Dutch far-right party to hold Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest
Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party gets green light for competition from nation’s counterterrorism agency
The Netherlands-based Party for Freedom (PVV) is to hold a competition inviting its members to draw cartoons depicting Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.
The party, led by anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, is the main opposition in the Dutch parliament, after coming second in elections in March last year.
“Dutch Counter-terrorism Agency NCTV gives green light to Muhammad cartoon contest in secured PVV quarters of Dutch Parliament later this year,” Wilders tweeted yesterday, along with a Mohammed cartoon.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“So that’s what we’re going to do and organize! With cartoonist/ex-Muslim Bosch Fawstin! Freedom of speech is most important of all!!”
Cartoons and other depictions of Mohammad have provoked violent responses in the past.
In 2015, fundamentalist Islamic gunmen stormed the offices of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people, after the publication printed unflattering cartoons of the Prophet.
In 2005, the publication in a Danish newspaper of a dozen cartoons depicting Mohammad “led to violent protests across the Muslim world”, Reuters says.
Wilders has used his political platform to call for the Koran to be banned in the Netherlands. Russia Today reports that he “has long planned to host such a competition”, but had “previously been prevented from doing so”.
“He has attended a number of exhibits and events focused on mocking the Islamic prophet – usually billed as free speech events,” the news channel adds.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK Published
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Russia's shadow war in Europe
Talking Point Steering clear of open conflict, Moscow is slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Nato rivals to see what it can get away with.
By The Week UK Published
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
The nuclear threat: is Vladimir Putin bluffing?
Talking Point Kremlin's newest ballistic missile has some worried for Nato nations
By The Week UK Published
-
Russia vows retaliation for Ukrainian missile strikes
Speed Read Ukraine's forces have been using U.S.-supplied, long-range ATCMS missiles to hit Russia
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published