The verdict is finally in and Wilders has been acquitted of all charges. It is only a partial victory, as the outcome does not actually guarantee freedom of speech. The Australian reports:
At the end of his trial, prosecutors again called for the charges to be dropped, saying that although his comments may have caused anxiety and insult, they were not criminal, as they criticised Islam as a religion and not Muslims as a people…
Bram Moszkowicz, the lawyer for Mr Wilders, said: “A politician, in the context of public debate, can say a little more and go a bit farther than you and I.”
So… the Dutch are still not free to criticize Muslims as “a people” and politicians enjoy more freedom of speech than regular citizens. I am not happy with such distinctions. I am happy that Wilders’ lawyer appears to be Jewish.
Al-Jazeera reports:
The judge interpreted Wilders’ remarks as challenging Islam as an ideology, which is not a criminal offence in the Netherlands. “[…] although gross and degenerating, it did not give rise to hatred,” the judge said.
So… it is not legal to challenge Islam as a religion, only as an ideology. Again, I am not happy with this distinction.
In any event, now we can look forward to the reaction from Muslims around the world: Rioting, burning, killing and threats against the Dutch and other non-Muslims – all underscoring exactly what Wilders has been saying all along.
Agree with everything you say. A small victory, but not the victory that would be needed for free speech
I wrote about this before.
Geert Wilders in court for offending Muslims (who threaten his life and already killed Theo van Gogh)
Please read
http://zekjevets.blogspot.com/2011/06/from-white-father-to-his-future-black.html
Is this supposed to be an answer to my “racist father essay”? Either way I think it is instructive. It is poetic but lacks substance. Full of assumptions and “conventional wisdom” but no evidence. Just the sort of thing the masses accept. Thanks! Perhaps I’ll rewrite “racist father” in that style for the uneducated masses.
It’s Geert, not Girt.
Thanks, fixed. This was an “insomnia post”.
The process is the punishment.
I read it about 500 times the day of the verdict. But it’s correct.
I am glad Wilders was aquitted but I agree with JAY that this is only a partial victory. Let’s face it, free speech is dead in Europe. What little speech they have left can hardly be called free speech. Race realists and anti immigration activists are forced to constantly engage in self censorship. When they occasionally express truthful views on race in public they can be fined and arrested.
In Muslim countries other religions are denigrated, their statues and relics are destroyed. If a Muslim converts to another religion Islam requires his execution. Muslims do not value tolerance except when it is excercised in their favor. They are intolerant towards other religions.
Liberals cannot see the irrationality of granting tolerance to and prohibiting criticism of a religion which is the most intolerant on earth! Since we know Islam is a violent, hateful and backward religion Muslim immigration should be banned. I would even go a step further and outlaw the practice of Islam in white nations.
How did such a hateful religion come to recieve protection from the state? I think that liberals realize most Muslims are non-white and on that basis they refuse to believe Islam could be a problem or could be innately violent. If they concede there is a Muslim problem they concede indirectly that there is a non-white problem since it is a non white religion for the most part.
In a perfect world, Geert Wilders would have won the Nobel Peace Prize and there would be no Islam (or xtianity for that matter). But alas we live in a Wonderland-like world where things are upside-down, twisted and the opposite of what they should be.