Wilders sells hate abroad as Europe recoils from Breivik



The Dutch politician Geert Wilders has long warned his fellow Europeans about dangers posed by Muslim communities. But Europeans are not yet able to pick up his latest book, Marked For Death: Islam's War Against the West and Me, because it has been published in America only. There are good reasons for that, none of which have to do with his bankrupt message.

Mr Wilders is not the first European writer to conflate real issues of Islamic extremism and terrorism with questions of class, culture, politics and immigration. European politicians and activists such as the late Oriana Fallaci from Italy, Germany's Thilo Sarrazin and Mr Wilders' former parliamentary colleague Ayaan Hirsi Ali have written bestsellers with similar claims.

But Anders Breivik's July massacre in Norway changed everything. Suddenly, theories of motive and ideology were turned on their heads.

Whereas the 2004 murder of Theo van Gogh was seen as part of an Islamist conspiracy, Breivik's terrorism was portrayed as that of a lone wolf, although his manifesto detailed influences from within the European-American Islamophobia industry.

How could this be reconciled with other European terrorism? Was Toulouse killer Mohammed Merah incited by the Quran or his own demons? Was Breivik's interest in Al Qaeda ideological or strategic?

These muddied waters may partially explain Mr Wilders's recent fall from grace. With Dutch people now focused on domestic politics, the coalition government including party has collapsed. Europe's debt crisis has emboldened far-right politics, but overplaying his hand on Islam may have undermined Mr Wilders's mainstream legitimacy. Even his prized burqa ban looks headed for the scrap heap.

And so he was off to America to publish and promote Marked for Death for a US audience.

Mr Wilders devotes a scant three pages to American Muslims, quibbling over their numbers and expressing surprise that Dearborn, Michigan, with America's densest concentration of Muslims, has a large mosque with loudspeakers. All-American Muslim, last year's reality TV show set in Dearborn, featured middle-class Muslims intermarrying, having babies, throwing parties and obsessing over American football and country music. Mainstream Muslim Americans by and large accepted it as accurate. It certainly didn't fit Mr Wilders's vision of the parallel society he sees being established in Europe.

But even that is not giving European Muslims a fair shake. Former Dutch MP Fadime Örgü, the first Muslim woman elected there, spent years in the same political party with Mr Wilders and Ms Hirsi Ali, working on mainstream concerns and putting up with their obsessions with Islam.

Ms Örgü told me that Mr Wilders "believed that if we as a party focused on this topic, we could get more seats. For him, this was the topic and, with this topic, we could run the world."

It's easy to see how this approach can be seductive. Mr Wilders counts among his recent successes having the Dutch government dismiss a statement from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that expressed dismay at his campaigns, saying they would harm relations with Muslims.

To Mr Wilders, the OIC is a "tyrannical organisation" that bullies western nations. But the OIC, while not perfect, is still the only international forum by which Muslim countries can collectively reform themselves. Isn't it better to encourage this than to demonise the OIC?

Ultimately, when Mr Wilders offers solutions to "Islam's war against the West" at the end of his book, it all falls off a cliff. He argues for freedom of speech, rejects cultural relativism, demands Islamisation be stopped, opposes Sharia and so on. Islam is framed as a political ideology, to evade issues of religious freedom.

There is nowhere to go with this. Very little of it can be legislated or defended in court. And as for cultural relativism, US Muslims bought into American culture long ago.

Mr Wilders is free to say what he likes and threats against his life are to be condemned. But the irony is that he is courting America with a book irrelevant to the American experience.

Zahed Amanullah is a founding board member of CEDAR, a pan-European network of Muslim professionals

On Twitter: @zahed

Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction

Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.

Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.

Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.

Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.

Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.

What are the guidelines?

Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.

Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.

Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.

Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.

Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.

Source: American Paediatric Association
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2nd Test August 3-7 in Colombo

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Tips for taking the metro

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