Friday, September 3, 2010

A well-known Australian Muslim cleric has called for the beheading of Dutch politician Geert Wilders

Wilders' Freedom Party scored the biggest gains in June 9 2010 polls and is currently negotiating to form a new minority government with the Liberals and Christian Democrats. Polls show Wilders would win a new election if one were called now. Wilders demanded to know why he had learned about the threat from a newspaper and not from Dutch authorities who are guarding him after remarks he made about Islam angered Muslims around the world. De Telegraaf, the Netherlands' largest newspaper, led its front page with a story on the speech by Feiz Muhammad. The Sydney-born Muhammad has gained notoriety for, among other things, calling on young children to be radicalized and blaming rape victims for their own attacks. The paper posted an English-language audio clip in which he refers to Wilders as "this Satan, this devil, this politician in Holland" and explains that anyone who talks about Islam like Wilders does should be executed by beheading. Wilders said it was "really terrible news" and that he was taking it seriously. Wilders is currently on trial in the Netherlands for inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims. The Freedom Party leader made a film in 2008 which accused the Koran of inciting violence and mixed images of terrorist attacks with quotations from the Islamic holy book. Wilders was also charged because of outspoken remarks in the media, such as an opinion piece in a Dutch daily in which he compared Islam to fascism and the Koran to Adolf Hitler's book "Mein Kampf." Of late he has been in the news for plans to speak out against a planned mosque in New York City on September 11 2010, the ninth anniversary of the Islamist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. But his views have also made him extremely popular with people uneasy about the Netherlands' commitment to multiculturalism.

No comments: