Wilders’ acquittal does not make him less dangerous

Wilders’ acquittal on hate speech charges is something that appeared to be in the works for some time. The endless delays and postponements appeared to point in the direction that the Amsterdam court wanted to be rid of the whole case. What Wilders’ acquittal signals is that the Netherlands and the Dutch society is losing touch of what the rule of law is and the whole meaning upholding the laws you create. We should note that Dutch society is losing its grip on what it means to live as a free and orderly society.

• Dutch Muslims need to take the case against Wilders and PVV radicals to the European level, to the Court of Human Rights. There should perhaps be a separate case filed against the Kingdom of the Netherlands for failure to enforce its own laws and social hostility against its Muslim population.
• Since the Dutch are the ones who have unleashed this strain of radical Islamophobia on all of us on both sides of the Atlantic, the future will tell us if the court in Amsterdam has now unleashed yet another horrible, hateful disease. The Dutch are also responsible for failing to have a regulated political and elections system and that allows internationalized “political parties,” such as the radical and extremist PVV “party.”

The reality remains that Geert Wilders, along with Theo van Gogh and Pim Fortyun – have destroyed Dutch culture and national character so well liked by the rest of the world. Dutch tolerance and civil society is what made the country admired and a model for the rest of the world. These were viciously attacked, and a misguided media allowed the three men a stage from which to attack their own country.

What was on trial were not Wilders’ wrong and extremist ideas, but whether he had the right to speak these wrong and extremist ideas.

Currently, I am working on a paper, to be mailed to various organizations, that will present an argument that Geert Wilders’ free travels to the US have radicalized other Americans, perhaps to violent action against American Muslims.   Wilders can freely travel to and from the US with NO problems (Wilders is never held up at airports as innocent people who appear to be Muslim are), as the rest of the radical right seems to be of NO concern to counter-terrorism agencies, like DHS and the Dutch NCTb counter-terrorism center.  Only survey research of those arrested and incarcerated for violent and terrorist acts against the American Muslim community will tell us if and how much Geert Wilders has played in the radicalization of Americans to acts of domestic terrorism.

The reality beyond a courtroom in Amsterdam is that Geert Wilders remains a dangerous and highly radicalized individual who has spent the past two years freely traveling to and from the US attempting to radicalize others. Some of this radicalization from Wilders may have resulted in attacks against American Muslim community – including murders. Beyond the courtroom in Amsterdam, Dutch Muslims cannot live freely as Dutch and EU citizens in a democratic society based on the rule of law. Some of us knew that this was coming as Wilders’ trial unfolded, and now this dangerous and highly radicalized individual is now free to travel once again and radicalize others on both sides of the Atlantic, which will continue to threaten Muslim communities.

Now – time will tell us if the Dutch have really fallen down yet again.

Dutch MP Wilders cleared of hate speech charges- Euronews

Dutch MP acquitted in ‘hate’ trial – AlJazzera