FDW in Amerikaans democratisch tijdschrift "American Prospect"

[ilfalco]

FDW in Amerikaans democratisch tijdschrift "American Prospect"

If you are elected mayor this fall, what sort of outreach will you make to the Jewish community? To the Muslim community? You have said in the past that "Islam is now the number one enemy not only of Europe but of the entire free world" Is there such a thing as moderate Islam? Can Muslims exist peacefully in Europe? If so, how?

Let’s start with your last question: Of course, individual Muslims can live peacefully in Europe. But that’s not the problem. The real question is: “Can large Muslim population exist peacefully in Europe?” I think that’s really difficult. It will be very difficult for them to accept the basic rules of western civilization. Of course not all Muslims are extremist, but each large Islamic community in history has produced its fundamentalists and its terrorists. Individual Muslims can be moderate and tolerant. They can’t curb the rise and rise of radical Islam. In 1933, a large majority of Germans were moderate and decent people. But they couldn’t stop the rise of national-socialism. They existed, and they were numerous. But they couldn’t change the ugly face of nazism. The moderate Muslims are in the same hapless position: they can’t speak out against radical Islam. They’ re swimming against the tide of history.

Of course I want more freedom and less government interference for Christian and Jewish faith-based schools. I want more police protection for the Jewish community, for their neighbourhoods and synagogues and schools. They are the prime targets for terrorists. A mayor is responsible for the local police force, so there I could play an important role. We need tougher legislation against terrorism and violent crime, and against the infiltration of radical Islamic groups in our inner cities, but that depends on the government in Brussels. A mayor can’t change the laws. Twenty years ago, the Jewish community in Antwerp was wealthy. The Jewish diamond trade was flourishing. Nowadays, many foreign traders are forcing the Jews out of their old economic strongholds. I have a big problem with Islam, but I have great respect for Judaism. I’m not a believer myself, but I know this: Christians and Jews built the philosophical foundations of our western civilization. If this Judaeo-Christian roots are lost, our civilization will perish.

In an interview with the Jeruzalem Post, Daniel Pipes had to answer similar questions about Muslims : “Do you think that they’re demographically ‘a threat to us all?’ He was optimistic about that. But then he got his second question: “And the Muslim population in Europe?” He gave an answer I completely agree with: “That’s a different story”, Pipes said. “European women have an average of something like 1.4 children, when 2.1 is what’s necessary for continuity. In other words, one-third of the needed population is never born. That one-third is primarily being replaced by immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries which are nearby, with which there are colonial relationships, or which are particularly eager to get to Europe because of troubles in their own countries. Europeans are not really coming to terms with this phenomenon. They do not bother to figure out how to adapt to their population deficit or to decide which immigrants they want.”

I have read that in the past you have claimed to be "Islamophobic" rather than "xenophobic" can you explain the difference?

If you’re xenophobic, you have an exaggerated and unfounded fear of strangers or foreigners. Just as some people suffer form arachnophobia: they’re afraid of spiders, even as they intellectually know that spiders in Europe are inoffensive. We aren’t xenophobic. We aren’t racists. But we’re afraid of radical Islam. Strictly spoken, “islamophobia” means your fears of Islam are exaggerated and unfounded, just as the fears describes in medical textbooks about arachnophobia: people are afraid, while there is no danger. Can one say the same thing about Islam? We do think radical Islam is a treat to our western civilization. For more than a thousand years, the Muslims have tried to conquer and invade Europe. Muslim invaders have conquered Spain, Portugal and the Balkans, and occupied these countries for many centuries. Less than a hundred years ago, Turkish and Kurdish Muslims massacred more than a million Armenian Christians, and even now the Turks won’t apologise for that. In Sudan, a Muslim government was responsible for the killing of over a million Christians in the South. In Libanon, Christian society was almost completely destroyed during the civil war. Americans tend to see Al Qaeda, Hamas, Al Zarqawi or Iran as isolated cases of radicalism. But they don’t come out of the bleu. They are the offspring of radical Islam. Of course we are afraid. Aren’t you? It’s not just the twenty skyjackers that crashed those planes in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. It’s not just the suicide bombers that kill and maim Israeli civilians on marketplaces and in schoolbuses. It’s not just the people that murdered Van Gogh. That could be individual cases. But it’s the millions of Muslims that cheer them, that support them, that idolise them as hero’s and martyrs. It’s the thousands that ransacked Danish consulates and embassies. I understand president Bush or Tony Blair can’t say this bluntly. They can’t say radical Islam is the problem. They need the support of key allies in the Muslim world, and they must use diplomatic euphemisms as the “war on terror”; without ever mentioning radical Islam in a negative sense. But I think that deep in their harts, they know radical Islam is the source of violence. We’re not “Islamophobic”. The problem is not that we have a distorted mindset, as the KKK has, or some rednecks in the Deep South. The problem is, that we have many objective reasons to be afraid. Would you say Jews in 1933 were “Nazifobic”? Or “Germanofobic”? No, they had good reasons to be afraid. And by the way, Israel and the United States are prime targets for radical Islam. Belgium is not. The root of all fears in Flanders is not 9/11, Al Qaeda or Iran. It’s the fear of violent youth gangs, of criminals that go unpunished. Islamic terrorism is not a number one topic in Flanders. That’s a difference with Israel and the United States. The hot topic in our society is crime. For many voters, the problem of immigration is mainly a problem of crime. I even think that’s the single most important reason for voting against immigration and against multiculturalism.

I understand you want to cap the number of mosques in Antwerp and freeze immigration? What about immigrants who are already in Belgium? What standards will be used in considering deportations and integration policies? What should be done about assimilation? Is assimilation possible?

Yes, I want to freeze immigration. But again: that depends on new legislation in Brussels. The mayor of Antwerp can’t change the laws. And he can’t order the deportation of illegal aliens. Of course, assimilation is possible. In the past, ten of thousands of Italian, Greek, Polish and Spanish immigrants successfully assimilated. The problems only started when large numbers of Moroccans and Turcs came in. Many of them refuse integration, let alone assimilation. They cling to their national and religious identity. Is it possible for them to assimilate? Maybe, but the problem is: they don’t want to. And there’s a frightening element in that. The first generation came here in the sixties. They were labourers, guest workers. Of course they were not integrated, let alone assimilated. But in spite of that, they were behaving better, more responsible and more pragmatic than their children and grandchildren now. In those days, crime among foreigners wasn’t but a minor problem. Radical Islam was unheard of. There were no aggressive youths roaming the streets, there were no attacks on Jews, and no Islamic websites promoting djihad or anti-Semitism. In the United States, you see a clear difference between the first generation of immigrants, and the next one. You see an constant amelioration and assimilation. In Europe, we saw the same positive process with immigrants of western and East Asian stock. But with immigrants originating from Islamic countries, there was a negative evolution. Large groups of the new generations are much more hostile towards our country, and towards western civilization as whole. This dangerous shift reflects profound changes in the Muslim world. And that’s something we can’t change in Europe, let alone in Antwerp.

How do immigrants currently assimilate or integrate into Belgian society? How would you hope they would do so better? Is there a problem with Islam specifically?

In a nutshell: people from all European countries except Albania are doing quite well. There are almost no problems with immigrants from India, China or Japan. For Turkey, the results are mixed, just as the result of westernisation in Turkey itself are mixed. For Moroccans, integration has failed. There are individual successes. But the general picture is negative. In private conversations, even our opponents will admit this. Race isn’t an element in this. But the radical brand of Islam definitely is. By the way, these results reflect the successes and failures of westernisation and modernisation in this countries. Don’t compare with the United States. You select your immigrants. Belgium doesn’t. In the States, most Muslims are middle class, and they originate from the middle or upper classes in their home countries. Even at home, before emigrating, they were relatively successful people. In Belgium, many of the Muslim immigrant come from poor, backward regions in Anatolia or Morocco. Many of them were almost illiterate, and even the city dwellers in Ankara, Istanbul, Rabat or Tanger look down on them. Even in their own countries, they couldn’t adept to modernity.

I understand that you have extended a hand to the Jewish community? Can you expand on that relationship? Do you have many Jewish supporters currently? Are they important to you?

Vlaams Belang - like the National Front in France - has been accused of having an Anti-Semitic or even Nazi past, as well as some current members who may still hold Nazi or anti-Semitic positions. What is your perspective on that past and the future? What about the history of collaboration?

Sometimes a decent women attracts evil men, not because of her own deeds, but because her good name has been blackened by slander. This is our problem too: all Belgium governments have depicted us as nazi’s in their propaganda. Of course some people believe this propaganda. There are some very small nazi groups in Belgium, but they hate us. That’s positive, it makes things clear. They say we are the accomplices of international Jewry and that we betrayed nationalism in return for Jewish money, that we kowtow for international Zionism, and so one. You certainly know that kind of slander.
We have no past of anti-Semitisme or collaboration. We have never written anti-Semitic texts. You may examine all our publications since the day our party was founded. You won’t find any attacks against Jews or Judaism. On the contrary. Very often we were the only political group defending Israel, both in publications and in parliament.
Our political enemies have gone over all our publications with a fine-tooth comb: each article in our party magazine, each political flyer, each book, each essay, looking for forbidden opinions. They accused us of inciting hatred towards Muslims, Arabs, Turks… Of course, these accusations were unfair. But even such biased opponents couldn’t find a single word that could be interpreted as anti-Semitic. A so-called neo nazi-party that in twenty-five years never utters one bad word against Jews… Is that possible? Yes, we are right-wingers. Just as Ariel Sharon, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher are right-wingers. But this doesn’t mean they – or we - are anti-Semites. And by the way: in the Republican Party, we would be moderates.

Our mother party was founded in 1978. It originated from the Volksunie. By the way the Volksunie took part in 1978 a Belgium government coalition. Many political heavyweights in the liberal party and the Christian democrats began their careers in the Volksunie. Our founder, Karel Dillen was just seventeen when WWII ended. He has not collaborated. As a political party, we have clean hands.

It’s is true however, that before WWII, all political movements in Belgium – including the Flemish patriotic movement - have made fatal mistakes in dealing with nazism.
Was Hemingway an communist because he fought as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War? His allies were communists, even Stalinists. But it would be profoundly dishonest to call him a communist, or to depict him as an accomplice of Stalins henchmen. Yes, many Flemish patriots volunteered in WWII to fight against communism. Some of them were national-socialists, but even then, they were a tiny minority. Most of them simply thought nazism was the lesser evil compared with communism. Now we know the truth about Auschwitz and the shoah. Now we know that nazism and communism were twin brothers of evil. But before the war, before the truth about the shoah became clearly visible, this was a mistake many people made. We can’t change the past. We can’t deny the dark spots in our history. But we are not prisoners of that history. This bitter experience has been a sobering lesson. Flemish nationalism will never again believe the false promises of totalitarism. Flemish nationalism will never again touch a totalitarian regime, even not with gloves on. One could only wish the left-wingers had learned that lesson too.

Are you still interested in making an official visit to Israel? If so, why? You have said that the real enemies of Israel and the Jews are the Socialists and the Greens. Can you explain?

Yes, I’m still interested. It would have a great symbolic value. Maybe it would help to overcome misunderstandings and negative perceptions created by Belgium propaganda.
Yes, socialist and Greens are Israel’s most dangerous foes in Europe.. In nearly all European countries, those parties have the most aggressive stand against Israel. Their old sympathies for Israel and the Jews, that were still strong in the sixties, have completely vanished. They even tend to identify Israel and Zionism with nazism. They glorify Arafat and the PLO. They dragged their feet in recognizing Hamas as a terrorist group. In their view, Israel is the aggressor and the Palestinians are innocent victims. This political shift of the Socialist parties in Europe has two reasons: oil and votes. In 1973, OPEC organised an oil boycott. To prevent this from happening again, European politician try to appease the Arabs. Nowadays, they have one more motive for this infamous appeasement: the numbers of Muslim immigrants with voting rights are constantly rising. In each and every European country, they largely outnumber the Jewish voters. It’s disgusting, it’s infamous, it’s treacherous, but that’s the way many Socialist and Green politicians think: they hope they can win over the Islamic vote bank by bashing Israel and the United States, and by turning a blind eye on the virulent anti-Semitic rhetoric in Islamic publications and Islamic websites. This facts mirror a remarkable switch of alliances in many European countries: in the old days, right-wingers had no sympathy for the Jews – or even worse! - while left-wingers made alliances with them. Nowadays, it’s the other way around. The right-wingers defend Israel and warn against Islam. The left-wingers are bashing Israel and the United States, and kowtow for Islam. France is an exception: there the left-wingers have made the switch, but the right-wingers haven’t. This explains why French left- and right-wingers are both bashing Israel and supporting the Arabs.

What is the chance of overcoming the so-called "cordon sanitaire?’

On a national level, the chance at the moment is almost zero. But in the town councils it’s possible we can overcome the ‘cordon sanitaire’. If we can overcome the ‘cordon sanitaire’ at the local level it will be possible to do the same at national level too.

What has been the response of average Antwerp natives to your policies on immigration? What kinds of responses do you receive? Do you think this is the direction the rest of the country will move in as well?

Most people agree with our policies against immigration and radical Islam, and with our proposals to get “though on crime”. Even people who vote for other parties, generally agree with us on that topics. In Flemish politics, political movements generally start in Antwerp. Later on, they gain foot in the rest of the country. Yes, I’m optimistic.

What are some of your other key policies for the city? What will change first in a Dewinter administration? I understand that your key opponent may be a Muslim. How will that impact the race for the mayor’s office?

My key opponent won’t be a Muslim. That information must be wrong. I’m almost sure it will be the current mayor, Patrick Janssens. Our other key topics, in a nutshell: crime, drugs, corruption, a pro-life and a pro-family stance. You probably know marihuana and so-called “soft drugs” are almost legalised in Belgium. We can’t change that infamous law, but we want a big crackdown on drug trafficking, and an information campaign to warn youths against drugs. There are such campaigns against smoking, and against reckless driving. But you will never see even one official campaign ad against drugs. That has to change. Another very important topic is freedom of speech. We want new legislation, similar to your First Amendment. My party is in legal trouble because of an interview with Jewish Weekly. There I said: “The islamization of Europe is a frightening thing. Even distinguished Jewish scholars as Bat Ye’or and Bernard Lewis warned for this. If this historical process continues, the Jews will be the first victims. Europe will became as dangerous for them as Egypt or Algeria” Under Belgium law, this is “hate speech”. No, there’s no freedom of speech in Belgium. We need your First Amendment. But again, that depends on Brussels. Even the mayor of a big city can’t change that



Zeer mooi en uitgebreid interview...

[Ambiorix]

amai, tegen amerikanen is em nog zionistischer als tegen ons.
en dan zeggen dat ie "right winged" is , juist zoals Ariel Sharon, Winston Churchill en Margaret Thatcher..
ongelooflijk. Waar is dat radikaal vlaamsnationalisme toch? waar is dat rebelse, dat onafhankelijk en kritisch anti-establishment taaltje? Waar is die europese antiatlantische koers?

[kelt]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Ambiorix

amai, tegen amerikanen is em nog zionistischer als tegen ons.
en dan zeggen dat ie "right winged" is , juist zoals Ariel Sharon, Winston Churchill en Margaret Thatcher..
ongelooflijk. Waar is dat radikaal vlaamsnationalisme toch? waar is dat rebelse, dat onafhankelijk en kritisch anti-establishment taaltje? Waar is die europese antiatlantische koers?

Inderdaad.......ik heb ondertussen een gloeiende hekel aan ALLE Midden-Oostelijke cultuurverschijnselen,hun onnozele conflictjes,die ze o zo graag uitbreiden naar alle continenten,en waar ze o zo graag anderen in betrekken, zijn er mij te veel aan..

Wat Winston Churchill daar doet in dat lijstje ,is me niet duidelijk,het is een beetje aanmatigend jezelf verwant te voelen met een dergelijk "politiek en militair gebergte" .Zelfs zijn mislukkingen waren groots...

Margaret Thatcher maakte er in "haar tijd" een punt van de "verouderde" industrie in grote delen van GB te laten vallen.Beide zaken zijn voortreffelijk geslaagd.De babys die toen geboren werden in de Britse voorsteden,uit ouders die werkten in-,en aangetrokken waren voor-die "verouderde industrieen,(en zeker 1/3 van "nieuw-Britse" oorsprong) mogen nu wat rond-hannessen op straat en achter iedere profeet aanlopen die hen wat soep en een duidelijk verhaal en "morele" gedragslijn geeft.
(ik zou me daar eerder niet mee willen identificeren)

Ariel Sharon......best een bekwame kerel zolang hij officier was in de IDF en met zijn Ugda (Brigade) Egyptenaren en Syriers in de soep mocht draaien.Als politicus was hij ook niet in staat om Israel uit het zelfgegraven militair dilemma te bevrijden....

[stab]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door ilfalco

Zeer mooi en uitgebreid interview...

Magnificent.

[Uh-Huh]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door ilfalco

FDW in Amerikaans democratisch pro- regime tijdschrift "American Prospect"

If you are elected mayor this fall, what sort of outreach will you make to the Jewish community? To the Muslim community? You have said in the past that "Islam is now the number one enemy not only of Europe but of the entire free world" Is there such a thing as moderate Islam? Can Muslims exist peacefully in Europe? If so, how?

Dat zegt al genoeg over FDW en zijn haatzaaiende, islamofobe partij. Ik hoef daarvoor écht niet de rest van zijn leugens, zoals "The moderate Muslims are in the same hapless position: they can’t speak out against radical Islam" , te lezen..

[ericferemans]

Ik vraag me bezorgd af wat de " alte Kamaraden" gaat overkomen indien ze dit lezen. Een keppeltje kopen? Een jodenster opspelden.
Er moeten nogal wat infarcten zich voordoen in de rusthuizen, waar ooststrontstrijders zitten...

[gm10]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door ilfalco

FDW in Amerikaans democratisch tijdschrift "American Prospect"

If you are elected mayor this fall, what sort of outreach will you make to the Jewish community? To the Muslim community? You have said in the past that "Islam is now the number one enemy not only of Europe but of the entire free world" Is there such a thing as moderate Islam? Can Muslims exist peacefully in Europe? If so, how?

Let’s start with your last question: Of course, individual Muslims can live peacefully in Europe. But that’s not the problem. The real question is: “Can large Muslim population exist peacefully in Europe?” I think that’s really difficult. It will be very difficult for them to accept the basic rules of western civilization. Of course not all Muslims are extremist, but each large Islamic community in history has produced its fundamentalists and its terrorists. Individual Muslims can be moderate and tolerant. They can’t curb the rise and rise of radical Islam. In 1933, a large majority of Germans were moderate and decent people. But they couldn’t stop the rise of national-socialism. They existed, and they were numerous. But they couldn’t change the ugly face of nazism. The moderate Muslims are in the same hapless position: they can’t speak out against radical Islam. They’ re swimming against the tide of history.

Of course I want more freedom and less government interference for Christian and Jewish faith-based schools. I want more police protection for the Jewish community, for their neighbourhoods and synagogues and schools. They are the prime targets for terrorists. A mayor is responsible for the local police force, so there I could play an important role. We need tougher legislation against terrorism and violent crime, and against the infiltration of radical Islamic groups in our inner cities, but that depends on the government in Brussels. A mayor can’t change the laws. Twenty years ago, the Jewish community in Antwerp was wealthy. The Jewish diamond trade was flourishing. Nowadays, many foreign traders are forcing the Jews out of their old economic strongholds. I have a big problem with Islam, but I have great respect for Judaism. I’m not a believer myself, but I know this: Christians and Jews built the philosophical foundations of our western civilization. If this Judaeo-Christian roots are lost, our civilization will perish.

In an interview with the Jeruzalem Post, Daniel Pipes had to answer similar questions about Muslims : “Do you think that they’re demographically ‘a threat to us all?’ He was optimistic about that. But then he got his second question: “And the Muslim population in Europe?” He gave an answer I completely agree with: “That’s a different story”, Pipes said. “European women have an average of something like 1.4 children, when 2.1 is what’s necessary for continuity. In other words, one-third of the needed population is never born. That one-third is primarily being replaced by immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries which are nearby, with which there are colonial relationships, or which are particularly eager to get to Europe because of troubles in their own countries. Europeans are not really coming to terms with this phenomenon. They do not bother to figure out how to adapt to their population deficit or to decide which immigrants they want.”

I have read that in the past you have claimed to be "Islamophobic" rather than "xenophobic" can you explain the difference?

If you’re xenophobic, you have an exaggerated and unfounded fear of strangers or foreigners. Just as some people suffer form arachnophobia: they’re afraid of spiders, even as they intellectually know that spiders in Europe are inoffensive. We aren’t xenophobic. We aren’t racists. But we’re afraid of radical Islam. Strictly spoken, “islamophobia” means your fears of Islam are exaggerated and unfounded, just as the fears describes in medical textbooks about arachnophobia: people are afraid, while there is no danger. Can one say the same thing about Islam? We do think radical Islam is a treat to our western civilization. For more than a thousand years, the Muslims have tried to conquer and invade Europe. Muslim invaders have conquered Spain, Portugal and the Balkans, and occupied these countries for many centuries. Less than a hundred years ago, Turkish and Kurdish Muslims massacred more than a million Armenian Christians, and even now the Turks won’t apologise for that. In Sudan, a Muslim government was responsible for the killing of over a million Christians in the South. In Libanon, Christian society was almost completely destroyed during the civil war. Americans tend to see Al Qaeda, Hamas, Al Zarqawi or Iran as isolated cases of radicalism. But they don’t come out of the bleu. They are the offspring of radical Islam. Of course we are afraid. Aren’t you? It’s not just the twenty skyjackers that crashed those planes in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. It’s not just the suicide bombers that kill and maim Israeli civilians on marketplaces and in schoolbuses. It’s not just the people that murdered Van Gogh. That could be individual cases. But it’s the millions of Muslims that cheer them, that support them, that idolise them as hero’s and martyrs. It’s the thousands that ransacked Danish consulates and embassies. I understand president Bush or Tony Blair can’t say this bluntly. They can’t say radical Islam is the problem. They need the support of key allies in the Muslim world, and they must use diplomatic euphemisms as the “war on terror”; without ever mentioning radical Islam in a negative sense. But I think that deep in their harts, they know radical Islam is the source of violence. We’re not “Islamophobic”. The problem is not that we have a distorted mindset, as the KKK has, or some rednecks in the Deep South. The problem is, that we have many objective reasons to be afraid. Would you say Jews in 1933 were “Nazifobic”? Or “Germanofobic”? No, they had good reasons to be afraid. And by the way, Israel and the United States are prime targets for radical Islam. Belgium is not. The root of all fears in Flanders is not 9/11, Al Qaeda or Iran. It’s the fear of violent youth gangs, of criminals that go unpunished. Islamic terrorism is not a number one topic in Flanders. That’s a difference with Israel and the United States. The hot topic in our society is crime. For many voters, the problem of immigration is mainly a problem of crime. I even think that’s the single most important reason for voting against immigration and against multiculturalism.

I understand you want to cap the number of mosques in Antwerp and freeze immigration? What about immigrants who are already in Belgium? What standards will be used in considering deportations and integration policies? What should be done about assimilation? Is assimilation possible?

Yes, I want to freeze immigration. But again: that depends on new legislation in Brussels. The mayor of Antwerp can’t change the laws. And he can’t order the deportation of illegal aliens. Of course, assimilation is possible. In the past, ten of thousands of Italian, Greek, Polish and Spanish immigrants successfully assimilated. The problems only started when large numbers of Moroccans and Turcs came in. Many of them refuse integration, let alone assimilation. They cling to their national and religious identity. Is it possible for them to assimilate? Maybe, but the problem is: they don’t want to. And there’s a frightening element in that. The first generation came here in the sixties. They were labourers, guest workers. Of course they were not integrated, let alone assimilated. But in spite of that, they were behaving better, more responsible and more pragmatic than their children and grandchildren now. In those days, crime among foreigners wasn’t but a minor problem. Radical Islam was unheard of. There were no aggressive youths roaming the streets, there were no attacks on Jews, and no Islamic websites promoting djihad or anti-Semitism. In the United States, you see a clear difference between the first generation of immigrants, and the next one. You see an constant amelioration and assimilation. In Europe, we saw the same positive process with immigrants of western and East Asian stock. But with immigrants originating from Islamic countries, there was a negative evolution. Large groups of the new generations are much more hostile towards our country, and towards western civilization as whole. This dangerous shift reflects profound changes in the Muslim world. And that’s something we can’t change in Europe, let alone in Antwerp.

How do immigrants currently assimilate or integrate into Belgian society? How would you hope they would do so better? Is there a problem with Islam specifically?

In a nutshell: people from all European countries except Albania are doing quite well. There are almost no problems with immigrants from India, China or Japan. For Turkey, the results are mixed, just as the result of westernisation in Turkey itself are mixed. For Moroccans, integration has failed. There are individual successes. But the general picture is negative. In private conversations, even our opponents will admit this. Race isn’t an element in this. But the radical brand of Islam definitely is. By the way, these results reflect the successes and failures of westernisation and modernisation in this countries. Don’t compare with the United States. You select your immigrants. Belgium doesn’t. In the States, most Muslims are middle class, and they originate from the middle or upper classes in their home countries. Even at home, before emigrating, they were relatively successful people. In Belgium, many of the Muslim immigrant come from poor, backward regions in Anatolia or Morocco. Many of them were almost illiterate, and even the city dwellers in Ankara, Istanbul, Rabat or Tanger look down on them. Even in their own countries, they couldn’t adept to modernity.

I understand that you have extended a hand to the Jewish community? Can you expand on that relationship? Do you have many Jewish supporters currently? Are they important to you?

Vlaams Belang - like the National Front in France - has been accused of having an Anti-Semitic or even Nazi past, as well as some current members who may still hold Nazi or anti-Semitic positions. What is your perspective on that past and the future? What about the history of collaboration?

Sometimes a decent women attracts evil men, not because of her own deeds, but because her good name has been blackened by slander. This is our problem too: all Belgium governments have depicted us as nazi’s in their propaganda. Of course some people believe this propaganda. There are some very small nazi groups in Belgium, but they hate us. That’s positive, it makes things clear. They say we are the accomplices of international Jewry and that we betrayed nationalism in return for Jewish money, that we kowtow for international Zionism, and so one. You certainly know that kind of slander.
We have no past of anti-Semitisme or collaboration. We have never written anti-Semitic texts. You may examine all our publications since the day our party was founded. You won’t find any attacks against Jews or Judaism. On the contrary. Very often we were the only political group defending Israel, both in publications and in parliament.
Our political enemies have gone over all our publications with a fine-tooth comb: each article in our party magazine, each political flyer, each book, each essay, looking for forbidden opinions. They accused us of inciting hatred towards Muslims, Arabs, Turks… Of course, these accusations were unfair. But even such biased opponents couldn’t find a single word that could be interpreted as anti-Semitic. A so-called neo nazi-party that in twenty-five years never utters one bad word against Jews… Is that possible? Yes, we are right-wingers. Just as Ariel Sharon, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher are right-wingers. But this doesn’t mean they – or we - are anti-Semites. And by the way: in the Republican Party, we would be moderates.

Our mother party was founded in 1978. It originated from the Volksunie. By the way the Volksunie took part in 1978 a Belgium government coalition. Many political heavyweights in the liberal party and the Christian democrats began their careers in the Volksunie. Our founder, Karel Dillen was just seventeen when WWII ended. He has not collaborated. As a political party, we have clean hands.

It’s is true however, that before WWII, all political movements in Belgium – including the Flemish patriotic movement - have made fatal mistakes in dealing with nazism.
Was Hemingway an communist because he fought as a volunteer in the Spanish Civil War? His allies were communists, even Stalinists. But it would be profoundly dishonest to call him a communist, or to depict him as an accomplice of Stalins henchmen. Yes, many Flemish patriots volunteered in WWII to fight against communism. Some of them were national-socialists, but even then, they were a tiny minority. Most of them simply thought nazism was the lesser evil compared with communism. Now we know the truth about Auschwitz and the shoah. Now we know that nazism and communism were twin brothers of evil. But before the war, before the truth about the shoah became clearly visible, this was a mistake many people made. We can’t change the past. We can’t deny the dark spots in our history. But we are not prisoners of that history. This bitter experience has been a sobering lesson. Flemish nationalism will never again believe the false promises of totalitarism. Flemish nationalism will never again touch a totalitarian regime, even not with gloves on. One could only wish the left-wingers had learned that lesson too.

Are you still interested in making an official visit to Israel? If so, why? You have said that the real enemies of Israel and the Jews are the Socialists and the Greens. Can you explain?

Yes, I’m still interested. It would have a great symbolic value. Maybe it would help to overcome misunderstandings and negative perceptions created by Belgium propaganda.
Yes, socialist and Greens are Israel’s most dangerous foes in Europe.. In nearly all European countries, those parties have the most aggressive stand against Israel. Their old sympathies for Israel and the Jews, that were still strong in the sixties, have completely vanished. They even tend to identify Israel and Zionism with nazism. They glorify Arafat and the PLO. They dragged their feet in recognizing Hamas as a terrorist group. In their view, Israel is the aggressor and the Palestinians are innocent victims. This political shift of the Socialist parties in Europe has two reasons: oil and votes. In 1973, OPEC organised an oil boycott. To prevent this from happening again, European politician try to appease the Arabs. Nowadays, they have one more motive for this infamous appeasement: the numbers of Muslim immigrants with voting rights are constantly rising. In each and every European country, they largely outnumber the Jewish voters. It’s disgusting, it’s infamous, it’s treacherous, but that’s the way many Socialist and Green politicians think: they hope they can win over the Islamic vote bank by bashing Israel and the United States, and by turning a blind eye on the virulent anti-Semitic rhetoric in Islamic publications and Islamic websites. This facts mirror a remarkable switch of alliances in many European countries: in the old days, right-wingers had no sympathy for the Jews – or even worse! - while left-wingers made alliances with them. Nowadays, it’s the other way around. The right-wingers defend Israel and warn against Islam. The left-wingers are bashing Israel and the United States, and kowtow for Islam. France is an exception: there the left-wingers have made the switch, but the right-wingers haven’t. This explains why French left- and right-wingers are both bashing Israel and supporting the Arabs.

What is the chance of overcoming the so-called "cordon sanitaire?’

On a national level, the chance at the moment is almost zero. But in the town councils it’s possible we can overcome the ‘cordon sanitaire’. If we can overcome the ‘cordon sanitaire’ at the local level it will be possible to do the same at national level too.

What has been the response of average Antwerp natives to your policies on immigration? What kinds of responses do you receive? Do you think this is the direction the rest of the country will move in as well?

Most people agree with our policies against immigration and radical Islam, and with our proposals to get “though on crime”. Even people who vote for other parties, generally agree with us on that topics. In Flemish politics, political movements generally start in Antwerp. Later on, they gain foot in the rest of the country. Yes, I’m optimistic.

What are some of your other key policies for the city? What will change first in a Dewinter administration? I understand that your key opponent may be a Muslim. How will that impact the race for the mayor’s office?

My key opponent won’t be a Muslim. That information must be wrong. I’m almost sure it will be the current mayor, Patrick Janssens. Our other key topics, in a nutshell: crime, drugs, corruption, a pro-life and a pro-family stance. You probably know marihuana and so-called “soft drugs” are almost legalised in Belgium. We can’t change that infamous law, but we want a big crackdown on drug trafficking, and an information campaign to warn youths against drugs. There are such campaigns against smoking, and against reckless driving. But you will never see even one official campaign ad against drugs. That has to change. Another very important topic is freedom of speech. We want new legislation, similar to your First Amendment. My party is in legal trouble because of an interview with Jewish Weekly. There I said: “The islamization of Europe is a frightening thing. Even distinguished Jewish scholars as Bat Ye’or and Bernard Lewis warned for this. If this historical process continues, the Jews will be the first victims. Europe will became as dangerous for them as Egypt or Algeria” Under Belgium law, this is “hate speech”. No, there’s no freedom of speech in Belgium. We need your First Amendment. But again, that depends on Brussels. Even the mayor of a big city can’t change that



Zeer mooi en uitgebreid interview...

als Jood zou je toch moeten kotsen van zo'n hypocrisie

[luc broes]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Uh-Huh

Dat zegt al genoeg over FDW en zijn haatzaaiende, islamofobe partij. Ik hoef daarvoor écht niet de rest van zijn leugens, zoals "The moderate Muslims are in the same hapless position: they can’t speak out against radical Islam" , te lezen..

Do not confuse me with the facts, I have already made up my mind!

[born2bewild]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Uh-Huh

Dat zegt al genoeg over FDW en zijn haatzaaiende, islamofobe partij. Ik hoef daarvoor écht niet de rest van zijn leugens, zoals "The moderate Muslims are in the same hapless position: they can’t speak out against radical Islam" , te lezen..

Hoezo? Willy Claes heeft quasi letterlijk hetzelfde gezegd voor een internationaal publiek en met het handgeklap van de rode kameraden.
Dit was een paar maanden voor hij een Claeske deed en zich het smeergeld van Agusta niet meer herinnerde.

[luc broes]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door ericferemans

Ik vraag me bezorgd af wat de " alte Kamaraden" gaat overkomen indien ze dit lezen. Een keppeltje kopen? Een jodenster opspelden.
Er moeten nogal wat infarcten zich voordoen in de rusthuizen, waar ooststrontstrijders zitten...

Den Eric overbezorgd!

[ericferemans]

weten ze al bij dat joods tijdschrift wie er allemaal aan de basis ligt van de filosofie van Philippeke?
bijvoorbeeld... Staf De Clercq : "Er is maar één oplossing. Zuivering van ons gehele volkslichaam. Totale en volledige uitschakeling van de jood uit het gezonde volkslichaam "

Philip Dewinter : "Staf De Clercq is mijn grote voorbeeld"

Zij zullen zij lachen zulle!

[luc broes]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door born2bewild

Hoezo, Willy Claes heeft quasi letterlijk hetzelfde gezegd voor een internationaal publiek en met het handgeklap van de rode kameraden.
Dit was een paar maanden voor hij zich het smeergeld van Agusta niet meer herinnerde.

Jamaar die Claes magda want dadis ne rooje!

[ericferemans]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door gm10

als Jood zou je toch moeten kotsen van zo'n hypocrisie

Philippeke heeft geleerd van zijn grote goeroe, Staf de Clercq dat joden "untermenschen zijn".
Dus denkt hij:"die gaan dat niet doorhebben, die gaan op mij stemmen!"

[Ambiorix]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door ericferemans

Philippeke heeft geleerd van zijn grote goeroe, Staf de Clercq dat joden "untermenschen zijn".
Dus denkt hij:"die gaan dat niet doorhebben, die gaan op mij stemmen!"

fdw is een echte zionist geworden ze wees gerust.

[ericferemans]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door luc broes

Den Eric overbezorgd!

Ah ja hé!
Volgens de hier op het forum nooit tegengesproken genieën was Hitler een socialist omdat hij tegen de liberalen was.
Ehwel: ik ben tegen de communisten, dus... ben ik voor de Ooststrontstrijders!
Logica van Blokkia!

[ericferemans]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door born2bewild

Dit was een paar maanden voor hij een Claeske deed

Een Claeske doen!
Is dat zoals "ik heb een Vanheckske in mijn broek gedaan"?
Oei, ik heb een Philippeke laten vliegen en het stinkt nogal?
Of zoals "Boem, die is nogal op zijn Coolen gevallen zeg"

[Uh-Huh]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door born2bewild

Hoezo? Willy Claes heeft quasi letterlijk hetzelfde gezegd voor een internationaal publiek en met het handgeklap van de rode kameraden.
Dit was een paar maanden voor hij een Claeske deed en zich het smeergeld van Agusta niet meer herinnerde.

O ja? Bewijs dat dan maar eens.

[born2bewild]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Uh-Huh

O ja? Bewijs dat dan maar eens.

Wat moet ik bewijzen? Dat de SP zijn voordeel deed met geld van Agusta?

www.google.com

ik ben te lui, en als je liever zelf een Claeske doet dan is het voor mij ook goed.

[luc broes]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door Uh-Huh

O ja? Bewijs dat dan maar eens.

Ja! en verhofstadt zei ook iets in die aard!

[Uh-Huh]

Oorspronkelijk geplaatst door born2bewild

Wat moet ik bewijzen? Dat de SP geld kreeg van Agusta?

www.google.com

ik ben te lui, en als je liever zelf een Claeske doet dan is het voor mij ook goed.

Ha ha. Ben je nu echt dom of opzettelijk dom? Moet ik nu geloven dat Willy Claes hetzelfde als FDW heeft gezegd onder donderend applaus van de "roden"; zonder dat jij me daarvan een bron kan geven?