A War on Tolerance
For populists in Europe and America, widespread fear of Islam has provided a new outlet for provincial rage against cultural and political elites. Their success is based on the sense that tolerance is not only weak, but an act of betrayal.
AMSTERDAM -- When “tolerance” becomes a term of abuse in a place like the Netherlands, you know that something has gone seriously wrong. The Dutch always took pride in being the most tolerant people on earth. In less feverish times than these, no one could possibly have taken exception to Queen Beatrix’s speech last Christmas, when she pleaded for tolerance and “respect for minorities.” But Geert Wilders, leader of the right-wing, anti-Muslim Freedom Party, was so disgusted by the Dutch queen’s “multi-cultural rubbish” that he wanted her to be stripped of her constitutional role in the government.
AMSTERDAM -- When “tolerance” becomes a term of abuse in a place like the Netherlands, you know that something has gone seriously wrong. The Dutch always took pride in being the most tolerant people on earth. In less feverish times than these, no one could possibly have taken exception to Queen Beatrix’s speech last Christmas, when she pleaded for tolerance and “respect for minorities.” But Geert Wilders, leader of the right-wing, anti-Muslim Freedom Party, was so disgusted by the Dutch queen’s “multi-cultural rubbish” that he wanted her to be stripped of her constitutional role in the government.