Oznia, a blog of Israel things

For anyone who does not know, Geert Wilder is a Dutch politician and member of the Dutch Parliament. He has taken a particular interest in Arabic and Islamic culture over the past few decades, mainly criticizing certain portions o the Qur’an for inciting violence and terrorism. Wilder is a Roman Catholic and has no real tie to Judaism, yet he has visited Israel over forty-two times and considered moving there for a period of time.

I came across an interview Wilder had on Fox News, which sparked my interest. For any readers unfamiliar with Wilder, this interview should be viewed before reading the rest of this piece

In recent months, he has released a video called “Fitna” that has caused much controversy and has been banned by several websites. It depicts graphic images of terrorist attacks, and picks out certain excerpts from the Qur’an to show where the terrorists obtained their inspiration. It is now available here on youtube.

After watching those two videos, it is not hard to get an accurate sense of Wilder. He is not concerned with who he offends, or if what he says gains him popularity with the public. He is extremely opinionated and is very vocal with his opinions. He does not let the fear of terrorism put a damper on his opinions. To get to the point, my main question is this: While Wilder takes an extremely conservative stance; one that offends many people, shouldn’t the fact that he can say what he says serve as a testament to the freedom of progressive, modern society?