.jpg "Mario Vargas Llosa")
Anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders is a "populist who can become a modern fascist", says Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who has won this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. "It is not an explicit form of the old fascism but something that moves in that direction."
Mr Vargas Llosa was speaking in the Dutch city of Tilburg, where he gave a lecture called "The return of the monsters". He insisted the need for ordinary people to stop developments towards fascism. "We have the power that a democratic culture gives us. We ourselves become responsible if we allow such monsters to win."
Asked about Mr Wilders' anti-Islam stance, Mr Vargas Llosa underlined that it is unacceptable to criticise Muslims as a group. "In Iraq, terrorist attacks by the fanatics of al-Qaeda have killed many, many Muslims. There are many more Muslim victims than Western ones."
With reference to Holland's past as an "open society", Mr Vargas Llosa also criticised the support the liberal VVD and the Christian Democrats have accepted from the PVV to form a minority government. He said it was unacceptable that "in the name of pragmatism, a democratic party renounces the principles of democracy and becomes a supporter or an accomplice of totalitarian and authoritarian ideas."
Mr Vargas Llosa will receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in Stockholm on 10 December.
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I'm from the Netherlands and follow Geert Wilders moves as accurate as possible. His movements are verry calculated and always follow the same strategy of complaining about others and offer simple solutions to problems. This is wat most people in the Netherlands understand and want to hear and that is why he gets so many votes, this islam issue is not the the main point for the majority of Wilders voters. Finally Wilders is on the steering wheel (together with two other parties in a bit strange construction) in the Netherlands and can proove his value. So far he is not succeeding verry well. Many Members of his own partie (PVV) have issues with the Dutch law. The "strange" thing is that he is not applying the simple solutions (like zero tolerance) on his own PVV partiemembers. This makes Geert Wilders incredible to many Dutch people. But still I think Geert will attracked many votes as long as other political parties refuse to adapt parts of the Wilders strategy of complaining and offering of simple solutions. Its ios not the strategy I prefer but is the nowedays reality. The nowedays reality is that the Netherlands (like many other european countries) is facing huge problems due to the 2008 financial crisis (big housing market bubble, big goverment cuts, pensionproblems, high mortgages etc. etc.). All these problems are very complex and difficult to understand and poltical parties are failing to explain these problems. Geert Wilders on the other hand doesn't mention these real issues for the Netherlands. He concentrates on less complex problems and offer simple solutions and talks a language which is understandable for a big part of the Dutch voters.
LOL - This coming from a communist that openly supported the mass murdering dictator, Fidel Castro!
I guess mass murder is OK if its done for the "correct" reason!
I have been following the political career of Geert Wilders with much interest. It strikes me as strange that he has been characterized as a political extremist. I see him as a concerned Dutch patriot who has the courage of his convictions to express his genuine concerns regarding the real and present danger to the sovereignty and autonomy of the Netherlands and other EU countries. What seems to 'ruffle the feathers' of the 'politically correct' crowd is that Wilders has the guts and fortitude to call a spade a spade. I have read very little about immigrant groups in the Netherlands who have a genuine interest in assimilating into the Dutch Culture, whether it be learning the language, customs, and/or way of life unique to the Netherlands. The attitude seems to be (among many, not all, immigrants) one of complete dependency on the government to take care of them and their family rather than what they can do to better themselves and be law abiding and self-reliant Dutch citizens. Of course the Netherlands and the EU isn't unique with regard to 'the immigrant problem'. Here in the United States we are having to deal with the same problem as well.
Very well put - I totally agree with you! This situation in the Netherlands today (as well as throughout Europe and indeed the entire Western world
and more or less everywhere else too that is not already griped by sharia) is dire indeed.
In his inaugural speech in 1961 JFK famously said “…ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country”.
If he were instead addressing today’s vast army of Muhammad’s followers currently imposing itself upon, and attempting (not always by stealth) to control,
every population on earth he might have said “…ask not how best to plunder from every country on earth that suits you whilst scorning its people, laws,
customs and indeed its very sovereignty; demand not ‘respect’ or ‘protection from persecution’ but instead quietly EARN respect through humbly striving to fit in,
accept the laws and rights of your generous hosts and above all by finding ways to usefully contribute far more than you are ever given, let alone have taken.”
But of course before these migrants could possible even grasp the meaning of these words
they would first have to utterly reject their hateful and predatory ideology of Islam.
Kind Regards,
Ibn Q al-Rassooli
http://www.al-Rassooli.org
I have been following the political career of Geert Wilders with much interest. It strikes me as strange that he has been characterized as a political extremist. I see him as a concerned Dutch patriot who has the courage of his convictions to express his genuine concerns regarding the real and present danger to the sovereignty and autonomy of the Netherlands and other EU countries. What seems to 'ruffle the feathers' of the 'politically correct' crowd is that Wilders has the guts and fortitude to call a spade a spade. I have read very little about immigrant groups in the Netherlands who have a genuine interest in assimilating into the Dutch Culture, whether it be learning the language, customs, and/or way of life unique to the Netherlands. The attitude seems to be (among many, not all, immigrants) one of complete dependency on the government to take care of them and their family rather than what they can do to better themselves and be law abiding and self-reliant Dutch citizens. Of course the Netherlands and the EU isn't unique with regard to 'the immigrant problem'. Here in the United States we are having to deal with the same problem as well.
Haven't read any remarks from this Nobel laureate for the victims of global terrorism...the innocent people who died...unknown-unsung....and yjeir suffering kith & kin..perhaps they mean nothing to this worthy Nobel Laureate!!!!!!!
While Mr. Wilders has been democratically chosen by many people in the Netherlands and just as easily stands to loose their vote, Islam has been forced upon 1.5 billion people who don't have the freedom to unchose this so called religion. (If a religion calls for the strict adherence to it's own set of laws, can it still pass for a religion? To me that sounds more like a totalitarian ideology.)
One can only suspect that Mr. Llosa is either highly ignorant about both the Islam and the Netherlands as one of the longest standing democracies in the world or he himself hates the free West.
By all means criticize anything Mr. Wilders says and proposes but use real arguments, not hypothetical scenarios.
Mr Houtenklop:
You seem to be failing the concept of democracy.
We all humans being have a capacity to be authorative and closeminded, as well, we can be flexible and open to ideas.
The argument is not whether one is better than another. The problem resides when we stick to our mindset and are not able to objectively see reality. And that reality is that Mr. Wilders and his ideas are a danger to democratic society.
Mr. Anonymous
You have failed basic reading comprehension. Your comment is totally unrelated to anything specific Mr. houteklomp (or anyone else) has said. Blathering any fuzzy unformulated notion that enters your mind is not debating. Please focus.
Whose reality? If reality was the same, you would have no need to debate social issues.
Note the word "can" which is not a fact. Everything can happen. Lets not forget our current facist world citizens who are currently killing while other citizens stick their heads in the sane. Oh, by the way international rights also apply to Wilders as well. This "should" protect him from double jeopardy. "But", it probably wont as it won't met out their purpose.
My neighbor's wife can also become a harlot; love your fellow human being as you love your neighbor's spouse.
One thing is for certain, no one is discussing the Netherlands as a stable democratic society.
Wilders more of a quasi-fascist utopian-ist.
Have any of you characters actually read Llosa’s The War of the End of the World?
Yes you are a character... and your terminology is off. Wilders is not a quasi-, but rather a crypto-fascist, and one with a borderline German-Dutch background, perhaps significant. Fascists pretend to be populists while furthering corporate interests and policy; and will say any sort of untruth and use any sort of posturing and camouflage to promote corporatist policy objectives. Read this history of the German Nazi party and the Italian Fascist party, how their ideologies were formulated, the devious deception involved, and you will see what Wilders really is.... and question what is his relationship to the German BND. It is he who have copied the German right, not they who have copied him.
What a load of drivel. If any movement is going to make the Netherlands a fascist state it is Islam. Not "just" another religion but a totalitarian ideology. And here we have a man, Geert Wilders, who is honest and brave and teling it like it is without the pretentiousness of the so-called intellectual elite. If you believe your seculat democracy is worth preserving then listen to him before it is too late.
Yes listen to Geert Wilders like what you used to do in Hitler's time. Sooner Muslims will be lined up, deported and gas chambered like what you did to the Jews!
While the Muslim world with the help of the West produced monsters like Saddam and Osama Bin Laden; there is still no equal to the monsters produced by the Christian world like Hitler, Mussolini, Pinochet, and even Mugabe!
Yes listen to Geert because by the way it is your nature to persecute the minorities around you: Muslims, Romas and others...
"While the Muslim world with the help of the West produced monsters like Saddam and Osama Bin Laden; there is still no equal to the monsters produced by the Christian world like Hitler, Mussolini, Pinochet, and even Mugabe!".....Saddam and Osama bin Laden and their followers openly claim their acts of violence in the name of religion. Can you give just 'one" example where Hitler, Mussolini, Pinochet and Mugabe murdered anyone in the name of Jesus Christ? { I do agree with you on the persecution of the Romas by the French government but not because the French government is Christian. It is humanistic government which bans most religious symbols in public and the Christians are top of their hate list, closely followed by our friends the Jews. Just until recently, the government has not attacked the Islamic faith because there are far more Muslims in France who are quick to act out violently when their religious values are attacked or to protect their oil and gas needs which are provided by Islamic nations. The difference between Christians and Muslims is: Christians don't fly jets into buildings killing thousands in the name of Jesus. { The French deported EU citizens because they are not fine upstanding French citizens who speak perfect French and not because they are christian nation.
Why are national radio and TV so utterly loony left?
Who cares what a writer of literature (fiction?) thinks about Geert Wilders?
Why do the Useful Idiots at RNW have to publish this crap?
The answer to RNW is in these comments, unless they can show
by some unbiassed poll, that the general public approves of them
more highly than these bloggers.
Radio Netherlands has long been one of the most highly esteemed news services in the entire world and has won many prizes for that. Unfortunately, the loony right is often so illiterate that they don't know that, but they get paid money by right-wing corporations and publicity agencies to blog fascist propaganda on the internet.
Dr Vargas Llosa is one of the most esteemed authors in the world, and has been for some time. Apparently you didn't know that.
Geert Wilders is obviously a puppet of a some strange corporatist political element that is seeking to create division within Dutch society and create ethnic tensions... which is indeed fascism by definition.
If you had any degree of understanding of world cultures and ideologies, this would be obvious to you, and when you grow up I am sure you will appreciate what Dr Vargas Llosa has to say.
"Radio Netherlands has long been one of the most highly esteemed news services in the entire world and has won many prizes for that".....That doesn't mean they are now highly esteemed in the world. Much of their articles are biased. Quite a few articles are well written but some are very biased. { As to Dr Vargas Llosa: He is an esteemed author and those esteem him are no different than those who place a high esteem on people like Wilders. "If you had any degree of understanding of world cultures and ideologies, this would be obvious to you, and when you grow up I am sure you will appreciate what Dr Vargas Llosa has to say." You don't practice what you preach or you would understand that Llosa and Wilders both come from different cultures and therefore have different ideologies. To tell someone when they grow shows disrespect and is part of one's culture and up-bringing. One who differs from your perception will never grow-up if they don't concur with your opinions.
Having a Nobel Prize for science (including medicine) still means something but their prizes for literature are almost as random and politically motivated as their totally discredited Nobel Prizes for “Peace”…. remember the totally farcical and absurd award given to Obama who at that time was still an unknown, unproven – though already deeply distrusted – man, and has since done more harm than good and absolutely nothing whatsoever of tangible value at any point in his life for “peace”?
Vargas Llosa clearly knows very little about Islam; like the Taliban and many other blatantly terrorist organisations besides, al-Qaeda (whose name is Arabic for “the base” and means literally a base from which Islam can be properly enforced) could not be more purely mainstream “perfect” followers of Muhammad’s Islam!
It’s perfectly true that vast numbers of Muslims die as victims of Islamic terror – but only because of sectarian violence between one group of Muslims claiming another is not “properly practising Islam” and so in their opinion “kuffar” (Arabic for various things all ultimately meaning non-believers).
Islam condemns the entire population of the world to eternal terrorism and war – obviously all “non-believers” are targets of its anger and hatred but so too are all other Muslim’s from different sects!
Geert Wilders is not, and never will be, “a Fascist”. If he were one then why would he go to the trouble (at enormous personal risk for his physical safety) to correctly compare the Qur’an to Mein Kampf as a warning of the many similarities between Islam and Fascist (none of which he likes)?
I’ve uploaded many talks on these topics – please feel free to listen through a few; http://www.al-rassooli.com/blog/
Wow! Fascinating blog! I agree with your take on Geert Wilders. I also think that the bulk of his growing support comes from reasonable people with legitimate concerns about the growth of Islam and not from latent fascists or closet racists as many of his detractors want to believe. His support would dwindle if he showed such tendencies.
Thanks for your feedback knirb – much appreciated, and apologies for submitting my post twice (it didn’t appear right away so I resent it then found both had appeared!).
You’re completely correct - the vast majority of Wilder’s supporters are perfectly sensible, decent people who can see with their own eyes exactly what’s happening around them, as well as compare it to the lies and whitewash reported on tv and in the press.
Many of these people are now deeply concerned and feel dreadfully let down, having seen their once safe and friendly residential districts (often happily shared with many interesting and varied – but largely non-Muslim – people from around the world) now rapidly transformed into grim and frightening no-go zones controlled by astonishingly arrogant and aggressive Muslims (all mainly under the age of 25, by the way, as are entire populations in almost all Muslim-majority counties) who jeer, taunt, threaten and “rough-up” anyone daring to walk passed them on the same side of the road (and woe betide any women caught walking alone and in “western” clothing as such places have now become completely unsafe for them).
The police are generally too terrified to “interfere”, and as we’ve seen laws are being used (even adapted specially for the purpose) to stifle debate and silence critics rather than protect citizens or their societies or deter or punish the actual perpetrators (or inciters or accessories) of violent crimes. Therefore we can see national European laws can no longer be enforced in many of these rapidly growing districts in the suburbs of most major European cities, especially the capitals. As a result the lawless are greatly encouraged and empowered to “turn up the heat” another notch.
It’s curious that brave commentators such as Wilders are blamed (and turned into scapegoats) by the establishment (and on their behalf by the appeasing press) for all the hatred, violence and unrest that’s in fact directly caused by the lawless, disrespectful gangs of Muslim youths and their escalating tactics of harassment as their numbers and confidence (from lack of credible challenge) grows!
To gain some insight into what’s happening it’s very useful to know a little about Islam itself; generally speaking Muslims trained to follow Muhammad’s “teachings” completely disregard the existence (or validity) of individual countries and their laws; they consider all such things to be merely “man-made” and irrelevant whilst considering their ridiculously inappropriate, backward and barbaric “shariah” laws to be the unquestionable word of Allah and therefore “perfect” and “divine” (even if nothing to do with the actual country they happen – often parasitically – to be living in). They are happy to accept citizenship and passports and so on (all of which they privately hold in contempt) merely because they are useful in enabling them to travel and claim welfare benefits and so on – not because they respect any particular Western laws or the sovereignty of any particular countries.
As it happens they’ve already long ago divided the entire world into just two states; Dar Islam (or Dar al-Islam or Dar al-Muhammad etc), which is territory (whether large or small) controlled by Muslims under Islamic rules, and everywhere else is Dar al-Harb meaning quite literally the territory of war! The entire Western World is, as far as they are concerned, a territory of war to be colonised, subverted, tricked, deceived or openly attacked on a large or small scale (whenever they can get away with it). This is the main point Geert Wilders is rightly warning everyone about, not only the Netherlands but the entire Western World. It’s something we (from the Middle East and elsewhere) have fully understood all our lives but few Westerners can even comprehend
While on the subject it’s also worth noting that in their sheer arrogance Muslims generally consider their Dar al-Islam (those sad, violent, illogical and terribly backward places already under their control) to be somehow “advanced” whilst everywhere else (as yet uncrushed and not ‘submitting’) to be in a state of “Jahiliyyah” meaning “ignorance”!!!
Oh well – the Western world has had ample warning; now let’s see if it wakes up or is suffocated and throttled in its sleep.
Having a Nobel Prize for science (including medicine) still means something but their prizes for literature are almost as random and politically motivated as their totally discredited Nobel Prizes for “Peace”…. remember the totally farcical and absurd award given to Obama who at that time was still an unknown, unproven – though already deeply distrusted – man, and has since done more harm than good and absolutely nothing whatsoever of tangible value at any point in his life for “peace”?
Vargas Llosa clearly knows very little about Islam;like the Taliban and others, al-Qaeda (whose name is Arabic for “the base” and means literally a base from which Islam can be properly enforced) could not be more purely mainstream “perfect” followers of Muhammad’s Islam! It’s perfectly true that vast numbers of Muslims die as victims of Islamic terror – but only because of sectarian violence with one group of Muslims claiming another is not “properly practising Islam” and so is “kuffar” (Arabic for various things all ultimately meaning non-believers).
Geert Wilders is not, and never will be, “a Fascist”. If he were one then why would he go to the trouble (at enormous personal risk for his physical safety) to correctly compare the Qur’an to Mein Kampf as a warning of the many similarities between Islam and Fascist (none of which he likes)?
I've uploaded many talks on the subject - please feel free to listen through a few; http://www.al-rassooli.com/blog/
This is pure drivel. Vargas Llosa minimizes Islamic terrorism (“Terrorism is a minority phenomenon in the Muslim world”), and immediately contradicts this by saying that there have been hundreds of thousands of recent victims of Islamic terrorists (al-Quaida) in Iraq alone.
Muslims are being terrorized more than anyone else, in the name of their own religion, based on Quranic scripture. Thus, Geert Wilders has rightfully characterized Islam as a fascist ideology. He does not say that all immigrants are in solidarity with terrorism.
Neither I, nor anyone else can predict whether Mr. Wilders will become a racist or a fascist. At the moment, I must deduce that he isn’t, based on Vargas Llosa’a vague commentary.
The biggest monsters we are facing in this debate, are a fascist ideology (Islam) and it’s apologists. I suggest Mr. Vargas Llosa and his ilk take a long look in the mirror and see whether they find a Mr. Neville Chamberlain clone staring back at them.
Elites equate the fall of multiculturalism with fascism. This is a serious intellectual error. They fail to discern the difference between various cultures as well the under-estimate the importance of theology in forming the collective actions of religious groups.
Geert Wilders is an anti-fascist in that he will prevent Europe from becoming like the Middle East. Islam is irredeemable totalitarian in its theology and secularists are willfully blind to this reality. The spread of Islam can only create the conditions for civil war within a few decades. If Geert Wilder and his democratic forces are not successful in pushing back the forces of Islamism, certainly a real fascist movement will arrive and deal harshly with the Muslims of Europe.
"Anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders is a "populist who can become a modern fascist", says Peruvian writer Mario Vargas...." 1. First he states that Wilders is a "populist"; who then can become a fascist by moving in that direction. Mario Vargas Llosa, what moves a person like Wilders to become a facist and denounce the principles of democracy? What are those principles of democracy? The definition of democracy is vague. Anyone can become a facist? The Pope is a facist. His word and decisions are final. 2. Mr. Vargas you stated: "... that it is unacceptable to criticise Muslims as a group. "In Iraq, terrorist attacks by the fanatics of al-Qaeda have killed many, many Muslims. There are many more Muslim victims than Western ones.".......Why is not acceptable to critise Muslims because more Muslims are victims of al-Qaeda? If what you say is true and I believe your statement is true, you would think those Muslims who are peace loving would come out and speak against those Muslims who murder in the name of their religion? Why don't they speak-out against other Muslims who are Jihadists? Does speaking-out against the tenets of one 's faith make he or she less of a Muslim? 3. Sir, you stated "it was unacceptable that "in the name of pragmatism, a democratic party renounces the principles of democracy and becomes a supporter or an accomplice of totalitarian and authoritarian ideas."....Democracy has no universal definition but some of the concepts are Popular Sovereignty by the will of the people; majority rule; freedom of speech, press and political expression; due process; and equality under the law. Democracy is affected by wars and external events and the democracy of the Netherlands is still strong because people like Wilders stand-up to those who would destroy it.
Right on Hiram! Well said!
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