By Kara Davies

Controversial Dutch MP Geert Wilders won one for free speech last Wednesday when he spoke before approximately 150 students and invited guests at a campus event sponsored by the Columbia College Republicans. In his address, he warned of the growing threat Islamization poses to America and Europe. “ The dearest of our many liberties is under attack,” he said.

Anyone familiar with Wilders knows the liberty he is referring to is the right to free speech. The leader of the Dutch Freedom Party (PVV) is currently awaiting trial in his home country for his outspoken anti-Islamic comments and his film Fitna.

In addition to these charges, Wilders was, until recently, banned from entering the United Kingdom out of fear his presence could incite violence. He also says, “The State of Jordan is possibly going to issue a request for my extradition, to stand trial in Amman. I have been charged in France.”

Wilders has received countless death threats and after the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a radical Islamist, Mohammed Bouyeri in 2004, has been under 24-hour police protection. “I would not qualify myself as a free man,” he said to the Columbia community. “Five years ago I lost my personal freedom.”

There is no doubt that some of Wilders’ views are emotive. He has openly compared the Koran to Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” and called for an end to Muslim immigration to the Netherlands. In his 17-minute film, Fitna, Wilders’ message is clear: Islam encourages violence and terrorism.

These bits of information alone are usually enough to set people off against Wilders. While waiting in line to enter the event one SIPA student questioned me, “Why would you even go see that guy?” The answer was given in Wilders’ speech. “I expect to be received with debate and discussion, as it should be in a free country,” he said. Sadly, the students at Temple University were not capable of honoring this. During his Oct. 20 speech, he was jeered offstage and escorted out by security.

Those who take the time and interest to look past the media hype surrounding Wilders might find he’s not the xenophobe many paint him to be. He’s not irrational, nor does he claim to dislike Muslims. In fact, Wilders went to great lengths to make this clear. Early in his speech he stated, “I have nothing against Muslims. There are many moderate Muslims. The majority of Muslims in our Western countries are law abiding people, who want to live a peaceful life. I know that. Therefore, I make a clear distinction between the people and the ideology, between Muslims and Islam.”

Wilders also explained that while he opposes mass immigration, especially from Muslim countries, he does want the current immigrant population to assimilate into Dutch society and enjoy the benefits of democracy and liberty.

For those who have not viewed Fitna, the film contains footage of 9/11, the London bombing, the Madrid bombing, imams calling for violence, executions, and female genital mutilation, among other violent acts overlaid with Koranic verses. The artistic interpretation to combine select verses with such violent imagery was shocking to many. But the film should not be censored. After all, we are guaranteed freedom of expression, not freedom from being offended.

Wilders should provoke Western society: move us to educate ourselves, to learn to decipher between fact and propaganda, to figure out how to walk the thin line of defending our culture from extremists, but not eliciting racism. But, we should not be spending time preventing Wilders from speaking or showing his film. There are a plethora of ways to discredit people other than censoring them.

Wilders pointed out during his speech, “There is not a single Islamic country in the world where people are really totally free to say what they think.” He continued, “Free speech is Islam’s enemy. Islam is a threat to the Europe of Socrates, Voltaire and Galileo.”

Some audience members clapped. One audience member called Wilders a “clown” and another an “idiot.” That’s the great news about living in a country, a culture that honors free speech. You don’t have to agree with Wilders. You don’t have to agree with me. You just have to support our freedom to speak without censorship or limitation.