Minder!

‘Min-der! Min-der! Min-der!’

My name is Jolanda Heesemans, a Dutch person who lives in the Netherlands. This is a really small country in Europe. But it is not less famous because it is small. Other countries speak a lot about the Netherlands, but this is not only positive. One of the reasons why is a politician in the Netherlands which is named Geert Wilders. I can say that I am really scared by this man, and I know that I am not the only one in the Netherlands. This man is fed up with the Islam, with foreigners in the Netherlands and with everything that has to do with other countries. He wants to live in a country which has only Dutch persons, a Dutch culture, Dutch churches, and the Dutch language. And of course there are more people like him on this planet, so why am I so scared? This is mainly because Geert Wilders says everything he wants in front of the camera. I will give a famous example.

It is a normal evening in March when Geert Wilders won the local elections in his city. He had to give a speech for a public of supporters of his politic party. He wanted to end the speech with three questions and asked the public to answer. He wanted to have the answers that define his political party. The first question was: Do you want more or less (in Dutch ‘’less’’ means: minder) European Union? Everyone shouted: Min-der! Min-der! Min-der! The second question was: Do you want more or less PVDA (another political party in the Netherlands, who stands for equal rights)? The same answer was given by the public: Min-der! Min-der! Min-der! Wilders went on with the third question, knowing that it is not allowed in the Netherlands: Do you want, in this city, in the whole Netherlands, more or less Moroccan people? The public shouted for the third time: Min-der! Min-der! Min-der!

The video of this speech went viral, a lot of people saw it and everyone had their own opinion. But for the people who didn’t see it, here is a link to a video of the third, and most problematic, question of Wilders (with English subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGy-CYhZczo.

Wilders can find support in the Netherlands, but most of the people do not like his opinions and actions. It became a hype to make parodies on these questions under the people who do not like him. The most famous one is: Do we want more or less Wilders? With the answer: Min-der! Min-der! Min-der!

But of course this kind of actions does not end with a few stupid parodies. And it does not stay between the borders of the Netherlands. It crossed the borders via the Internet, most of all in newspapers and on social media. A lot of Muslim countries know Wilders now, and are not pleased by his ideas. They hate him, which makes that he is on a lot of dead-lists by extremists.

This is what scares me. When Wilders says something, it always goes viral. It does not stay in the Netherlands, but because of the great amount of users of Internet, Wilders is known in every country. What Wilders is going to do the next time? Who is going to know this? And what will be the reaction of the world? The only thing Wilders and I have in common is that we are both Dutch. But what if extremists think that this is enough to do an attack on me? What if extremists are going to hate all the people in the Netherlands? For example Amsterdam, the city where I use to live, is on a list of the ISIS. Why? Is this because of Wilders?

So yes, this Dutch politician is scaring me. Not because he is dangerous, but because his actions are dangerous.

- Jolanda Heesemans