Old-Fashioned Eurofascists Provoking New Muslim Cartoon Brawl

In a liberal democracy, it's crucially important that a person's right to be a total douchebag not be limited by the state (I think it's in our Constitution somewhere). So while I think he should be ostracized -- shamed -- by reasonable people everywhere, it warms my heart that there are no widespread calls* for the Dutch government to censor the latest stupidity from xeonphobic Dutch wingnut (is there another kind of Dutch wingnut?) Geert Wilders …

As The Observer reported last week:

The Dutch government is bracing itself for violent protests following the scheduled broadcast this week of a provocative anti-Muslim film by a radical right-wing politician who has threatened to broadcast images of the Koran being torn up and otherwise desecrated [Ed: It's since been put on hold until March].

Cabinet ministers and officials, fearing a repetition of the crisis sparked by the publication of cartoons of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper two years ago, have held a series of crisis meetings and ordered counter-terrorist services to draw up security plans. Dutch nationals overseas have been asked to register with their embassies and local mayors in the Netherlands have been put on standby.

Geert Wilders, one of nine members of the extremist PVV (Freedom) party in the 150-seat Dutch lower house, has promised that his film will be broadcast - on television or on the internet - whatever the pressure may be. It will, he claims, reveal the Koran as 'source of inspiration for intolerance, murder and terror.'

How loathesome is the film? Even Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Right's favorite professional former Muslim apostate and self-proclaimed "liberal" champion of Western Values -- no stranger to a bit of Muslim-fundamentalist-baiting herself -- panned it:

From her self-imposed exile in Washington, Hirsi Ali last week criticized the new film as 'provocation' and called on the major Dutch political parties to restart a debate on immigration that has split Dutch society in recent years, rather than leave the field to extremists.

Recall that the infamous Danish cartoons were published by hard right-wingers -- Heiko Henkel called them "a bunch of reactionary provocateurs" -- in order to create a reaction among their nutty "values voter" counterparts within the Muslim community -- a minority who gleefully play yin to their reactionary yang.

When called out for intentionally inciting violence, these provocateurs always fall back on a pure red herring: they claim that they're exercising their right to free speech, providing a stark example -- a civics lesson -- of liberal "Western" values at work. Steven Gash, a Brit with the far-right group Stop Islamisation of Europe, explained his support for Wilders to the Observer, saying “It’s all about free speech.” Various right-wing outlets are buzzing with stories of liberal fascism, with and assorted “Dhimmis” caving to the MuslimoComuNazis’ intimidation of a member of the Dutch parliament.

But the simple fact is that the Dutch government has at every opportunity affirmed Wilder’s right to make the film. The government’s line is that his right to speak is absolute, but that he’s using the right “irresponsibly” — an assertion that’s difficult to refute. On the sidelines of an informal EU meeting to discuss the possible ramification’s of the film’s release, Luxembourg’s Justice Minister, Luc Frieden, told AFP: "It is our moral duty to call upon everybody, to make people aware, so that they do not abuse their fundamental rights" to free expression.

Contrary to the shrieks of censorship arising from all corners of Greater Wingnuttia, that’s been the official line since the start of the Danish cartoon controversy. Recall that in the aftermath of that kerfuffle, a group of diplomats from several Muslim countries requested a meeting with Danish officials to discuss the issue. Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen refused to even sit down and hear them out, writing back to the diplos: “"The freedom of expression has a wide scope and the Danish government has no means of influencing the press. However, Danish legislation prohibits acts or expressions of blasphemous or discriminatory nature. The offended party may bring such acts or expressions to court, and it is for the courts to decide in individual cases.” He later added: “Even a non-judicial intervention against [the publishers] would be impossible within our system."