Geert Wilders: ‘If Jerusalem falls, Athens and Rome are next’ - Main contents

Geert Wilders, who leads the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) in Holland, said last week he believes Jordan should be renamed Palestine. The Jordanian government responded by saying Wilders’ speech brought to mind the Israeli right wing, according to a report on Ynet.

“There has been an independent Palestinian state since 1946, and it is the kingdom of Jordan,” said the outspoken politician. Wilders also called on the Dutch government to refer to Jordan as Palestine and move its embassy from Ramat Gan to Jerusalem.

The Saudi Al-Watan carried Jordan’s response to Wilders’ speech. The kingdom’s embassy in Hague was outraged, and said the Dutch ambassador would soon be summoned to explain.

Jordan’s minister for media affairs and communications, Nabil Al Sharif, asked for clarifications. He described Wilders’ declaration as “an echo of the voice of the Israeli right” and “crows’ screams.”

The People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVP) nearly tripled its power in the last election, going from nine parliament seats to 24 in the 150-member parliament. The conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), headed by Mark Rutte, won 31 seats while the leftist Labor party, headed by Job Cohen, came in second with 30 seats.

The PVV has called for a ban on minarets and Muslim scarves, and even says if Turkey joins the European Union, the Netherlands should withdraw.

“It will be very hard to form a coalition,” Dutch journalist Coney Moss, who is stationed in Israel, told Ynet. “The coalition will most likely be right-leaning, as we can see from the strengthening of the Party for Freedom,” he added.

Almost one million Muslims currently live in the Netherlands today – mostly from Morocco and Turkey – who who have assimilated relatively little into Dutch society. Many turn to crime, leading some observers to conclude the election results reflected fears among Dutch people who feel less safe in their own country.

The PVV platform calls for more policemen, ethnic registration of all citizens, deportation of criminals and harsher prison sentences.

Wilders supports Israel and is known for his good relations with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

The Freedom Party argues that the fight against Islam should be the cornerstone of Dutch foreign policy, saying Israel plays a key role in that fight.

“Israel is fighting for us,” the party has stated. “If Jerusalem falls, Athens and Rome are next. This is why Israel is the central front in the defense of the West. It is not a territorial conflict, but an ideological one; a conflict between the reason of the West and the barbarism of Islamic ideology.”

Source: JerusalemDispatch.com