Moroccan Kidnapped, Raped & Killed 13 Year Old in Italy

From ANSA:

A 22-year-old man from the North African country was arrested Sunday on suspicion of the kidnapping and murder of a 13-year-old girl who went missing in the northern town of Brembate Sopra near Bergamo nine days ago.

On the same day a 21-year-old Moroccan allegedly under the influence of drugs killed seven cyclists and injured three others, one of whom is in a critical condition, after losing control of his car at Lamezia Terme in the southern region of Calabria

The good folk at ANSA are very concerned - not about the 8 or 9 Italians who might still be alive today but for their country's madcap immigration policies, but about the "intolerance" aimed at Moroccans which is bound to grow following these "two tragedies":

Two separate tragedies in which Moroccan migrants were implicated at the weekend have raised gusts of intolerance from some quarters in Italy.

A banner reading ''An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'' was put up by one local at Brembate Sopra after news spread of the arrest of the 22-year-old, who has denied killing Yara Gambirasio, whose body has not been found.

Another called on migrants to get ''out of Bergamo'', while racist comments and calls for lynchings appeared on some facebook pages.

The girl's family, in contrast, appealed for calm and Brembate Sopra's Northern League Mayor Diego Locatelli said there should be no ''manhunt''.

But this tone was not shared by other figures in the League, the junior partner in Premier Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government alliance and a party which frequently takes hardline stances on migration issues.

''We have so many criminals in Italy that we don't need to import them,'' said League Senator Piergiorgio Stiffoni in reference to both cases. ''Let's send them all back home'' League MEP Matteo Salvini echoed those sentiments: ''You can now read about the link between immigration and violence every day in police reports,'' Salvini told Monday's edition of daily newspaper La Repubblica.

''Uncontrolled immigration has caused damage. Those who preached the policy that there's room for everyone have what is happening on their conscience,'' he added, suggesting that even migrants with the necessary documents should not be allowed to enter Italy if they do not have a job. One commentator said intolerance helped some Italians feel they knew who their enemies were in a danger-riddled modern world, even though the threat often stems not from migrants, but from family members, as shown in two other recent high-profile murder cases here.

Indeed, a police car has even been stationed outside the home of the drug-driver's family - just in case.

If only protecting Italians in their own country were so easy.

Unfortunately, this fits a classic pattern. If an immigrant is responsible for a serious crime in a Western country, then it is not the victims of said crime who have suffered - but integration, tolerance and diversity.

The very notion that some people might view incidents such as these (not tragedies, both were deliberately caused by people who could have prevented them if they'd chosen to act differently) as a wake up call against mass immigration from the Third World strikes the media people as beyond the pale.

All the usual cliches are present in the article - bringing up crime committed by Italians, trying to pretend that anyone who is against mass immigration is falsely saying that if all immigrants left, there would be no more crime, for example.

The only good thing is that Italy appears to have some mainstream politicians actually willing to do their job - speak the truth and look after the people they were elected to serve.

Would that this were so in Britain.

Moroccan High on Cannabis Kills 8 Italian Cyclists

N.B. Some sources put the death toll at 7 cyclists.

Yet more tragic carnage brought to the streets of Europe by lax immigration policies. Yet more innocent people dead.

From the Daily Mail:

A speeding car ploughed head-on into a group of cyclists in southern Italy yesterday morning, killing eight of them, officials said.

The driver had been smoking marijuana, police said.

Bent, mangled bikes were strewn about the scene, and the sheet-draped corpses dotted the two-lane road near Lamezia Terme, in the Calabrian 'toe' of boot-shaped Italy where the accident occurred.

In addition to the eight cyclists killed, four people were injured: two cyclists and the driver and a young boy in the car with him, said Maria Dolores Rucci, commander of the road police in nearby Catanzaro.

The ANSA news agency said the driver, who was only slightly injured, was placed under arrest on charges of multiple homicide. A police spokesman who declined to give his name said the man, a Moroccan national, had tested positive for marijuana.

A preliminary investigation showed the speeding car ran headfirst into the group of 10 cyclists who were riding in the opposite direction on state road 18, according to Italy's highway authority.

ANSA said the driver was trying to pass another car when he hit the group. Visibility was good at the time, reports said.

Israeli Student Attacked at Italian University

An Israeli architecture student was eating his lunch at the university he attends in Genoa, Italy, last week when a student from Gaza came up, punched him, and began shouting abuse.

The following events played out:

Assaf, a 26-year-old Israeli architecture student, was eating at the cafeteria when Ibrahim Haji, a student from Gaza, came and began taunting him. "He came towards me, punched me and said 'why are you looking at me?' I told him I wasn't looking at him, and asked him to let me eat in peace," Assaf said. "A minute later he was back, swinging a fork, and called me in front of everyone to come outside while cursing Israel and declaring his intention to kill.

I understood that I have to avoid this dangerous situation. I told my Italian friends, who were eating with me, that I'm going back to my room so as not to respond to this provocation. On my way out I turned to the cashier and told her, 'Call the police. You heard the man threatening to kill,' and she responded, 'It's not my job to separate Jews and Arabs.'

Quite. It wasn't a member of a favoured victim group being attacked, therefore it's simply not important. Welcome to the European Union...

It gets worse, however:

Assaf's attempt to distance himself from the fight failed. Ibrahim waited for him outside and went for the attack. As Assaf tried to defend himself, Italian passersby stepped in to intervene and held him back. Ibrahim took the opportunity to draw a large kitchen knife. The Italian students tried to stop him.

"I saw death in front of my eyes. I broke free and ran into the storage in the kitchen and locked myself in. After a few minutes more Muslim students arrived and began shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great) and 'Itbach el Yahud' (slaughter the Jews). Later I understood that there are over 40 angry students there.

The Italians disappeared; they were scared to deal with them. I managed to get myself into the trash facility. I climbed a three-meter wall and jumped. I told myself it's better to break a leg than to get killed."

Assaf said that he went to the police but was ignored, until he turned to the community rabbi and additional Jewish families for assistance. "We filed an official complaint with the police, and they even informed the local investigation agency," said Chaim Amar, a 28-year-old medical student who serves as a security officer at the local synagogue. "Unfortunately, nothing came of it so far."

According to Amar, the police are familiar with Haji from previous violent incidents. It wasn't his first time threatening the life of an Israeli student, and he reportedly harasses female Israeli students regularly. "It's a matter of time before his next violent outburst," Amar said.

It doesn't even stop there; Assaf found himsef in the position of being blamed and resented by some fellow students and even university staff; the housekeeper at his dorm chastised him for contacting the police as it could ruin the Arab student's life.

What is he supposed to do upon being threatened with a knife, having his country cursed and being surrounded by a threatening crowd singing about how they wish to slaughter his people? Feel particularly vibrant, enriched and lucky to be able to celebrate such exciting diversity up close?

What are these violent Arab "students" even doing in Italy (apart from absorbing large sums of taxpayers' cash, no doubt)? It's quite clear these individuals are thugs, if not from this incident then from reports of their previous conduct and the fact all the Italian students (bar one) are too afraid to back Assaf.

All European countries need to stop importing violent, unassimilable immigrants now - for all our sakes.

Obviously if this incident had seen the Jewish and Arab elements reversed, it would be all over the BBC - but then it would never have played out like that, and we need to wake up to reality and start being honest with ourselves; some cultures, some immigrants just don't work.

But, clearly it couldn't be reported as it happened, because it might wake some more people up to the sheer, irrational, latent hostility which Israel and Israelis face everyday from those poor oppressed mites who build rockets with our "aid" whilst laughing at us, just for having the audacity to exist.

To paraphrase an old saying, you just can't be nice to some people - particularly those who see you as subhuman because you're an infidel and want you dead.

Europe needs to recognise who it's real friends - and enemies - are.

Hat tip: Islam in Europe.

Gaddafi Tries to Convert 200 Italian "Party Girls" to Islam

From the BBC:

A group of party girls got more than they bargained for when they were recruited to attend a posh do in Rome on Sunday night.

Instead of canapés and cocktails, the 200 young women found themselves being encouraged to become Muslims.

It turned out the host was Libya's leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi, in town for the UN food summit.

He spoke of the wonders of Islam and assured his guests it was not anti-women, as some critics argue.

The selection process had been rigorous; the identity of the host, a mystery.

The girls had to be beautiful, between 18 and 35 - and at least 1.70m tall.

The dress code was strict: plunging necklines and short miniskirts were most definitely out.

Two-hundred women passed muster and were bussed to a plush residential corner of the Italian capital.

Security scanned and shown into an imposing reception room, they were then left waiting, as several complained, without so much as a glass of water.

An hour later, their host's identity was finally revealed.

Col Gaddafi proceeded to preach the benefits of Islam, taking particular pains to assure his guests that it was not misogynistic, and encouraging them to convert.

Two hours later, the women left, looking a touch bemused, 50 euros ($75; £45) better off and clutching a copy of the Koran.

Notice the lighthearted way that this is treated.

The man is a crank, and it might seem funny upon first glance, but is it?

He is trying to convert a group of Italian women, who he specified must be of child-bearing age, to Islam en masse on Italian soil.

This is a man who knows that mass immigration is a dagger in the heart of Europe and the West; so he must be aware that after colonisation, subduing, absorbing and "integrating" the inhabitants (us) is the next step. Converting women to Islam, thus ensuring they will raise Muslim children, is the easiest way.

I wonder if the BBC would find all of this so amusing if a far-Right party tried the same trick?

But of course, a tyrannical Muslim despot can do no wrong.

***Update 18:21***

The Daily Mail has slightly more information - apparently the women were hired from one of Italy's largest escort agencies. The article claims 500 attended, but most other sources agree on 200 - although more such lectures will appsrently be held before he leaves Rome, one tonight and one tomorrow.

Whilst many of the women were said to have felt offended, some actually seem to have swallowed his drivel:

One blonde woman who did not give her name said: ‘I was particularly offended when he said we believed that Christ had been crucified but he hadn’t, instead it was someone who looked like him and that God had saved Christ.’

But Alessandro Londero, of Rome-based Hostessweb, who claims his agency is ‘one of the biggest in Europe with more than 65,000 girls’ on its books, insisted: ‘It was a very enjoyable experience and the girls were captivated by the evening.

‘Some of them have already been in touch with me to express an interest in going to Libya and seeing the place for themselves and speaking further with Gaddafi about converting to Islam.

‘He gave the girls Italian translations of the Koran and of his Green Book and he said he would be in touch with them to test them and make sure they had read them.

Immigration in Italy: Dreams Vs. Reality

Reuters last week carried a puff piece about how immigration benefits Italy, whilst dismissing legitimate fears over a rise in violent crime and being highly critical of Italy's new immigration reforms, which make being or helping an illegal immigrant a criminal offence.

For example; the fact that violent crime has risen by 17% in Italy since 2004 is apparently only a problem because Silvio Berlusconi's Northern League "whipped up fear" about it. Obviously, such things just aren't worthy of note unless you're on the far-Right.

If you believe that Italian left, then the reforms are evil. What is really needed, explain the Socialists, is to give immigrants (legal or otherwise) the vote - only that will completely end "racism and xenophobia" (i.e. observing reality and formulating policy accordingly) in Italian politics - not to mention completely destroy Italy as we know it, but you can't have everything, can you?

The Catholic Church compares not rescuing African asylum seekers at sea or towing them to Libya to "ignoring the Holocaust" (and let's be honest, they should know - when in Rome and all that).

Now we've established that Italians thinking the goodthink is more important than the existence of Italy itself, we are in a suitable place to ooh and aah because a team comprised of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi immigrant children recently won an under-15 cricket competition:

Mass immigration, unheard of 20 years ago, is fast changing society. Last month an Italian team of children of migrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh won an under-15 European cricket title, making headlines and winning praise from politicians like Fini.

The team, some of whom face deportation unless they receive citizenship, dedicated the victory to Northern League leader Bossi.

"This is the first European title in the history of Italian cricket," said Italian Cricket Federation President Simone Gambino. "It shows immigrants bring prestige to our country, not just problems."

No - it shows that if a country imports large numbers of people who play cricket, some of them will, er, play cricket.

Of course, whether or not this change is desirable is the big question - but it is one that cannot be asked, let alone answered. Obviously, if one does not feel that such changes are desirable, then one is a racist, a Nazi, a knuckle-dragger.

The Left pretend there are two options - but you know you can really only pick one, lest the shrill screams begin.

Speaking of the downside of immigration to Italy, here is but one good example; a feminist politician punched in the face whilst protesting against the burqa as a form of oppression to women:

MILAN: Italian female politician protesting burquas punched by muslim in scuffle. (hat tip Adam)

Santanche is currently running a campaign in Italy to expose the burqua and veil as oppressive to women. She took the fight to the front line today, entering a muslim 'prayer meeting' and asking to speak to some women to tell them they were being oppressed by a male-dominated regime masquerading as a religion, and was subsequently attacked.

Google translation here.

Daniela Santanchè, leader of the Movement for Italy, was attacked and hit with a fist while expressing, in front of the Steam Factory in Milan, against the entry of women in burqas who came to celebrate the end of Ramadan. The riot police intervened and planning is identifying the assailant.

The Santanchè - has long engaged in a battle for integration and against Islamic

fundamentalism - had arrived this morning with the intent to prohibit the entry of women in burqas. In recent days Santanchè had appealed against the burqa as an act of solidarity and witness for the tragic death of the young Sanaa killed by her father for his affair with an Italian boy. Before the riots, inter alia, had told reporters: "The Italian law forbids that turns his face covered and must be respected.

I do not blame these poor women but with whom he sends and subdues. The burqa is a humiliation for women. Not by chance even in France - has continued Santanchè - are passing a law to prevent their use. The burqa is like female circumcision because they are instruments to cancel its deepest identity. "

The event continued in an atmosphere of great tension Some protesters also ripped a street sign trying to hit the group of protesters who were with Santanchè. Challenged the decision of the organizers who initially tried to bring women with burqa from a rear entrance. The Santanchè entered into a climate of tension escorted by police and demanded to speak with some women. Members of the Muslim community have condemned the attacks and insults towards the Santanchè but they also claimed the right of their women to wear the burqa.

Photo: Daniela Santanchè, leader of the Movement for Italy.

I wonder how many international news agencies covered this? Surely there must have been at least one...

Jose Mourhino Criticised for Ramadan Comment

From Reuters:

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho was criticised by an Italian Muslim leader on Tuesday for comments the Portuguese made about Ramadan.

Inter midfielder Sulley Muntari was substituted in the first half of Sunday's 1-1 Serie A draw with Bari and Mourinho said the Ghanaian was possibly lacking energy because of the fast he is observing for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"I think Mourinho could talk a little less," Mohamed Nour Dachan, president of the Union of the Islamic community and organisations in Italy, told Sky television.

Pot meet kettle, eh, Mr Dachan?

We never seem to stop hearing what Muslims demand, think, want and will tolerate, even in countries which have graciously taken them in and they reside in by choice.

Church of the Nativity Exiles: "€2000 per Month is Not Enough"

From Ma'an News Agency:

Rome/Madrid - Ma’an - Bethlehem deportees declared an open hunger strike at the Palestinian embassy in Italy in protest of what they say are difficult living conditions in Europe.

Half a dozen of the men deported to Europe following the Israeli siege of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem say they are not receiving enough money from the Palestine Liberation Organization to cover their cost of living.

Spokesman of the deportees Jihad Ij’arah told Ma’an that those deported to Italy say Palestinian official’s “ignorance and carelessness” over their situation has resulted in many of the men having their water and electricity cut off from their homes and others being threatened with eviction as they are unable to pay high rents in European cities.

The deportees are reportedly entitled to 2000 Euro each month, with an additional 150 Euro to provide for their families, most of who remain in the West Bank.

Ij’arah said he had attempted to contact PLO member Sa’eb Erekat, and sent letters to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

I wonder what the odds are that Italian taxpayers will end up footing the bill?

Having said that, the Italian government should have left these murderous terrorists to face justice in the first place.

Thoughts on the Latest Griffin Controversy

BNP leader Nick Griffin has become embroiled in controversy once more after stating that boats bringing illegal immigrants from Africa should be sunk. Well - that's how The Guardian headlined it - here's the full exchange:

Boats carrying illegal migrants to Europe should be sunk Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National party, said yesterday.

In a provocative intervention, Griffin, elected to the European parliament last month, called on the EU to introduce "very tough" measures to prevent illegal migrants entering Europe from Africa.

"If there's measures to set up some kind of force or to help, say the Italians, set up a force which actually blocks the Mediterranean then we'd support that," Griffin told BBC Parliament's The Record Europe.

"But the only measure, sooner or later, which is going to stop immigration and stop large numbers of sub-Saharan Africans dying on the way to get over here is to get very tough with those coming over. Frankly, they need to sink several of those boats. Anyone coming up with measures like that, we'll support, but anything which is there as a 'oh, we need to do something about it' but in the end doing something about it means bringing them into Europe we will oppose."

Shirin Wheeler, the programme's presenter, interrupted him to say the EU did not murder people. "I didn't say anyone should be murdered at sea – I say boats should be sunk, they can throw them a life raft and they can go back to Libya," Griffin said. "But Europe has, sooner or later, to close its borders or it's simply going to be swamped by the third world."

Griffin's comments were especially controversial because many thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa attempt to make the crossing to Europe on rickety boats during the summer. Many land on Lampedusa, the Italian island less than 100 miles from Tunisia. The BBC said 37,000 migrants landed on Italian shores last year, a 75% increase on the year before.

In many respects I think he has a valid point - once several of the boats had been sunk and the people traffickers realised we meant business, presumably they would have to re-think their position or their routes.

Despite the hysterical reaction of the presenter, this does not constitute murder or necessarily have to result in anyone dying.

Even if some did die, presumably in the long run less people would die - on long marches organised by unscrupulous gang masters across the Sahara, gunned down at North African border posts, drowned at sea - and a lot less native Europeans would die from immigrant crime waves or be displaced from their native cities.

It's easy to pretend that morality simply means giving the migrants whatever they want; but does it?

The waves of migration from the Third World to the West go beyond mere 'immigration' - they are an invasion, a demographic conquest which will change our countries and our way of life altogether if left unchecked.

Are Griffin's remarks 'particularly controversial' in summer when many migrants are crossing, or is the fact that Lampedusa has a stable population of just over 6,000 people, but must somehow accommodate the arrival of over 37,000 migrants from completely alien and unassimilable cultures and backgrounds the real controversy here?

Such demographic change is unprecedented in history - aside from in terms of conquest.

The sad thing is that it takes a Griffin interview to draw attention to the invasion of Europe - the fact that so many arrive illegally should really be the big news. His comments may be hard line, but sensible minds should have been turned to solving this problem long ago - the favoured method for me being simply towing the migrants back (which Italy is now doing, albeit about 25 years too late).

Griffin hits the mark in that the only way to stop this invasion is to stop the arrival of the illegals on our territory in the first place. Once they are here, they are here to stay.

It was reported in January that around 90% of failed asylum seekers stay in the United Kingdom after being rejected and having no right to remain. Many simply disappear into the black economy or appeal to the point where they've been here so long they have to all intents and purposes settled:

As many as nine out of ten failed asylum seekers are being allowed to stay in Britain despite having no right to remain, a report from a Government watchdog reveals today.

The backlog of illegal immigrants awaiting deportation is growing fast as the UK Border Agency fails to keep pace with the number of rejected applicants. The number of unprocessed cases is also growing.

And Government rules stating that all successful asylum seekers must have their cases reviewed after five years - to see if their country is now safe enough to return to - have descended into farce, because the Border Agency has no way of tracking those living in Britain and no plans for a review.

Today's report acknowledges that the £800million-a-year system is now 'better organised than before', but highlights grave problems which in many cases are getting worse.

A surge in the number of asylum claims saw the backlog of undecided cases more than double in a year, to almost 9,000.

The NAO tracked more than 25,000 claims lodged from January 2007 to February 2008, of which almost 14,000 were refused.

But of 10,719 cases processed in the seven regions around the UK, only 918 - less than 10 per cent - had actually been deported by the following August.

The rate was higher for 3,000 false claimants who were fast-tracked in detention. Including these claims, the overall removal rate was just one in four.

A severe shortage of detention spaces is making removals harder, the report warned, with much of the available capacity taken up by foreign criminals who have completed their sentences and are awaiting deportation.

The NAO also highlighted glaring inefficiencies, including:

• Seventy per cent of planned deportations - where security staff accompany deportees on flights home - are cancelled, often due to lack of proper coordination, leading to 'additional work and costs'.

• The Agency often has to buy emergency travel documents from foreign governments to deport failed asylum seekers, but 13,000 of these have been wasted because individuals absconded, or because the papers expired.

• Since 2005, Britain has granted asylum for five years only - after which cases should be reviewed in the hope that some immigrants will be able to return home.

But astonishingly the Border Agency 'has no process' to track refugees living in Britain and 'no plans in place to review these cases'.

There are 8,000 due for review next year.

It seems that stopping the flow at its source is perhaps the only solution. The asylum system in Britain is now in such utter disarray that many cases are simply being abandoned due to the backlog, as The Telegraph reported yesterday:

At least 144,000 asylum seekers will be allowed to stay in Britain due to a backlog of claims.

More than 63,000 of the 450,000 historic cases that were found to have slipped under the radar for years have now been told they can stay.

Many are because they have been in the country for so long hat the Home Office would have difficulty trying to remove them on human rights grounds because they have effectively settled here.

Officials working through the so-called legacy backlog have so far examined 197,500 cases and there has been a 32 per cent approval rate, Lin Homer, the chief executive of the UK Border Agency, told MPs yesterday.

If that continues then some 144,000 will be able to stay once all the cases files have been looked at, in what the Tories have labelled an amnesty by the back door.

Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, said: "Any progress is painfully slow on this."

The 450,000 files in the Case Resolution Programme were unearthed in 2006 after the foreign prisoners scandal.

Among them are claimants who should have been deported as far back as the mid-1990s.

The list includes 5,150 from Zimbabwe, 4,900 from Pakistan and 4,500 from Somalia.

Miss Homer revealed that at least 7,000 so far may never be traced and their files have been archived.

The problems are similar in many Western countries, with the number of people claiming asylum after illegal entry soaring.

We don't have the space or the resources for this to go on forever - so at the very least we can be grateful to Nick Griffin for actually airing the subject in the first place.

U.K. Must Pay France to Enforce its Borders

British taxpayers are to fork out £15 million in a deal to get the French to enforce their own borders and immigration laws.

Gordon Brown met Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday in a meeting held prior to the G8 summit.

From the BBC:

The UK has promised France £15m for border protection in return for help deporting immigrants, it was announced.

Under a deal agreed at the summit, the UK will provide £15m to pay for new technology to search vehicles and goods approaching its borders.

There are estimated to be about 1,000 migrants in makeshift camps in Calais, most hoping to enter Britain illegally.

A pilot scheme will be conducted out at Calais before being rolled out to cover Boulogne, Dunkirk and the Channel Tunnel terminal at Coquelles.

In the House of Commons, Home Secretary Alan Johnson said: "The investment will be made on the understanding that the French will, in return, effect significant returns of illegal migrants from northern French regions."

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said the French had promised to step up removal flights and pledged that "these changes will further strengthen the ring of steel that protects Britain".

But shadow immigration minister Damian Green said the government had struck a bad deal for taxpayers.

He added: "We are apparently paying £15m so that the French agree to enforce their own laws. Surely they should be deporting illegal immigrants anyway?"

Meanwhile, in a parliamentary written answer, Mr Woolas said the UK government spent £26.8m on flights to remove immigrants in 2008/9 - including £18.6m for scheduled flights and £8.2m on charter services.

This is mere window dressing. We know that despite his tough reputation, Nicolas Sarkozy does not care about reducing immigration to France.

Therefore, the British taxpayer will simply be paying to remove immigrants who should not be in France in the first place - provided, of course, any actually do get removed.

Meanwhile, Italy continues to show us the way in these matters. Italian citizens will be compelled by law to report all illegal immigrants to the authorities.

The Italian government, after a deal with Libya, continues its policy of simply towing boats full of illegal immigrants back to North Africa instead of allowing them to land and claim asylum, clogging up the system with lengthy appeals and being held or supported at taxpayers' expense.

The areas most heavily affected by immigrant violence and unrest will also be permitted unarmed civilian vigilante patrols, which may include uniformed nationalists of the type seen in this report:

The sad thing is that it had to get to the stage where such people are needed for ordinary citizens to feel safe in their own cities in their own country.

Colonel Gaddafi in Rome

Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi has by all accounts caused quite a stir in Rome.

With his centre-Left opponents accusing him of giving Gaddafi a 'rock star's welcome', Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi has stood in embarrassed silence and listened to the flamboyant dictator rant on a range of subjects.

His specialties include:

Speaking to students at La Sapienza, Gadaffi said the US wanted to “colonise the globe”, was not interested in people’s freedom and fought against anyone who “got in its way”.

Addressing terrorism, Gadaffi said terrorist actions were “to be condemned”, but that “the reason (behind it) is linked to the colonialism of the Islamic world by countries who profess Christianity”.

Terrorism was a “reaction” to this, he said.

Earlier on Thursday Gaddafi attacked the US in an address to the Italian senate, likening the US retaliatory bombing of his quarters in 1986, in which an adopted infant daughter was killed, to al-Qaeda’s attacks and claiming the invasion of Iraq had turned the country into “an arena for al-Qaeda”.

And:

President claims United States in Libya is like Al Qaeda. Praise for Berlusconi: “Could be Libya’s premier”

In an ambitious analogy with the days of the Roman empire, President Gheddafi went on to find justification for terrorism and dictatorships, launching a fierce attack on the United States. In short, he said that Saddam Hussein had been elected by the Iraqis. It was an internal matter so why had someone from outside decided to remove him from power? While claiming to firmly “condemn” terrorism, the president attempted to offer as an explanation for the phenomenon the need for “defence” against the encroachments of the western world. “They call people with guns and bombs terrorists but what can we call the powers that have intercontinental missiles? What is the difference between Bin Laden’s actions and Reagan’s attack on Libya in 1986? Wasn’t that terrorism?”

He also hit out at democracy and called the party system 'democracy's abortion', urging Italy to scrap its political parties.

He criticised colonialism, which is pretty much his party trick, saying:

Recalling Italy’s colonial occupation of Libya — over which Italy and Libya signed a landmark $5 billion dollar friendship accord in August in a bid to address grievances — Gadaffi said Libyans had “drunk from a bitter cup, with every Libyan family affected by the consequences, with victims either deported or killed”.

“Our aim is to prevent the colonialism of the past from being repeated,” he told La Sapienza students.

When he was questioned by students about the rights of immigrants in Libya, he replied:

Students questioned Gaddafi about immigrant rights in Libya, which has not signed the United Nations Refugee Convention, in the wake of a new Italian policy to intercept and return to the North African country migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean, leaving Libya to deal with asylum requests.

“I agree with the need to respect rights, but we need to know who the political refugees are and how they can be recognised because a lot of information is wrong,” Gaddafi said.

“Are the millions who march from Africa towards the European Union political refugees? The Africans are starving, not political, they don’t practice politics, they don’t know about parties or elections,” he said.

Gaddafi said immigrants headed for Europe to “chase after resources that they believe have been taken away from them” by colonialist countries.

On illegal immigration, Gaddafi used a crude, yet effective image to make his point: “let the Italian government stop defending you from immigration. Let millions of people enter the country” and then “you will need a dictator to protect you”. He then added ironically: “let the human rights organisations find them jobs, treat them medically, and do everything else they need”. Irony again was not lacking when he said: “would you accept a million political refugees? If you would, it would be a great thing, I would help you, if you want a million Africans, who would then turn into two, twenty, fifty million, then I am with you”.

He seems to think that the G8 countries paying 'compensation' to Africa for the colonial period would solve Africa's problems and largely halt the immigration problem.

He fails to note, predictably, that we already pump billions every year into that benighted continent, and see very little return in the improvement of living conditions or cessation of illegal mass immigration.

All we do, in effect, is pay for the population to be doubled, tripled and quadrupled to unsustainable levels. The entire aid industry is like the welfare state on steroids, a safety net which has turned into a strong, sticky and binding web.

What about the fact that some areas of Africa knew the only periods of relative peace and good government they've ever had under the Union Flag?

As much as I dislike Gaddafi, at least he says what is on his mind - far more than most simpering Western leaders would ever do, a few notable exceptions aside.

Colonel Gaddafi Comes to Rome

Yesterday Libyan dictator Colonel Gaddafi arrived in Rome to begin a three day state visit.

Having swept in with an entourage which is 300-strong and includes 40 female bodyguards, Gaddafi hopes to squeeze more concessions from Italy by playing on Italian guilt over the colonial era (Italy occupied Libya in 1911) - and an Italian desire to be first in line for lucrative oil and gas contracts.

Gaddafi, who claims to be an emancipator of women and someone who wishes to 'save European women', will see his visit culminate in a meeting with 700 influential Italian women from the fields of politics, culture and the media. He did a similar thing when he visited Paris in 2007.

Gaddafi's first provocative act was thus:

Colonel Gaddafi has arrived in Rome at the start of an historic visit to Libya's former colonial masters with an archive photograph provocatively pinned to his chest showing the arrest of an anti-Italy guerrilla fighter dubbed "The Lion of the Desert".

The photograph shows the arrest in 1931 by colonial Italian troops of the Libyan guerrilla leader Omar al Mukhtar.

Officials from both Libya and Italy insist that despite the anti-colonial gesture, the colonel's three day trip - his first since gaining power in a coup 40 years ago - is a "visit of reconciliation". Wearing full colonel's uniform with gold epaulettes, numerous medals, sunglasses and straggly long black hair beneath a military cap, the Libyan leader said "a page of the past has been turned, thanks to the courage of Italy", as he embraced Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister.

Mr Berlusconi, who paved the way for the visit by travelling to Libya last year to apologise for the colonial period and offer three billion pounds in compensation, echoed the remark, saying a "painful page has been turned".

That wily old dog Berlusconi just wants the contracts and the boost to the economy they will bring.

Bear in mind though that Gaddafi is not an amusing figure - he is a blood-soaked tyrant, the ruler of a violent regime, and was once the sponsor of much of the world's terrorism.

This terrorism was carried out in the name of Palestine, Arab nationalism and Islamism - whatever suited Gaddafi's purposes at the time, in other words. Forces operating from Libya with his backing (tacit or otherwise) were responsible for the Lockerbie atrocity, the shooting of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, and many more outrageous acts throughout the world.

He has also declared that Islam will conquer Europe through the wombs of Muslim women, and has used the countless illegal immigrants who leave for Europe from Libya as a means of putting pressure on Berlusconi and the Italians.

So, with this in mind, what did Italian students say they were going to protest about during Gaddafi's visit?

The trip has its pitfalls, including Mr Gaddafi’s visit to Rome University, where students plan to protest against “the Libyan dictator” for “co-operating with the Italian Government over the repatriation of immigrants”.

Oh, yes - the Berlusconi regime's repatriation of illegal boat people upon sight. Cooperating with this is the only thing that wonderful Mr Gaddafi has ever done wrong, the only thing which excludes him from polite company.

But, this brave and sensible act by Berlusconi not only reduces the aces in the hand of those such as Gaddafi, it does much more.

It halts or severely hinders the invasion and demographic conquest of Italy, Malta and Europe; it saves countless amounts of money spent in detention, processing and countless appeals by the migrants; it saves countless Italians and potentially other Europeans from violent crime and the general social deterioration which comes with mass immigration from the Third World.

That preventing all of the above good is all that concerns these students says an awful lot about our future, none of it good.

Islam & the European Elections

For some European countries, Islam and the issues which Muslims generally care about have become fairly important for some of the major political parties.

I'm talking about the Left and the mainstream, not the supposedly Islam-obsessed Right. Pandering to the prejudices of Muslims is becoming necessary for political parties in many European cities and regions which have a rapidly changing zeitgeist.

The fielding of Muslim candidates is also growing.

Perhaps the most disturbing example of a party which has a blatantly Islamic agenda is 'Liste Antisioniste', the anti-Zionists.

Here is one of their campaign posters:

The premise of this party is allegedly that the end of Zionism will mean world peace. Its founder is the viciously anti-semitic comedian Dieudonné M'bala M'bala.

This is what it promises:

"FOR A FREE EUROPE!" Free from Censorship, speculators and NATO.

So in other words, free to promote Islamic propaganda, free to desert our cultural and historic allies to Islamic violence, free to align ourselves with the Muslim world.

From the Netherlands, we have an example of a mainstream party which is trying to woo the Muslim vote through any means necessary.

CDA politician Rena Netjes was recently interviewed by Al-yaqeen.com. This website is run by Dutch Muslims, including a hate preacher based in the Hague, and as far as I can gather it attempts to foster 'understanding'; i.e. Islam is pleasant and terrorism is often quite understandable. It also seems to promote the idea that Islam is compatible with the rights of women.

So what did the erstwhile Miss Netjes, a woman married to an Egyptian Muslim, have to say for herself?

"I want to go on the record for the Muslims, because I find it very bad what is happening [presumably the rise of Wilders and the 'demonising' of Islam] and this must stop. I will put my neck out for you.

I think it is honestly nicer than in the Netherlands in those [Muslim] countries . What I appreciate is that Muslims are very serious about their faith and how many have respect for God."

She has also said in the past that she would never have met a man as 'respectable' as her husband in the Netherlands. This quote caused most controversy:

Q: Finally: We've heard many promises. Why should Muslims trust that you will keep them?

A: People just need to google my name and they could see everything that I've done in the past. I also appear on TV programs in the Middle East. From both sides I try to cultivate understanding. It is also easier for me to stand up for Muslims than somebody with a Muslim background. For such a person, people could think that he has another agenda. Additional, I also understand the ideas of the ethnic Dutch, therefore I can also 'deal' with them. I understand both opinions well and I have both worlds united in me.

Oh, I think I understand you perfectly, Miss Netjes - you are what we call a Qusiling.

But this re-alignment isn't just a phenomenon in the European Parliament elections. It is happening the local elections, too.

Italy will see its first ever veiled female Muslim candidate who is running for the communal council in Perugia:

Maymouna Abdel Qader, an Italian of Palestinian descent, is a political science graduate of the University of Perugia.

She is running for Perugia's communal council for the Sinistra e Liberta coalition, which is made up of mainly socialist, anti-war and secular parties.

"Though being the first veiled Muslim woman that has ever run for elections in Italy, until now I have received a positive response from the people, who have also appreciated my choice, and look at me as a novelty of the local political scene," said Abdel Qader in an interview with Adnkronos.

Abdel Qader - who is the daughter of the imam of Perugia Mohammed Abdel Qader and is also one of the founders of the Young Italian Muslims association - said she is personally campaigning and distributing fliers to promote her candidacy.

"These days I am personally distributing fliers for my candidacy in order to ask the citizens of Perugia for their vote. Many have wished me well, after they see that I am Italian and not a foreigner," she told AKI.

Abdel Qader also said her objective is to represent Italy's second generation of Muslim immigrants in Italy, that are now what she calls "The new Italians".

Among the things she wants to promote if elected, is that Perugia's public pool can be reserved solely for women, at least once a week.

"It is a battle that it not just limited to Muslim women. The pool will be open to all women, and I count with the support of many women about this."

In Brussels, many local council candidates are Muslim, primarily of North African and Turkish descent.

The following information is translated by Islam in Europe:

The posters in these areas belong mostly to the Francophone Reformist Movement (RM), Humanist Democratic Party (cdH), and Socialist party (PS).

In 2007 Muslims were estimated to be 7.5% of the French Community and 11.8% in Brussels, and on the increase. This electorate is potentially more important, since youth make up 32%, compared with 23% elsewhere.

Muslims are voting Left - in recent elections the Socialists got 43% and the CdH 18.7%, which between 2004 and 2007 got an infusion fo votes from MR. Today the Socialists get most of the Muslim votes, despite having an atheist ideology, while traditional ethical values play a fundmanetal role in voting for CdH, whch was founded on religious identity.

Just a third of the Muslim electorate of 2007 attended a mosque regularly. Two thirds said they were not practicing.

Samira says that Muslims vote for the Left for socio-demographic causes. Muslims belong to the disadvantaged group: workers, employed and unemployed, and women, who make up just 6.6% of the Muslim electorate, tend to vote Left.

Dutch language blog In Flanders Field looked at the Socialist Party and published a list of the apparently Muslim candidates. 26 of the 72 PS candidates (36%) are Muslim.

Meanwhile, the Francophone Humanist Democratic Party tried to hide (1, 2 NL) the Muslim headscarf of one of their canddiates - Mahinur Ozdemir, number 21 on the list.

The party denies that it asked to hide the headscarf and says that the poster was prepared by outside sources. Ozdemir (bottom left above, and below with hijab) first said that she's deeply shocked and insulted, but later spoke to the publishers and agreed that it is not the party's fault.

However, Belgian broadcaster RTBF says that this is not the first time and that the CdH also tried to hide Ozdemir's headscarf in the municipal elections of 2006.

Interesting that they should attempt not only to Islamify the party list, but then hide the fact they have done so from less observant voters.

Perhaps they fear another change in the zeitgeist?

Hat tip: Atlas Shrugs, Islam in Europe & Geenstijl.

Two Different Approaches to Immigration

Various news reports from the past couple of weeks suggest that Italy and Germany are taking a very different approach to immigration issues.

The German government 'integration representative', Maria Böhmer, called for a thorough investigation into the falling number of immigrants seeking German citizenship and naturalisation:

“We need an exhaustive analysis,” she said, adding that the sudden fall in naturalisations after years of steady growth “worries me greatly.”

Knowing Germany as I do, I would imagine a celebration would be more appropriate than an investigation.

But no - the number of immigrants seeking citizenship has fallen by 15% since a 'controversial' language test was introduced two years ago.

The rest of the article is worthy of inclusion:

Overall applications dipped below 100,000 – the lowest number in a decade, the inquiry found.Böhmer said that naturalisation officials could be more service-oriented and help immigrants see the advantages to becoming German citizens. And with an eye to recent criticism about the citizenship test and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) refusal to allow dual citizenship, Böhmer (also a CDU member) said she would avoid any “rash answers.”

Böhmer’s comments come ahead of a controversial event planned for Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday, when she will personally lead a citizenship ceremony for 16 immigrants. The event is meant to honour the contribution of immigrants to Germany in the run up to the 60th anniversary of the modern German republic. In a weekend video podcast message, Merkel said it was in Germany’s interest to naturalise as many immigrants as possible.

In Italy, there is currently a totally different state of affairs.

On 8th May 2009, the Guardian reported that officials in the Italian city of Milan had proposed 'segregated' public transport.

Matteo Salvini, secretary of the Milanese branch of the anti-immigration Northern League, told supporters at a rally that there should be 'seats for Milanese' on the city's trains, trams and buses.

Predictably, opposition politicians invoked the spectre of the Rosa Parks affair. Salvini, however, had a slightly different take:

"It was just a provocation to say the residents are now in a minority and, as such, need safeguarding."

Like the rhetoric or not, he makes a legitimate point. Parts of Italy have been swamped with unassimilable Third World migrants for years. They are often responsible for heinous crimes, as well as the same patterns which are seen elsewhere - harassment of Western women and being violently territorial.

Berlusconi's government had been criticised just days previously for its new policy of automatic repatriation for boat people caught in international waters- a very sensible approach which I have advocated for years:

However, Berlusconi, whose government is already under attack for its immigration policies after the Italian navy returned to Libya more than 200 boat people without letting them apply for asylum, said: "Salvini himself has said it was a quip, a provocation."

The interior minister, Roberto Maroni, a Northern League member, hailed it as a "turning point" in his battle to stem the flow of immigrants through Italy's Mediterranean islands. But the UN and human rights groups accused the government of violating international treaties to which Italy is a signatory.

On Thursday the occupants of three boats adrift, reportedly in Maltese waters, were escorted back to the Libyan coast by Italian naval vessels. It was the first time that Libyan authorities were known to have accepted back migrants who set off from their coast. The shift appeared to reflect recent agreements between Berlusconi's government and Libya.

Since launching a tough new policy on boat people last week, Italy has turned back six boats carrying a total of 1,500 immigrants and asylum seekers which were trying to reach the country's southernmost outpost, the island of Lampedusa.

This policy seems the only one which can stem the invasion and colonisation of Europe. Such words are not meant to be provocative, but accurate - even respectable mainstream figures such as historian Niall Ferguson refer to the 'colonisation' of Europe by North Africans.

The European Union, of course, were absolutely outraged by Berlusconi's defence of his territory, his borders and his people. Immigration is causing increased tensions in Italy, and there are genuine fears for the future.

Berlusconi went a step further, however - on the 11th May 2009, he announced that he did not want a 'multi-ethnic' Italy.

Previous Left-wing governments had "opened the doors to clandestine migrants coming from other countries, with an idea of a multi-ethnic Italy," Mr Berlusconi said.
But that kind of society was "not our idea", he added, as he sought to reassure Italians who were alarmed at the number of immigrants pouring into the country, particularly from eastern Europe and Africa.

Again, the usual suspects were up in arms. Opposition MPs called the remarks 'a disgrace', and the EU and UN Refugee Agency weren't very happy.

Berlusconi has two valid points in his favour, however; firstly, most Europeans have never been asked how they feel about mass immigration and its plethora of negative results. When polled, the vast majority in most countries seem to feel there is too much immigration, and the social changes it has caused have gone far enough.

Secondly, rejecting a multi-ethnic Italy is not a call for genocide or expelling everyone who is not white or Italian, as some on the Left pretend; it is a simple statement of fact that Italy is not a 'nation of immigrants' in the American tradition. It is the rejection of a politicised term which describes a modern ideology or even cult rather than a physical state of being.

It is an endorsement of that nation's past and culture; Italy is what it is today because it was built by Italians. Whatever the future may hold for Italy, there will be no call for ideologues to re-write the past to prove that mass Third World immigration is a constant (as they have begun to do here in Britain); rejecting the term multi-ethnic means that Italy will remain Italy, and that anyone who does not wish to fit in should not go there.

As well as turning back boat people, the Italian parliament has made entering Italy illegally a crime. This perfectly logical policy can only continue to be logical if the rest of Europe adopts it post-haste.

Rather than condemning Berlusconi, I feel the governments and nations of Europe should be emulating him. If the mainstream do not address the growing sense of disenfranchisement which natives in many European countries feel - someone else will.

Terrorists Plotted an Attack on Britain

A Syrian Imam with French citizenship and a French convert to Islam have been charged with plotting a terrorist strike on France or Britain - from their Italian prison cell.

Bassam Ayachi, 62, and Raphael Frederic Gendron, 33, were arrested in November after smuggling five illegal immigrants into Italy. They have been held in prison in the town of Bari ever since.

Officers suspected they were more than just small-time traffickers, and their cell was bugged.

The two were heard having conversations about bombing Charles De Gaulle Airport and 'striking at the British' - preferably with a '9/11 style attack'.

It is now believed that the men are key figures in al-Qaeda's European operation - both lived for a time in Belgium, where it is thought they may have attempted to recruit suicide bombers to be deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan - including Western converts.

Italy Takes in Stranded Illegal Immigrants

'Fortress Europe's' evil, racist immigration policy swung into action again yesterday as Italy brought 140 stranded illegals from Africa to Sicily.

This ended a 4 day stand off with the government of Malta over who bears responsibility for giving these people exactly what they want and towing them to EU territory.

Both Malta and the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa are overwhelmed with illegal immigrants from Africa and the Middle East who arrive by sea in decrepit vessels and often have to be rescued.

The BBC has more:

On Monday morning, the first group of about 30 migrants were escorted off the MV Pinar at Porto Empedocle in southern Sicily and put onto buses for processing.

A group of 20 migrants with health problems were evacuated to Lampedusa on Sunday. The remaining refugees were to be brought ashore later on Monday.

Italy's foreign ministry said it had agreed to take them in after the intervention of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who spoke with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and his Maltese counterpart, Lawrence Gonzi.

The decision was made "exclusively in consideration of the painful humanitarian emergency aboard the cargo ship" and Italy's acceptance of the migrants "must not in any way be understood as a precedent nor as a recognition of Malta's reasons" for refusing them, the ministry said in a statement.

"Malta should have taken them in," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told state television.

"[Its] government has not complied with a European request from Commission President Barroso to respect the rules of search and rescue at sea."

What always amazes me most about a situation like this is two-fold; firstly that so many are convinced we have an overly strict, unfair 'border regime', and secondly that when these people are caught they are given exactly what they want - access to Europe.

If they were taken straight back to Africa each time they were caught with no arguments, then maybe, just maybe, the tide would be stemmed when it began to emerge that we were actually serious.

But no. They know as well as I do that once here the chances of being returned are absolutely minute. They can spend years being 'processed', and even if held in detention centres they are being looked after by the taxpayer.

All legal bills from the countless appeals are again charged to the taxpayer. Obviously word gets back to friends and family - Europe is a rich land where you will be paid and have a lifestyle beyond your wildest dreams - all for nothing.

It's easy to wax lyrical about these immigrants and their rights, and I'm not pretending there are easy answers; but what about the rights of Italians and Maltese not to have their territory overwhelmed with Third World people, behaviour and customs? What about the future of their children?

It seems to me that our current immigration policies reward failure. We reward the failure of Third World governments by simply taking their surplus populations to ease the pressure in failed societies - whilst all the time paying them 'aid' so their populations can burgeon further and the cycle can repeat itself.

It can't go on indefinitely, though; something has to change. It would seem that we have to sit down and come up with an effective policy, no matter how harsh it initially seems - the governments of Africa have made it quite clear they don't intend to solve these problems, and in all honesty are probably happy with the status quo as long as we are naive enough to maintain it.

Muslims Mock Italian Earthquake Victims

Vlad Tepes has a report about Muslim websites mocking the victims of the recent earthquake in Italy and taking sweepstakes on what the eventual death toll will be. Muslim websites were accused of doing something similar after the recent Australian bush fires, cursing the dead as 'infidels punished by Allah for their support of Israel and the US'.

Some leading clerics have also prayed for figures such as Geert Wilders to be struck down by terminal illness.

I think this reveals a very important and telling difference between Islam and Christianity & Judaism - proponents of the latter two generally pray in the positive rather than the negative, and are warned against praying for wickedness, even against their enemies.

Here is the full story:

From ADNKRONOS by way of The Religion of Peace:

Italy: Jihadists exalt Abruzzo earthquakes

Dubai, 8 April (AKI) - Jihadist users of Al-Qaeda linked websites have been rejoicing at the devastating earthquake that hit Italy’s central Abruzzo region on Monday, describing it as a “divine punishment” for “the enemies of Islam”. The earthquake killed over 260 people, injured hundreds more and destroyed thousands of buildings, leaving 20,000 homeless.“At last they have had their dark days too. O Allah, kill them and leave them destitute vagabonds,” said one of a series of comments that have appeared on various jihadist websites this week.

The Abruzzo earthquake has made headline news around the world, and Al-Qaeda sympathisers have followed via Arabic TV networks.

The jihadists appear to be engaged in contest to see who can post updates on the death toll from the earthquake fastest.

A series of strong aftershocks since the main quake have caused further damage, hampering rescue efforts and further terrorising the population in the town of L’Aquila and surrounding villages. One man died of a heart-attack following a quake on Tuesday.

Between 20-30 people were still missing on Wednesday.

“O Allah, keep the earthquakes and tragedies coming - cursed be Europe, Israel and the United States,” wrote ‘Ashiq al-Irhab’, which in Arabic means ‘desirous of terrorism’.

Another jihadist site, ‘al-Shura’, has been publishing tolls of the Abruzzo earthquake victims beneath each article, accompanied by a macabre prayer.

The prayer reads: “O Allah, may the death toll continue to rise. Destroy our enemies and help Muslims!”

A user of the ‘al-Shura’ website, Nureddin al-Zanki, writes: “We have a stronger weapon than guns - our prayers, which will further drive up the numbers of victims.”

Similar messages from jihadists have been posted to the ‘Ansar’ and ‘Mujahidin’ websites, whose users have rejoiced in the past at other disasters to hit western nations.

Rome

Yesterday, in Rome, Geert Wilders received the Oriana Fallaci Free Speech Award. Beautifully symbolic. As Wilders notes, Rome is the cradle of Western civilisation.

I suppose we now live in a world where it should be considered remarkable that he wasn't arrested and deported at the border, but his reception in Rome was an interesting contrast to the behaviour of the British government.

I find it particularly interesting because two of my relatives helped to liberate Italy from Fascism during the Second World War.

My Great Uncle Jim was a Royal Marine who took part in the invasion of Sicily, and his brother George was a Royal Military policeman attached to the British 8th Army who fought at Salerno and Monte Cassino, among others.

Both survived the war and lived into their 80s, and both became increasingly disillusioned with what Britain was becoming; I'd like to think that, had they lived longer, both would have seen the barring of Wilders for exactly what it was, a stench of what they helped fight against as young men.

Here is what Wilders said in Rome (thanks to Gates of Vienna):

Speech by Geert Wilders

Rome, February 19, 2009

Signore e signori, molte grazie. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much.

I feel very honoured to have been invited to speak here in Rome, to speak here in this splendid city, the cradle of our Western civilization.

As you perhaps know, Oriana Fallaci is one of my heroes. She definitely was one of the greatest examples of bravery and honesty. Her brilliant books ‘The Rage and the Pride’ and ‘The Force of Reason’ are my guidelines that inspire me day after day. Mr. Manocchia, Una via per Oriana, thank you very much for remembering the great Oriana Fallaci. The world should remember her forever.

Ladies and gentlemen, following in the footsteps of Oriana Fallaci, I want to warn you for a great threat. This great threat is called Islam.

Islam is build on two rocks. First there is the Koran, Allah’s personal word, with orders that need to be fulfilled by Muslims regardless of place and time. As you know, the Koran calls for hatred, violence, submission, murder, terrorism, war, Jihad. The Koran calls upon Muslims to kill non-Muslims and he Koran considers Jews to be monkeys and pigs. That is why the great German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer called the Koran inferior. That is why former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Oriana Fallaci compared the Koran to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Second, there is the so called perfect man: Muhammad. His deeds have to be imitated by all Muslims, and since Muhammad was a warlord and executed prisoners of war we know exactly what to expect. The brave American apostate dr. Wafa Sultan said: “The problem is that the Koran clearly says that Muhammad should be a role model for every Muslim. You are not allowed to criticise him, but you should follow in his footsteps. As a Muslim it is your mission to spread Islam by the sword”.

Please, ladies and gentlemen, let no one fool you: Islam means submission, so there cannot be any mistake about its goal. There are moderate Muslims, but there is no moderate Islam.

A total of 54 million Muslims live across Europe. In less than half a century the number of Muslims has increased rapidly. The Islamization of Europe affects the European achievements of the last century. The question is: Are we prepared to defend our achievements? Are we prepared to defend the equality of men and women? Are we prepared to defend the equality of homo- and heterosexuals? Are we prepared to defend the separation of Church and State? Are we prepared to defend freedom of speech?

Ladies and gentlemen, I would not qualify myself as a free man. Four and a half years ago I lost my freedom. Since then I am under 24-hour police protection. As if that is not enough, the most radical Dutch Imam claimed 55.000 euros in compensation for his hurt feelings because of ‘Fitna’. The State of Jordan is possibly going to issue a request for my extradition to stand trial in Amman. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal ordered my criminal prosecution for making ‘Fitna’ and for my political views on Islam. And last week the British government refused my entrance into the United Kingdom because me showing ‘Fitna’ in the British House of Lords at the invitation of a British parliamentarian would be a threat to British public security. This is the alarming state of freedom of speech in today’s Europe: Criticizing Islam has become a dangerous activity, criticizing Islam has apparently become a criminal act.

You just saw ‘Fitna’. My name is on the credit roll, but like you have seen, ‘Fitna’ is actually not made by me, but is made by radical Muslims, the Koran and Islam itself. If ‘Fitna’ is considered to be hate speech, then what is the Koran? If I am considered to be a threat to public security, then what is Islam?

The Court’s decision and my ban by the British government are two major victories for Islam. Both institutions have sided with Islam. The first Soviet leader, Lenin, once labelled ignorant people that unknowingly aided his cause as ‘useful idiots’. Well, the Court and the British government are the ‘useful idiots’ of today, and I think they are even proud of it.

The Court’s decision and my ban by the British government are also two major victories for all those who hate freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech — the dearest of our liberties — is under attack in today’s Europe. Oriana Fallaci herself had to live in fear of extradition to Switzerland because of her book ‘The Rage and the Pride’. Recently, Susanne Winter, an Austrian politician, was sentenced to a suspended prison sentence for telling the truth about Muhammad. The Dutch cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot was arrested by ten police men because of his drawings, and on top of all that, we now have the decisions of the Inquisition-like Court in Amsterdam and the Dhimmi British government.

Freedom of speech is no longer a given in Europe. What we once considered to be a natural component of our existence is now something we have to fight for. That is what is at stake. Whether or not I end up in jail is not the most important issue. The question is: Will free speech be put behind bars?

I repeat the words inscribed on the headstone of the murdered Dutch anti-Islam politician dr. Pim Fortuyn, who lies buried here in Italy and would have celebrated his birthday today: ‘loquendi libertatum custodiamus’, let us guard freedom of speech.

That is why I propose the withdrawal of all hate speech legislation in Europe. I propose a European First Amendment. Freedom of speech is the keystone of our Western civilization, it is the keystone of our democracies and the keystone of our freedom. That is why freedom of speech should be extended instead of restricted. Salman Rushdie’s ‘The Satanic Verses’, Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s and Theo van Gogh’s film ‘Submission’, Kurt Westergaard’s cartoons and my documentary ‘Fitna’ should never be banned, but should be protected. As George Orwell once said: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is five to twelve. In Europe, our freedom is at stake. Islam is Europe’s Trojan Horse. The differences between Saudi-Arabia and the Netherlands, between Iran and Italy are blurring. The first Islamic invasion of Europe was stopped at Poitiers in 732. The second Islamic invasion was halted at the gates of Vienna in 1683. Now we have to stop the current — stealth — Islamic invasion. Ladies and gentlemen, once Islam conquered Constantinople, now it wants to conquer Rome. We have to stop the Islamization of Europe, because if we don’t, Europe will become Eurabia.

Fortunately there is some hope. This hope does not come from governments, but from the people. In the Netherlands, 60 percent of the population considers mass immigration to be the number one policy mistake since the Second World War. Another 60 percent sees Islam as the biggest threat to our national identity. I am convinced that the public opinion in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain and here in Italy isn’t much different.

We have to maintain our values. We have to maintain our liberties. We have to maintain our civilization. We have to maintain the heritage of Rome, because we owe it to our children.

As Oriana Fallaci once said: “The moment you give up your principles, and your values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilization is dead”.

Thank you very much.