FACT CHECK: The Lights Are Going Out All Over Europe

Claim

Dutch politician Geert Wilders delivered a speech on the scenario of "America as the Last Man Standing."

The Lights Are Going Out: EUROPE IS FINISHED AND THE USA IS DROWNING! Here is the speech of Geert Wilders, Chairman, Party for Freedom, the Netherlands, at the Four Seasons, New York, introducing an Alliance of Patriots and announcing the Facing Jihad Conference in Jerusalem. The Lights are Going Out All Over Europe. Geert Wilders is a Dutch Member of Parliament. In a generation or two, the US will ask itself: "Who lost Europe?" Dear friends, Thank you very much for inviting me. Great to be at the Four Seasons. I come from a country that has one season only: a rainy season that starts January 1st and ends December 31st. When we have three sunny days in a row, the government declares a national emergency. So Four Seasons, that's new to me. It's great to be in New York. When I see the skyscrapers and office buildings, I think of what Ayn Rand said: "The sky over New York and the will of man made visible." Of course. Without the Dutch you would have been nowhere, still figuring out how to buy this island from the Indians. But we are glad we did it for you. And, frankly, you did a far better job than we possibly could have done. I come to America with a mission. All is not well in the old world. There is a tremendous danger looming, and it is very difficult to be optimistic. We might be in the final stages of the Islamization of Europe. This not only is a clear and present danger to the future of Europe itself, it is a threat to America and the sheer survival of the West. The danger I see looming is the scenario of America as the last man standing. The United States as the last bastion of Western civilization, facing an Islamic Europe. In a generation or two, the US will ask itself: who lost Europe? Patriots from around Europe risk their lives every day to prevent precisely this scenario form becoming a reality. My short lecture consists of 4 parts. First I will describe the situation on the ground in Europe. Then, I will say a few things about Islam. Thirdly, if you are still here, I will talk a little bit about the movie you just saw. To close I will tell you about a meeting in Jerusalem. [Rest of article here.]

Collected via e-mail, May 2009

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Geert Wilders is a Dutch politician, a member of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the Netherlands’ Party for Freedom (a right-wing populist party). Mr. Wilders is well known in his home country for his strong criticism of Islam, having stated at various times that “Islamic ideology has to be defeated” and “there is no such thing as ‘moderate Islam,'” summing up his views by saying, “I don’t hate Muslims, I hate Islam” and advocating that the Netherlands ban the Quran, Islamic dress, and the further immigration of Muslims to that country.

The item referenced above is the text of a speech on the topic of Islam delivered by Mr. Wilders at the Four Seasons in New York, during a lunch sponsored by the Hudson Institute on 25 September 2008 (and commonly titled “America as the Last Man Standing” or “The Lights are Going Out All Over Europe” in Internet circulation).

In 2010-11 Geert Wilders was put on trial in the Netherlands, charged with five counts of inciting racial hatred over his anti-Islamic public statements. He was acquitted in June 2011.