Britain bars entry by anti-Islamic Dutch lawmaker

[Yoink 7]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...2PnxowD96AB0IO3

LONDON (AP) — British officials barred a far-right Dutch lawmaker from entering the country when he flew in Thursday, citing his anti-Islamic views in an order that has touched off a wide-ranging debate in the United Kingdom about the limits of free speech.

The British government had said Geert Wilders was not welcome because he posed a threat to "community harmony and therefore public security."

A letter from the British Embassy in the Netherlands this week informed Wilders that he would not be allowed into the United Kingdom, but he criticized the travel ban as an attempt to stifle freedom of speech and traveled to London anyway.

Wilders told The Associated Press he had no regrets about the trip, attacking what he called "the cowards in the U.K. government" and accusing British Prime Minister Gordon Brown of having a servile attitude toward Islam.

Wilders told the AP by telephone that it was "a sad day for Britain and freedom of speech."

"You would expect something like this to happen in Zimbabwe or Jordan," he said.

After returning to the Netherlands, Wilders said: "I expect that (Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter) Balkenende will firmly confront Brown about this."

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told British Broadcasting Corp. that Wilders was guilty of "extreme anti-Muslim hate."

He said Britain supported freedom of expression, but "there is no freedom to cry 'Fire' in a crowded theater; there is no freedom to stir up racial and religious hatred."

After Wilders flew back to the Netherlands, the Dutch Embassy in London issued a statement saying it "deeply regrets that the British authorities" denied entry to a member of the Dutch parliament.

"The Netherlands believes that a Dutch MP should be able to travel freely" in European Union members, the statement said.

Wilders is being prosecuted in the Netherlands for on a hate speech charge after calling for a ban on Islam's holy book, the Quran.

He was invited to Britain by a member of Parliament's upper house, the House of Lords, to show his 15-minute film "Fitna," which juxtaposed verses from the Quran with images of violence by Muslim fanatics and calls on Muslims to "tear out the hateful verses from the Quran."

The film sparked violent protests around the Muslim world last year.

Wilders has called the Quran a "fascist book" and urged that it be banned.

Britain's refusal to let Wilders into the country has sparked debate in Britain, with some commentators arguing that the ban had backfired.

"Banning Geert Wilders insults Muslims, diminishes freedom and cheapens Britain," Daniel Hannan, a Conservative lawmaker in the European Parliament, wrote on The Daily Telegraph's Web site. "Being obnoxious is not a criminal offense."

Opinion in Britain's 2 million-strong Muslim community runs strongly against Wilders. Manzoor Mughal, the chairman of the Muslim Forum, told BBC that Wilders was peddling hatred under the cloak of free speech.

"His film is a scurrilous attack on Islam," Mughal said. "His film propagates hatred and poisonous lies, and therefore it should be banned,"

But the Quilliam Foundation, a British-based Muslim think tank devoted to fighting extremism, said Wilders should have been allowed into the country so that his views could be challenged "through debate and argument."

"Freedom of speech should be protected — so long as people do not use this freedom to call for violence against others," the foundation said in a statement.

Britain has barred controversial public figures from Britain before, although the policy's application has been uneven.

The government was criticized for granting a work permit to controversial Jamaican reggae singer Rodney Pryce (better known as Bounty Killer), which allowed him to perform in Britain in November. Gay rights campaigners were outraged, saying the singer's lyrics encouraged the murder of homosexuals.

Hard-line Egyptian cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi was allowed into Britain in 2004 after being invited by the mayor of London to speak at a conference, but his visit was widely criticized. When he asked to come last year, reportedly for medical treatment, he was refused: The government said his views justify terrorism.

http://www.thefitna.com/ watch for yourself the controversy

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The guy is just a troublemaker.

[Danno 1,228]

Does anyone recall when Liberals use to say "popular speech, does not need protection"?

Or... "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death, your right to say it".

Yea right

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Danno you don't take time off on weekends from being a lame $hit stirrer do you.

[Yoink 7]

watching his fox news interview... Wilders was named the most popular law-maker in Holland

[Danno 1,228]

Danno you don't take time off on weekends from being a lame $hit stirrer do you.

Actually, I am heading to library in a minute but I paused momentarily it give a small "poke in the eye" to my liberal Buds over their emerging roll-change.

From defender of rights, to manipulator of what rights even are.

Tsk, Tsk

watching his fox news interview... Wilders was named the most popular law-maker in Holland

Don't tell me Holland is waking up?

[Peikko 1,575]

It was a bad decision. Such decisions are no good for democracy. I think it will be rescinded, ok, I hope it will be, not think. However, I am basing that on the reaction to this decision by those in the UK. I am a Voltaireian

Edited February 14, 2009 by Madame Cleo

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Lame Danno. Real lame. Come back when you've gotten yourself an argument.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It was a bad decision. Such decisions are no good for democracy. I think it will be rescinded, ok, I hope it will be, not think. However, I am basing that on the reaction to this decision by those in the UK. I am a Voltaireian

I'm not sure about the banning, but this isn't an unprecedented event as far as the UK goes.

I do think that there's some collective responsibility on challenging views like mr wilders.

[Danno 1,228]

Lame Danno. Real lame. Come back when you've gotten yourself an argument.

PD, do you copy-N-paste these type responses because this is what to many of your posts consists of.

On the posts that actually include an original though.... "they" are at least interesting to read.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Its the standard response I give to ditto heads who can't get enough of their silly steertypes.

Independent thought isn't your forte.

[Yoink 7]

Freedom of speech vs. inciting general disorder.

I would hope that Muslims who see this film in Holland or the UK wouldn't be inclined to mass protest. There are already a bunch of "response" films to counter

[luckytxn 2,265]

But the Quilliam Foundation, a British-based Muslim think tank devoted to fighting extremism, said Wilders should have been allowed into the country so that his views could be challenged "through debate and argument."

This is what it is all about. Can not have debate when one side is barred from the debate.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

You can guarantee that the extremists will come out of the woodwork.

Wilders I suspect isn't interested in a moderate dialog.

[Yoink 7]

But the Quilliam Foundation, a British-based Muslim think tank devoted to fighting extremism, said Wilders should have been allowed into the country so that his views could be challenged "through debate and argument."

This is what it is all about. Can not have debate when one side is barred from the debate.

Yes... but to play devils advocate... this group is dedicated to fighting extremism so I believe that Wilders and Quilliam would support one another