Introducing Project Pim Fortuyn In English

This is a translation of an article written by Pim Fortuyn, originally published at www.nu.nl on 19 Sept. 2001. Translated by Pim's Ghost and www.pimfortuyn.com.

19-09-2001 The Threat of Islam

When I published my book “Against the Islamisation of our culture - Dutch Identity as Fundamental Value' in 1997, a storm of criticism rose from 'Left wing liberals in the Netherlands. I was tarred and feathered. In short order I was accused of (incitement of) racism and xenophobia. The Social Democrat and former minister Marcel van Dam didn’t recoil on VARA TV to call me ‘an inferior human being’ (in German: 'ein Untermensch ' the word used by Hitler and the Nazis for the Jews) and thus draw a comparison with Eichmann, the official bureaucrat in charge of the assassin of 6 millions Jews.

In my book there’s not a single word referring to that horrible era. Xenophobia is completely alien to me and Islam is a religion and culture which is not bound to any race. There are white Muslims, brown, yellow and black Muslims. Something of everyone, I would say. Moreover, the same could be said for Christians, Roman Catholics and Jews. It’s got nothing to do with race. Rather, it’s all about culture and religion.

In my book I demonstrate that Islam - where I will in gradations make a difference between some liberal versions of Islam and the fundamentalist alternatives – basically when it concerns our norms and core values, is hostile towards modernity: i.e. hostile towards the culture of the free and economically developed West.

The separation of church and state is not accepted by them. They only accept one state - a theocracy.

Consequently those with a minority opinion in the general public domain would have to submit themselves to Islamic law.

In our society it’s the representatives who make and adopt laws, with respect for the separation of Church and State and do so on the basis of regularly held elections. In our constitution the respect for minorities has been incorporated and their freedom to even move, think and express themselves publicly have been enshrined in our laws. In nearly all Islamic countries minorities, at best, have considerable difficulties.

In a so-called liberal Islamic country such as Egypt 52 homosexuals have recently been imprisoned without any trial, whereas homosexuality in Egypt is not prohibited by law, on the charge that they are members of a state undermining group. These men were caught on a party ship, that had already been sailing for years every weekend: as it happens, organising a comfortable meeting for homosexuals and giving them the opportunity to meet.

In our country something like that would be unthinkable, in Egypt no one cares. Moreover in general in most Islamic countries the freedom of expression and religious and social conviction are completely trampled on.

Men and women are absolutely not equal in their societies. Women must set themselves aside for men and for the institutions controlled by men, and she is kept away as much as possible from the public sphere. When she may show up is it at least with a headscarf, yet more often completely covered. You won’t see a beautiful little skirt and naked shoulders, flirting with men is forbidden and the women are strictly separated from the men. Something could happen …!

Furthermore, there is an earlier discussion of a sense of responsibility, than like at us of in the first place personally an individual responsibility. The family, the group, the tribe are to be the basic elements and not the individual.

Besides, in their societies collective responsibility is more important than personal an individual responsibility. The family, the group, the tribe form the basic elements and certainly not the individual.

Finally the most dangerous element, those horrible ayatollah’s believe to know exactly when and how one reaches kingdom of heaven, with the bizarre zenith acquiring the martyr ship with commitment of own their own life, obeying to their recommendations waging a holy war against all of who think differently themselves.

It has started with Salman Rushdie being hit by a fatwa handed down by “Konijntje” (Little Rabbit) - Khomeini, a death sentence, because Rushdie had written a book about Islam that was not well received, and it has, as far as we know, been followed up by planes plowing into the World Trade Centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.

It is now a matter of absolute understanding and declaring a cold war, therefore not an open warfare on Islam, being an ideology hostile to our societies. We don’t want to make a Police States of our societies, thus we must make our populations vigilant.

Not by organising witch-hunts, but by starting ideological debates with Islam in all its gradations and making it clear to them what we stand for and what we absolutely reject.

Therefore not prohibiting anything, our culture fights with our eyes open. They might call me publicly worse than a pig because of my homosexuality, but I ‘ll will answer them firmly and therefore I can stand for myself, I really don’t need legal representation.

But we must know, however, all that is said and preached in those mosques in our country and know what is taught in those Islamic schools and in the Islamic university, as we must require that these institutions will teach Dutch Culture as well as National History.

And in addition the citizens can do a lot by being vigilant, for those terrorist pilots were trained in the US themselves. The flight instructor could certainly have listened a bit better to his intuition: this also goes for the terrorists: Truth is always shouted from the roof tops.

In short the people must know what Dutch identity is, because that is fundamental. In this manner we know what we stand for and can we be alert with everything that could be a threat. So not only the BVD (Secret Intelligence) and the police force are prepared at the highest level, but also us as ordinary citizens.

With each other we could turn away the danger and in the meantime we have to work on the integration of our Islamic fellow-citizens and especially on the emancipation of all those Islamic women in those deprived areas, that ‘enrich’ our country. Don’t be mistaken: emancipation of the Islamic women will literally pull the fuse from this worldwide explosive issue/powderkeg. Men can do nothing without women and that’s the way it is!

Pim Fortuyn,
Rotterdam, 19 September 2001