Holland Discourse against refugees
With political pledges to ban the Quran and seal the country's borders, the PVV is gaining ground in the polls
In March 2014, the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV, in Dutch) became the country's second political force and its leader Geert Wilders celebrated the achievement with racist statements that saw him end up in the courts. During the celebrations of the electoral victory, Wilders addressed party followers with a question: “Do you want more or fewer Moroccans?” he asked them. When the attendees began chanting back “fewer, fewer...” Wilders made a promise to his supporters: “Leave it to us!”
The outrage caused by the incendiary statements led to a dozen of the party's elected officials to resign, while Wilders himself ended up in court to answer charges brought by some 60 different organisations. At the end of last year, Wilders received a symbolic sentence, without even a fine, after being found guilty of inciting racial hatred.
Meanwhile, his political discourse against foreigners, and in particular Muslims, continues to cause controversy in the Netherlands and abroad. Wilders has pledged that if his party wins the elections due to take place in March, he will ban the Quran, and will also close down mosques and refugees reception centres. In fact, he has even proposed locking up all male Muslim refugees coming into the country in internment centres “to prevent them attacking Dutch women.” Wilders phobia against foreigners, who he says threaten European traditions, goes back to 2012, when he created a website calling on Dutch people to denounce anyone from Poland, Bulgaria or Romania who might cause “any problems”.
