STANDING FIRM FOR...WHATEVER

Theo and the politically correct tyranny (Radio Netherlands, November 19th, 2004)

Theo van Gogh thought Muslim culture was out of tune with Dutch society, and saw Islam as repressive and threatening. However, Muslims weren't his only target, he didn't spare Christians or Jews either. His comments were childish, outspoken and sometimes obscene. Oscar Hammerstein admits that Theo van Gogh sometimes went too far:

"People mix up things which have to do with freedom of speech. If you sit in a train and you say to a lady sitting opposite, 'you are the most ugly woman I have ever seen,' everybody knows that is very impolite. So that has nothing to do with freedom of speech. And Theo van Gogh in expressing his freedom of speech was quite often very impolite. Theo van Gogh said whatever he wanted to say, even when it was indecent."

Yassin Hartog, who heads the Dutch organisation Islam and Citizenship, argues that freedom of speech can and should be reinforced, but also believes that, in the Netherlands, the right to say exactly what you think depends on who you are:

"Here in Holland we've ended up with members of parliament, people in authority talking about the prophet of the Muslims as a perverted tyrant. We've had another member of parliament saying he could eat headscarves raw […] These are people placed in authority."

The Netherlands may be tolerant to those who want to speak out, but there are limits. Theo van Gogh was taken to court several times for anti-Semitic comments, although the courts ruled on each occasion that freedom of speech took precedence. A few years ago, Oscar Hammerstein threatened to sue everyone who demonised his then client, Pim Fortuyn:

"People didn't give an answer to what Pim Fortuyn had to say, but they said he was a demon […] They made him bad to the people, and the more they made him bad, the more people loved him."

"Theo van Gogh never demonised Islam, but he said Islam [lags] very much behind what we believe about society in Holland, and especially about the way we like to deal with the rights of women."

He says it's difficult to draw a legal line between free speech and causing offence. Theo van Gogh often described Muslims as people who have sex with goats, and although Oscar Hammerstein believes that wasn't decent, he doesn't think it was illegal.

The easy part will be understanding they have to take tough steps to check the influence of Islamicism in Holland. The hard part will be agreeing in the name of what.