'Fewer, fewer, fewer!': Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders creates a storm with anti-Moroccan chant
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Your support makes all the difference.Geert Wilders, the leader of the fourth largest party in Dutch politics, has caused commotion by leading a gathering of his followers in an anti-Moroccan chant.
The chant took place in the wake of local elections, during an address in the Hague on Wednesday evening. Wilders asked supporters of his Partij voor de Vrijheid (Party for Freedom) whether they wanted more, or fewer Moroccans, both in their city and in the country as a whole. His followers responded by chanting: "Fewer, fewer, fewer!". Wilders concluded: "Then we'll see to that."
The exchange can be seen around 30 seconds in to the video below. (Be sure to turn the subtitles on).
In the lead-up to this question, Wilders had said: "I'm not really allowed to say this, because you will get accused, and there might even be D66 officers who will start a court case, but the freedom of speech is a great treasure. And we haven't said anything that is not allowed."
Many disagree with him on that. A number of national organisations supporting the interests of Moroccan Dutch people (Samenwerkingsverband van Marokkaanse Nederlanders and Landelijk Beraad Marokkanen) have called on the public to report the politician for discrimination and spreading hatred. The Facebook page "Ik doe aangifte tegen Wilders" (I am reporting Wilders) gained 63,980 likes in 22 hours, and the public prosecution service has received at least 100 actual reports so far. On social media, the posts comparing Wilders with Hitler are numerous. Wilders was previously accused of hate-speech based on anti-Muslim remarks made in 2011, but was acquitted of the charges.
In Wednesday's local election, Wilders' party won in the town of Almere and came a close second in The Hague, losing to social-liberal party D66. According to the Ipsos Political Barometer, the popularity of the party has grown since the last national elections in 2012, in which Wilders gained the third largest number of votes.