A failure of the community

Cultural enrichment takes many diverse and sometime unexpected forms. In the Netherlands this week, there was an uproar about what seems to be the latest trend in cultural enrichment (NL), disrupting funeral processions:

In Amersfoort yet again a funeral procession was disrupted by youth. Students of the [islamic] primary school Bilal flipped their middle-finger and were seen cheering as a procession of mourners drove by.

The head of the school told RTV Utrecht he will speak to the children about their behavior. Additionally he would like to introduce the bereaved to the children, to make them realize what they have done.

The bland reporting by RTV Utrecht not withstanding, it became clear quite quickly the 'youth' involved were Moroccan children, reported to be between 9 and 11 years old.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened either. Back in the end of May, a funeral procession was similarly harassed by Moroccan 'youth', circling the procession on their bike, cheering and shouting 'Jews, Jews, Jews'. In an item on Dutch TV (NL) CEO of the funeral organisation UVZ relates the incident during the funeral of a 17 year old girls. At the start of the procession, the lead car is approached by young Moroccans wanting to know if the occupant of the coffin is a muslim. After hearing the negative answer, they proceed thumping and kicking the funeral limousine, saying 'Good, one less dog'.

That this has happened, is happening, that such is being done by Moroccan children as young as 9 to 11 even, is enough to descend into a blood-thirsty rage by itself. But this isn't the most infuriating aspect of the story. That distinction goes to the combined attempts by director and staff of the Bilal school and the MSM to downplay the incident and refocus the issue.

In the wake of the incident the school received hundreds of angry emails, some of which were of a threatening nature. This gave the school and the Dutch MSM the opportunity to focus on the fact that the a primary school needs extra police protection (NL). Because, according to the director of the Bilal school, in a crisis like this a primary school is very vulnerable. In De Telegraaf (NL; pdf) the director directs attention to the disquiet among parents of the schools students over the indignant reactions this news has provoked. The teachers also are 'irritated' with the commotion the news has caused. Thus, the angle played up big in the MSM is not the disrespectful, uncivilized and frankly depraved behaviour of the Moroccan children. Following the Dutch MSM, one would be forgiven the impression that the main problem is the reactions this news has provoked in Dutch society.

One of those involved is quoted as saying that the boys involved cannot be blamed for their behaviour since 'an eleven year old does not have the moral awareness'. Really? That is your explanation? That is the excuse? Geenstijl asks (NL), quite rightly: "How many times did you harass a funeral procession when you were 11? Did you also flip of random bereaved as an 11-year-old? And the 64,000 dollar question: Did you have sufficient moral awareness about death and mourning to be held responsible for offensive behaviour?"

This news raises (yet again) some uncomfortable questions about the Moroccan community and its place within our borders. That these children do not understand, even at the age of 9, that death comes to us all and that the death of a loved one is a period of momentous grief and loss that should be treated with the respect and dignity it deserves, points to a monumental failure, not just of the parents involved, but of the entire community, including the director and staff of the Bilal school. This is illustrated by the irritation of the school staff and even some of the parents quoted in De Telegraaf with the 'overblown reaction' of the civilized, non-Moroccan portion of the Dutch populace, who are 'making a mountain out of an mole hill'.

There is no sign whatsoever of the realization that this incident is way, WAY beyond mere mischief and exuberant boy-ish naughtiness. Thus it is not just the children and the parents that must be held accountable. The entire Moroccan community has failed to inculcate even the most basic respect and civility in their youngsters. It is the entire Moroccan community that is responsible for this incident. And it is time the Moroccan community in the Netherlands start to realize they are fast outstaying their welcome.

What will it take to break it?

Dutch banks have a total €102bn in outstanding loans in Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy, finance minister Jan Kees de Jager said in a briefing note to MPs.

And as minister de Jager is negotiating with Dutch banks about a 'voluntary' haircut (meaning: an extension of maturity on loans to Greece) S&P threatens default.

Standard & Poor's reaffirmed a voluntary debt restructuring for Greece as currently foreseen by euro zone governments would likely be deemed a default, its head of European sovereign ratings told a German newspaper.

"Past experiences show that restructuring the debt of a country, whose creditworthiness is rated at CCC like Greece is currently, tend not to be voluntary and investors must sustain losses," Moritz Kraemer told Die Welt in an article due to be published on Tuesday.

And so does Fitch. And Moody's.

We argued before that the EUnion has time on its side. But that is ignoring outside factors, like the ISDA determining a 'credit event' (more at EURef) and Vox Day's hangout.

Mayhap that the EUnion is running out of time faster then it realizes.

Breaking: Geert Wilders acquitted on all counts

The Amsterdam court has announced the verdict in the Wilders trial. Geert Wilders has been acquitted on all counts (NL, short EN report here).

Pamela is following closely. Al-Jazeera is reporting here, the Jerusalem Post here (linked, because they were the first big international MSM sources). RNW encapsulates the entire year-and-a-half circus here.

(minor update: The BBC have finally recovered from the initial shock: Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders has been acquitted of all charges of inciting hatred against Muslims).

Wilders is a free man again. And because of this we all are (still) allowed to say what we think. This is a good day!

[UPDATE001] Thoughtfully as ever, His Grace shines his light on the verdict: "Rejoice! This is a marvellous day for democracy and for liberty".

[UPDATE002] Ferdy noticed that while Geert Wilders was fully vindicated, the court nevertheless thought to interject its opinion in its verdict:

Today the Amsterdam court ruled that Wilders is NOT guilty on all accounts. But although the court was very clear that Mr. Wilders did not break the law, the court found it necessary to declare in their sentencing of Mr. Wilders that his statements were: “rude”, “offensive” and “derogatory”. The Amsterdam court also declared they found Wilders movie “shocking” although not illegal. Also the court declared that some of his statements were “on the edge of what is permissible”.

Also from Ferdy: The complete ruling can be found here (NL).

[UPDATE003] From the mailbox. The PVV released the following statement:

This morning the Court of Amsterdam has acquitted Geert Wilders of all charges.

“I am delighted with this ruling,” says Geert Wilders. “It is a victory, not only for me but for all the Dutch people. Today is a victory for freedom of speech. The Dutch are still allowed to speak critically about islam, and resistance against islamisation is not a crime. I have spoken, I speak and I shall continue to speak.”

Go, you. Read and understand

Over on Witterings from Witney: Really, we would just like to be left alone...

[W]e are being ground down, we are becoming demoralised, we are sinking into a state of apathy. Since 1997 this process of demoralisation has increased and at each step the British people have accepted it and not once fought back - had they, the Lib/Lab/Con would not have the stranglehold they do have on the political scene within this nation. Political manifestos are now mere works of fiction and bear no relation to what is promised and then actually delivered. The political elite have engineered a situation whereby the supposedly 'free press' is beholden to them for their income, hence the public cannot and do not learn the truth about the future and what is actually being planned for them. With the compliance of what is a 'muzzled press', alternative political views and polices are suppressed and do not receive equal coverage in the media. Coupled with that and by means of their cohorts in the press, the Lib/Lab/Con have conditioned the people that they and only they have the gravitas to govern us. In so doing they have also managed to negate the idea in people's minds that, actually, we don't need to be governed in order to live as a free people.

Some of the particulars in that piece are very British. But if we generalize it, that piece is very, very much applicable to all of us, sad little subjects of the Brussels Beast. Including its conclusion:

Just when will the population of this nation wake up to what is happening around them? We can discuss the merits, or otherwise, of small government and "Referism" all we like and for as long as we like, but if the people are deaf and blind, do not those of us who aren't, not have a duty to force change, to stop what is no more no less than our own persecution? If that change cannot be effected through the ballot box, do we not have the right to resort to social disobedience, resistance and rebellion?

Go now, and read. Carefully.

Who do we sue?

This week saw a good post about the continuing Greek drama on DDS (NL). It sketches out te likely end-game of the drama unfolding. Not surprisingly, it is the ultimate 'beneficial crisis' scenario, where the de facto political EUnion is established at the cost of impoverishing all of Europe (except the slime of course).

It goes something like this: The longer the Greeks fail to sanitize their debt, the more it will weigh on the ECB balance. Greece is now mostly lending to pay off maturing debt. Since no market party will loan Greece the money (for evident reasons) they turn to the lender of last resort, the ECB. And thus the Greek debt is slowly siphoned away from commercial banks and into the ECB books. The extra loan of 12 billion approved last week will thus increase the amount of (quite worthless) Greek paper on the ECB balance from 49 billion to 61 billion.

The moment the full Greek debt is on the ECB books (which is the moment all those stupid, malign bankers have got themselves free of Greek debt paper) will be the moment to convert the debt to Eurobonds. this will allow the Greek government to sanitize their debt in one fell swoop, while the call for stricter controls on member state government spending will be abused to ram through the political union that is the ultimate aim of the EUnion from its inception. Effectively, the richer, more disciplined member states, like Germany, The Netherlands and the UK, will pay for the deficits of the weaker brethren for decades to come.

This scenario explains the dithering of the EUnion council. They can afford to wait. It is in their interest to wait. Greece will not default, it will be bailed-out until such time that all of its debt is on the ECB books. That will be the opportune time to cement the EUnion as a political entity.

And then it will be you and I, who will pay for the Greeks (and the Spanish, and the Irish, and the Portuguese, and the Italians, and the Belgians and the French) for years and years to come. And Our Father only knows what moronic initiatives will be deployed by the EP and their new-found mandate under a political union. But it'll cost us, on top of everything else.

It is quite incomprehensible that German, Scandinavian, British and Dutch politicians do not put a stop to this. Once again there's a strong whiff of treason in the air. By going along with this they are not serving the peoples they were sworn to serve, they are serving the enemy of these peoples.

With Andrew Lilico, we must seriously ask ourselves: So, whom do I sue?

Article 125 of the EU Treaty states:

The Union shall not be liable for or assume the commitments of central governments, regional, local or other public authorities, other bodies governed by public law, or public undertakings of any Member State… A Member State shall not be liable for or assume the commitments of central governments, regional, local or other public authorities, other bodies governed by public law, or public undertakings of another Member State

Everyone knows that this Treaty article was violated by the Greek, Irish and Portuguese bailouts. Indeed, senior French politicians have not been shy of spelling matters out. For example, in May last year, French Europe Minister Pierre Lallouche cheerfully declared: “De facto, we have changed the treaty”. Again, Christine Lagarde – now favourite for the IMF job – stated last December: “We violated all the rules because we wanted to close ranks and really rescue the euro zone…The Treaty of Lisbon was very straight-forward. No bailout.”
Now if, say, Greece and Ireland default, then bureaucrats and politicians will have lost lots of my money doing something forbidden by ratified international treaty. Can I sue them, to get some of it back?

(emphasis is mine - KV)

Then again, I am getting to the point where I wonder who we must execute, rather then sue. The list grows longer every day.

And thus we knit and knit.

[UPDATE001] Then again, Dr. North is a bit more optimistic (if that is the right word): The "colleagues" fudged the euro launch, they fudged the figures to get Greece on board, and now we are all going to pay the price. As yet, there is no one on this planet who can tell us with any confidence what that might be. The only certainly is that Greece is going to fail - and it is going to take the euro with it.

A very scary list

Via Calling England we get the following, truly frightening list.

On 1st November 2014 the following areas of competence will switch from requiring unanimous approval of all member states to qualified majority voting:

Initiatives of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs
Administrative co-operation
Asylum
Border controls
Citizens' initiative regulations
Civil protection
Committee of the Regions
Common defence policy
Crime prevention incentives
Criminal judicial co-operation
Criminal law
Culture
Diplomatic and Consular protection
Economic and Social Committee
Emergency international aid
Energy
EU budget
Eurojust
European Central Bank
European Court of Justice
Europol
Eurozone external representation
Foreign Affairs High Representative election
Freedom of movement for workers
Freedom, security, justice, co-operation and evaluation
Freedom to establish a business
Funding the Common Foreign and Security Policy
General economic interest services
Humanitarian aid
Immigration
Intellectual property
Organisation of the Council of the EU
Police co-operation
President of the European Council election
Response to natural disasters and terrorism
Rules concerning the Armaments Agency
Self-employment access rights
Social Security
Space
Sport
Structural and Cohesion Funds
Tourism
Transport

These are all areas of national competence that will, with one fell swoop, be delivered into the hands of the EUrocrats. If we, as a nation decide to keep our social security the way it is, for instance, we better hope all other member states let us. There is no more sovereignty after 2014, November 1st.

Remember the days, back in 2007, when Maxime Verhagen en Jan Peter Balkenende came home crowing victory, celebrating the vanquishing of EUnion Constitution 1.0? It was a lie then, it is a lie now. Then again, what else is new?

Yes, the democratic theatre is still in place to entertain the masses. Every few years we get to vote one set of slime out, and another set of equally slimy toads in. But even the mouth-piece of the euro-slime, EU Observer is now openly admitting it: ‘Vote how you like, but policies cannot change'.

And even if we decide we've had enough, tough luck. As of the Turnip withdrawal of a member state is subject to QMV as well.

The crucial point being missed by the euro-slime, however: By removing any possibility to register our dissent (and be heard) non-violently, only the violent is left. You reap what you sow, after all.

Well, we, as a nation, could always strife to be even more obnoxious (direct and straight-forward, as we Dutch like to call it ourselves) then we already are. With any luck they'll vote to kick us out. But I am sharpening my pitch-fork and testing the rope, just in case.

[UPDATE001] And it is not over yet. While the world is watching with bated breath as Greece is slowly burning to the ground, the EUro-slime are preparing a set of legislation that will remove even more powers from our own governments, from ourselves. Via WfW:

* A financial transaction tax which will allow the EU to raise its own tax, even set its own tax rates, without democratic oversight.

* Finalisation of the EU's takeover of asylum rules. This means that we won't be able to set our own asylum policy.

* The economic governance package. This sees the EU having oversight of member state treasury decision. It demands budget approval ahead of the government presenting its Budget to the Dutch people.

* Endorsement of EU Treaty change to allow for future economic bailouts of other EU countries. This would see us liable for massive unknown future costs running into billions.

* Informal agreement of Croatia joining the EU. This would see another four and half million people given access to the UK, Germany and Holland.

Preparing for White X-masses for a decade to come

This just in from WUWT.

The American Astronomical Society meeting in Austin has just made a major announcement on the state of the sun. Sunspots may be on the way out and an extended solar minimum may be on the horizon.

From Space.com reporting from the conference:

Some unusual solar readings, including fading sunspots and weakening magnetic activity near the poles, could be indications that our sun is preparing to be less active in the coming years.

The results of three separate studies seem to show that even as the current sunspot cycle swells toward the solar maximum, the sun could be heading into a more-dormant period, with activity during the next 11-year sunspot cycle greatly reduced or even eliminated.

The results of the new studies were announced today (June 14) at the annual meeting of the solar physics division of the American Astronomical Society, which is being held this week at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.

…

Currently, the sun is in the midst of the period designated as Cycle 24 and is ramping up toward the cycle’s period of maximum activity. However, the recent findings indicate that the activity in the next 11-year solar cycle, Cycle 25, could be greatly reduced. In fact, some scientists are questioning whether this drop in activity could lead to a second Maunder Minimum, which was a 70-year period from 1645 to 1715 when the sun showed virtually no sunspots.

…

“We expected to see the start of the zonal flow for Cycle 25 by now, but we see no sign of it,” Hill said. “This indicates that the start of Cycle 25 may be delayed to 2021 or 2022, or may not happen at all.”

…

If the models prove accurate and the trends continue, the implications could be far-reaching.

“If we are right, this could be the last solar maximum we’ll see for a few decades,” Hill said. “That would affect everything from space exploration to Earth’s climate.”

What this means is that we are approaching a situation comparable to the Maunder minimum, a period also known as the Little Ice Age. You know those paintings of endless winter fun, made by the Dutch Masters. The effects of the Maunder minimum were their inspiration.

Say goodbye to global warming. It has been fun, but all good things come to an end, alas.

Preparing for the worst

Here's a fun tidbit, via Zerohedge and Covering Delta: The Greek government has apparently hired foreign workers to clean out a tunnel that leads from Lykavitos to the Greek parliament, and from there to the sea port of Piraeus. So far, so whatever. But reports state this is done in preparation for the possible evacuation of Greek MP’s in the event of a storming of parliament ahead of Wednesday's (tomorrows) vote on the new memorandum.

In the mean time Greek MP's are starting to vote against further bail-out by the EUnion and the IMF, just to be able to safely walk the streets of Athens and beyond. What fun times we live in, don't you think?

As if we needed more confirmation

Further to this and this, the Autonomous Mind provides more background: Parliament deceived about EU plans for sharing of military assets

The meeting at which pooling and sharing of military capabilities was discussed actually took place on 23rd May, but that is not how Gerald Howarth misled Parliament and the public. It was Howarth’s omission of important details about the meeting which Parliament should have been told and the public made aware that is the issue.

The fact of the matter is pooling and sharing initiatives in the military context here are not voluntary. They are being directed by the European Union. The matter is voluntary in so far as the EU will operate at arms length to provide support and foster pooling and sharing only as long as the member states actually get on with the business of carrying it out. (...)

If pooling and sharing of military assets was a matter purely for member states to engage in voluntarily, which Howarth wants Parliament and the public to believe, then what business does the Council of the European Union have setting best practice, scoping models for cooperation, defining success criteria, providing supporting tools and encouraging the European Defence Agency to help member states identify where assets can be pooled and shared? These are the actions of programme directors, not observers. The EU is in the driving seat.

This confirms what we've been saying all along. The invisible dead hand you feel is the EUnion and its ambition for its own military might. Rather then stand up for the people they were solemnly sworn in to serve, our political class opts to go along, no doubt hoping for a plush sinecure as a reward for services rendered.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how we lose a nation and gain a tyranny. It is past time to start thinking about regime change. At home.

Start executing, please

The EUnion is about creating an elite of loathsome, slimy bureaucrats, lording over, but separate from the common European citizenry.

That is about the only conclusion one can reach after reading this bit by Mary Ellen Synon on EUnion founded 'European Schools'.

The schools are located in the most fashionable neighbourhoods of Brussels, Frankfurt, European school from their website Luxembourg and other cities across the Continent where there are significant numbers of eurocrats, and at Culham in Oxfordshire (which is being wound-down as a European School and turned into an academy).

The schools offer an aggressively ‘European’ education from nursery level through secondary level, meant to produce children who are – and this is their founding mission statement -- ‘in mind Europeans, schooled and ready to complete and consolidate the work of their fathers before them, to bring into being a united and thriving Europe.’

That already is a tad sinister: founding a school to indoctrinate children from nursery age onwards with the secular-humanist, collectivist, centralist and corporatist 'values' of the EUnion. But it gets even worse when we read that the schools are meant for the children of EUro-elite only. No, really:

Selection of the nearly 22,780 pupils is based entirely on their parents’ connections in the EU. Children hoping to go to one of the schools are divided into divisions based on family status.

The most privileged class is called Category I. A child is Category I if one of his parents is on the staff of an EU institution or is a national expert seconded by an EU institution or is an official attached to one of the Permanent Representations to the EU. (These are the national embassies which negotiate in Brussels at European Council level.)

(...)

Category II children have parents who work for one of the international organisations such as Nato which pay fees to the European Schools. Category III children have parents who have no connection with the EU but are willing to pay up to £13,000 a year to secure a place. Category III children have no hope of admission until demand by higher-category children has been met.

The real kicker is, of course, that it is you and I who pay for this utter, utter slime to send their equally slimy offspring to these privileged schools, even as we cannot send our own children, should we want to (which I don't to begin with. I value my childrens' souls).

We pay the taxes, that pay the salaries of that privileged scum, the school buildings and staff and everything, down to the school lunches. And for what? For the ability to have the EUro-slime breed their own in the ways of the EUnion, preparing them for a life of undeserved riches and luxury on the backs of common people.

Can we leave now? And can we, after leaving, start executing the people that brought us into this mess? Please?

(h/t WfW)

Belated hiatus warning

As my readers may have noticed, KV is on hiatus. Personal circumstances (all of them good) and the need for some vacation time away from modern life are the cause. If there are FF updates, I will post them. But anything substantial from my own pen (as it were) will not be forthcoming. I hope to pick up the pace in a week or so.

In the mean time, if you're looking for some interesting reading: Richard North has come up with an interesting idea: Referism. The core idea is to force government to submit its annual budget to a referendum, thereby handing control of the purse strings (and hence, the power) back where it belongs: we, the people.

In the UK independent blogosphere there is a lively discussion going on about the practicalities (or not) of this idea. It is certainly something to consider for introduction here in our small damp corner of the world. In all likelihood I will be back to devote a post or two to this subject.

See you all in a bit.

Video: Geert Wilders his final trial speech (Video + English subtitles)

Video with english subtitles of the final remarks of Geert Wilders at his trial in Amsterdam, June 1st, 2011:

Geert Wilders: final trial speech

The final remarks of Geert Wilders at his trial in Amsterdam, June 1st, 2011:


Mister President, members of the Court,

I am here because of what I have said. I am here for having spoken. I have spoken, I speak and I shall continue to speak. Many have kept silent, but not Pim Fortuyn, not Theo Van Gogh, and not I.


I am obliged to speak. For the Netherlands is under threat of Islam. As I have argued many times, Islam is chiefly an ideology. An ideology of hatred, of destruction, of conquest. It is my strong conviction that Islam is a threat to Western values, to freedom of speech, to the equality of men and women, of heterosexuals and homosexuals, of believers and unbelievers.

All over the world we can see how freedom is fleeing from Islam. Day by day we see our freedoms dwindle.

Islam is opposed to freedom. Renowned scholars of Islam from all parts of the world agree on this. My witness experts subscribe to my view. There are more Islam scholars whom the court did not allow me to call upon to testify. All agree with my statements, they show that I speak the truth. That truth is on trial today.

We must live in the truth, said the dissidents under Communist rule, because the truth will set us free. Truth and freedom are inextricably connected. We must speak the truth because otherwise we shall lose our freedom.

That is why I have spoken, why I speak and why I shall continue to speak.

The statements for which I am being tried are statements which I made in my function as a politician participating in the public debate in our society. My statements were not aimed at individuals, but at Islam and the process of islamization. That is why the Public Prosecutor has concluded that I should be acquitted.

Mister President, members of the Court,

I am acting within a long tradition which I wish to honour. I am risking my life in defence of freedom in the Netherlands. Of all our achievements freedom is the most precious and the most vulnerable. Many have given their lives for freedom. We have been reminded of that in the commemorations of the month of May. But the struggle for freedom is much older.

Every day the armoured cars drive me past the statue of Johan de Witt at the Hofvijver in The Hague. De Witt wrote the "Manifesto of True Freedom" and he paid for freedom with his life. Every day I go to my office through the Binnenhof where Johan van Oldenbarneveldt was beheaded after a political trial. Leaning on his stick the elderly Oldenbarneveldt addressed his last words to his people. He said: "I have acted honourably and piously as a good patriot." Those words are also mine.

I do not wish to betray the trust of the 1.5 million voters of my party. I do not wish to betray my country. Inspired by Johan van Oldenbarneveldt and Johan de Witt I wish to be a politician who serves the truth and hence defends the freedom of the Dutch provinces and of the Dutch people. I wish to be honest, I wish to act with honesty and that is why I wish to protect my native land against Islam. Silence is treason.

That is why I have spoken, why I speak and why I shall continue to speak.

Freedom and truth. I pay the price every day. Day and night I have to be protected against people who want to kill me. I am not complaining about it; it has been my own decision to speak. However, those who threaten me and other critics of Islam are not being tried here today. I am being tried. And about that I do complain.

I consider this trial to be a political trial. The values of D66 [a Dutch leftist liberal party] and NRC Handelsblad [a Dutch leftist liberal party] will never be brought before a judge in this country. One of the complainants clearly indicated that his intentions are political. Even questions I have asked in parliament and cooperation with the SGP are being brought as allegations against me by Mr Rabbae of GroenLinks [the leftist Dutch Green Party]. Those on the Left like to tamper with the separation of powers. When they cannot win politically because the Dutch people have discerned their sinister agenda, they try to win through the courts.

Whatever your verdict may be, that is the bitter conclusion of this trial.

This trial is also surrealistic. I am being compared with the Hutu murderers in Rwanda and with Mladic. Only a few minutes ago some here have doubted my mental health. I have been called a new Hitler. I wonder whether those who call me such names will also be sued, and if not, whether the Court will also order prosecution. Probably not. And that is just as well. Because freedom of speech applies also to my opponents.

My right to a fair trial has been violated. The order of the Amsterdam Court to prosecute me was not just a decision but a condemning verdict by judges who condemned me even before the actual trial had begun.

Mister President, members of the Court, you must now decide whether freedom still has a home in the Netherlands

Franz Kafka said: "one sees the sun slowly set, yet one is surprised when it suddenly becomes dark."

Mister President, members of the Court, do not let the lights go out in the Netherlands.
Acquit me: Put an end to this Kafkaesque situation.

Acquit me. Political freedom requires that citizens and their elected representatives are allowed to voice opinions that are held in society.

Acquit me, for if I am convicted, you convict the freedom of opinion and expression of millions of Dutchmen.

Acquit me. I do not incite to hatred. I do not incite to discrimination. But I defend the character, the identity, the culture and the freedom of the Netherlands. That is the truth. That is why I am here. That is why I speak. That is why, like Luther before the Imperial Diet at Worms, I say: "Here I stand, I can do no other."

That is why I have spoken, why I speak and why I shall continue to speak.

Mister President, members of the Court, though I stand here alone, my voice is the voice of many. This trial is not about me. It is about something much greater. Freedom of expression is the life source of our Western civilisation.

Do not let that source go dry just to cosy up to a totalitarian regime. “Freedom,” said the American President Dwight Eisenhower, “has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”

Mister President, members of the Court, you have a great responsibility. Do not cut freedom in the Netherlands from its roots, our freedom of expression. Acquit me. Choose freedom.

I have spoken, I speak, and it is my duty – I cannot do otherwise – to continue to speak.

Thank you.





For those who don't know much about Dutch History. Let me explain some historical elusions of this speech. Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and Johan the Witt were both leading political figures in the time The Netherlands was still a prosperous republic. But moth men were killed while opposing the Dutch Royals, who took over and ruled ever since. Like these martyrs of the republic cause, also Mr. Wilders opposes the current political role of the Royal family.


See also:
Wilders Trial day 23
All blog posts of the Wilders trial

Wilders Trial day 23

This 23th day in the trial against Mr. Wilders is the last real trial day in the case against Mr. Wilders.

Prosecutor Birgit van Roessel
The day started with a response of the prosecution to the plea of the defense. Birgit van Roessel explained that she had no need for a response and that the the prosecution thinks the Mr. Wilders can be prosecuted, that he was summoned correctly and that they plead not guilty.

Defense lawyer Bram Moszkowicz
The response of the defense to this was even shorter: "thank you president".




Plaintiff lawyer Erik Olof
Then the so called representatives of the victims in this criminal case were allowed to speak for the last time. First plaintiff was Erik Olof. The court requested to hand over a copy of his plea, but when he hesitated the courts president remarked: "Are you afraid of censorship?", he remarked that some have described it like that (as has this blog as well). But according to President Marcel van Oosten: "this court does not apply censorship".

Lawyer Olof presented himself as the representative of all the ordinary Muslims in The Netherlands. He complained about what he called "the smear campaign of Mr. Wilders". Who according to him does discriminate Muslims and because of Mr. Wilders his clients feel threatened in their fundamental human rights. They even are under existential threat by Mr. Wilders.

The plaintiff also kept repeating that Muslims were infringed on their fundamental human rights when they were no long allowed to read the Koran, when their coreligionist were now longer allowed to immigrate into the country and when they were no longer allowed to build their mosques.

His arguments rested on a fundament of repeat, repeat and more repeat. Like a real propagandist he endlessly repeated his claims, but offering little support for them. This Marxist propaganda strategy was a bit too obvious, it eventually lead to complaints from the court.

Erik Olof also used a Godwin: and alluded to the situation of the Jews before they went to the concentration camps. He was only stopped by the court when he started to explicitly argue about the guilt of Mr. Wilders. But after that warning Erik Olaf started characterizing Mr. Wilders. He was a strange man, without any empathy. He suggested that the court would do an investigation into the mental health of Mr. Wilders. Olaf characterized the court appearance of Mr. Wilders as he was an "dummy doll". But when he described Mr. Wilders as "a man who actually is crazy" and "a schizophrenic", the court finally intervened and prohibited him to use this kind of language in court.




Michiel Pestman
Plaintiff lawyer Pestman provided the court with a letter with what he described as new found evidence, a right that alleged victims in a criminal trial have. He is told he received the evidence from the radical leftwing organization Nederland bekent Kleur who he represents. The organization had contacted well known Georgetown University professor John Esposito. This professor is no stranger in the Islam debate and is a well-known apologist for Islam, who also is known to receive funding from the Saudi royal family. Besides that Mr. Esposito is known for acting as a friendly defense witness in high profile trials against terrorist (see: investigative projects on terrorism).

The new 'evidence' consisted about statements about the expertise of defense witness Andrew G. Bostom. So what was the evidence? Most likely the 'new evidence' consisted of the fact that Mr. Bostom is an "Associate Professor of Medicine", as can be read in his Wikipedia entry and in his published books. Most likely, because the plaintiff was not allowed finishing his plea about the credibility of Mr. Bostom. The prosecution complained that a plaintiff was by law allowed to introduce evidence, but was not allowed to present it to the court. And that was the end of Mr. Pestman his plea.


Ties Prakke
Ties Prakke declined to speak today.




Henri Sarolea
Plaintiff lawyer Sarolea accused Mr. Wilders among other things of creating a poisoned climate in The Netherlands. When he announced he was going to react on the defense plea, he was stopped by the court. But he never the less gave an alternative explanations about how to interpreted the law and the words of legal expert Sackers. By that, he still got to make his reaction to the plea of both the defense and prosecution. Like before he also accused Mr. Wilders of speaking in terms of war and complained about his positive likening of the Turkish defeat and massacre at Vienne. He also cites a former liberal (VVD) minister Voorhoeve who invoked the Dutch failure and Dutch foreign policy trauma of Srebrenica, in order to describe his opposition to the ideas of Mr. Wilders.



Lucien Nix (Representing: Moroccan Mosques)
Mr. Nix is the plaintiff lawyer who represents the organizations of Moroccan Mosques in The Netherlands still had no good words for Mr. Wilders. He also reacted to the defense plea to reject the court order that had ordered this trial, Nix in response held a defense of that court order. Again he stated that comparing the Koran to Mein Kampf was offensive for and about Muslims. Because the Koran is for Muslims what Jesus is for the Christians, a part of God. Also if you say, the Koran is Mein Kampf, you are actually saying that Muslims use Mein Kampf five times a day, he lamented.




De Kreek
When plaintiff Mr. de Kreek was about to plea, there were some technical difficulties with the microphone. The court took a short recess, but in the recess the court had read the plea of Mr. de Kreek. When the court continued, President Marcel van Oosten explained the plaintiff that his plea was outside the boundaries of what was allowed for his role in court. Plaintiffs, by law, are only allowed to address the court for explaining how the 'crime' has affected them. As this was not the first problem with this particular plaintiff, the president just summarized his plea. But Mr. De Kreek argued against that decision and just started an alternative plea. Soon later, the court stops his rant about Mr. Wilders.


Geert Wilders
The last words in the trial are for Mr. Wilders. See here: Geert Wilders final trial Speech (video with English subtitles)


This was the last real trial day, though the court needs more time, so the official last trial day will be June 9th, 2011, that will only be a formal trial day, just for closing. The judges will rule on the June 23th, 2011.

See also:
Trial Day 22
All blog posts about this trial

In for a cat-fight?

Tonight, Second Chamber of Dutch parliament (sort of the Lower House, or House of Representatives) has instructed our intrepid PM, Mark Rutte, to NOT agree to any increase (NL) of the budget of the EUnion.

The EUnion is out to squeeze another 4.9% out of member states to pay the expenses of MEP's and to take over our border guards.

As Elsevier reports, our intrepid PM wanted some room to negotiate a settlement of no more then an inflation correction on the EUnions budget. But a motion by Dutch socialists (PvdA), saying that in these times of austerity, the EUnion should follow suit and any increase on the budget is unacceptable, found a majority in the unlikely form of PvdA, Wilders' PVV, the Socialist Party, the Christian Union and the Dutch Reformed Party (SGP).

In the mean time 2010 saw the salary of an MEP increased with 6.75% (NL), according to Elsevier the largest increase in 257 monitored professional groups.

And now we wait... Another ignominious roll-over is to be expected at the end of a drawn out, mind-numbingly tedious process. Then again, as of tomorrow Holland is re-instating mobile border patrols (NL) by the military police, in what is not exactly a violation, but a technical circumvention of the Schengen agreement. It seems that the credibility of the EUnion is running low, even (and finally!) in the cooped-up circles of The Hague politics. We may be in for an interesting cat-fight.