PVV takes distance from call for Mosque arson

PVV has distanced itself from threats that have been expressed recently on the Facebook page 'Steun de PVV' to burn down mosques. The political party insisted that the page is not an official PVV page.

Several Muslim organizations in the Netherlands filed complaints at the authorities, out of concerns prompted by the aggressive reactions on the page in recent days. Friends of 'Steun de PVV' encouraged other followers of the page to follow recent examples from Sweden and light up mosques here.

PVV Second Chamber member Machiel de Graaf said though that his party “is against violence and against calls that incite violence.”

The aggressive post appeared on the Facebook page after news reports about the Sweden fires, and though it was quickly removed, that did not deter other PVV sympathizers to follow up with similar reactions: “Burn down all mosques”, “Why not here?”, “Nice job”, and “Great! Remove those things, they’re worth less than pig sties”.

The threats prompted mosques to take extra safety measures, like appointing watchmen. The removal of the posts did little to take away the fear for aggression. Yassin Elforkani, spokesman for the Contact Organ for Muslims and Government said: “The threats have been published. No mosque is safe. There’s no predicting what will happen.” Administrators for the page have meanwhile also distanced themselves from the aggressive reactions. “We are not responsible for the statements from the followers,” the administrators said.