Anti-Islam Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders ban from entering the UK

Dutch parliamentarian and anti-islam film maker Geert Wilders has been ban by British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith from entering the UK today Feb 12, 2009. The reason for such an extreme decision is believed to have been taken because Mr. Wilders wanted to broadcast his anti-islam film in the House of Lords, and this obviously would have upset the UK muslim population and others who oppose Mr. Wilders' vision on foreign affairs. The Times Online reported.

The Daily Telegraph reported yesterday: It carried on that Miss Smith was "satisfied that your statements about Muslims and their beliefs, as expressed in your film Fitna and elsewhere, would threaten community harmony and therefore public security in the UK".

It's a reality that Mr. Wilders isn't welcome in many places. In his own native country, the Netherlands, where there's a population of one million muslims (in a country where the population is only 16 million people) Mr. Wilders isn't liked by many. I remember talking to my Dutch friends when I lived in Holland, and most of them weren't happy with the position that Mr. Wilders takes, and even believed that Mr. Wilders is a bad image for the country. 

It is fair to highlight that Mr. Wilders live under 24-hour security, and he keeps his security wherever he goes, even outside Europe. 

I believe that it would be a mistake to let Mr. Wilders enter the UK not because of his views on Islam, but because he wants to involve the UK in his anti-islam mission by broadcasting his anti-islam movie Fitna in the House of Lords.

It must be said that the UK has one of the highest muslim population in Europe, and it would not be fair to oppose to something that's totally legal. After all, we live in a free country where we all have the right to believe in whatever we want to believe as long as we don't endanger other people. 

Plus, not letting a member of the EU (even if that person is an EU parliamentarian) enter another EU country is totally legal, as long as the decision is taken by the right minister for the right purposes. 

The image used for this article was taken from www.timesonline.co.uk

Times Online article used to write this story:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5710559.ece

Telegraph article used to write this story:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/4592536/Jacqui-Smiths-ban-on-anti-Muslim-Dutch-MP-triggers-diplomatic-row-with-Holland.html

Geert Wilders profile (Wikipedia):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geert_Wilders