THE HAGUE, 11/12/08 - The Party for Freedom (PVV) can be classified as extreme right, the University of Leiden and the Anne Frank foundation conclude. They presented their Racism and Extremism Monitor yesterday.

"The problem of 'Islamophobia' has increased substantially in the Netherlands during the past year," the Anne Frank foundation stated. "This is not just a question of the climate of negative opinion concerning Muslims, but also of the rise in violence against this community".

The foundation went on to say that "the extreme right-wing landscape in the Netherlands has changed fundamentally in recent years, on the one hand due to a sharp rise in far-right street activism, and on the other hand because of the way the increasingly radical Party for Freedom has manifested itself. The PVV can be classified as extreme right."

Head researcher Jaap van Donselaar observed that the PVV is extreme right because of "the positive orientation on that which is indigenous (nationalism) and the strong aversion to that which is foreign (racism)". A court should decide whether the PVV should be banned, he declared.

The report implies that strict enforcement of the law represents extremism. "The way the PVV manifests itself contains several aspects of radicalism. We are not only referring to the anti-foreigner views, but also to the rest of its political programme. For example, the PVV is explicitly a law and order party. Zero tolerance, but tough action and heavy penalties."

PVV leader and founder Geert Wilders responded furiously to the study. "Have they gone completely nuts? This is an insult to the PVV and our voters," he fumed.

The conclusions of the Anne Frank foundation do indeed seem controversial and are at least ironic; the PVV is the most pro-Israeli party in parliament. The question also arises of how the foundation, named after the world-famous Jewish girl killed by the Nazis in WWII, reached their conclusion that there is a "sharp rise in far-right street activism". Although demonstrations are regularly held by neo-Nazis, these are on a very small scale and almost always broken up within minutes. The police do so when they are disrupted by violence by extreme left-wing gangs.

However, Van Donselaar maintained that "the balance between freedom to express opinions and protection against discrimination has been disturbed during the past monitor period". The "causes can be found in a changed political climate - 'everyone must be able to speak their mind' - and in the side effects of policies against terrorism and radicalisation."