He Must Be Doing Something Right

Geert Wilders is obviously onto something: half the Muslims in the Netherlands say he makes them want to leave the country.

The Dutch media are undoubtedly reporting this as a horror story, an example of racism and xenophobia and Islamophobia run wild. To them it’s a sign that all those suspicious-looking blond-haired yokels who comprise “persons of Dutch background” are neo-Nazis at heart and not to be trusted.

But what about the unintended consequences of reporting such information?

When the average Dutch citizen reads about this in the morning paper, what does he think? Does he say to himself: “Oh dear! I must mend my racist ways, so our Muslim guests will be only too happy to stay!”

Or does he think: “OMG! So all I have to do is vote for Wilders, and then we might finally be able to get rid of all this cultural enrichment! WOO-HOO!”

My money’s on the latter. Expect the PVV to go even higher in the opinion polls when the news of this gets out.

In any case, here’s the story as reported by the English-language version of Radio Netherlands:

Wilders Makes Half Dutch Muslims Want to Emigrate

More than half of the people with Turkish and Moroccan backgrounds in the Netherlands say they would consider leaving the country due to the growing popularity of anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders. A third say they would definitely like to emigrate.

The figures emerge from a survey by research bureau Motivaction for public service broadcaster NCRV’s current affairs programme Network. The programme commissioned the survey in response to the success of Mr Wilders’ rightwing Freedom Party in the recent European parliamentary elections. Since March this year, leading pollster Maurice de Hond’s Peil.nl has measured support for the populist Freedom Party at more than 30 percent, which would theoretically make it the largest party in the Dutch parliament if there were an election.

Discrimination

Although three quarters of the Turkish and Moroccan Dutch people questioned in the Motivaction survey said they felt at home in the Netherlands, 57 percent said they now felt less comfortable in the country due to the growing popularity of the Freedom Party. Two out of five said they felt they were now discriminated against more often, and almost a quarter said they regularly experienced discrimination. Nearly three quarters said they thought Mr Wilders had intensified negative feelings towards Muslims among the Dutch public.

Nearly twenty percent said they agreed with Mr Wilders on some points and could appreciate why people would vote for him. However, half of the respondents said the growing support for Mr Wilders made them feel angry and disappointed, and 22 percent said he aroused feelings of fear and hatred. Ninety per cent said they thought a Wilders government would be a fiasco, and only 4 percent thought he would be able to offer any solutions to the country’s problems.

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The survey asked respondents what they saw as the best strategy to counter Mr Wilders. Forty percent thought the best policy was simply to ignore the Freedom Party. Thirty-five percent favoured entering into debate with Mr Wilders and his supporters. Twenty five percent saw vociferous protest as the answer, and 11 percent wanted to see a Muslim political party established to represent their interests.

Not accepted

The survey’s findings echo remarks by Turkish-born Rotterdam councillor Hamit Karakus in Monday’s de Volksrant newspaper. Mr Karakus says that although his children speak Dutch, understand Dutch culture and customs, and are well educated, they still feel they are not accepted in Dutch society. “They also wonder whether they have a future in this country,” he adds. The councillor says he believes the popularity of the Freedom Party is fuelling support for a small but growing minority of radical Muslims in the Netherlands.

Figures cited by the annual Emigration Fair, which provides information to would-be emigrants, put the findings of the Motivaction survey of Dutch Moroccans and Turks people in perspective. According to the fair’s organisation, around 30 percent of the entire Dutch population say they are considering emigrating, for a wide range of reasons. However, only a tiny proportion of them ever actually take the plunge and move to another country.

The focus of this news story is on how Dutch Muslims feel and what can be done about it. And chances are that if and when ethnic Dutch people are polled, they’ll be reluctant to express the full extent of their feelings, given the politically correct regime that punishes “racism” wherever it appears.

So who knows what they really think? But I’m willing to bet that they’re heartened by all this.

We’ll find out when the next parliamentary elections are held.


Hat tip: TB.