AMSTERDAM – A far-right, hate campaign calling for ‘de-Islamization of the Netherlands’ has sparked outrage in the Netherlands, with many human rights activists comparing it to Nazi propaganda.
“The similarities cannot be ignored. In the old movies, the Jews were shown as dangerous. Now the Africans and Muslims are shown as dangerous,” human rights activist Oscar Benjamin told Anadolu Agency, Yeni Safak newspaper reported.
Benjamin added that the right-wing Party for Freedom’s (PVV) leader Geert Wilders aimed at spreading fear and hatred through such hostile messages.
The Netherlands’ state-television NPO aired the campaign video of the country’s Party for Freedom’s (PVV) which calls for “de-Islamization of the Netherlands”.
“A demographic tsunami from Africa [is coming] to The Netherlands,” asserts the video.
The video clip calls for closing the borders to refugees and says, “More Islam causing intolerance, oppression, and terrorism. For this reason, PVV says stop. Close the borders. And de-Islamize The Netherlands.”
Rabbi Lody van de Kamp described Wilders’ ideology as “a copy of Nazi Germany”.
Human rights activist Ewout van den Berg also said on Twitter that the PVV’s film had “exactly the same images” with a Nazi propaganda film “The Eternal Jews” from 1940. Berg also shared captions from the two videos.
Wilders is notorious for his rants against Islam and Muslims.
Last month, Wilders canceled a planned anti-Islam cartoon contest that would depict Prophet Mohammad.
In 2008, Wilders released a 15-minute documentary accusing the Qur’an of inciting violence.
In 2013, Google has deactivated the mail account of Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders following complaints that the anti-Islam politician was using it to spread anti-Islam initiative.
In May 2014, Wilders has put his country in hot water after distributing stickers with the Saudi-flag, replacing the text of the shahada with anti-Islam slurs, after which the Kingdom slapped indirect sanctions on the European country.
In January 2016, the far-right politician said in a video for his party that all male Muslim refugees should be incarcerated in their asylum centers in Europe, claiming it to be necessary for protecting women on the streets.