Spencer: “The Geert Wilders trial ought to be an international media event”
Here is my entry in a National Review symposium today, “Western Civilization on Trial”:
The Geert Wilders trial ought to be an international media event; seldom has any court case anywhere had such enormous implications for the future of the free world. The case against him, which has all the legitimacy of a Stalinist-era Moscow show trial, is a manifestation of the global assault on free speech sponsored chiefly at the U.N. by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). If Wilders loses, the freedom of speech will be threatened everywhere in the West.Even if he wins, a dangerous precedent has been set by the fact of the trial itself: It is a sad day for the freedom of speech when a man can be put on trial for causing another man offense. If offending someone were really a crime warranting prosecution by the civil authorities, the legal system would be opened up to absurdities even greater than the Wilders trial.
But of course what Dutch authorities, Muslim groups in the Netherlands, and the OIC really want to accomplish is to silence Wilders’s truth-telling about jihad and Islamic supremacism. The court’s railroading of Wilders was clear from that fact that 15 of his 18 requested witnesses were disallowed, including Mohammed Bouyeri, the Koran-inspired murderer of Theo Van Gogh who would have proven Wilders’s point immediately. As Wilders himself put it Wednesday: “This court is not interested in the truth. This court doesn’t want me to have a fair trial.” The darkness descending over Europe, as indicated by this trial, may ensure that there is no fair trial there again for a long, long time.
Other symposium participants include Bat Ye’or, Paul Marshall, Clifford D. May, Daniel Pipes, and Nina Shea. Read it all.
We hope in our family that this healthy debate continues in America because while you have proponents that advocate politically correct silence you have far fewer of them than we do in the UK and Europe. My wife and I are not fools to be patronised and we recognise democracy as we knew it as children and as our parents knew it through the 20th Century is compromised, both by overly sensitive British political parties and the left liberal stance of unelected bureaucrats in the EU and their like-minded political friends.
I never thought that I would need, at the age of 61, the robust English style tradition of free speech and be damned that I perceive still exists and is practiced in the States, but that is disappearing here. The trial of Mr. Wilders receives no publicity in the UK mainstream media commensurate with its overarching importance to all of us who have benefitted from the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the progress that Christian societies have made, cradled in the strong arms of science and reason.
Your posting makes me feel so sad. My mother was English, I still have family in England, and my daughter married a young Englishman this past year. I love England and am sick that the nation that was responsible for bringing law and order and the tradition of free speech to the rest of the world is in danger of losing those same freedoms! I attempted to bring this subject up to my son-in-law at Thanksgiving, but he had never heard of London being referred to as Londonistan, nor was he interested in reading Mark Steyn's book America Alone. I get the feeling that he and my daughter think I'm a bit hysterical about the subject. I'm afraid that one day they will get a rude awakening…hopefully, it won't be too late but I'm not feeling too sanguine in that regard.
Philip,
I had thought that America was turning into a politico-correcto facistismo until I read about the U.K. and Europe. It's obviously time for us to get activiated, over here, before it's too late. The one thing that guarantees success is that this liberal program cannot be sustained on the backs of immigrants whose culture does not include a constructive work ethic. Liberals don't know what the balance sheets in a check book are for. Chaos is the unfortuneate result, but out of chaos there comes a new begining. That's the hard way to do it, unfortuneatley, and something to be avoided. However, it is the final arbiter
Europe is super-concious of the problem of religious hatred and the demagogues who feed on it. So there is no way that Europe will treat Muslims the way the anti-semitic want it to.
But neither is it going to allow itself be over-run by Muslims, no matter what the Islamophobes think they're predicting
I'm afraid the UK is already being over-run, and in possibly 30 to 40 years we will definitely have a majority population of muslims. The demographics are such that the muslims tend to have 7 or 8 children whereas the rest of us have approx. 2. We now have the Equality Bill going through the House of Lords which will put a white male at the bottom of the list when it comes to employment. We have a Muslim Police Association and a Black Police Association but the BNP is now allowed to have a white British membership list – which I might add is currently being changed as it is deemed to be racist – exactly why the other two Associations aren't racist might tell you a bit about what is happening in Europe. It's not looking good, so bring on the election and let's get some changes under way!
Don't be afraid, be very afraid, i predict britain having a majority muslim population within 15-20 years sooner if our politicians have their way.
Could you offer some proof of your assertion that Europe won't roll over Again?
I have to take exception to your term, Islamophobe, which implies paranoia. As psychologists like to say, if you are living in downtown Manhattan and are afraid of being eaten by a lion, you are, indeed, paranoid. However, if you live in the middle of Africa, where lions roam free, then your fear is rooted in reality and you are merely being pragmatic. You need to find another term to describe those of us who are paying attention to the problem of militant Islam.
And fresh from the press today: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1249797/L... It just gets better!
The Dutch govt. can try to shut people up, but can it shut the Internet up? Even in Iran the govt. is finding out about its great power. Tell everyone you know in Europe that they can learn all about the real history of Islam and its endless list of X-rated crimes free online with the Historyscoper and arm their mind with facts and knowledge to spread the truth. To get started, click http://go.to/islamhistory
If anyone would like to show their support for Geert Wilders there is an online petition which is now over 37,000 and growing daily, which can be found at http://www.petitiononline.com/wilders/
Well done Sue, right with you there. I have signed the petition and paid £100 to him to go towards his trial costs. A small amount for him, but as much as I can afford. If anyone agrees with the cause of free speech, please do likewise.
Thank you Trudy, it's suprising how many people don't know about the petition so I am leaving a link everywhere I can. We must support him!
Taxpayer funded socialized medicine has everything to do with the life support of these monstrous sized Muslim families are getting. If Pamela Geller has not already done so, she should add "Health Services Jihad" to her ever increasing Jihad list. The Europeans will end up like the dodo bird if they don't start wising up and they better do it quick because time is clearly running out for them.
Dear Bill H,
The NHS might be one reason they flock to Britain's shores, along with social security benefits. If you can see this link below, it shows what most of us already knew to be the truth – that large-scale immigration was a deliberate policy of our current government.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1249797/L...
Now the cat is officially out of the bag.
The free World is dying and the tyranny of Islam is taking over this is a dark time for us we need to fight or we will just have to submit do you want your daughters to be treated like 2nd class citizens and not allowed to get an education? But oh no it won't happen according to some people they are just cowards who believe multiculturalism crap. While our culture dies because we are over run. Europe will never be a free place again unless we stand and fight now violence seems like its the only solution in this case. Fight terror with terror see how they like people suicde bombing in Mosques and in Muslim Majority areas and the burning down of Mosques. This is the only way for our goverments to open their eyes. I am sorry if I offend anyone but this is my view.
Immigrants are already rioting in Italy but the mainstream press don't report it. When did we cease to be a democracy?