Jailed Dutch cartoonist: “In Denmark the police protect cartoonists”
Ah yes, how the other half lives, so to speak:
A Dutch Internet cartoonist was arrested and then released again on suspicion of publishing work that is discriminatory against Muslims and people of color. A police spokesman said authorities searched the cartoonist’s home, that the arrest took place Wednesday, and the artist was released a day later. The spokesman could not confirm whether the cartoonist, who goes by the artistic name Gregorius Nekschot — Dutch for “shot in the neck” — would be charged by the public prosecutor.
So, in Denmark the authorities protect their cartoonists. In my country of birth Holland, they persecute them. Of course, Holland has a proud history of appeasing murderous regimes. They did so with Nazi Germany, until that country invaded us. So, it doesn’t come as a surprise that the Dutch authorities are at it again. To your average Dutch government keeping the peace has always been more important than freedom of speech - and if for that you have to appease mad Mullahs and arrest some cartoonist, well, that’s what they will do.
Another proud day for liberty and Western culture as a whole - and yet another example of how people simply refuse to learn from history. It’s always dangerous (and certainly facile) to make comparisons between modern and historical situations but it’s still relatively safe to say that Hitler and the extremist Muslims have at least one thing in common and that is that they are not at all impressed with people or regimes that they to appease them.
Hitler invaded Holland, however much the Dutch government of the day stated its neutrality - and its respect for this ‘friendly’ head of state. It sent back refugee Jews in order not to offend the Nazis and even had as many guns pointed to England as it had to Germany. None of this mattered in the end - and neither will it do a blind bit of good to appease extremist Muslims by throwing the odd cartoonist in jail.
Obviously, Muslim extremists do not form the same threat now as Hitler was then but the same principle still applies. Unless you are part of the Dutch government, of course: they don’t do principled.
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