Netherlands: 'Wilders responsible for graffiti on mosques'

Geert Wilders' statements on Islam contribute to the graffiti and threats against mosques, Farid Azarkan, head of the SMN Moroccan-Dutch association, told the ANP news bureau.

Azarkan: You see what it does to people when their ideas are represented in politics. They feel strengthened by what the PVV says. That manifests itself in calling on the streets to tag mosques with the exact slogans that come out of Wilders' mouth.'

The SMN director says that "treating each other civilly has disappeared, that string that binds us. I think that when we later look back, we'll say that this is a time in which we lost important core values. One of those is that politicians have a responsibility and are a role-model for how people treat each other on the street."

Wilders had said that violence and threats against mosques aren't allowed, but Azarkan says that's duplicitous. "You can't say that you're against football, but then when somebody tags a football club, you say that you shouldn't do that."

In 2010 the police registered 14 incidents against mosques, compared with 16 in 2009.