Gamal Nkrumah notes that in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe, pressure from politicians like Geert Wilders on the issue of Muslim immigration produced significant results Racism runs on social anxiety. The economic slowdown in Europe threatens to degenerate into recession. Most Europeans understand that their honeymoon as one big happy family is behind them. Someone or something has to be blamed. Such brazen shifting of responsibility works, rather splendidly, for the racists. This goes to the heart of the debate about the rise of the anti-immigration groups in Europe. Racist attitudes and religious hatred of Islam and Muslims are fast developing in Europe. Islamophobia is alive and thriving all over Europe and not just the Netherlands. The spectre of racism is once again rearing its ugly head. Could it be that Europe itself is now the wrong place to be for a devout Muslim? The Netherlands and Europe exhibit a pathetic lack of international ambition. The continent espouses a political parochialism that the Netherlands now embodies. Dutch MP Geert Wilders, the Freedom Party leader, calls for an end to immigration to Europe from Muslim nations. He personifies the spirit of insular provincialism. He conceded, however, that Muslims who abide by the secular Western "law of the land" would be welcome to stay. The colonial subjects of one of history's most successful colonial stories have descended on the metropolitan Motherland and have been greeted for the most part by indifference or outright hostility. The Netherlands, though, is braced for a nasty decade ahead. And, Geert Wilders has positioned himself as the poisoner of the well, and is widely regarded as a saviour of his nation. Which will he be -- crafty or credulous? Wilders is not a man for calm and conciliatory pragmatism. He is a champion of impetuous moral certitude. Rather like the neo-cons and George W Bush, Wilders, the standard-bearer of the resurgent racism of Europe, prefers black and white to shades of grey. He firmly believes that the time is right to turn the page on the failures of leftist liberalism in Europe. Wilders is a man of his racist times. At any rate, many across the political spectrum in Europe have decided that the prospect of dealing with militant Islamists was even worse than letting leftists rule the roost. Many in the Netherlands are turning to Wilders for inspiration. According to Wilders and his fans, "Thatcher-like" right-wing conservatives, rather than liberal leftists, should now set the political agenda. Wilders does not fit easily into any box. He is no neo-Nazi. In the new Europe, such label is meaningless. Wilders is in favour of muscular measures to combat Islam and immigration -- particularly of Muslims. Wilders is liberal on Muslims who assimilate into Dutch culture, adopt Western values and relinquish the religious zealotry of their co- religionists in the Islamic Heartlands. "The leftist elite still believe in multiculturalism, coddling criminals, a European super-state and high taxes," Wilders told cheering supporters at a rally in Almere, the constituency where he stood and won. The Netherlands has 441 municipalities and the recently held municipal elections demonstrated the growing influence and power of Wilders' Freedom Party. In the event, the Dutch municipal elections were a forerunner to the general elections to determine the composition of the 150- member Dutch Parliament. In the run-up to the Dutch general elections in June, Wilders' star will no doubt shine even brighter. His Freedom Party is considered the most popular in the contemporary Netherlands, winning 21 per cent in The Hague and Almere an ominous portent of what will happen the upcoming national elections. But let us for a moment move back to the Dutch political drawing board. Wouer Bos, Labour Party leader, is a spent force. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, of the Christian Democratic Alliance tendered his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix. Balkenende's coalition government collapsed over disagreements between the Christian Democrats and Labour over whether or not to extend troop deployment in Afghanistan. So far, the crisis has been good for the credibility of Wilders and his ilk. The traditional Dutch bigwigs may hamper any headway for the Freedom Party, though. "But the rest of the Netherlands think differently. That silent majority now has a voice," Wilders told his supporters. His 2008 film Fitna: Islam and the Netherlands invited opprobrium but also propelled him into his current political ascent. Wilders had a deadly serious point. Yes, it is about time that the world wakes up to the realities on the ground in Europe. There is growing antagonism towards Islam at a popular level buttressed by misconceptions about Islam and Muslims. "Today Almere and The Hague, tomorrow the whole of the Netherlands," is Wilders ominous battle cry. The ruling liberal leftists of the Netherlands were predictably downbeat and their traditional conservative allies much confused, too. Liberalism, in the broad sense of the word, cannot be the panacea on which many were counting. It has become increasingly viewed as old-fashioned, outdated and worse, the cause of much of Europe's ills whether social, political or economic. The Netherlands, of course, was for centuries the colonial master of the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia. There are deep-rooted fears that explain why Western nations such as the Netherlands continue to loathe their former Muslim subjects. Wilders draws attention to an important question he does not answer -- why have both militant Islamists and pragmatic Muslims sought refuge in countries like the Netherlands? The obvious answer is that the economic and political set-up in the Netherlands made life easier for Muslims both in the economic sense and as far as the exercise of political rights is concerned. Most Muslims who seek refuge in nations such as the Netherlands are escaping economic malaise, a lack of opportunity and political oppression in their countries of origin. Wilders believes that Muslims' problems should be of no concern to the Dutch electorate. What matters to the Dutch is that their nation does not slide into the morass of militant Islam, that it is not engulfed by the new, old foe. "I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam." His comments undermine trust in the liberal spirit of post-World War II Europe. More serious than this, however, is the realisation that the West is on the edge of a new era. The caring façade of Europe's leftist liberalism is fast crumbling. This looks depressingly right to me. Wilders' bellicose and public style is winning plaudits at home and abroad. Wilders was invited to Britain last week by cross-bencher Baroness Cox and the British Independent Party leader Lord Pearson. Wilders flaunted his controversial film Fitna at the British parliamentarians, and argued that Islam and democracy are inherently "incompatible". Wilders also dismissed the Holy Quran as a "fascist book". Wilders was barred from speaking to the British Parliament last year on the grounds that his oratory "threatens community harmony and therefore public safety" but bigots like him are becoming respectable throughout Europe. Traditional anti-Semitism in Britain, like the rest of Europe, is long gone. The new anti-Semitism is Islamophobia and Wilders makes political capital out of this. We cannot wish away difficult questions pertaining to Islam and democracy. They are there and need to be faced. Here are further glimpses of the Dutch kaleidoscope. Raised as a Roman Catholic, Wilders upholds what he calls "Judeo-Christian values". The "Judeo" is most appropriate as Wilders is a frequent visitor and ardent supporter of the Chosen People. Perhaps it's important to mention that Wilders' mother was born in Sukabumi, the Dutch East Indies, today's Indonesia. Wilders plays down his "Indo" heritage but there is no doubt that it reinforces his revulsion towards Islam. After graduation he headed to Israel, volunteered in a moshav (cooperative agricultural community). He later travelled to neighbouring Arab countries and was appalled by their apparent lack of democracy. He also became infatuated by the Israeli concept of counter-terrorism. The precise nature of the relationship between the accommodation of Islam under the umbrella of the philosophy and political institutions of the liberal leftist is widely seen as central to the future of the Netherlands and other European states. Yet, the case for Islam is getting stronger and stronger in many European quarters. Islam is a voice that can no longer be silenced. Muslims made a point of disengaging from the debate on democracy. Many Muslims in Europe are just as critical of the liberal leftists as Wilders and for much the same reasons. A closer examination of the platforms of both militant Islamists and Westerners like Wilders is that they are sadly not on top of detail. Of course there has been plenty of ritualistic praise for Wilders in Britain and all over Europe. Wilders wants to ban Muslim women from wearing headscarves in Almere. Wilders likens the Quran to Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and calls for the deportation of Muslim immigrants. Wilders is a new political wild animal.
