Indonesia is not so different from any other country.

Submitted by Charles (Netherlands), Jan 25, 2010 at 14:14

I have to correct you Mr. Soetoro. The Dutch were the smallest of all colonial nations in Europe. Other nations (England, Portugal, Spain etc) by far surpassed Dutch ambitions on this. Also, with regard to the infamous slave trade from Africa, the Dutch contribution to the mass deportations runs about 10% of the total amount. It must be rememberd that the Dutch was a 'super-power' on the high seas in the 17th century, and had the largest merchant navy in the world. If anything though, the Dutch were a commerce and trading nation and not a colonial war power like the other nations. With regard to Indonesia I have studied the Dutch history intensively. The colonial Dutch have (again by far) been the most mild in their colonial reign, compared to the other colonial powers. That is not to say that the Dutch too, have some black pages in their history, and the colonial period should be one of them. But then, which nation does not have some skeletons in their historical closet?..

The by comparison short modern Indonesian history also is not a blanc page. Lets not forget what happend after WW2 in Indonesia. But that is part of the building blocs of a nations history, and it all has to be counted.

The post war Netherlands has worldwide been looked at as probably the most tolerant and secular nation. After WW2 the NL have welcomed many immigrants from all parts of the world, and has in large been regarded as a good and save place to live and prosper. The social system is by and large regarded as one of the finest in the world. It is therefore significant to ascertain that even in the Netherlands there is a very definite and groing resistance to the fast expanding influence of islamic customs (if not to say anti-social behavior).

The Dutch have been very broadmindend indeed (some say: "so much broadminded, that their brains have fallen out"!) and have now come to the point of drawing a line to where their tolerance has taken the country.
If Mr. Wilders were a racist and a xenofobe, he would not have a following in the polls in the percentages he has (around 30 tot 35%, meaning around 2 million citizens at least). And these numbers represent only the persons who agree almost in full with Mr. Wilders viewpoints. There are ofcourse a lot of other people who only agree in part with him. All in all, Mr. Wilders viewpoints are shared by many.

Mr Wilders has a unblemished record in regard to any form of discrimination of any kind. His criticism regards the fundamentals of the islamic teachings in the Koran, the Hadith and Shari'a laws, which do not mix at all with democracy and a liberal justice system, and even with some basic human rights. Mr Wilders has not spoken out against all muslims, but has only made arguments regarding some muslims, who do not accept the Dutch way of life or its rule of law. For immigrants who have come of their free will to settle in the NL, it is not too much to ask,

The argument that Mr Wilders is just a racist bigot will not stand, if one studies his social and political background and the present situation in the Netherlands. Something has to be done and somebody has to say it. If the situation were the same in Indonesia were millions of Christian and or western immigrants would come to settle within 25 to 30 years, you would most certainly agree with me.

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