Another media attention hungry is using attacking Islam for his political advancement - the unashamedly populist Geert Wilders is about to release an anti-Islam movie. Something, the infamous Theo van Gogh paid his life for.Since back in 2002 Pim Fortuyn broke the traditional Dutch taboo on voicing racist opinions in the media, Islam has become the safe scapegoat of choice for any politician who wants to raise their media exposure.
Just like in the "good ole days" with Jews, everything is blamed on Moslem immigrants now - the plummeting since the Euro introduction life standard, the ailing polder economy, street crime (which actually is steadily declining). Dissenting voices are not muffled but are simply given less prominence and are simply not popular with the general public.
The general public in the meantime is relishing what they had been barred from for so many years - the good ole bullying of the weak. For more than 50 years after WWII, it was an absolute no-go in exchange for not giving a high profile to the Dutch participation in the Holocaust. For half a century, the Dutch paid lip service to liberal values -- airing opposing views, no matter how cherished, was not done. However, the chance for learning from the past through true remorse was missed. Anne Frank's house made up for all the gruesome dealings with Nazis.
Now all of it is mostly forgotten or not thought relevant - even the V-day is only celebrated every 5 years in the Netherlands - and as the lessons were never learnt, so we are starting to commit the same mistakes again, and no one seems to notice or mind. How far are we from enthusiastic crowds cheering again to charismatic leaders spewing racist slur?
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