Is this the kind of racism they’re talking about? I don’t know: this group may really be racist. But all too often any discussion of the implications of importing massive numbers of Sharia supporters into Europe is called “racism,” thus silencing the much-needed debate. From Deutsche Welle, with thanks to Ali Dashti:
While the Netherlands reels from a spate of attacks against Muslims, Belgium’s top court has dealt a temporary blow to one of Europe’s most successful anti-immigrant parties, Vlaams Blok, by declaring it racist.
Belgium’s supreme court on Tuesday voted to uphold a verdict by a lower court in April that found the far-right nationalist party guilty of “permanent incitement to segregation and racism.” The justices rejected all 21 arguments put forward by the Vlaams Blok in an appeal case, arguing that freedom of speech had its limits under the country’s tough anti-racism legislation.
The verdict effectively shuts down one of Belgium’s most popular parties by cutting it off from some €250,000 ($325,000) in annual public funding. Anti-racist activists, who have lobbied to keep the party, which espouses anti-immigrant policies and advocates secession, out of the country’s politics, applauded the court’s decision.
But Vlaams Blok leader Frank Vanhecke likened the ruling to legislation applied by the former communist states in Eastern Europe. “What happened in Brussels today is unique in the western world: Never has a so-called democratic regime outlawed the country’s largest political party,” he said in a statement Tuesday.
Vlaams Blok has now vowed to regroup and return with an even stronger voter basis.
“We will establish a new party. This one Belgium will not be able to bury; it will bury Belgium,” Vanhecke said….
Although the new version of the party will no longer advocate the forcible expulsion of non-European immigrants (as decreed by the court), it will continue to push for the departure of minorities “who reject, deny or fight against culture and European values like the separation of church and state, freedom of expression and equality between men and women,” a statement said….
The current wave of anti-Muslim attacks across the border in the Netherlands following the murder of the controversial film director Theo van Gogh has also added fuel to Vlaams Blok’s campaign to keep non-European immigrants out of Belgium if they do not adopt the country’s rules and western values. And it is expected that the party will increase its popularity when it relaunches this coming weekend.
Note: “The current wave of anti-Muslim attacks” has added fuel to Vlaams Blok — not the murder of van Gogh itself. Thus without a shred of evidence, the reporter links the Belgian party to the Dutch vigilantes. Just another day in the life of an “objective” journalist.