Queen Beatrix visits Saudi Arabia – PVV shows anti Dutch colors!
The House of Orange –the embodiment of Dutch identity and culture. The House of Orange (Orange-Nassau) and William the Silent (Orange) were a major factor in the experiments with religious “freedom of conscience” that occurred in the Low Countries in the late 1500s. Even though the road to religious freedom and tolerance in the Netherlands was a rocky one and not without setbacks, William of Orange bucked the trend of outlawing Catholic worship. The Union of Utrecht declared “freedom of conscience” in religious worship. Religious freedom and tolerance are great Dutch traditions.
One of the first standards for protection against religious intolerance was the founding document of the Republic of the United Netherlands, the Union of Utrecht from 1579, which stipulated that no one will be persecuted because of his religion. In 1648, in the Treaty of Westphalia, a minimum of freedom of religion was guaranteed: the right to freedom of religion in private and equal rights in all other fields of public life, regardless of religion. In the 18th and 19th centuries, several other treaties protecting religious rights followed (The Right to Freedom of Expression and Religion).
From the House of Orange we get the real feel for what it means to be Dutch. The very symbols that are at the heart of Dutch national identity come out of the House of Orange: The tricolor Dutch flag, the national anthem, Het Wilhelmus, and the national color of Orange. Queen Beatrix now occupies the head of the Dutch state, as well as the House of Orange, and she does a fine job of protecting and projecting what it means to be Dutch to the world.
The Dutch Royal visit to Saudi Arabia- Beatrix represents the Dutch nation well. On her visit to Saudi Arabia, the royals visited a mosque and Queen Beatrix, as well as Princess Maxima, were wearing headscarves on their visit. The wearing of the headscarves is what is causing Geert Wilders (who is anti-Dutch anyway) to have fits, and that is discussed below. What is really encouraging is the message Beatrix left in the guest book of the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. This message represents the finest thoughts of the Dutch Nation and expresses the Dutch tradition of tolerance, respect and understanding:
The Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi stands as a shining symbol of the spirit of the United Arab Emirates and the wisdom of the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Father of the Nation. As well as a house of worship and an important centre of learning it is a beacon of hope sending a strong message of tolerance, respect and mutual understanding to all.
On the occasion of the State Visit of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and Their Royal Highness the Prince of Orange and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands to His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed al Nahyan.
Sunday, January 8, 2012 (see Royalblog -Beatrix laat ook voor moskee haar hoed niet thuis).
The PVV has fits! The “Freedom Party,” PVV, of Geert Wilders and Pim Fortuyn stand in contrast to everything it means to be Dutch – especially tolerance and religious tolerance. The disrespect shown by Wilders and his PVV over the conduct of the royals’ visit to Saudi Arabia is not the first time Wilders and his anti-Dutch ilk have shown disrespect to this symbol of the Dutch Nation.
To demonstrate how really anti-Dutch the “Freedom Party” is, their leaders have fits over Beatrix’s wearing of the headscarf and visit to a mosque. This anti-Dutch anger, the PVV submitted various questions to the minister of Immigration, Integration and Asylum shows the desire of Islamophobic hate and false accusations against Muslims over Dutch traditions of religious tolerance and respect. Among the four questions, we see the notion that the headscarf represents “Islamification” – Islaimfication is a myth that there is no evidence to support. The other phony question relates to the phony respect for woman’s rights and the headscarf as a “symbol of oppression of women.” All of these questions smack against Dutch liberal society and the Dutch tradition of tolerance. These questions openly expose the PVV and Geert Wilders as absolutely anti-Dutch.
Queen Beatrix the wise Head of State for all Dutch people. We should be amazed by leadership of Queen Beatrix, who has demonstrated what it really means to be Dutch. After the terrorist attack against their family’s bus by Karst Tates in Apeldoorn in 2009, Beatrix visited the injured in the hospital and addressed a frightened nation. Beatrix is a queen and head of state for all of the Dutch people grounded in Dutch traditions and national identity. Beatrix is also queen for those Dutch people that have chosen Islam as their religious faith and queen for those Dutch people who wear the headscarf.
Queen Beatrix show the world, especially her own nation, what it means to be Dutch in the world. Religious tolerance is a part of being Dutch. The PVV and VVD enablers want a Netherlands that returns to religious conflict and persecution of the Spanish Catholics. Dutch Muslims now play the role of Protestants 500 years ago. Geert Wilders and his enablers would like a nation that spreads intolerance and hate in the false name of woman’s rights and security abroad, while creating an Apartheid system of permanent exclusion for Dutch Muslims at home.
Beatrix must have anticipated the PVV reaction in her visit to Saudi Arabia. Showing the courage of her ancestors against brutal Spanish rule, Queen Beatrix has the courage to buck PVV rule and act as the Head of State that is becoming of the Dutch nation. We now should have some hope that the Dutch people can realize that Geert Wilders is not the Dutchman he claims to be and that the house of Orange can lead the Dutch nation back from this dark chapter of Geert Wilders and his anti-Dutch policies.
See:
[...] the PVV in the eye, but she probably did more to expose the PVV and Geert Wilders as anti-Dutch. Queen Beatrix, in expressing the Dutch traditions of tolerance, respect and mutual understanding in …: The Grand Mosque of Abu Dhabi stands as a shining symbol of the spirit of the United Arab Emirates [...]
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