GEERT WILDERS’S bleached-blond hair goes to the root of his character. For more than two decades, Mr. Wilders, the controversial anti-Islam member of the Dutch Parliament, has dyed his hair a provocative — some say extreme — platinum blond. The color makes him stand out in a crowd, not terribly practical for someone facing periodic death threats from Muslim extremists. But Mr. Wilders has built a career — and a new political party — on a risky and defiant outlandishness that encompasses everything from his hairstyle to his anti-Islamic rhetoric. Days away from releasing a much-anticipated film critical of the Koran, Mr. Wilders recalled in an interview the advice he received years ago from political leaders about how to get ahead. “First, you have to moderate your voice about Islam,” he remembered their telling him. “Second, change your stupid hair.” He has refused to do either. “If people push me, I do exactly the opposite,” he said. Mr. Wilders, 44, is in the news here these days for a 10-to-15-minute film he says he has made depicting the Koran as the inspiration for terrorist attacks and other violence. Having failed to persuade a single Dutch television network to broadcast the film in its entirety, he said he planned to release it on the Internet by the end of this month. He routinely equates the Koran with Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” saying it should be banned in the Netherlands, and he declared in an interview that the Prophet Muhammad could be compared to the German dictator.
saved by2 people, first byliveinfreedom . on 2008-03-22, last byZee ---------- on 2008-03-23
