Dutch leader who called Moroccans “scum” sweeps polls
Dutch anti-EU far-right populist Geert Wilders, who has vowed to halt all immigration to the Netherlands, scored a major victory in parliamentary elections on November 22nd, reports France24
Beating all predictions, his party won 37 out of 150 seats, spooking EU leaders who are afraid of a right wing trend in voting patterns across Europe, not to mention EU elections in 2024.
But for Muslims in general, in particular Moroccans, his victory at the polls is bad news.
In a victory speech, Wilders vowed to bring an end to a “tsunami of asylum and immigration.”
Islamic and Moroccan organisations voiced concerns about Wilders’ victory. “The distress and fear are enormous,” Habib el Kaddouri, who heads an organisation representing Dutch Moroccans, told Dutch news agency ANP. “We are afraid that he will portray us as second-class citizens.”
READ: Hamas chief incites Moroccans to protest against Israel deal
“It is gonna be much tougher on immigrants and I am scared that they are going to deny people their human rights,” said Labour-Green Left voter Ashlynn Hughes.
Far-right leaders in Europe, including France, Belgium and Italy welcomed the Netherlands ballot results.
French hard right leader marine Le pen congratulated Wilders and the PVV for “their spectacular performance in the legislative elections which confirms the growing attachment to the defence of national identities she said.
“The winds of change are here!” proclaimed Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, after seeing the Dutch election results. He, like Geert Wilders, is also keen on anti-immigration themes, as well as being fiercely anti EU.
Far-right Flemish independence leader Tom Van Grieken, who hopes for a similar election breakthrough in Belgium to Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, was quick to conclude: “Parties like ours are on their way in the whole of Europe.”
Wilders is also explicitly anti-EU, urging the Netherlands to control borders, to significantly reduce its payments to the union and to block the entrance of any new members.
He has also repeatedly said the Netherlands should stop providing arms to Ukraine, saying it needs the weapons to be able to defend itself. However, none of the parties with whom he could potentially form a government shares these ideas.
Notably, he is also hated by many Arab leaders for his support for Israel and his views about Palestinians who he wants relocated to Jordan.
Wilders is internationally known for his anti-Islam politics and was convicted by a Dutch judge for discrimination after he insulted Moroccans at a campaign rally in 2014.
Wilders’ main appeal is how he linked housing and healthcare to immigration in the Netherlands. But his views on Islam have often got him both in trouble and in the news.
Wilders’ inflammatory views on Islam have prompted death threats and he has lived under heavy police protection for years. He has insulted the prophet Mohammad, called Islam a “fascist ideology” and “backward religion” and wants to ban mosques and the Quran, the Muslim holy book, in the Netherlands.
“The Netherlands is not an Islamic country: no Islamic schools, Qurans and mosques,” he said.
“We want less Islam in the Netherlands and we will achieve that through: less non-Western immigration and the introduction of a general halt to asylum.”
From calling Moroccans “scum” to holding competitions for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, Wilders has built a career from his self-appointed mission to stop an “Islamic invasion” of the West.
France 24/BBC/Maghrebi
