Dutch politician wants Koran prohibited (Roundup)

Aug 8, 2007, 18:07 GMT

Amsterdam - A right-wing Dutch politician in a letter to a national newspaper on Wednesday has called for the Koran to be prohibited.

Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch Freedom party PVV, wrote in a letter to the daily Volkskrant that the Koran was a 'fascist' book which incited people to violence.

Referring to an incident last Saturday when two Moroccans and one Somali youth attacked former Muslim and Islam critic Ehsan Jami, the legislator wrote:

'Enough is enough. Let's stop politically correct twists and plotting. It is very good Jami now receives personal protection. It is a shame it did not happen sooner. But it does not solve the essence of the problem.'

Wilders continued: 'The essence of the problem is the fascist Islam, the sick ideology of Allah and Mohammed as laid down in the Islamic Mein Kampf: the Koran.'

More than 66 per cent of the Freedom Party PVV's electorate were later stated to support Wilders. A Dutch current affairs television programme polled 800 people who voted for the liberal-rightist Freedom Party PVV during the last elections.

Some 90 per cent of the Freedom Party's electorate say that if there would be parliamentary elections today, they would again vote for the PVV. Among the polled, 26 per cent said a prohibition of the Koran should also mean banning the Bible.

It is not the first time Wilders has made a bold statement about the Islam and the Koran.

Early 2007 the legislator said that Muslims who wanted to remain in the Netherlands should cut out half of the Koran and throw it away.

His remarks caused a stir in the Netherlands and beyond. But the wording of his current letter goes much further.

'Several suras (chapters of the Koran) call upon Muslims to oppress or kill Jews, Christians, people of different faiths and unfaithful, to rape women and use violence to establish a global Muslim state. There are too many suras that incite Muslims to be violent,' Wilders said in the letter.

'Prohibit that miserable book, just like Mein Kampf has been prohibited. This will serve as a warning to those who attacked Jami and other Islamists that the Koran is never an excuse to use violence,' he added.

In his letter, Wilders also criticized Dutch politicians, of whom he said the people should be 'ashamed.'

'Their naivety and sick strive for a utopian moderate Islam will only bring our country hell and damnation,' he said.

In his final paragraph, Wilders said he was 'fed up with Islam in the Netherlands: no more Muslim immigrants. I am fed up with the worshipping of Allah and Mohammed in the Netherlands: not one extra mosque. I am fed up with the Koran in the Netherlands: prohibit the fascist book. Enough is enough.'

Abdeljamid Khairoun, chairman of the Dutch Muslim council, said he was not surprised about Wilders' most recent statements.

'Wilders suffers from a religion syndrome. He always says the Quran is a bad book. I expect him to request a prohibition for the Torah and the Bible too,' Khairoun said.

According to Khairoun, Wilders takes passages from the Quran 'out of their context.' He also said Wilders lacked the knowledge to say anything about the Islamic holy book.

Khairoun also said the Muslim council had previously invited Wilders to talk about his views of Islam, but Wilders had never responded to that invitation.

Following the publication in the Volkskrant, attorney Els Lucas from Lelystad, 40 kilometres north of Amsterdam, filed a complaint with the Dutch police.

Lucas said Wilders' statements about Islam and Muslims violated Dutch law. His comparison between the Koran and Mein Kampf and his call upon the people not to allow any more Muslim immigrants, were particularly problematic.

His remarks could be defined as incitement against people of the Muslim faith, which is prohibited under Dutch law, Lucas said.

The ministry of Justice confirmed a complaint against Wilders had been filed to the Dutch police.