November 5, 2007 by Baron Bodissey |
910 Group | 21:12:54 | |
In the ongoing and robust debate over whether European right-wing political parties who oppose Islamisation have a right to meet with writers and activists who also oppose Islamisation, a well-read U.S. blog has suggested that the assassinated anti-Islamist Dutch political leader Pim Fortuyn disapproved of the anti-Islamist Flemish Vlaams Belang leader Filip Dewinter.
The translated quote from Fortuyn:
“Those men say unacceptable things. DeWinter is a fascist. I’m a civilized man. You won’t hear me say: ‘own people first.’ And am I not much more sympathetic than Dewinter?”
The reference to “own people first” refers to the motto of the predecessor political party of the current Vlaams Belang, known as the Vlaams Blok, which was active in the movement for Flemish independence from Belgium. The “people” referred to there are the Flemish. The motto also has some reference to the ongoing debate in Belgium about its completely open immigration policies, a debate that occurs across Europe. In Denmark, France and in the last week, Italy, policies similar to those proposed by Vlaams Belang on immigration are now mainstream policy.
Fortuyn’s positions on Dewinter may have been that he was a fascist -we would recommend reading Dewinter’s interviews and publications here, to make up your own mind. We think there is no justification for that statement, and that the term is thrown around pretty casually in Europe as well as the U.S. But Fortuyn clearly had other views as well about Dewinter’s political party, which provide some context (H/T commenter Cincinnatus, Gates of Vienna , who also provided the translation)
Cincinnatus has left a new comment on your post “The Movement for Flemish Self-Determination”:
As an aside (not trying to detract from this article), there is currently some debate about Pim Fortuyn’s view of the Vlaams Blok. The following excerpt of his own words show that he did not liken Vlaams Blok to any fascist legacy: www.pimfortuyn.com/asp/default.asp?var=0&id=1428&t=show&zoek1=vrij%20nederland
excerpt:
Q: Aren’t you glad that Wallage (a politician) is addressing your theme?
A: Listen, it’s much too late. For years he denounced Bolkestein (a Dutch party leader who first raised concerns about immigration in the 1990’s), when Bolkenstein was trying to put these matters into discussion. And his method was quite vile. He’d go on and on about the Second World War. Also, Kok (a politician) does the same. Always telling us about yet another new monument, a stone monument, that he has opened. And on it is inscribed the counts of the murdered Jews and the murdered Gypsies. So, yet another monument. Holland has gone mad.
Q: Why do you say Holland has gone mad?
A: That everything has to be meticulously detailed out. Give us a break! Holland is full of monuments to the Second World War. And then Kok endlessly goes from today back to then, and the checkered past, and Nazism. I find it entirely invalid to liken these (i.e., the past and present). It just poisons the whole topic (of immigrant issues). I also think the way that Kok describes Haider’s (Austrian politician) views is scandalous. Haider is not a Nazi. And if he is, then he’s no different than many in the Social Democratic and Christian Democratic parties. Sure, (Haider’s party) have a problem with their checkered past, but all the parties do. And who gave shelter to all the “war criminals” after the war? That was the Allied coalition, and not Haider. So what is Kok on about? Also, it’s not valid to talk about the Vlaams Blok in that way, either. It is senseless to be endlessly milking this Hitler thing. Then and now, are two incomparable realities.
3 Comments
»
[...] Pim Fortuyn: “Then and now, are two incomparable realities.” refutes allegations here. [...]
“DeWinter is a fascist.” - Pim Fortuyn
Duh!
Shhh… don’t tell Paul at the bj… he’s in denial!
We think there is no justification for that statement, - Christine
Well, that’s your opinion. Unfortunately, your opinion has no bearing on the facts. Paul Belien at the bj misrepresented Fortuyn’s opinion of Dewinter and Vlaams Belang, Charles Johnson called him out. Belien used leftist tactics of spreading lies about a martyr for the anti-Islamization cause, that’s reprehensable.
Also, it’s not valid to talk about the Vlaams Blok in that way, either. It is senseless to be endlessly milking this Hitler thing. Then and now, are two incomparable realities. - Pim Fortuyn
Very true… but, uh… you do realize Fortuyn was merely pointing out that contemporary fascists, such as Dewinter, and early 20th century fascists, e.g. Hitler, are not comparable because the times have changed. This quote proves nothing more than Fortuyn’s advice that Hitler comparisons are ’senseless.’ But no one said that Dewinter was Hitler. He’s not. Dewinter is a Flemish White Nationalist with a crypto-fascist political philosophy. He’s racist, and he has hitched a ride to the counter-jihad movement in order to gain a wider base of support.
It’s a disgrace to the counter-jihad movement that Dewinter is involved and it’s pathetic that his apologists ignore the facts.
The settled parties felt threatened by Fortuyn. Not because of his programme, but because he switched on the spotlight on the pack of bureaucratic aparatsjiks living happily together, praising each others good deeds for the people they feed from their hands. He was an intruder in a marxist elite power-game and they made him pay for it.
Thats the kind of stupidity people still have to deal with in Europe, for almost three decades now. Extreme leftist can say what they want, say they defend freedom of speech and democracy and enjoy it, its a feee country isn’t it? But if you oppose their views, or show sympathy for conservatives and real democrats like Fortuyn or Dewinter, they freak and try anything to slander you, portray you as a fascist, Mussolini, Eichmann, they milk anything from that dark era, even if they need to rewrite history for it, they’ll do it (and they do).
Fortuyn once said: “Islam is a backward culture”. And instead of reading why he thinks so, moonbats call the(ir) state-financed “anti-racism-bureau” and next day another courtcase-invitation dropped in his mailbox. Thats the Europe you don’t read of in the newspaper.
In that Europe people with the right intentions try hard to gather and resist this marxist immigration-take over bureaucracy, but have to walk tip-toe and be careful who they talk with.
Ordinary poeple have to be careful with whom they express their conservative views, and certainly the the idea that it is worth to defend their society against the islamic imperialism and colonization of their country. In such a complicated situation its of no help at all if people from oustide your country start calling you fascist as well because sleazy manipulating moonbats said so. It is even more demoralizing if it comes form the country that you admire, like the US (the country leftists love to see destroyed).
Recently a Dutch moonbat-writer accused the partyleader of the Freedom Party in the Netherlands (PVV, a conservative anti mass-immigration party) being a fascist. Asked for proof of anything fascist, he couldn’t find it, how hard he tried, and had to admit there was actually nothing fascist about that partyleader. Being a correct idiot he concluded: “still I call him a fascist”.
A dedicated Mussolini-screaming opponent of Fortuyn once said in a newspaper: “He [Fortuyn] doesn’t show respect for democratic institutions, the way rightist leaders like Haider, Berlusconi and Dewinter at least do. (…) He’s a fascist in an Armani-suit!”
Next day Fortuyn called him, extremely angry: “How do you dare call me an Armani fascist! … I wear costumes made by Oger!”.
The leftists didn’t get the joke and happily shot him.