Geert Wilders ontvangt Free Speech Award in Miami
woensdag 29 april 2009
PVV-leider Geert Wilders heeft afgelopen maandag de prestigieuze Free
Speech Award in ontvangst genomen in Miami. De Florida Security
Council reikt de prijs jaarlijks uit aan een individu of organisatie
die zich uitzonderlijk heeft ingezet voor de vrijheid van
meningsuiting. Wilders had al eerder te horen gekregen dat hij de Free
Speech Award zou winnen, maar kon hem pas maandagavond tijdens een
speciale ceremonie in ontvangst nemen.
Hier de speech die Geert Wilders maandagavond in Miami hield:
Thank you very much. Thank you for inviting me and thank you US border
police for allowing me to enter this country. These are dramatic
times. Europe might be very well on its way to destruction. We are now
witnessing the largest influx in human history. This is endangering
our heritage, our freedom, our prosperity and our culture.
I wish I had come to a place they call the sunshine state with better
news, but it would be unwise to deny the situation is gloomy.
It might take a while to have you understand the situation we are in
now. Maybe you as Americans still think of Europe as a place with
great culture, and a profound way of looking at things. Maybe you see
immigration as something that is inherently good for a country, as it
contributed so much to the United States.
The Europe you know from a tourist visit of from the story of your
grandparents is on the verge of collapsing. We are now witnessing
profound changes that will forever alter Europe's destiny and might
send the continent in what Ronald Reagan once called `a thousand years
of darkness'.
The take-over of Europe is part of the global fight of Islam for world
domination. Islam is not a religion. It is a political ideology.
Islam's heart lies in the Koran. The Koran is a book that calls for
hatred, violence, murder, terrorism, war and submission. The Koran
calls upon Muslims to kill non-Muslims. The Koran describes Jews as
monkeys and pigs. Churchill compared the Koran to Adolf Hitler's Mein
Kampf.
The core of the problem with the Koran is twofold. First, the commands
in the Koran are not limited by place or time, they apply for all
time, to all Muslims. Second, the Koran is Allah's personal word. That
leaves no room for interpretation. Therefore, there is no such thing
as a moderate Islam. Of course, there are many moderate Muslims, but
there is no moderate Islam. As the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan once
put it, "There is no moderate Islam, Islam is Islam."
Apart from the Koran, the life of the prophet Muhammad plays a crucial
part in Islamic ideology. Muhammad is the model for all Muslims. He
was a pedophile, a conqueror and a warlord. In establishing Islam he
preached violence and the slaughter of non-Muslims. He took part in 78
battles and slaughtered the Jewish tribe of Banu Qurayza. Mohammed
said, "I have been ordered by Allah to fight against people until they
testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is his
messenger." Muhammad's behavior inspired Iran's former Ayatollah
Khomeini to say, "The purest joy in Islam is to kill and to be killed
for Allah." And Muhammad's behavior - and the Koran - inspired
Jihadists that slaughtered innocent people in Washington, New York,
Madrid, London and Mumbai.
Ladies and gentlemen, Islam has always attempted to conquer Europe.
And it has done so for centuries. The Christian city of Constantinople
fell in the fifteenth century. And now, in the twenty-first century,
Islam is trying again. This time not with armies, but through the
application of Al-Hijra, the Islamic doctrine of migration. As
expounded so masterfully by my good friend Sam Solomon in his book
Al-Hijra, this doctrine is based on the example of Muhammad, who
himself migrated from Mecca to Medina.
Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi said, "We have 50 million Muslims in
Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe
- without swords, without guns, without conquest. The 50 million
Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few
decades."
Ladies and gentlemen, Gaddafi is right. The Al-Hijra doctrine is, and
has been, very successful. For the first time in world history there
are dozens of millions of Muslims living far outside Dar al-Islam, the
Islamic world. And that poses enormous problems to the West. Ladies
and gentlemen, Al-Hijra may be the end of Western civilization as we
know it.
The most dramatic situation is the one in Europe. My country is in the
process of becoming Hollandistan, and Europe Eurabia. Only 12% of
German Muslims see themselves as more German than Muslim. Churches are
emptying out, whereas mosques are shooting up like mushrooms. Medieval
phenomena such as burkas, honor killings and female genital mutilation
are becoming more and more prevalent. Sharia testaments, Sharia
mortgages, Sharia schools, Sharia banks, Sharia courts and even Sharia
Barbie dolls - Europe has them all. And I have not even mentioned the
fact that more than 70% of all crimes in Copenhagen are committed by
Muslims. We let in the Trojan horse.
The free world is now facing a `stealth Jihad', the Islamic' attempt
to introduce Sharia law bit by bit. Allow me to give you a few
examples of Islamization in the United States: Muslim taxi drivers at
Minneapolis airport have refused over 5,000 passengers because they
were carrying alcohol; Muslim students are demanding separate campus
housing; Muslim women are demanding separate hours in gyms and
swimming pools; schools are banning Halloween and Christmas
celebrations - indeed, schools are taking pork off their cafeteria
menus to avoid offending Muslim students. Ladies and gentlemen, be
aware that this is only the beginning. If things continue like this,
you will have the same problems as we are currently faced with in
Europe.
If we do not stop the Islamization, we will lose everything: our
identity, our culture, our democratic constitutional state, our
freedom and our civilization. In Europe we are already losing the
right to free speech, the right to criticize Islam. I think,
criticisms of religions or ideologies always ought to be possible in a
free world. Human rights exist for the protection of individuals, not
religions and ideologies. I propose that all laws concerning hate
speech be repealed in Europe. Europe ought to defend freedom of speech
with at least as much passion as the United States. In fact, Europe
should adopt the US as its model in this respect. The difference
between the United States and Europe in the area of free speech is
shown by my movie Fitna; a few months ago I was invited by Senator Jon
Kyl to screen Fitna in the US Senate. In contrast, screening of my
movie has been banned twice by the European Parliament. Let us see to
it that freedom of speech is exercised not only in Washington DC but
also in Brussels and Strasbourg. For this purpose I propose an
European First Amendment.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is one Western country that has been
forced to fight the forces of jihad for its values since the very
first day of its existence: Israel, the canary in the coal mine. Let
me say a few words about that wonderful country.
I had the privilege of living in Israel for a few years, and since
then I have visited Israel many, many times. I love Israel. However,
in Europe being pro-Israel makes you an endangered species. Israel is
a beacon of light in an area - the Middle East - that is pitch black
everywhere else. Israel is a Western democracy, while Syria, Saudi
Arabia, Iran and Egypt are medieval dictatorships.
The so-called `Middle East conflict' is not about land at all. It is a
conflict about ideologies; a battle between Islam and freedom. It is
not about some land in Gaza or in Judea and Samaria. It is about
Jihad. To Islam the whole of Israel is occupied territory. They see
Tel Aviv and Haifa as settlements too.
I am very much in favor of a two-state solution. I mean Churchill's
1921 two-state solution, when Palestine was partitioned in a Jewish
and an Arab part. Arab Palestine is now called Jordan, and therefore,
there is already a Palestinian state. With eighty percent of the
population having roots on the other side of the Jordan, there is no
doubt Jordan is truly the state of Palestine. I hope Israel's
government will start telling that to the world.
Islam forces Israel to fight, and Israel is not just fighting for
itself. Israel is fighting for all of us, for the entire West. Just
like those brave American soldiers who landed in Sicily in 1943 and
stormed the Normandy beaches in 1944, young Israeli men and women are
fighting for our freedom, our civilization.
Like Bosnia, Kosovo, Nigeria, Sudan, the Caucasus, Kashmir, southern
Thailand, western China and the south of the Philippines, Israel is
situated exactly on the dividing line between Dar al-Islam, the
Islamic world, and Dar al-Harb, the non-Islamic world. It is no
coincidence that it is precisely this dividing line where blood is
flowing and war is raging in many areas. We have to get rid of that
politically-correct fallacy that it is all about separate conflicts.
Let us, please, allow ourselves at last to see the big picture, which
is that those conflicts all have to do with Jihad; Jihad in the spirit
of Muhammad.
Ladies and gentlemen, Europe ought to fully back Israel to the hilt in
its relentless fight against those that threaten it, whether it is
Hezbollah, Hamas or a nuclear Iran. Also, because of its history,
Europe certainly has the moral obligation to prevent at all cost
another Holocaust against the Jewish people.
My dear, Islam is not our number one problem. Cultural relativism is.
The crazy idea that all cultures are equal. Let me tell you they are
not. Our culture based on Christianity, Judaism and humanism is far
better than the Islamic culture, and I am proud to say so. The elites
have converted to this sick philosophy long time ago - government
leaders, judges, churches, trade unions, universities, the media - all
of them are blinded by political correctness and have chosen the side
of Islam. They feel sorry for Muslims and pity them. Cultural
relativism is weakening the West day by day. As a result of cultural
relativism a little bit of the free West dies each day. Many
politicians seem to believe that their job is not to defend democracy
but to help make the transition to Sharia law as smooth as possible.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am often asked whether I have any answers to
the problem and what those might be. Well, I certainly have some
answers. Here are ten things we would have to do to stop the
Islamization of the West:
1. Stop cultural relativism. We need an article in our constitutions
that lays down that we have a Jewish-Christian and humanism culture.
2. Stop pretending that Islam is a religion. Islam is a totalitarian
ideology. In other words, the right to religious freedom should not
apply to Islam.
3. Stop mass immigration by people from Muslim countries. We have to
end Al-Hijra.
4. Encourage voluntary repatriation.
5. Expel criminal foreigners and criminals with dual nationality,
after denationalization, and send them back to their Arab countries.
Likewise, expel all those who incite to a `violent jihad'.
6. We need an European First Amendment to strengthen free speech.
7. Have every member of a non-Western minority sign a legally binding
contract of assimilation.
8. We need a binding pledge of allegiance in all Western countries.
9. Stop the building of new mosques. As long as no churches or
synagogues are allowed to be build in countries like Saudi-Arabia we
will not allow one more new mosque in our western countries. Close all
mosques where incitement to violence is taking place. Close all
Islamic schools, for they are fascist institutions and young children
should not be educated an ideology of hate and violence.
10. Get rid of the current weak leaders. We have the privilege of
living in a democracy. Let's use that privilege and exchange cowards
for heroes. We need more Churchills and less Chamberlains.
In short, we have to go on the offensive and start fighting back. We
must no longer allow ourselves to remain seated in our armchairs and
get trampled over. If they bombard us with Sharia law, we will bombard
them back with our human rights. If they bombard us with court cases,
we will bombard them back with court cases. We have to fight back and
show that millions of people are sick and tired of it all, and refuse
to take any more. We must make it clear that millions of
freedom-loving people are saying `enough is enough'.
This is the reason why last week I announced the release of another
movie in 2010, Fitna 2. This movie will be not about the Koran, but
about the Islamization of the West and its consequences, for example,
for free speech. I assure you that I will continue my struggle for
freedom.
And a struggle it is: After Fitna had been screened for the first time
last year, there were threats of economic boycotts and the Dutch flag
was burned. After Fitna I am being prosecuted in my own country, while
France and Jordan are considering to prosecute me. I have been barred
from entering the United Kingdom and Indonesia, and the most radical
imam in the Netherlands is demanding compensation and threatening to
take me to court. A parliamentary bill is currently being drafted in
the Netherlands with the aim of protecting Islam from criticism. On
top of all this, because my views on Islam, Al Qaeda is determined to
kill me, I have needed full-time protection for almost five years now
and for my own personal safety I have lived in a prison cell and army
barracks. Can you believe it?
Ladies and gentlemen, besides all the bad news, fortunately there is
some good news. There is no doubt in my mind that freedom will
prevail, there are already some hopeful signs: Last week the Dutch
Parliament approved a motion proposed by my party seeking to block any
dialogue between government officials and Hamas. And according to the
most recent opinion polls, if elections were held at this moment, my
party, the Freedom Party, would be the largest party in the
Netherlands. You might be looking at the next Dutch Prime Minister.
And so I ask you, if it can be done in the Netherlands, why not
throughout the whole of the Western world?
If the Netherlands were the first country to end up in the
multiculturalist swamp, why can't we be the first country to find a
way out?
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, I have not forgotten those to whom we
owe our liberties. Our liberties were bitterly fought for. American
soldiers fought, bled and died for European freedom. American soldiers
did not die for an Islamized Europe, they died for a free Europe. We
owe something to these brave men. Their legacy cannot be squandered
and given away.
The third President and spiritual father of this great nation once
said, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." As so often, Thomas
Jefferson was right. Our freedom must be safeguarded. And it is we
ourselves who must do so. A period of inattention, of dropping our
guard for even a short while, might cost us our freedom. Just like
that. It has happened before in our history. Please let us not allow
it to happen ever again.
Everything we stand for has to be defended with all our might: our
identity, our culture, our democratic constitution, our freedom and
our civilization. We owe it to our children.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I leave you with this expression of our
determination: We will never give in. We will never give up. We will
never surrender.
Thank you very much, it was a privilege speaking to you.