unis où elle collabore à l’American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, un think tank conservateur de Washington. Lire le reste...Source: Flora Culture via Islam in Europe (Traduction par Poste de veille) H/T: S.P.
 In a ceremony on November 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art the Dutch flower bulb sector named a tulip after Ayaan Hirsi Ali ‘Ayaan’ in recognition of Ms. Hirsi Ali’s defense of freedom and human rights for Muslim women.
Ms. Hirsi Ali, a feminist, author, activist and former member of the Dutch parliament completed the traditional naming ceremony by drizzling champagne over the bulbs and declaring, “From now on this Tulip has the name ‘Ayaan’.”
Mr. Thijs Leenders, president of the North American Flower Bulb Wholesalers Association represented the Dutch bulb sector in the event. Also in attendance was Mr. Wim Pijbes, director of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a native of Mogadishu, Somalia. She immigrated to the Netherlands in 1992 receiving political asylum.
She studied political science at the University of Leiden, earning a Master of Arts degree. In 2003 she was elected a member of the Dutch parliament where she served until 2006. During her legislative tenure, she was very involved in the issues of assimilating non-Western immigrants into Dutch society.
She has long been a vocal defender of the rights of Muslim women in Dutch society and around the world. In 2004, she teamed with Dutch film director Theo van Gogh to create the film Submission, a documentary on the treatment of women by conservative Islam.
The film’s controversial nature angered many in Holland’s Islamic community. In 2004, Mr. van Gogh was murdered on an Amsterdam street by an avowed Islamic extremist. Ms. Hirsi Ali currently resides in the U.S. where she is a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C.
Tulipa ‘Ayaan’ is a dark maroon/brown/purple Triumph tulip hybridized by Ms. Lydia Boots, of Lybo Hybridizing, Hem, NL. Ms Boots is one of few women working in the male dominated world of tulip hybridizing. The hybrid is a crossing of Tulipa ‘Gavota’ x a sport of Tulipa ‘Gander’s Rhapsody’.
The new deep purple tulip joins a group of tulips known in Holland as “black” tulips. The legendary quest of Dutch hybridizers to create a truly black tulip goes back centuries. Many experts consider Tulipa ‘Ayaan’ one of the finest and most successful results of this quest. The selection of the flower to be named in her honor was made by Ms. Hirsi Ali herself.
Upon receipt of the signed christening certificate, the tulip will be entered into the Classified List and International Register of Tulip Names, maintained by the Royal Dutch Bulb Growers Association (KAVB) in Hillegom, the Netherlands.
Supplies of the Ayaan tulip will be limited for several years, as it takes many seasons to build up stocks of new tulips. It is estimated that only 500 bulbs will be available for sale and planting in the fall of 2010. Visitors to Amsterdam in spring of 2010 will be able to view and enjoy the new tulip in the park adjacent to the Rijksmuseum, where 100 bulbs were planted in October in celebration of the upcoming tulip naming.
The screenplay Submission, written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and produced by Theo van Gogh, includes quotes from the Quran written in Arabic on a womans body. For his part in Submission, van Gogh was slaughtered by a Muslim in broad daylight on an Amsterdam street, his throat slit with a butchers knife, and a five-page letter stabbed to his chest with another knife. He was also shot. The letter warned Ali that she would be next. More here. With thanks to Creeping Sharia
 Ayaan Hirsi Ali has put her life on the line to defend women against radical Islam.
For five years she's lived under the threat of death from Islamic radicals, and in those five years, she has become an acclaimed and provocative author on matters about Islam and the West.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali was born into a Somali Muslim family and eventually made her way to the Netherlands as a refugee.
There she wrote a screenplay for a short film about women's treatment under Islam.
Just over two months after it aired, the filmmaker Theo van Gogh was assassinated. A letter threatening Ali's life has meant she has lived under guard ever since -- most recently thanks to a fund set up by private donors.
Controversy follows her: In 2006, she resigned from the Netherlands parliament under fire for lying on her asylum papers; the complex charges and countercharges precipitated a Dutch political upheaval.
She now works for the conservative American Enterprise Institute, which is headquartered in Washington. She established her AHA foundation to defend the rights of women in the West against militant Islam.
Her autobiography, "Infidel: My Life," which detailed her own genital mutilation in Somalia, was a bestseller, and her next book, "Nomad," is to be published in February. H/T: David F.
'Devil's Advocate' jury finds no proof he was behind Sept. 11 By Scott Roxborough April 9 BERLIN -- A Dutch TV jury has found Osama bin Laden not guilty of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the conclusion Wednesday night to the show "Devil's Advocate" on Dutch public broadcaster Nederland 2, the jury of two men and three women, along with the studio audience, ruled there was no proof bin Laden was the mastermind behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001.The Netherlands, home to "Big Brother" creator Endemol, is known for being on the cutting edge of format-based television. But even for Dutch standards, "Devil's Advocate," from Amsterdam production house AVRO, pushes the envelope. The show features star defense attorney Gerard Spong standing up for some of the world's worst criminals. In the latest show, Spong was able to convince the jury that bin Laden's connection to Sept. 11 was a product of "Western propaganda." The jury also ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove bin Laden was the real head of terrorist network al-Qaida. However, the jury did rule that bin Laden is a "terrorist who has misused Islam." The show is certain to provide further ammunition in the already heated Dutch debate over immigration and the country's large Muslim minority. The Netherlands saw a sharp rise in anti-immigration and anti-Islamic sentiment after the 2004 murder of Dutch director Theo Van Gogh by a Muslim extremist. Spong has been at the center of the debate, supporting legal action against anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders. Source: The Hollywood Reporter
 By JAN SJOSTROM | March 21 PALM BEACH - Anyone who believes that Muslims can be assimilated into Western societies is in for a rude awakening, according to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Ali, who spoke at The Society of the Four Arts Tuesday, has reason to suspect Muslims' good will. She was born in Somalia, suffered genital mutilation as a child and was forced into an arranged marriage, according to her official biography. She rejected her Muslim faith and fled to The Netherlands, where she became a member of the Dutch parliament. She's been under protection since 2004, when a death threat against her was found pinned to the murdered body of Theo van Gogh, who directed her short movie documenting the suffering of women under Islam. Today she lives in the United States and is a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. She's written a memoir, titled Infidel, and co-founded the AHA Foundation, which works to combat the oppression of women by fundamentalist Islamic regimes. In his introduction to her talk, Winston Churchill, a Palm Beach resident and the British prime minister's grandson, called her "quite the most courageous woman it's ever been my privilege to meet." Some aspects of her biography have been disputed, and her political views are controversial. There are two schools of thought in the West regarding Islam, she said. One says that radicals have hijacked Islam and that peaceful co-existence is possible with adherents of the faith. Ali subscribes to the second point of view. "Islam is not a religion of peace," she said. "It's a political theory of conquest that seeks domination by any means it can." In her opinion, European society is in danger of being hijacked by a rapidly growing population of Islamic immigrants, who lack the means or the inclination to assimilate and are supported by Muslim nations in their efforts to undermine their host countries. Islamic thought and practice is incompatible with that of the West, because in Islamic societies, religious law is supreme, she said. "All aspects of the life of a person in public and private, down to the most intimate details, are regulated," she said. "In liberal democracies, laws are not made by God." According to the prophet Muhammad, whose example is one of the foundations of Islamic law, associating with infidels is a sin; women should not be allowed to leave the house without their husbands or a guardian; polygamy and sexual intercourse with a child are permitted, and homosexuals should be executed, she said. "This is not my opinion," Ali said. "These are facts." But John Ederer, imam of the Islamic Foundation of South Florida, said Ali is ascribing the teachings of fringe elements to all Muslims. "... I can say with certainty that poor Ayaan is a victim of some men who call themselves Muslims but are not in accordance with our 14-century-old legacy of authentic scholarship," he said in a statement. "It is their lack of knowledge of the 'fundamentals' of Islam that would have them interpret a few texts to hold such unorthodox beliefs and practices. "No doubt Ayaan and the people who affected her thinking can bring you a few verses of the Koran or sayings of the prophet Muhammad to prove their point. The Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacy groups can do the same with the words of the Bible to convince a commoner of their ideology." Many people believe that prejudice accounts for the high number of Muslims in Europe living on welfare, when the truth is that poorly educated Muslim women are ill-equipped to help their children succeed in school, and many Muslims use religious objections as an excuse not to work, Ali argued. Negotiating with radical Muslims won't succeed, she said. "Every accommodation of Muslim demands leads to a sense of euphoria and a conviction that Allah is on their side," she said. "They see every act of appeasement as an invitation to make fresh demands." Ali warned that European societies are in danger of being subverted by Muslim immigrants as European populations age and decline and the number of young Muslim immigrants explodes. "The most pressing question of our time is this: Is European society to be taken over by a radical invasion of Muslim immigrants?" she said. Ali's views are disputed by many authorities, including Robert Rabil, director of graduate studies in the political science department at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Rabil teaches the school's Muslim studies courses. There are Islamic extremists in Europe who are trying to radicalize the Muslim population, he said. But "Islam is a monotheist religion embraced by 1.4 billion people," he said. "You don't lump all these people with the Islamic fundamentalists." Source: Palm Beach PostH/T: Doctor Bulldog and Ronin
By BEILA RABINOWITZ and WILLIAM MAYER A small group of people gathered today at the Linnaeusstraat in Amsterdam, the location where film maker Theo van Gogh was murdered four years ago the Islamic terrorist Mohammed Bouyeri. The commemoration was organized by the Friends of Pim Fortuyn Foundation. Fortuyn was gunned in a similar incident in 2002, assassinated by an animal rights extremist, who was also angered by Fortuyn's perceived anti-Muslim statements. Bouyeri, a Dutch born Muslim Moroccan, shot, stabbed and nearly decapitated van Gogh in the ritualized killing. Afterward the observance, group moved to "The Scream" a sculpture which was meant to memorialize van Gogh. It is located in the park across from where van Gogh was slaughtered. The organizers of the memorial urged that people safeguard their freedom of speech. According to the 'Remembering Theo van Gogh" website, " Theo was our spokesman and release valve and dared to say what we thought. He was killed for that." Read more ...Source: PipeLine NewsTheo van Gogh
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
 A DUTCH court sentenced the confessed killer of Dutch film-maker Theo Van Gogh to life imprisonment today. It is the harshest sentence possible for a murder that stunned the country, heightened ethnic tensions and raised concerns about homegrown Islamic terrorism. Mohammed Bouyeri, 27, had mounted no defence at his two-day trial in Amsterdam earlier this month for the murder on November 2 of Van Gogh - whom he accused of insulting Islam - and told the court he would do it again if given the chance. Bouyeri has two weeks if he wants to lodge an appeal, but that appeared unlikely. Read more ...Source: Edinburgh Evening News
 Amsterdam, 29 July (AKI) - A court in The Hague has approved a request by Somali-born ex-MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali for witnesses to be heard in her claim for the Dutch state to pay for her security in the US, Dutch media reported on Tuesday.The Dutch government stopped paying for Hirsi Ali's police protection after she moved to the US permanently last year.
An outspoken critic of Islam and advocate of women's rights, Hirsi Ali had to live under police protection in the Netherlands after receiving death threats. She now works for a conservative US think-tank.
"Hirsi Ali clearly had protection in the Netherlands because she was in danger and probably still is," a senior researcher at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations' security programme, Bibi Van Ginkel, told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"She has for some time been the voice and face of women's emancipation under Islam, and is clearly under some threat," Van Ginkel said.
Hirsi Ali's radical opinions expressed in her writings and lectures have "really insulted some people," she said.
But Hirsi Ali is a former MP and public figure, and the Dutch government should "try and arrange some kind of protection" in cooperation with the US authorities, she argued.
"The Dutch government cannot look the other way and shouldn't try and get out but find more of a solution than it has done," said Van Ginkel.
She said the Dutch government had provided some extra protection for Hirsi Ali at the beginning of her stay in the US.
Former Dutch deputy Prime Minister Gerrit Zalm, Netherlands anti-terror chief Tjibbe Joustra and Justice Minister Ernst Hrsch Ballin, are among those Hirsi Ali has reportedly requested to be heard as witnesses.
The preliminary hearing is expected to be heard on two consecutive days later in this year. This could result in a full court case in which Hirsi Ali challenges the Dutch state to continue to pay for her security in the US.
In her orginal court application in May, Airsi Ali asked for eight witnesses to be heard, but on Monday the court said the number would initially be restricted to five.
A motion in the European Parliament to fund Hirsi Ali's US security failed in March to reach a quorum of half the deputies in the 785-member body.
Hirsi Ali has also set up a fund to finance her security in the US. "She has raised a considerable sum but it is not enough to pay for everything," Van Ginkel said.
Hirsi Ali wrote the screenplay for 'Submission', a controversial film criticising domestic violence towards Muslim women made by Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh.
A Dutch-Moroccan extremist Mohammed Bouyeri murdered Van Gogh in an Amsterdam street soon after the film was aired on Dutch television.
Hirsi Ali was given round-the-clock police protection after Bouyeri pinned a letter to Van Gogh's chest containing explicit threats towards her.
She has just written a children's book with Anna Gray, entitled 'Adan and Eva', about the impossible friendship between a Muslim boy and a Jewish girl.
Hirsi Ali's co-author is writing under a pseudonym, as she fears the book could put her life in danger. It is being translated into English, Danish, Spanish and Italian.Source: AKI
  AMSTERDAM, 20/04/08 - MP Geert Wilders has to pay compensation to rap singer Abid Tounssi. In his anti Islam film Fitna, Wilders mistakenly used a picture of the Moroccan.
On an album cover, Tounssi, who goes under the artist name Salah Edin, had himself pictured as Mohammed Bouyeri. It was his way of honouring the terrorist who in 2004 murdered Islam critic Theo van Gogh in a brutal manner in an Amsterdam street.
Due to the strong resemblance, Wilders mistakenly used the picture of Tounssi in his film Fitna when he intended to show Bouyeri. As soon as he had discovered the mistake, Wilders replaced the photograph of Tounssi for one of Bouyeri. Tounssi nevertheless instigated legal proceedings for compensation.
To some extent, Tounssi got his way. A court in Amsterdam has decided that Wilders must pay him 3,000 euros. The rapper had demanded 25,000 euros.
The initial version of Fitna with the photograph of the singer will continue to crop up on the internet. The judge therefore felt that Tounssi had a point. The compensation sum of 25,000 euros will not be granted however, because in posing as Bouyeri, Tounssi was himself responsible for the mistake. Furthermore, Wilders' mistake provided the relatively unknown singer with a great deal of publicity, which he could turn to his advantage commercially, as the court reasoned.
Photographer Ilja Meefout, who made Tounssi's Bouyeri portrait, received 5000 euros in compensation from Wilders. This was in settlement of an infringement of copyright. Source: NIS News
By Adrian Morgan On the morning of November 2, 2004 Theo van Gogh, a descendant of the famous artist's brother, was killed in broad daylight on an Amsterdam street. The murder would forever change the image of the Netherlands as a place of tolerance and libertarianism. Two years before on May 6, 2002, a Netherlands politician called Pim Fortuyn, who had criticized Islam as a "backward culture," was killed by an animal rights activist. Fortuyn's killer claimed to act on behalf of Muslims, but was not a member of the Netherlands' burgeoning Islamic community. Read more ...Source: Family Security Matters
By Peter Hoekstra The Netherlands is bracing for a new round of violence at home and against its embassies in the Middle East. The storm would be caused by " Fitna," a short film that is scheduled to be released this week. The film, which reportedly includes images of a Quran being burned, was produced by Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch parliament and leader of the Freedom Party. Mr. Wilders has called for banning the Quran -- which he has compared to Hitler's "Mein Kampf" -- from the Netherlands. After concern about the film led Mr. Wilders's Internet service provider to take down his Web site, Mr. Wilders issued a statement this week that he will personally distribute DVDs "On the Dam" if he has to. That may not be necessary, as the Czech National Party has reportedly agreed to host the video on its Web site. Reasonable men in free societies regard Geert Wilders's anti-Muslim rhetoric, and films like "Fitna," as disrespectful of the religious sensitivities of members of the Islamic faith. But free societies also hold freedom of speech to be a fundamental human right. We don't silence, jail or kill people with whom we disagree just because their ideas are offensive or disturbing. We believe that when such ideas are openly debated, they sink of their own weight and attract few followers. Our country allows fringe groups like the American Nazi Party to demonstrate, as long as they are peaceful. Americans are permitted to burn the national flag. In 1989, when so-called artist Andres Serrano displayed his work "Piss Christ" -- a photo of a crucifix immersed in a bottle of urine -- Americans protested peacefully and moved to cut off the federal funding that supported Mr. Serrano. There were no bombings of museums. No one was killed over this work that was deeply offensive to Christians.  Criticism of Islam, however, has led to violence and murder world-wide. Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie over his 1988 book, "The Satanic Verses." Although Mr. Rushdie has survived, two people associated with the book were stabbed, one fatally. The 2005 Danish editorial cartoons lampooning the prophet Muhammad led to numerous deaths. Dutch director Theodoor van Gogh was killed in 2004, several months after he made the film "Submission," which described violence against women in Islamic societies. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a former Dutch member of parliament who wrote the script for "Submission," received death threats over the film and fled the country for the United States. The violence Dutch officials are anticipating now is part of a broad and determined effort by the radical jihadist movement to reject the basic values of modern civilization and replace them with an extreme form of Shariah. Shariah, the legal code of Islam, governed the Muslim world in medieval times and is used to varying degrees in many nations today, especially in Saudi Arabia. Radical jihadists are prepared to use violence against individuals to stop them from exercising their free speech rights. In some countries, converting a Muslim to another faith is a crime punishable by death. While Muslim clerics are free to preach and proselytize in the West, some Muslim nations severely restrict or forbid other faiths to do so. In addition, moderate Muslims around the world have been deemed apostates and enemies by radical jihadists. Radical jihadists believe representative government is un-Islamic, and urge Muslims who live in democracies not to exercise their right to vote. The reason is not hard to understand: When given a choice, most Muslims reject the extreme approach to Islam. This was recently demonstrated in Iraq's Anbar Province, which went from an al-Qaeda stronghold to an area supporting the U.S.-led coalition. This happened because the populace came to intensely dislike the fanatical ways of the radicals, which included cutting off fingers of anyone caught smoking a cigarette, 4 p.m. curfews, beatings and beheadings. There also were forced marriages between foreign-born al Qaeda fighters and local Sunni women. There may be a direct relationship between the radical jihadists' opposition to democracy and their systematic abuse of women. Women have virtually no rights in this radical world: They must conceal themselves, cannot hold jobs, and have been subjected to honor killings. Would most women in Muslim countries vote for a candidate for public office who supported such oppressive rules? Not all of these radicals are using violence to supplant democratic society with an extreme form of Shariah. Some in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark are attempting to create parallel Islamic societies with separate courts for Muslims. According to recent press reports, British officials are investigating the cases of 30 British Muslim school-age girls who "disappeared" for probable forced marriages. While efforts to create parallel Islamic societies have been mostly peaceful, they may actually be a jihadist "waiting game," based on the assumption that the Islamic populations of many European states will become the majority over the next 25-50 years due to higher Muslim birth rates and immigration. What is particularly disturbing about these assaults against modern society is how the West has reacted with appeasement, willful ignorance, and a lack of journalistic criticism. Last year PBS tried to suppress "Islam vs. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center," a hard-hitting documentary that contained criticism of radical jihadists. Fortunately, Fox News agreed to air the film. Even if the new Wilders film proves newsworthy, it is likely that few members of the Western media will air it, perhaps because they have been intimidated by radical jihadist threats. The only major U.S. newspaper to reprint any of the controversial 2005 Danish cartoons was Denver's Rocky Mountain News. You can be sure that if these cartoons had mocked Christianity or Judaism, major American newspapers would not have hesitated to print them. European officials have been similarly cautious. A German court ruled last year that a German Muslim man had the right to beat his wife, as this was permitted under Shariah. Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, stated last month that the implementation of some measure of Shariah in Britain was "unavoidable" and British Muslims should have the choice to use Shariah in marital and financial matters. I do not defend the right of Geert Wilders to air his film because I agree with it. I expect I will not. (I have not yet seen the film). I defend the right of Mr. Wilders and the media to air this film because free speech is a fundamental right that is the foundation of modern society. Western governments and media outlets cannot allow themselves to be bullied into giving up this precious right due to threats of violence. We must not fool ourselves into believing that we can appease the radical jihadist movement by allowing them to set up parallel societies and separate legal systems, or by granting them special protection from criticism. A central premise of the American experiment are these words from the Declaration of Independence: "All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." There are similar statements in the U.S. Constitution, British Common Law, the Napoleonic Code and the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. As a result, hundreds of millions in the U.S. and around the world enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion and many other rights. These liberties have been won through centuries of debate, conflict and bloodshed. Radical jihadists want to sacrifice all we have learned by returning to a primitive and intolerant world. While modern society invites such radicals to peacefully exercise their faith, we cannot and will not sacrifice our fundamental freedoms. Mr. Hoekstra, who was born in the Netherlands, is ranking Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Source: The Wall Street Journal
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The depths of treachery, mind-numbing legal prejudice and undisguised prosecutorial malice in the upcoming trial of Parliamentarian Geert Wilders within Amsterdam’s Criminal Court are a truly alarming indication of how deeply Islam has sunken its tentacles into the Dutch government.
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