Dutch anti-Islam politician broadcasts Mohammed cartoons on national TV

Dutch far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) leader Geert Wilders (Reuters/Yves Herman)

Dutch television has aired a slideshow of Prophet Mohammad cartoons, a month after the series was presented at a caricature competition in Texas that was attacked by two gunmen. Anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders is at the helm of the new scandal.

During a three minute
broadcast slot allocated to Wilder’s Freedom Party, the
politician promoted the “freedom of speech” action by
presenting a slideshow of Mohammad cartoons accompanied by piano
music.

According to the right-wing politician, he assumed the
responsibility for revealing to the world the taboo nature of
Islam after visiting the exhibition in May in the USA. The
broadcast coincided with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“The only way to show terrorists that they are not going to
win is to do exactly what they do not want us to do,”

Wilders said. “I do not broadcast the cartoons to provoke; I
do it because we have to show that we stand for freedom of speech
and that we will never surrender to violence. Freedom is our
birthright. Freedom of speech must always prevail over violence
and terror.”

READ MORE: Anti-Islam group wants to run
cartoon ads of Mohammed in DC

The populist politician also explained that he was “forced” to
air the provocative caricatures after the Dutch Parliament
refused to host the exhibition.

READ
MORE: 2 gunmen killed outside Mohammed ‘art event’ in Texas

The broadcast already attracted criticism, with Aissa Zanzen,
spokesman for the Council of Moroccan Mosques in the Netherlands,
calling Wilders’ action a publicity stunt.

“Wilders is out to provoke
Muslims and he has done everything he can to do that,”

he said.

Prior to broadcast, the Dutch government took precautionary
steps, sending out 140 diplomatic cables worldwide preparing
their embassies for the potential ramifications. In their brief,
the Dutch government emphasized that the broadcast was Wilder’s
private initiative.

The Muhammad caricature cartoon competition in Texas, organized
by Pamela Geller of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, had
Wilders as its keynote speaker. Just after the Dutch politician
left the scene, the event was attacked by two Islamist extremists
who were shot dead. The Islamic State took the responsibility for
the attack.

READ MORE:
ISIS threatens to ‘slaughter’ controversial blogger Geller, warns
of more attacks to come

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