Dutch parliamentarian and far-right politician Geert Wilders protested what he called “an increase in the number of Muslims in the Netherlands”, noting that watching them pray on the streets of the Netherlands is “a denial of the identity of the Netherlands”. On Tuesday, May 23, 2023, Wilders, known for his extremist views against Arabs, posted on his Twitter account a video clip of “And the Muslims” showing dozens of Muslims praying inside and outside the Sunna Mosque in The Hague, expressing their displeasure happening. He commented on the video saying, “This is Holland in 2023. Our streets are full of Muslim believers. Holland is no longer Holland.”
Wilders, head of the far-right anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant Freedom Party, is known as one of the most staunch opponents of Islam and immigration to the Netherlands and has been actively using his Twitter account to attack Muslims. This is not the first time Wilders has shown his hostility towards Muslims, as he believes he has been known to spread hate messages against them for years in an effort to drive them out of the country.
Twitter suspended Wilders’ account last April for a tweet attacking Islam and referring to Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. In July 2021, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands upheld the judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal against Wilders due to “offensive” statements about Moroccans and his promise in 2014 to comply with the demand for “fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands”.
The court considered the then statements a collective insult, condemned the right-wing deputy and recommended that a decision be made on his punishment. Wilders leads the Freedom Party, the third largest political party in the House of Representatives, and is known for his “extremist” statements against immigrants and Maghrebian Dutch Muslims, and has been prosecuted on multiple occasions for his statements.
Geert Wilders is also known in Dutch circles as a controversial political figure, especially in Dutch society, which is one of the most European societies accepting Muslims and Arabs, especially from the Maghreb countries. Wilders appeared in court twice, the first time in 2011, and the court acquitted him of the charge of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims, and considered that his anti-Muslim statements were part of a political debate about the relationship of Dutch society with Islam. second in 2016; Where a court in Amsterdam found Geert Wilders guilty of the crime of inciting hatred amidst chanting slogans against Dutch citizens of Moroccan origin, but the decision did not prevent him from running for parliament or stripped him of his parliamentary membership, but observers believe that this ruling contributed to the growth of his popularity among the ultra right.