Dutch arrest cartoonist

Dutch police arrested and held for two days cartoonist Gregorious Nekschott (a pen name) for publishing rude cartoons about Islam. The ones I saw seemed awfully mild. The operative premise of the Dutch authorities is the same as that of the Ontario Human Rights Commission in their recent statement: to oppose an enemy of our country, to say anything disrespectful about an enemy of our country, is an illegal act of hatred. The enemy has the right to enter and take over our country; indeed he is welcomed to do so; but if we oppose this, we are dangerous bigots. And underlying that premise is the premise that the enemy is not an enemy, but a harmless group of individuals requiring protection from our racism.

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Adela G. writes:

The most chilling part to me of the article in the Brussels Journal was this: “Reprinting the parodies is illegal in most European countries. Hence, if you live in Europe do not click this link!”

Day by day, I am more and more convinced this madness will not end without bloodshed.

LA replies

I thought the notice was somewhat ironic. Which doesn’t change the badness of the news. And, yes, the differences taking shape in the West seem more and more like the kinds of differences that cannot be settled by politics. The left have, in innumerable ways, announced their intent to destroy this civilization, and to silence, marginalize, and imprison anyone who stands in their way.

Thomas Landen, the editor of Brussels Journal, has sent me the following:

The statement is ironic but not entirely. We wanted to republish the parodies as “quotes” but decided not to do it since it is indeed illegal to reprint or quote “hate speech.”

We republished two Nekschot cartoons because we can argue that they are relevant for our article, but strictly speaking even this is illegal. You also have to realize that our website is hosted in the U.S. and published by a Swiss (i.e. non-EU) organisation.

Anthony Damato writes:

About that arrest of the Dutch artist, this smacks of a totalitarian state smashing any resistance, however weak. Shocking and frightening at the same time. I’m sure that it will achieve the desired effect of silencing any criticism of Islam. The act of arresting him for a cartoon, is to me, a sign that the state is too powerful and approaching tyranny.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at May 16, 2008 11:43 AM | Send